It was a busy weekend for us in making LCARS Interface updates, and now the second of our submissions has been approved and should be available to download soon!
This update brings a brand new module to the mix, the Scanner! The scanner includes a Compass for finding your way, as well as being able to read the magnetic fields around the device and show you the vector for it. Some great new animation was added for this module, and we will be making adjustments and additions to the Scanner module in future updates. As with the other modules, this one can also be pinned to the Start screen from the "Settings" page for quick access!
We have also included a few bug fixes, including one issue that sometimes occurred when coming back from standby, and a couple other smaller issues. We have also fixed several minor glitches with the animations, so they should hopefully always be more fluid now when moving between screens. We've also changed the start up animation to match the new one on the Windows 8 app, and it is slightly different depending on whether you have "Extra Animations" enabled or not. We also now have more testing devices, so everything for Windows Phone is going to be tested on Windows Phone 7.5, Windows Phone 7.8, and Windows Phone 8! We will be making some adjustments in the next few weeks to optimize the experience across multiple device sizes and resolutions, rather than being optimized only for Windows Phone 8 and 4.5" screen sizes as it is currently.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
LCARS Interface [Windows 8] Release 28 is now Available!
Today we are happy to announce that our newest update to the LCARS Interface app for Windows 8 has passed certification and should be available to download today! This will be largely a maintenance build to fix a few issues that came up after the previous release which did quite a large amount of changes under the hood of the app even if it looks mostly the same on the outside!
We did, however, manage to sneak in a couple new animations, so starting up the app with "Extra Animations" enabled should be a little more fun now! This is just the first of many new animations we are working on for the coming releases.
The main changes for this release are:
-New startup animation with new sound effects when "Extra Animations" are enabled.
-Fixed Clock module to properly update the time.
-Fixed Clock to properly switch between 12/24 hour modes (previously it only worked in certain regions).
-Fixed Weather module to not lock up the UI while retrieving data.
-Fixed Tactical Simulator instructions.
We are working on another module and hope to have it ready for the next release! We are also in the process of evaluating when we will stop making Windows 8 compatible releases and make the transition to 8.1, because 8.1 offers some new functionality that we would like to include. Windows 8.1 is a free update that everyone should probably install anyways! So far we are liking all of the changes across the full range of Windows 8 devices we have. Desktop, laptop, and tablet all benefit from it.
We did, however, manage to sneak in a couple new animations, so starting up the app with "Extra Animations" enabled should be a little more fun now! This is just the first of many new animations we are working on for the coming releases.
The main changes for this release are:
-New startup animation with new sound effects when "Extra Animations" are enabled.
-Fixed Clock module to properly update the time.
-Fixed Clock to properly switch between 12/24 hour modes (previously it only worked in certain regions).
-Fixed Weather module to not lock up the UI while retrieving data.
-Fixed Tactical Simulator instructions.
We are working on another module and hope to have it ready for the next release! We are also in the process of evaluating when we will stop making Windows 8 compatible releases and make the transition to 8.1, because 8.1 offers some new functionality that we would like to include. Windows 8.1 is a free update that everyone should probably install anyways! So far we are liking all of the changes across the full range of Windows 8 devices we have. Desktop, laptop, and tablet all benefit from it.
Monday, October 14, 2013
LCARS Interface [Windows Phone] Release 6 Is Now Available!
Update 10/16/2013: A new update has been released to resolve the issue mentioned at the bottom as well as a couple of other minor issues we discovered during testing. This app will stay at release 6 for now since nothing new was added and the bugs fixed were very minor. There is plenty more being worked on for the next update!
-----------------------------------------
As promised, a new update for LCARS Interface for Windows Phone has been released today!
This is one of the largest updates we've done for this app, and in addition to overhauling the entire back end just like with the other LCARS apps, we've also done all of the following:
Many of these suggestions come from user e-mails as well as store reviews. We're always looking for ways to make your experience with our apps better, so keep the feedback (good or bad) coming! We do listen.
**NOTE: We are aware of an issue with the app not running when Background processes for this app are disabled in the Windows Phone Settings (Thanks Dennis!). An update has already been released to resolve this issue!
-----------------------------------------
As promised, a new update for LCARS Interface for Windows Phone has been released today!
This is one of the largest updates we've done for this app, and in addition to overhauling the entire back end just like with the other LCARS apps, we've also done all of the following:
- Added new Battery module (WP8 only)
- Added ability to turn off extra animations from General section of Settings page.
- Added lots of new animations for many screens when "Extra Animations" is enabled (especially during Red Alert).
- Added more appropriate keyboard settings to all text entry boxes including Text Logs (adds autocorrect and word suggestions, etc).
- Added scrolling to Text Log entry box.
- Secondary tile for Weather is now a live tile (updates from your default location in the app)!
- Fixed Clock to properly update the time.
- Fixed Clock to properly switch between 12/24 hour modes (previously it only worked in certain regions of the world).
