iBonsai

iBonsai was a fun little project that became my company's first product. It was a stylized 3D bonsai tree generator for iOS devices, inspired by an earlier experiment with branching systems. It had about 120,000 downloads.

iBonsai was available on the App Store from 2008 to 2017. I last updated it in 2009 (adding generative music), but unfortunately I was too busy after that to work on it further. Despite the lack of updates, sales continued for several years, enabling me to focus on AI research.

By 2017, sales had decayed to a few dollars per month, and the upcoming iOS 11 would require all old 32-bit apps to be rebuilt. I decided then to remove it from the App Store. I'm still impressed that Apple's platform enabled an app compiled in 2009 for iOS version 2 (called iPhone OS then) to run without changes until 2017, spanning all iOS versions 2 through 10.

The following sections are from the app's page on the App Store.

Description

A digital abstraction of the bonsai experience.

Bonsai is the Japanese art of miniaturizing trees by growing them in small pots. Now you can create your own miniature trees in 3D right on your iPhone or iPod!

With a tap of your finger, iBonsai's sophisticated generative algorithm begins growing a unique digital tree. No two bonsai trees are the same! After about 30 seconds of growth, your mature bonsai becomes a beautifully rendered image in the sumi-e style of Japanese brush painting. The iBonsai algorithm produces a wide variety of trees: you might get simple, elegant shapes or twisted, complex creations. The randomness is the source of its beauty.

As iBonsai is an abstraction of true bonsai, you need not worry about watering or pruning your tree: simply watch it take shape before your eyes. In designing iBonsai we have carefully pruned the decision-making process in order to give you a hands-free aesthetic experience. For those that wish to have some control over the process, try using the shaping tool to guide your tree's growth.

If you liked Koi Pond, you will love iBonsai. Download it today to enjoy the zen-like relaxing nature of this ancient art form.

Reviews

Sheer beauty and brilliance... this is one of those apps you need to experience hands-on... hard to pass up once you see it in action.
- iPhoneAppReviews.net

Steps to iBonsai's huge success: Put an awesome algorithm in a pot, water it with appealing art, and watch it grow into one amazing app.
- WhatsOniPhone.com

Infinitely diverse bonsai trees... it's very pretty.
- Gizmodo.com

The app is certainly ingenious.
- AllAboutiPhone.net

Relaxing and peaceful... quite original.
- iPhoneAlley.com

Spirit of the greatest masterpieces in Japanese 3D style ink.
- Japanese customer review

"Awesome, plain and simple." "My girlfriend is insidiously jealous that I have this." "One of the most relaxing, tranquil, and beautiful apps available." "A creative and artistic masterpiece wrapped up in a simple idea." "Really looks like it is being painted on your iPhone."
- Customer reviews

Features

• Simple, clean interface.
• Interactive 3D view. Rotate/zoom to see your trees from all angles.
• Many different leaf types: japanese maple, flowering dogwood, and more.
• Shake it to scatter leaves!
• Save snapshots of your favorite trees, then use them for your wallpaper.
• Ambient music generation algorithm produces a subtle soundtrack which never repeats!
• With the new shaping tool, enjoy interactive control over the growing process, or simply let go and watch the random growing algorithm take control.
• Set the growth speed slow to enjoy a relaxed, meditative experience, or set it fast to see a variety of trees more quickly.
• Hands-free loop feature continually grows new trees. Plug into your dock and let iBonsai paint trees all day long!
• Optional gravity-based viewing mode makes the tree appear to float in space.
• Advanced generative algorithm and random number generator give you totally unique results every time. Produce virtually infinite trees!

Tips

• The ambient music sounds even better with headphones or speakers.
• Disable ambient music to play your iPod music with iBonsai.
• Let iBonsai paint trees all day while plugged into your dock. Disable your iPhone/iPod's auto lock feature (so the screen stays on), then enable iBonsai's auto regrow feature to see a continuous supply of trees. If your dock has speakers, turn on the ambient music to set a great mood in any room.
• Use a slower growth speed for easier shaping.
• The shaping tool is great for guiding the initial trunk direction: make your tree appear upright, wind-swept, or zig-zagging.
• Continually rotate the view to shape your tree's growth from all directions.