iPad app v1.5

I think this is mentioned elsewhere, but it is not obvious that each part of the podcast (lesson / dialog / review) has to be downloaded separately in the app, and the menu for doing so is hidden under the black rectangle that says "lesson" by default. You have to select that to display the choices. If you just touch the triangle in the circle it only downloads the lesson, or whatever you have previously selected from the drop down menu. I would suggest putting all three on the original screen. There seems to be enough room for it, although I suppose i might interfere with some of the graphics. Anyway, the way it is now is not intuitive or obvious, at least to me.

Thanks for the info "martinblampied". I am eagerly waiting for the 1.6.

+1 to podster's comments above,

regarding "by the time it would be set up I would hope to envisions a relatively stable app" I wonder what you mean by stable -- app does not crash, or app no longer needs any improvements?

I do expect the first to happen sooner or later, but I sincerely hope the second will not happen for a long time. It is for this second condition I hope there is a beta test, since the internal testing does not seem to produce a well-working version...

As far as the extra effort, it seems there are several methods to make beta testing pretty smooth, have you looked at testflight, for example?

I am glad root raised this: I know that such fantastically good apps as Pleco and Skritter DO beta test their products. Thank you for explaining why CPod chooses not to do it, instead of simply saying "it can't be done." I respectfully disagree that CPod's in-house testing process is adequate, as demonstrated be the failure of the app to work properly throughout multiple revisions / updates. Regarding "plenty of alternatives for reporting bugs" I have personally made use of them, without any successful outcome. At least until now. I hope that the current version does prove to be stable and function according to your plan. Thanks for your attention and for your efforts to fix all the bugs.

The initial work required for collecting individual UDID's, then the subsequent management and monitoring of the group (updating list, making sure people are still active as limited by the number of ad-hoc tokens, replying to feedback) would be resources better spent elsewhere, particular when Cpod already has an in-house testing process. In addition, by the time it would be set up I would hope to envisions a relatively stable app.

Perhaps a group could be set up in the future should we feel the need, but at present there are plenty of alternatives for reporting bugs, and we welcome your feedback at io@chinesepod.com.

Regarding "Thank you for volunteering to be testers, however unfortunately this is not feasible due to the restrictions on App distribution. "

Not sure what you mean here, I am sure thousands of apps allow beta testing, I, for example do beta tests for Pleco, no problems...

Will make sure bookmarked lessons appear in order of bookmark (newest at top), although this will have to wait for 1.7 as 1.6 as already been submitted. In the example of "part two", assuming they have a similar name you will be able to search for them from the library with 1.6.

Regards

re: “many of the known issues on the app pre-date the people who are now responsible for fixing them.“ I know! Those bugs have been there for a loooooong time. Glad to know someone is working on fixing them (at last!). Previous developers never seemed to show up to answer questions. Farewell to those little buggers. Umm, is that the right was to say it in English? 嘿嘿。

Thanks Martin. Good to know somebody is "on it." I have one suggestion / question. Is there some logical way to group lessons in the app? In the past I used to un-bookmark and then again bookmark lessons to push them to the top of my list, but I don't think that works any more. As an example, if a lesson is published that is "Part Two" and continues a previous lesson, I would like to have them appear next to each other in my list. Is there any way to accomplish this now, or in version 1.6?

Version 1.6 was submitted to Apple this morning. It will take approximately 7 days to go through their review process; should be available on the App store this time next week.

Thank you for volunteering to be testers, however unfortunately this is not feasible due to the restrictions on App distribution. V1.5 was an entire rewrite of the Lesson/Self-study backend so unfortunately there were bound to some be bugs.

1.6 will fix several offline bugs including:

- the library returning 0 lessons if you try to load the library while on wifi, but lose wifi before results have been returned. (this should fix miskat's problem). Work around until 1.6 - make sure you don't try to open library when your wifi is just about to drop.

- Crash caused by "Load more lessons" cell tap in offline mode.

- Offline search

We appreciate the inconveniences cause by the unreliability, however we would ask for some patience, as many of the known issues on the app pre-date the people who are now responsible for fixing them.

It would be more helpfully If you could email ios@chinesepod.com with the issues you find, ideally with methods of recreating and screenshots where necessary.

Thanks in advance

Martin

Cpod iOS dev

miskat, Its been semi-stable for me, but yesterday I kept getting the DOWNL0AD_ERROR message again and again as I tried unsuccessfully to download a lesson. I guess I should add my name to the list of available beta testers (if CPod ever decides to test a product before unleashing it on the public.). If you've contacted customer service I suppose you've already gotten the generic suggestions (delete and re-install, clear the cache.) Both of these will nuke your previously downloaded content, but might actually solve your stability problems. You've probably also been told that your problem can't be replicated in their cave or wherever it is that they develop this app. Again, beta testing, beta testing, beta testing. I can't fathom why they would attempt such a sophisticated product (good design) and never bother to test it. (Crap is a strong word, but I hear you, brother.)

Thanks, Justin. I followed your advice (sadly had to delete all my previously downloaded lessons -- again) but now the app seems to be working better. I would suggest that if you know the app is not going to work for users that have been using the previous version that you warn them about that in advance.

podster,

I have just sent you an email via our support center and you should be receiving this shortly. Note that previously downloaded lessons from v1.4 will not likely work with v1.5 as the offline system was revamped and these older files are now likely corrupt. A quick clearing of the cache or re-installation of the app should clear up these issues.

As for my private messages being turned off, I was not aware of this. I will have a look at my account settings on the back end and make sure to turn this on for the future.

Regarding your lesson access issues, please refer to my email via zendesk. I am fairly certain a re-install should clear this up as well (as we can't replicate the problem on our end), but if not please reply via zendesk support should we need to discuss personal account information.

Cheers,

Justin

Justin,

I reported all the bugs that are preventing me from using the app to the support e-mail, but have not received a reply. I tried to send you an e-mail via the CPod web site, but got a message that "this users has chosen not to receive any email." I'm not sure that's the message you want to send about CPod's customer service attitude. Re "In the meantime, you may still load self-study lesson lists while online (by clicking load more lessons) and access the lessons from this list later while offline. In this way, you should still be able to access your downloaded bookmarked lessons.", please note that this is NOT TRUE in my experience.

The new iOS mobile app is not working for me at all when I am offline. It does not recognize me as a subscriber, and it prevents me from accessing the content I have already downloaded. ( iOS 6, iPhone 4.) Agree with Miskat, you have not fixed the problem. Claiming to have done so in the description is misleading. Nice design on the new app, epic fail on the execution.

Thanks for the Feedback

Thanks Justin. I think loading enough self-study lessons into the list while online sound a good enough workaround, for now ;-)

I do not have any problems with the "Expansion" or other tabs, seems to work just like before.