A new update for the Windows Phone version of LCARS Interface has been released for both Windows Phone 7 and Windows Phone 8! This update bring both audio and video logs to the phone! We had some issues adding this functionality that has been present in the Windows 8 app, but after re-writing the features from scratch for the Windows Phone platform, we are happy to announce that they are now available!
This update also brings a bunch of (minor) visual updates that should improve the experience across all Windows Phone devices. Some buttons have been resized, others controls have been adjusted, and additional sounds and animations have been added. Almost every page has been touched in this update to bring a more consistent LCARS experience across the board. Our goal is certainly to provide apps with great functionality, but also ones that are stable and as high quality as we can make them, which is why all of our apps are constantly being improved upon as we get more feedback and feature requests.
Speaking of which, the next Windows Phone update is already well underway and we also have some great new things coming up for the Windows 8 app in the coming weeks!
Enjoy the new update and please let us know immediately if you come across any issues and we will do our best to get it resolved for you quickly!
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Saturday, July 27, 2013
This week in LCARS....
I'm going to try and update this blog more frequently so that it actually seems like a blog again instead of just an announcement feed for updates. For the end user it may seem like not much goes on in between the app updates, so this should keep you in the loop on just how much we have going on right now! It's tough to keep up with everything from the app updates, updating this website, and working on new products as well!
Aside from general support for all of our apps in all app markets, we are also building updates for the LCARS Interface apps for both Windows 8 as well as continuing the process of bringing the Windows Phone app(s) up to speed.
So far it seems that the recent Release 25 for the LCARS Interface Windows 8 app is running smoothly. We are hard at work on designing the next module for that, while also being very close to finishing an update to the Windows Phone app. This next phone update will bring audio and video log recording very similar to that is available in the Windows 8 app. Those features did not transfer over quite as easily as some others which is why they did not make it into the initial release. We also now have some new Windows Phone hardware in house, and that should increase productivity on the phone apps by a huge amount! Once the log module is complete, the productivity side of the phone app will match the Windows 8 app for all of the modules that are practical to have. The file system for the phone is drastically different and much more locked down on the phone, so a file manager doesn't make any sense there. A media player also doesn't make much sense due to the way the phone handles media.
If there are any other must-have apps for the phone, please let us know! Future updates to the phone app will feature more use of the device sensors which will give you a bit of tricorder type functionality. There are some very exciting plans in the pipeline for both the Windows 8 and Windows Phone versions.
We also continue progress on our secret project that we are hoping will come to the light later this year if we can find enough time to work on it!. Lots of exciting things happening around here so stay tuned! Keep sending in your feedback/feature requests and we thank you all for the wonderful reviews we get in the stores. Those of you who do not rate us 5 stars yet, we will continue making every effort to make your app experience as good as possible! The updates to these apps aren't stopping any time soon.
Aside from general support for all of our apps in all app markets, we are also building updates for the LCARS Interface apps for both Windows 8 as well as continuing the process of bringing the Windows Phone app(s) up to speed.
So far it seems that the recent Release 25 for the LCARS Interface Windows 8 app is running smoothly. We are hard at work on designing the next module for that, while also being very close to finishing an update to the Windows Phone app. This next phone update will bring audio and video log recording very similar to that is available in the Windows 8 app. Those features did not transfer over quite as easily as some others which is why they did not make it into the initial release. We also now have some new Windows Phone hardware in house, and that should increase productivity on the phone apps by a huge amount! Once the log module is complete, the productivity side of the phone app will match the Windows 8 app for all of the modules that are practical to have. The file system for the phone is drastically different and much more locked down on the phone, so a file manager doesn't make any sense there. A media player also doesn't make much sense due to the way the phone handles media.
If there are any other must-have apps for the phone, please let us know! Future updates to the phone app will feature more use of the device sensors which will give you a bit of tricorder type functionality. There are some very exciting plans in the pipeline for both the Windows 8 and Windows Phone versions.
We also continue progress on our secret project that we are hoping will come to the light later this year if we can find enough time to work on it!. Lots of exciting things happening around here so stay tuned! Keep sending in your feedback/feature requests and we thank you all for the wonderful reviews we get in the stores. Those of you who do not rate us 5 stars yet, we will continue making every effort to make your app experience as good as possible! The updates to these apps aren't stopping any time soon.
Monday, July 22, 2013
LCARS Interface [Windows 8] Release 25 is now available in the Windows 8 Store!
Release 25 of the Windows 8 LCARS Interface app is now available! This is mainly another maintenance build which fixes a couple issues that came up with the last release with the new tactical module. Some of you came up with use cases that I didn't and so any issues that have been reported to me have now been resolved!
