1.9 Update

Just a quick heads up, a 1.9 update that fixes some login issues and inbox count issues a small number of users have been encountering has been submitted to Microsoft for testing. Look forward to hitting the marketplace during the next week.

Where’s 1.7 at?

It’s been over a month since my last post – and in that time Microsoft have officially unveiled the Windows Phone 7.1 “Mango” update to the world – very exciting news for developers and users alike.

But if you’re here I guess more importantly you’re wondering where Springy 1.7 has gotten off to? After all, it was initially meant to be out late January / Early February?

Well, it’s coming, next week! Finally! There’s just one little set of bugs to fix and then it’s off for certification.

But what’s taken it so long? Well, every single page in the application has had major code rewrites, for both performance, memory and aesthetic reasons, as well as code clean ups. Infact, the Profile & Inbox pages have been rewritten over 4 times each in the last few months, with me trying out various ideas to squeeze al those extra drops of performance out of the system! It’s been a lot of effort, but it’s going to pay off… well, even if only ever so slightly!

Hang tight fellow Formspringers, it’s not long now!

Where’s my update?! :D

Sorry it’s been a whiles guys – University life has been busy. Aiming for a First is no pushover job. Anyway, as luck would have it, I’m stuck in an examination / revision period, so not a lot of time to work on Springy right now.

But, fear not – progress on Springy! 1.7 is well underway!

The current list if updates and fixes include:

• Entire backend rewritten for faster downloads and upto 40% less data downloads (typically between 5-15%), saving you time and money!
• Automatic Login
• Haptic Feedback now works on all devices
• Fixed URL parsing crashes
• You can now block users & report spam from the inbox
• Performance improvements to “my profile” loading
• Ability to delete from inbox overview using context menus
• Fixed random crashes with malformed profile images
• Lots of other small things.

Before the update hits, I’m also planning on adding in the following:

• Improved readability of questions & answers with full screen-width reading area
• Image uploading
• Inline image viewing
• Block users from inbox context menu
• “Answer this question” feature, to send any question your friends have answered to your inbox
• Show date on full Question / Answer view.

There’s also the possibility of

Unfortunately, as my examination period creeps into the month of May slightly, be on the lookout update to be hitting your phones some time in early May.

See ya round guys, and enjoy the app!

Johnny.

1.6 inbound…

Just a heads up, Springy! 1.6 was submitted for testing to Microsoft earlier today, after extensive testing – so if all goes well you’ll hopefully be seeing it in the marketplace by the start of next week.

There are only a few new end user features in it – but it’s the release I’m most proud of personally – and certainly the update that’s had the most work gone in to it. I’m sure you’ll all enjoy it though. More detailed change log and list of bug fixes will be up when it gets published.

A sneak peak at Springy! 1.6

Well, the 1.6 update is taking a bit more work than I’d expected, but it’ll be a more substantial update than 1.5. Take a quick gander at it if you will… and expect the update sometime this month (:

Live Test of Springy 1.6, running on an HTC Trophy, filmed by a Samsung Omnia 7.

Changes you ask? Well, you’ll notice off the bat that the animations for your profile pages and inbox are now consistent and smooth after loading – no more animation skipping & freezing for long lists. The followers list has also been updated visually, and should have smoother scrolling as well.

Other than that, there are various other performance tweaks and changes underneath, and maybe a nice little surprise extra…

 

P.S. Ah, by the way. Letting you click on hyperlinks in questions and answers? That’s coming in 1.7, if that’s something you’re looking forward too!

Coming up–Springy! 1.4, 1.5, & 1.6

It’s been a little while right guys? Well don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about you all! Christmas is here, and I’ve had some free time to polish up Springy! at bit.

First up is Springy! 1.4, which includes bug fixes, performance improvements, new features and a new basic theme, improved touch targets, and improved touch aware responses. You’ll love it (: It’s currently in testing now at Microsoft, and should be on the marketplace in a couple of days.

Next up is Springy! 1.5 – this is actually done – complete, ready to go. It features only 3 changes from 1.4, but they’re still worth a release. First up is to a fix a colouring bug with the new feature introduced in 1.4, when using light theme on the phone. Slipped past me in testing, and unfortunately, Microsoft doesn’t let you cancel submissions that have already gone into testing, sooo it’s coming up in the next build.
But there’s more to 1.5 than that, there’s also a nice UI change to improve usability and readability on the profile pages, and a new basic theme, based on one of the old rejected designs. This’ll be put up for testing straight after 1.4 gets approved, so should be pushed to you sometime this week.

And that just leaves Springy! 1.6. What’s going to change in that you ask? Performance. Springy! is already considered one of the smoothest, and fastest Windows Phone 7 apps on the marketplace, but for me as a developer all I can see is massive performance pit holes, and skipping animations. The goal of Springy! 1.6 is to get much improved performance, especially when downloading additional questions/answers and when reloading the inbox after deleting/answering a question. Animation will also be worked on to be perfectly, consistently smooth through the application, no matter how visually complex a page gets. It’s going to be awesome
And what else? Improved themes. At the moment, I call themes “Basic Themes”. They're simple, and sparsely animated. New themes will be greatly animated and dynamic, and far more gorgeous looking, without being distracting. It’s going to be a big update. When can you expect it? No idea. Anytime between now and next year maybe (:

Springing into Action: Springy! 1.3

So guys, it’s been a little while hasn’t it? I managed to find a bit of time over the weekend to polish Springy! a bit, and 1.3 is the fruit of that labour!

So let’s cut to the chase – what does 1.3 bring to the table?

• Auto correct is now present for both asking and answering questions!
• Improved question preview shortening (now turned on by default)
• Native theme is now the default theme choice
• Experimental landscape support tuning
• Improved search results scrolling
• Fixed the animations on the activity feed, pretty!
• Tuned Inbox animations – should be slightly smoother
• Fix for Inbox crashing

Looking for a more in-depth analysis and behind the scenes tid bits about the update, click on to read the rest of the post!