Finally, the new version 2.0 of cliMate Animated Weather Widget is released today on Google Play.This now has fully resizable widgets.
On Honeycomb and Ice Cream Sandwich devices, the widgets stretch the current condition layout to the resized area.
On Jellybean, KitKat, Lollipop and higher, the widget layout depends on the aspect ratio of the resized area:
- If the new area is roughly rectangular, it just displays the current condition:
- If the new area has space below, it shows a forecast, the size of which depends on how much space there is to show it. The more space, the more detail.
In addition, the Skyscape and Black Glass themes have been greatly improved, the default widget size itself is much larger than before so it fills more of the screen, and there are new options to hide not only the border (to get a Samsung style flat widget) but also hide the birds and airplane if required.
So what's next? I will be working on the following simultaneously:
- Adding new Weather Providers
- Updating the main app screen so it reflects the widget theme, rather than always showing a Skyscape style layout
- Adding a Stonehenge theme (see below for initial ideas):
Enjoy the new version!
Well, its been a tough 2 months, I didn't think I was going to be able to do it when I first started, but finally I have all the Weather Conditions for all 3 themes converted to a fully resizable format.
The Black Glass and Skyscape themes have been given a new lease of life, look much better in the larger sizes with the built-in forecasts.
I just added a new notification that is shown when your widget is set to Current Location but your device can't get a current location. This is usually caused by the device's Location Settings being switched off, which might not be due to a deliberate action by the user, but could have been automatically done without the user's knowledge in low power situations, or by some Battery Saver type apps.
Testing the new version on all 4 of my devices right now, then will release a version 2.0 hopefully this weekend. It is going to have to be a minimum Android version of 3.0, but that is no great hardship, as it only rules out 7% of all devices at the moment.
Then after release, its time to look at new Weather Providers..
So good news to report, all the Countryside Theme conditions have been converted to resizable versions, and I am half way through the Skyscape Themes, as they are a lot quicker and easier to do. Then its the Black Glass Theme which should be quicker still.
So I am hoping another week to get all the Themes complete. Its Chinese New Year here in Hong Kong next week, so I will have more time to work on it over the holiday.
Then I have to clear up all the unused images that have been replaced by the resizable versions.
At that point I think I will release version 2.0, as making it fully resizable is a major step.
I will also include a few bug fixes and enhancements, such as providing a notification when you have set it to use Current Location but your Location settings have been switched off. This can happen due to Battery Savers and sometimes its just easy to forget.
Then what?
It has to be the Weather Provider, getting so many complaints about Open Weather Map data. I will look at the terms and conditions of AccuWeather, WeatherBug, WorldWeatherOnline etc and see what data I can get for free. It will be limited, but I need to do something about it.
Whilst I am doing that, I will work getting the main app forecast screen to mirror the widget theme, so if you have chosen the Countryside theme it actually shows that instead of the default Skyscape.
Then next theme will be Stonehenge, as its an adaption of the Countryside theme, and thus will be pretty quick to implement, and it looks amazing and dramatic in the sunset and night conditions..
And after all that, hopefully I will have a nice stable system with good weather data, and I can start work on more complicated themes. Current ideas for themes include:
City in front of a river
Castle
Rivendell
Chinese Painting style
Pine Forest with cottage
Airport
Working as fast as I can on the resizing, but its an awful lot of work.
Completed snow today, onto snow showers, then sleet.
