Two weeks ago today we launched Grades 2. Since that time, We have gotten around 47,000 downloads, have been featured by Apple on “New and Noteworthy,” and have become the No. 1 app in the education category.

A few days ago we punctured the top 200 (overall), getting up to 197 or so. Since then we’ve slipped out of the top 200. But hopefully we can rectify that.

We’ve been having some technical situations. There was a bug which was annoying some users. Jer whipped together an update to squash the bug. But then we realized that the update also had a big bug. So Jer spent last night squelching that one as well. Hopefully before too long the glitches will be gone.

However, when you have 47,000 persons using your app, they are bound to find errors that you and your beta testers couldn’t find. Ah, life!

At any rate, on Thursday the local Fox affiliate will come to our campus to interview users of Grades, as well as the illustrious creators thereof. Then, on Saturday we might have a shot at being interviewed on North Carolina’s News 14 channel. The following Friday we have an interview with the local NBC station slotted. Who knows what’s next!

So, thanks to all of you out there who have downloaded Grades. Next stop: terminating the bugs and optimizing Grades for countries other than the U.S.

After an entire year of blood, toil, tears, and sweat Grades 2 is finally finished, approved, and downloadable off the Apple App Store. To download it for free, go here.

The full feature-set of Grades 2 includes:

1. The original functionality of Grades 1, reprogrammed to work faster and more efficiently.

2. The ability to calculate grades for a set of assignments when your teacher doesn’t say how many of the assignments you’ll get (we call it “sub-grades”). This is particularly useful for Highschool and Junior High students.

3. A GPA calculator (that should, we hope, work with both college and highschool/Junior High grading systems).

4. A system for remembering important due dates.

5. Crisp, new, high-resolution graphics.

6. A method for getting rid of ads (for now, killing ads will cost $1).

7. Oh, and did I mention that it’s free?

Grades 2 is not merely one step up from Grades 1: it’s three or four steps up. Think of it as going from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X—it’s a revolution. Of course, there still will be features that many fans will want included in later versions. For comments, concerns, and any such suggestions, go to our refurbished website.

Let all students chant Hosannas and Alleluias, for Grades 2 is come. Check out the Grades 2 video below:

We had hoped to send Grades 2 off to Apple for approval last Tuesday. But life happened. Jer knew he would have to play wack-a-bug before Grades could be finished. But those bugs just kept popping! It was like the hydra: chop off one head and three more spring in its place.

So Jer spent all of last night (literally) brandishing the digital insecticide and giving Grades 2 one final spraying over. The bad news is that we’re a bit behind schedule. But the good news is that hopefully Grades 2 should be relatively devoid of glitches.

Now it’s in Apple’s hands. We cannot know how quickly they approve it. That is the x-factor that will determine when we can release the app on the App Store.

(Sorry that I haven’t been keeping up with the blog; Grades 2 has been keeping me pretty busy. A normal rhythm will resume soon.)

Grades 2 is finally coming to an Apple iTunes App Store near you. After months of bumbling, stumbling, and general fumbling we’ve finally managed to pull it off. We submit Grades 2 to Apple tomorrow; and it should attain approval by sometime early next week. We’re really excited and terrified.

Not only is Grades 2 vastly better than Grades 1; not only does it have three times the functionality; and not only does it have all new, crisp, high-resolution graphics—but it is also completely free.

Grades 1 helped students figure out what they needed on upcoming assignments and tests to get the grade they wanted in the class. Grades 2 does that too. But it also helps students figure out what grades they need in their classes in order to maintain or attain their desired GPA. And it helps you remember dates for critical tests and assignments (you’ll never have to forget a quiz again!).

Behold: the screenshot.

I will have more to say when Grades launches, so stay tuned!