Also in this build is a new start screen animation. This may be expanded more in the future...possibly with some sounds and more animation. We will be doing some experimenting with adding a lot of animation in the future, making sure along the way that we don't cripple lower powered systems too much. Anything too intense will likely be filtered out by the "Extra animations" switch in the settings.
The File Manager finally got some attention in this update. A couple minor bug fixes and now the Back button will travel all the way back up the folder structure. So if you opened a folder, then another folder, then another, you can now go back to the first one. Previously the back button only took you up one level from the lowest, which was not nearly as useful.
I do believe that we finally have the app optimized to work at 1024x768 resolution and/or 4:3 ratio screens! This includes running an app in snapped mode next to this one, or using non-widescreen monitors. This will also fix those of you running Splashtop or other remote desktop apps from an iPad where some controls would be cut off. If you continue to have any issues of this type, please let us know!
We're hoping to have another new module ready for the next release!
Also in this build is a new start screen animation. This may be expanded more in the future...possibly with some sounds and more animation. We will be doing some experimenting with adding a lot of animation in the future, making sure along the way that we don't cripple lower powered systems too much. Anything too intense will likely be filtered out by the "Extra animations" switch in the settings.
The File Manager finally got some attention in this update. A couple minor bug fixes and now the Back button will travel all the way back up the folder structure. So if you opened a folder, then another folder, then another, you can now go back to the first one. Previously the back button only took you up one level from the lowest, which was not nearly as useful.
I do believe that we finally have the app optimized to work at 1024x768 resolution and/or 4:3 ratio screens! This includes running an app in snapped mode next to this one, or using non-widescreen monitors. This will also fix those of you running Splashtop or other remote desktop apps from an iPad where some controls would be cut off. If you continue to have any issues of this type, please let us know!
We're hoping to have another new module ready for the next release!
Friday, July 12, 2013
LCARS Interface [Windows 8] Release 24 is now Available!
With all the action the Windows Phone apps have seen lately, you didn't think we forgot about the Windows 8 app did you? We sure haven't...
This update brings another new entertainment module...the Tactical station! This update took a while because I kept throwing out the design and starting over until I found something I was happy with. There was a lot of functionality to get on there while still trying to maintain a design similar to what the console looked like on the Enterprise D. I think it came out nice, and hope you think so too! As with many modules this one involved making a brand new control for the targeting scanner. Admittedly the design for that comes more from the Voyager console because the TNG one was never animated. I think the animations make these panels a lot more fun so I wanted to incorporate them where possible.
but that's not all...along with a couple visual fixes, the Media Player is also seeing a couple updates in this release. When playing audio files, the cover art will now attempt to retrieve a higher resolution image than it was getting previously (previous max was 200x200). Also added to the ability to play songs in a playlist randomly (shuffle) instead of playing them in order. This will work with audio or video. Toggle this functionality from the Playlist window!
See the Version History page for the list of major changes. Thanks for all of the great feedback and reviews we have seen lately! We are still working hard to make all of our apps even better!
This update brings another new entertainment module...the Tactical station! This update took a while because I kept throwing out the design and starting over until I found something I was happy with. There was a lot of functionality to get on there while still trying to maintain a design similar to what the console looked like on the Enterprise D. I think it came out nice, and hope you think so too! As with many modules this one involved making a brand new control for the targeting scanner. Admittedly the design for that comes more from the Voyager console because the TNG one was never animated. I think the animations make these panels a lot more fun so I wanted to incorporate them where possible.
but that's not all...along with a couple visual fixes, the Media Player is also seeing a couple updates in this release. When playing audio files, the cover art will now attempt to retrieve a higher resolution image than it was getting previously (previous max was 200x200). Also added to the ability to play songs in a playlist randomly (shuffle) instead of playing them in order. This will work with audio or video. Toggle this functionality from the Playlist window!
See the Version History page for the list of major changes. Thanks for all of the great feedback and reviews we have seen lately! We are still working hard to make all of our apps even better!
Monday, July 8, 2013
Site updates, Updates for both LCARS Windows Phone apps are now Live
Both of the previously mentioned updates for the Windows Phone apps have been approved by Microsoft and should now be available to download!
You will also notice that this site is being re-organized a little (the links on the right) to accommodate the other apps besides just the Windows 8 one. There is still some work to do, but we hope to get more information up about all the apps we currently have available soon. There is also a bit of work being done to improve the graphics and tiles for our apps which is long overdue.
