Geekcamp.SG: Essential tools mobile developers should have in their utility belts

Just like how Batman has a utility belt for every situation imaginable, mobile app developers should possess an arsenal of tools they can deploy at any moment.

That was mobile app developer Fahim Fatook’s suggestion at Geekcamp.SG, a conference for geeks last week that attracted about 1,000 attendees, making it the largest Singapore edition ever.

In his presentation, Fahim named several tools that could prove indispensable under the right circumstances (note that the list is biased towards iOS developers):

General app development and design

PNG Express

Dash

Download documents for over 80 APIs. Once downloaded, they’re available offline and updated automatically.
Operating system: OSX-only
Pricing: Free version, $20 for pro

PNG Express

A Photoshop plugin that makes working with designers easier. Extract images from each layer individually, get information like width, height, padding from each image, and save images in different formats. The tool works for text layers too, retrieving data like font size and font color.
Operating system: Windows/OSX
Pricing: $29

Dev Rocket

PNG Express on steroids. A Photoshop plugin for creating new templates for the iPhone or iPad. Make new PSD images with toolbars and layouts in the right size. It creates icon templates as well.
Operating system: Windows/OSX
Pricing: $19

Slicy

Exports PSD elements as assets for your website or app. Rename your layer groups once and Slicy will get to work.
Operating system: OSX only
Pricing: $29

Inkscape

An open source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X, using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format. Quite a number of online Inkscape tutorials such as this one for drawing game art.
Operating system: Windows/OSX/Linux
Pricing: Free

3D graphics

Game developers

iOS development