- Fixed weather to not lock up the UI while scanning.
- Fixed black screen issue when returning from lock screen.
- Added new Splash screen image (WP7 only)
Many of these suggestions come from user e-mails as well as store reviews. We're always looking for ways to make your experience with our apps better, so keep the feedback (good or bad) coming! We do listen.
**NOTE: We are aware of an issue with the app not running when Background processes for this app are disabled in the Windows Phone Settings (Thanks Dennis!). An update has already been released to resolve this issue!
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Windows Phone Updates: LCARS Simulator and LCARS Personnel bug fixes, Next update soon for LCARS Interface!
A lot has been going on for each one of our LCARS Windows Phone apps this week!
Let's go through them one at a time...
LCARS Simulator: New release TODAY which should resolve a visual bug with the red alert animation when "Extra Animations" is enabled. We will also be taking another look at some of the UI for this app to make it easier to use across multiple device resolutions in a coming update.
LCARS Personnel: This app has the same visual bug as the LCARS Simulator app,but due to already having a new update for that one in progress when it was discovered (which is still being certified by Microsoft), the fix will not be applied until the following update after that. We intend to submit that one as soon as the current one is approved! We ended up needing to re-submit our update for a different reason, so this fix will now be in the next update! We also have a nice new feature for the Windows Phone 8 version in the current update, but we will announce what that is after it is released soon.
LCARS Interface: This one has had quite a bit of work within the past week or so, and the change log keeps growing by the day. In addition to adding the extra animations already available in LCARS Simulator and LCARS Personnel, we are also adding a LOT more animations! This app is really going to feel alive after this update when you have "Extra Animations" enabled. We also have some big performance improvements to go along with it, so the app should feel more responsive in some areas such as Weather as well.
Speaking of the Weather module, someone told us in a 4 star review that we'd get the 5th star if we make the weather work on a live tile. Ask and you shall receive, because if you add the Weather tile from the Settings menu, it will indeed be a Live Tile in this next update!
There is also a brand new module being added (actually 2 for Windows Phone 8), and we have gone over many of the modules and fixed the UI to work better on smaller screens/lower resolutions than it did previously.
We are currently still beta testing all of the new changes, and hope to have this update submitted for approval within the next few days. This one should definitely be worth the wait!
----
Oh, and we've also been working on adding another new module to LCARS Interface for Windows 8 too!
Let's go through them one at a time...
LCARS Simulator: New release TODAY which should resolve a visual bug with the red alert animation when "Extra Animations" is enabled. We will also be taking another look at some of the UI for this app to make it easier to use across multiple device resolutions in a coming update.
LCARS Personnel: This app has the same visual bug as the LCARS Simulator app,
LCARS Interface: This one has had quite a bit of work within the past week or so, and the change log keeps growing by the day. In addition to adding the extra animations already available in LCARS Simulator and LCARS Personnel, we are also adding a LOT more animations! This app is really going to feel alive after this update when you have "Extra Animations" enabled. We also have some big performance improvements to go along with it, so the app should feel more responsive in some areas such as Weather as well.
Speaking of the Weather module, someone told us in a 4 star review that we'd get the 5th star if we make the weather work on a live tile. Ask and you shall receive, because if you add the Weather tile from the Settings menu, it will indeed be a Live Tile in this next update!
There is also a brand new module being added (actually 2 for Windows Phone 8), and we have gone over many of the modules and fixed the UI to work better on smaller screens/lower resolutions than it did previously.
We are currently still beta testing all of the new changes, and hope to have this update submitted for approval within the next few days. This one should definitely be worth the wait!
----
Oh, and we've also been working on adding another new module to LCARS Interface for Windows 8 too!
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Next Updates Underway....and some Animation Information!
It seems that Release 27 of the LCARS Interface app for Windows 8 has been well received by many! If it hasn't with anybody, we haven't heard about it at least! With the huge amount of changes that went on behind the scenes before this release it was very stress inducing to wait for the feedback to come in.
That said, we are already well underway on the next set of updates for the Windows 8 app! While this app started as almost purely functional, there is no way to capture a lot of the LCARS experience with normal tasks like the text editor and calculator. To that end we have added quite a bit of stuff to the entertainment side of things since then and the feedback about it has all been fantastic. Those of you who e-mail us and give your thoughts on what you like, what you don't like, and what else you want to see help us tremendously in figuring out the direction we should take with these apps. We also thank all of you who rate us 5 stars in the Windows 8 Store and Windows Phone Store! Those of you who don't rate us 5 stars, well, we won't rest until we earn the rest of those stars from you! Just tell us what's missing from the experience for you and we will work on it.