You will also notice that this site is being re-organized a little (the links on the right) to accommodate the other apps besides just the Windows 8 one. There is still some work to do, but we hope to get more information up about all the apps we currently have available soon. There is also a bit of work being done to improve the graphics and tiles for our apps which is long overdue.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Update Coming for LCARS Interface [WP7+8] and LCARS Simulator [WP7+8]
LCARS Interface for Windows Phone has been well received so far! We are glad to finally bring more of the features from the Windows 8 app to the phone platform. We aren't finished with it yet though! The features on the Windows 8 version that haven't made it to the phone yet will get there eventually (as much of it as is actually possible on the phone platform). We just submitted updates for both (actually all 4 if you count WP7 versions too) which will bring the Settings pages for both LCARS Interface and LCARS Simulator more in line with what the Windows 8 version has. The functional change is that you can now select the Voyager Red Alert sound on the phone as well for both of the apps! It's a relatively small change but it was a popular one for Windows 8 app so it was decided to bring it over as well. Whether or not having a mobile device declare Red Alert is canon or not is up for debate, but it works well for the game in the LCARS Simulator so why not have it in both? The background bridge sounds is another thing that may make the trek over as well at some point. LCARS Simulator also gets the updated sound effects for the Nemesis theme in this update, which puts it in line with the other apps.
Also added to the LCARS Interface app for Windows Phone is an About page which will allow you to access this site as well as our Facebook and Twitter pages. This seems especially important for the phone apps since there is nowhere to put in a description of what has changed in the updates! You will have to find out about that from here instead. It even opens the Dev Blog and Facebook pages from the internal LCARS Web Browser! The Twitter does not since it only works with HTTPS and that seems to not work correctly with the browser control we get to use on the phone for some reason. It would be nice if they gave us a real skinnable control for Windows Phone and Windows 8! Hoping that eventually happens but not counting on it. The About page will likely show up for the LCARS Simulator app soon as well.
Some changes need to be made to the other pages on this blog such as the Features page, Version History, and FAQ which currently only have information about the Windows 8 app. With all of the coding being done on all 3 LCARS apps, there hasn't been as much time to make those changes. You would almost forget that we make apps besides LCARS stuff with all the action those apps have seen lately! They are certainly a lot of fun and all of the wonderful reviews and feedback we have gotten gives us more motivation to keep going with it!
Look for these updates to show up in the next couple of days after Microsoft approves them.
Also added to the LCARS Interface app for Windows Phone is an About page which will allow you to access this site as well as our Facebook and Twitter pages. This seems especially important for the phone apps since there is nowhere to put in a description of what has changed in the updates! You will have to find out about that from here instead. It even opens the Dev Blog and Facebook pages from the internal LCARS Web Browser! The Twitter does not since it only works with HTTPS and that seems to not work correctly with the browser control we get to use on the phone for some reason. It would be nice if they gave us a real skinnable control for Windows Phone and Windows 8! Hoping that eventually happens but not counting on it. The About page will likely show up for the LCARS Simulator app soon as well.
Some changes need to be made to the other pages on this blog such as the Features page, Version History, and FAQ which currently only have information about the Windows 8 app. With all of the coding being done on all 3 LCARS apps, there hasn't been as much time to make those changes. You would almost forget that we make apps besides LCARS stuff with all the action those apps have seen lately! They are certainly a lot of fun and all of the wonderful reviews and feedback we have gotten gives us more motivation to keep going with it!
Look for these updates to show up in the next couple of days after Microsoft approves them.
Friday, July 5, 2013
LCARS Interface [Windows Phone] is now also available for WP7.5+!
We promised it, and now we delivered it. Those of you asking about support for Windows Phone 7 can now have it (WP7.5+)! Currently the Windows Phone 7 version is functionally identical to the WP8 version. The WP8 version has also received an update containing a fix for an issue with being able to create new text logs if you had previously opened a different log. More things are in store for Windows Phone, so stay tuned! The Windows 8 app is also getting some updates soon. There are more modules in various stages of completion and will hopefully see release some time in the coming weeks as soon as we are happy with them.
Thank you to everyone for all of the feedback recently! We are working hard to get the features you ask for implemented if they are possible within the various Windows Store limitations.
Thank you to everyone for all of the feedback recently! We are working hard to get the features you ask for implemented if they are possible within the various Windows Store limitations.
Monday, July 1, 2013
LCARS Interface for Windows Phone (8) Has Been Released!
The cat has been out of the bag for a little bit if you follow us on Facebook, but now it's time to make it official here as well.
