BattleScribe 1.14.07 Released on iOS!

It's finally here, 1.14.07 for iOS!

This release delivers a huge user interface overhaul which brings BattleScribe into line with modern iOS 7 apps - and it's looking very nice if I do say so myself. It also (at last) brings support for iPad! The app will now use all the space available on the larger screened devices and isn't reduced to a blown-up iPhone interface. There is still more work to do to make better use of all that screen space - perhaps some kind of two-panel design - but this is a huge step forward.

If you like the app, I'd really appreciate a review on iTunes! If you find any bugs, please contact me and I'll get it fixed as soon as possible.

On a side note, as some of you may have noticed, the free version of 1.14.07 was available several days ago, while pro has only just shown up in iTunes today. I have no idea why, but the free version was approved for the App Store within a couple of days, while the pro version was left hanging for about a week. Needless to say, this was frustrating for anyone who upgraded to pro during the last week, only to find they were back on the old version. My apologies to anyone in that situation - in future I will be holding back releases on iOS until both versions can be put out at the same time (at least for significant updates).

Without further ado, here's some screenshots and the short-but-sweet change notes:

• Huge user interface redesign! All the same functions are there as before - check the menu if you can't find something.
• iPad support!
• Added "report a bug" option to the menu.
• Free: Occasional full-screen ads. These are only shown during long loading screens, they can be easily dismissed, and they are limited to a handful per hour. See this post for more details.
• Bug fixes.

BattleScribe 1.14.07 Released on Desktop and Android!

Not much to say about this release. It's just a small clutch of bug fixes that came up while working on the 1.14.07 update for iOS. I figured (since it's easy) that I'd put out a quick update so we're all on the same page no matter which platform(s) you use BattleScribe on. I'll get straight to the release notes:

• Fixed modifiers that increment the maxInRoster value (mistype... oops)
• Fixed crash/hang where a catalogue contained root rules with modifiers
• Fixed crash/hang in Catalogue Editor when a link had "no target"
• Fixed situation where points/error messages wouldn't be correctly updated

So... Not a lot ;)

But...

I've just submitted 1.14.07 to Apple which contains a huge user interface update and iPad support! I'm expecting it to become available within a week. I'm very happy with how this has turned out and it should really bring the iOS version into line with modern applications (finally!). I'll announce when it becomes available, but for now take a look at this:

BattleScribe 1.14.06 Released on iOS!

This release brings the bug fixes from the 1.14.06 release on desktop and Android, along with the first layer of user interface updates. These are just initial changes to colours rather than a full blown layout update.

Considering the week long approval time for iOS apps, I thought it important to get the bug fixes out as soon as possible rather than holding things up. I'll be following up very soon with a larger overhaul that will provide iPad support and a much improved interface - I'm hoping to submit this update in the next couple of days. After that it'll be about a week before it's approved and becomes available for download. Keep your eyes peeled :)

Here's the change list for this release:

• User interface refreshed (more to come!)
• Improved error reporting when opening or creating a roster. It now shows you details of any selections removed from your roster and any problems with the data files you're using.
• Fixed bug where root items with "hidden" modifiers would (nearly) always give errors.
• Fixed bug where roster points wouldn't be updated if items were removed from your roster due to a data file change.
• Fixed bug where points/errors wouldn't get updated in some cases.
• Bug fixes.

BattleScribe 1.14.06 Released!

It's been a long time coming, but this release finally brings a complete user interface redesign to Android! This really brings it up to date and makes it look at home on modern Android devices. Personally, I'm really happy with how it's turned out!

There have also been a few more bug fixes that get rid of the last few known issues, so this release is also available on desktop. I'm now working on bringing these fixes (plus some user interface tweaks) to iOS, so expect to see an update on iTunes soon. Full change list is below.

Here are some before and after screenshots:

Android

• Complete user interface redesign! All the same functions are there as before - check the menu if you can't find something.
• Added "report a bug" option to the menu.
• Improved error reporting when opening or creating a roster. It now shows you details of any selections removed from your roster and any problems with the data files you're using.
• Pro: You can now share your roster with another device via Android Beam (NFC)! Just bring the devices together (usually back-to-back) to send the file across. (Requires Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and devices that support NFC).
• Pro: You can now customise a roster's notes/description - for keeping track of your epic victories.
• Free: Occasional full-screen ads. These are only shown during long loading screens, they can be easily dismissed, and they are limited to a handful per hour. See this post for more details.

Desktop

• Added "report a bug" button to the toolbar.
• Improved error reporting when opening or creating a roster. It now shows you details of any selections removed from your roster and any problems with the data files you're using.
• Fixed tooltip/popup text in the edit (right) panel in Roster Editor.
• Repeating modifiers can now be based on roster points limit or total number of selections.
• Fixed sorting of links in Catalogue Editor.

All Platforms

• Fixed bug where root items with "hidden" modifiers would (nearly) always give errors.
• Fixed bug where roster points wouldn't be updated if items were removed from your roster due to a data file change.
• Fixed bug where points/errors wouldn't get updated in some cases.
• More bug fixes...

BattleScribe 1.14.05 Released!

