iPhone app Brushes takes cues from Newton UI

When iPhone developer Steve Sprang needed interface ideas for his new painting app, he looked to a platform he knew well – the Newton.

Sprang got hold of an MP2000 in college and created the Newton freeware app, Lathe, as a simple 3D modeler. Today, he’s working on Brushes – a “natural-media style painter” that, taking a look at the screenshots, looks like a beautiful, detailed app for the iPhone (examples of Brushes-created artwork can be seen at iArtMobile).

Sprang, a former software engineer at Apple, used the Newton’s undo/redo buttons (above) in his Brushes app as a nod to his former platform. Since he left Apple, Sprang has welcomed his new role as an independent iPhone app creator.

“Developing for the iPhone has been a good experience so far,” Sprang says. “I think it’s been a great move for me, and I hope to be able to do it long term — more projects are in the pipeline!”

Brushes is available at the iPhone App Store for $4.99.

6 comments.

  1. Hey, I’ve got Lathe on my MP2100! ;-)

  2. Brushes is one of my favorites!

  3. My creations
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/pirillan/sets/72157612075784207/

  4. Another fan of brushes.app

  5. […] I try to draw or “paint.” Sometimes they turn out okay, sometimes not.  Sometimes, I post them on this […]

  6. […] the early years of iPhone apps, Steve Sprang, the developer of Brushes, contacted me and told me the story behind a few of his app […]

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