LCARS Interface, the recent #1 selling app in the Windows 8 Store, is now available for Windows Phone! Currently it only supports Windows Phone 8, but a Windows Phone 7 version should be released in the coming weeks.
The phone version contains the Log Editor (Text logs only for now), Calculator (basic mode in portrait orientation, and scientific in landscape!), Weather data, and Clock modules for the initial release. This app also contains the same sounds, theme changing capabilities and ability to set the home screen image and ship name as its Windows 8 counterpart. Things such as the file manager and media player are not possible on the phone due to the different access limitations imposed by the phone platform. But wait...while these limitations count those two modules out for now, the Windows Phone version of the app gets something that the Windows 8 one is unable to get...a Web Browser! The browser has basic browsing capabilities and also supports making a list of favorites and a basic browsing history! While we wish both apps could be made with identical capabilities, Microsoft determines what is and isn't possible and we can only work within those limits to bring you the best apps possible. We will be working to add more features to this app in the same way as we do the Windows 8 app, likely with some unique capabilities that are made possible with the Windows Phone platform.
You will notice that this app currently lacks the "entertainment" side of things. The LCARS Simulator has been available for Windows Phone 7 and 8 for a few months now which includes the entire "Simulator" game from the Windows 8 version. There will be more entertainment aspects added over time. It has not been determined exactly which app will get what, but the likely scenario is that everything "functional" will be added to the LCARS Interface app, such as possibly things using GPS and other sensors from the phone that give you real data. Non-functional items that more imitate the type of things seen on Star Trek's mobile devices like tricorders (rather than ship consoles like in the Windows 8 app) but do not work with any real data will most likely be added to the LCARS Simulator app. The LCARS Simulator app has not had much in the way of updates yet but that will change soon now that this app is finally being released and will take up less time as we make updates to each one separately.
It is very exciting for us to now have 3 LCARS apps across various Windows platforms! We continue to welcome all of your suggestions on how to improve each of them as we work to make each one the best possible app it can be! The Windows 8 app has flourished due to suggestions from many of you, and we are hoping that the new Windows Phone app will do the same to make your LCARS experience as authentic and fun as possible.
Here it is! :
Check it out in the Windows Phone Store for a cool 99 cents!
LCARS Interface in the Windows Phone Store!
LCARS Interface, the recent #1 selling app in the Windows 8 Store, is now available for Windows Phone! Currently it only supports Windows Phone 8, but a Windows Phone 7 version should be released in the coming weeks.
The phone version contains the Log Editor (Text logs only for now), Calculator (basic mode in portrait orientation, and scientific in landscape!), Weather data, and Clock modules for the initial release. This app also contains the same sounds, theme changing capabilities and ability to set the home screen image and ship name as its Windows 8 counterpart. Things such as the file manager and media player are not possible on the phone due to the different access limitations imposed by the phone platform. But wait...while these limitations count those two modules out for now, the Windows Phone version of the app gets something that the Windows 8 one is unable to get...a Web Browser! The browser has basic browsing capabilities and also supports making a list of favorites and a basic browsing history! While we wish both apps could be made with identical capabilities, Microsoft determines what is and isn't possible and we can only work within those limits to bring you the best apps possible. We will be working to add more features to this app in the same way as we do the Windows 8 app, likely with some unique capabilities that are made possible with the Windows Phone platform.
You will notice that this app currently lacks the "entertainment" side of things. The LCARS Simulator has been available for Windows Phone 7 and 8 for a few months now which includes the entire "Simulator" game from the Windows 8 version. There will be more entertainment aspects added over time. It has not been determined exactly which app will get what, but the likely scenario is that everything "functional" will be added to the LCARS Interface app, such as possibly things using GPS and other sensors from the phone that give you real data. Non-functional items that more imitate the type of things seen on Star Trek's mobile devices like tricorders (rather than ship consoles like in the Windows 8 app) but do not work with any real data will most likely be added to the LCARS Simulator app. The LCARS Simulator app has not had much in the way of updates yet but that will change soon now that this app is finally being released and will take up less time as we make updates to each one separately.
It is very exciting for us to now have 3 LCARS apps across various Windows platforms! We continue to welcome all of your suggestions on how to improve each of them as we work to make each one the best possible app it can be! The Windows 8 app has flourished due to suggestions from many of you, and we are hoping that the new Windows Phone app will do the same to make your LCARS experience as authentic and fun as possible.
Here it is! :
Check it out in the Windows Phone Store for a cool 99 cents!
LCARS Interface in the Windows Phone Store!
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