1.14.05 has now been released on Desktop and Android which fixes a crash when adding items to a roster that's made up of multiple forces. This fix is also on it's way to Apple for approval, and I've requested that they expedite their review process due this bug - it should be available on iOS in the next couple of days. Apologies for the inconvenience.

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Another release today, on all platforms: Desktop, Android and iOS.

This version carries on with the work from 1.14.03, tying up some loose ends and a couple of bugs that came to light since that release. In particular, it sorts out a lot of issues with validating global items in rosters, which were sometimes giving errors when they shouldn't, or weren't giving errors when they should.

All Platforms

• Error message text re-written so all errors are more consistently worded and give better information on the problem.
• Data file version numbers displayed when creating a roster.
• Added min/max in force limits, distinct from min/max in roster.
• Fixes to error reporting for "global" entries (min/max in force/roster).
• Improved memory usage, which should help when editing large rosters (especially on mobile). There is still more work to do in this area however.
• More minor bug fixes.

iOS

• Changes from 1.14.03 are now rolled up into 1.14.04 (see the last release on Android and Desktop).
• Fixed "Errors Loading Data" message when creating or loading a roster.
• Fixed problems saving rosters with certain characters in their names.

Desktop

• Saving your roster as HTML now respects the view settings from View Roster.
• Fixes to moving data when you change the location it's stored in.
• Moving your data will now check the destination folder can be written to (solves "parameter is not a directory" error message once you've gone through the process of moving your data again).
• Fixed error message when trying to open a catalogue for editing when you don't have the appropriate game system.

Phew! There are still one or two gaps in global roster validation, and there may be another release or two to fix those and any other niggles that might come up. But for now, it's time to continue working on something a little more... visual.

BattleScribe 1.14.03 Released!

Today's release is just a bunch of tweaks and bug fixes. This is to make sure everything is nicely stable in preparation for some bigger updates to come in the near future. 1.14.03 is now available on desktop and Android, and will be coming to iOS soon when it is approved by Apple.

Release Notes:

• Catalogues and Game Systems can now have a "books" field, so you can enter the publication(s) the data file is built from/for.
• When importing data from a file via Manage Data, .bsi (index) files are now accepted.
• When moving data, the source folder is not deleted if you have moved the data to a child folder of the source.
• "Page" field in catalogues is now text (so can be blank, Roman numerals etc).
• Entries and Entry Groups can now have a negative "min points" value. This allows data authors to prevent incorrect validation errors when using Entries that cost negative points.
• Data file book and revision number now shown when creating a new roster.
• Fixed "Illegal Argument Exception" error when opening catalogue to edit it.
• Fixed incorrect validation errors for min/max in roster for shared items.
• Fixed problem saving rosters if the name has a "*" in it.
• Fixed desktop version "move data" function which wasn't working in some cases.
• Fixed incorrect points calculation for modified entries in some cases.
• Fixed validation of "hidden" catalogue items: The only validation error hidden items will cause is if you have selected the item in your roster.
• Fixed "file is not a directory" error on OSX and Linux.

BattleScribe 1.14.02 Released on iOS!

Another brief update to say that 1.14.02 is now available in the iTunes App Store for your iOS device. It got a little delayed as I wanted to resolve an issue where quickly tapping buttons could lead to crashes (especially on slower devices). This should now be prevented via the use of pretty little loading spinners when you click buttons. Other than that, it's just a few minor bug fixes.

See the previous post for more details.

Enjoy!

BattleScribe 1.14.02 Released!

BattleScribe 1.14.02 has now been released on Android and desktop with some additional bug fixes and tweaks. It's been submitted to Apple and should become available within a week.

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Hi all, here we are with another update.

This one doesn't bring much in the way of shiny new features - it's all about internal changes. There are a handful of fixes and tweaks, and the Android version has had it's UI updated further, continuing from the work in 1.14.00. This mostly just tries to make it clearer which entries are part of a group.

The headline change, however, is a big performance boost when adding and removing selections from a roster. While you won't notice this a whole lot on the desktop version, on mobile devices the difference is quite pronounced.

BattleScribe has become more complex over the years, and this combined with more fully featured (and therefore larger) data files had started to show the inadequacy of a "brute force" approach for calculating points and checking for errors. This update has overhauled these systems to be much smarter and more efficient.

In some tests I found that the time taken to add or remove a selection from a roster has roughly halved, and this time does not get increasingly longer as your roster gets bigger. Big wins, and I hope it improves the experience of using the app on your phone significantly.

This update has also been submitted to Apple, and we are now awaiting approval for it to become available for your iOS device (it should take roughly a week).

Enjoy!

BattleScribe 1.14.01 Released on iOS!

Just a quick update to say that 1.14.01 has been approved by Apple and is now available for your iPhone, iPod and iPad.

Full details of the release can be found in the last post.

Enjoy :)

BattleScribe T-Shirts Available!

I've had people ask me in the past if they could get hold of a BattleScribe T-shirt, but so far there were only a handful of them in existence. Well today that changed as I went ahead and set up a Cafepress store! If you're the kind of person who wants to show off their allegiance to BattleScribe, now you can :)

You too can look as stylish an sophisticated as your friendly BattleScribe developer:

If you have any ideas for new designs you'd like to see, or if there are any other products you're interested in (stickers, mugs, keyrings etc.) then let me know.

Enjoy and see you at Salute!