Read on for some notes about animations
That said, we are already well underway on the next set of updates for the Windows 8 app! While this app started as almost purely functional, there is no way to capture a lot of the LCARS experience with normal tasks like the text editor and calculator. To that end we have added quite a bit of stuff to the entertainment side of things since then and the feedback about it has all been fantastic. Those of you who e-mail us and give your thoughts on what you like, what you don't like, and what else you want to see help us tremendously in figuring out the direction we should take with these apps. We also thank all of you who rate us 5 stars in the Windows 8 Store and Windows Phone Store! Those of you who don't rate us 5 stars, well, we won't rest until we earn the rest of those stars from you! Just tell us what's missing from the experience for you and we will work on it.
Read on for some notes about animations
Saturday, October 5, 2013
LCARS Interface [Windows 8] (Release 27) is now Available!
Well, it's finally here! This has definitely been the longest time in between releases for the Windows 8 app, and it is a very big update even though you won't be able to see most of the changes from the outside.
What you will see, however, is the new Transport module! This is one very highly requested feature and so we had to deliver it for you. It is fairly simple for now which is mainly due to having enough space on the screen, but we may add some more functionality to it soon. Who doesn't want to do all the crazy stuff they have to do when something goes wrong with the transport? Well, for now our transporter is 100% successful every time so you don't have to worry about it! In the long run we would like all of these modules to interact with each other to some extent so you really feel like you're on a working ship! That's a ways in the future though as there are still many pieces missing that need to be done first.
As mentioned before most of the changes this time are under the hood which should lead to better performing software. If you come across any issues, please let us know right away! The update should be available to you now, and if not, it should be soon.
The next update will likely come after the Windows 8.1 update and will include some other highly requested functionality!
What you will see, however, is the new Transport module! This is one very highly requested feature and so we had to deliver it for you. It is fairly simple for now which is mainly due to having enough space on the screen, but we may add some more functionality to it soon. Who doesn't want to do all the crazy stuff they have to do when something goes wrong with the transport? Well, for now our transporter is 100% successful every time so you don't have to worry about it! In the long run we would like all of these modules to interact with each other to some extent so you really feel like you're on a working ship! That's a ways in the future though as there are still many pieces missing that need to be done first.
As mentioned before most of the changes this time are under the hood which should lead to better performing software. If you come across any issues, please let us know right away! The update should be available to you now, and if not, it should be soon.
The next update will likely come after the Windows 8.1 update and will include some other highly requested functionality!
Friday, October 4, 2013
Next LCARS Interface for Windows 8 Update Coming Soon!
It's been a long time coming, but we are finally just about ready to submit our next update to the LCARS Interface app for Windows 8!
Up to now we've been pretty fast and furious with the update cycle, but as mentioned in a couple of the previous blog posts, we needed to do some major overhauling of the back end of our apps. Simply put, we were not optimized to take advantage of the code sharing possibilities between Windows 8/RT and Windows Phone because we never intended to do anything for Windows Phone! Now that we are doing quite a bit (3 apps now, actually!) we felt it was time to get that done in order to get ready for Windows 8.1/Windows Phone 8.1. The last updates to the Windows Phone apps now take advantage of the new structure and we are very pleased with the results so far! Lots of performance optimizations and the update and bug fix process is much more streamlined on any functionality that is the same between them. This is a very exciting thing for us developers...the rest of you won't see any difference right away, but you will have more reliable software and faster updates to all of them!
The Windows 8 app took some more time since it is quite a bit larger than all the phone ones combined and we have to make sure we didn't break any existing functionality! We were also working on adding the newest module! We have quite a bit more planned, but the next update after this one will likely take place after Windows 8.1 is released. 8.1 (which will be a free update for Windows 8, so you don't have to buy anything to get our next updates) will finally allow us to give you all some of the most requested features that were previously not available to us. We have been on top of the changes that are coming in order to make sure our apps are taking full advantage of any new features!
Up to now we've been pretty fast and furious with the update cycle, but as mentioned in a couple of the previous blog posts, we needed to do some major overhauling of the back end of our apps. Simply put, we were not optimized to take advantage of the code sharing possibilities between Windows 8/RT and Windows Phone because we never intended to do anything for Windows Phone! Now that we are doing quite a bit (3 apps now, actually!) we felt it was time to get that done in order to get ready for Windows 8.1/Windows Phone 8.1. The last updates to the Windows Phone apps now take advantage of the new structure and we are very pleased with the results so far! Lots of performance optimizations and the update and bug fix process is much more streamlined on any functionality that is the same between them. This is a very exciting thing for us developers...the rest of you won't see any difference right away, but you will have more reliable software and faster updates to all of them!
The Windows 8 app took some more time since it is quite a bit larger than all the phone ones combined and we have to make sure we didn't break any existing functionality! We were also working on adding the newest module! We have quite a bit more planned, but the next update after this one will likely take place after Windows 8.1 is released. 8.1 (which will be a free update for Windows 8, so you don't have to buy anything to get our next updates) will finally allow us to give you all some of the most requested features that were previously not available to us. We have been on top of the changes that are coming in order to make sure our apps are taking full advantage of any new features!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)