So, finally fixed the issue with motion detection on Galaxy Note 2 phones.
The shake to refresh and bouncing cube didnt work at all.
Turns out it is abug in Samsungs Firmware, the shake events were all being tagged as unreliable, so were being discarded.
I fixed it to ignore the unreliable tag, so they are now being let through and the Note 2 has its bounce back!
Version 3.2 on the Google Play store now..
Bespoke C# .NET/Android Programming, Consultancy, Project Management and Graphical Design
Monday, April 8, 2013
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Weather Redux..
So finally happy to report I found a free weather provider, OpenWeatherMap.org, so I have at last got the new in-development Weather Widget working and starting to iron out the bugs and make all the settings user definable. .
Here is a nice detailed shot. Note that New York is showing temperatures in Fahrenheit, Bangkok in Celsius. There are different clock types, and the time and date can be switched on and off.
Other features... on the night scene, note the drifting clouds, the correct phase of the moon, the shooting stars, the spinning windmill, and the flying birds. The bush to the right slowly waves back and forth.
On the Cloud day scene, we again have nice moving cloud layers, flying birds, a spinning windmill, bush gently waving in the breeze, and a plane towing a user defined message through the clouds.
A lot more to do to pretty up the user interface for the settings and make it foolproof, particularly the selection of weather location. Then I need to work out the correct sunrise and sunset time so that scene style can be automatically shown, and then also work out the local time zone for that location.
It just shows the current weather only, so perhaps that is enough for the first release, or maybe will need to add a forecast screen also.
Anyway, good news, happy to report it is all working well so far..
Here is a nice detailed shot. Note that New York is showing temperatures in Fahrenheit, Bangkok in Celsius. There are different clock types, and the time and date can be switched on and off.
On the Cloud day scene, we again have nice moving cloud layers, flying birds, a spinning windmill, bush gently waving in the breeze, and a plane towing a user defined message through the clouds.
A lot more to do to pretty up the user interface for the settings and make it foolproof, particularly the selection of weather location. Then I need to work out the correct sunrise and sunset time so that scene style can be automatically shown, and then also work out the local time zone for that location.
It just shows the current weather only, so perhaps that is enough for the first release, or maybe will need to add a forecast screen also.
Anyway, good news, happy to report it is all working well so far..
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Time off
Have had a little break from working on my apps, was nice to concentrate on my life outside of IT for a while. A few other improvements to my Google accounts means it will be easier to sell and get paid for selling my apps, so I am free to spend a bit more time on them now.
Coming up, I need to work out a solid business model for my in-development Weather Widget, to ensure I can provide viable accurate weather information on an ongoing basis. Now Google's Weather API is defunct, I can no longer get weather data for free, so have to use a paid service, the cost of which depends on the number of users and requests for weather information.
However, the charges from the weather providers are not one off costs, but an ongoing monthly cost. Hence a user who will be charged say 99c for my weather app, will expect to be supported with weather information for the lifetime of the usage of that app, probably over several years. I have to make sure I can cover that reasonably, or perhaps start some kind of in-app billing to cover the costs.
Before that I would like to add some new styles to Photo Cube, I think an update of the available frames is long overdue, and I have a few new ideas I would like to try out.
Also if anyone has any other ideas for new Photo Cube features, let me know, now is the time for me to think about implementing them!
Another sneak peak of the Weather Widget, to wet your appetites...
Coming up, I need to work out a solid business model for my in-development Weather Widget, to ensure I can provide viable accurate weather information on an ongoing basis. Now Google's Weather API is defunct, I can no longer get weather data for free, so have to use a paid service, the cost of which depends on the number of users and requests for weather information.
However, the charges from the weather providers are not one off costs, but an ongoing monthly cost. Hence a user who will be charged say 99c for my weather app, will expect to be supported with weather information for the lifetime of the usage of that app, probably over several years. I have to make sure I can cover that reasonably, or perhaps start some kind of in-app billing to cover the costs.
Before that I would like to add some new styles to Photo Cube, I think an update of the available frames is long overdue, and I have a few new ideas I would like to try out.
Also if anyone has any other ideas for new Photo Cube features, let me know, now is the time for me to think about implementing them!
Another sneak peak of the Weather Widget, to wet your appetites...
Monday, August 13, 2012
Sneak Peaks
Some more sneak peaks of the next Dusk Jockeys App, my Weather with a twist of secret sauce... totally unique on the Android Market.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Photo Cube Live Wallpaper version 3.0 released!
Very happy to report that version 3.0 of Photo Cube Live Wallpaper was released yesterday.
That has the motion detection stuff I have been working for the past week or two, and a range of bug fixes for the various issues introduced during the Album mode release.
You can now shake to bounce the cube around the screen, and adjust the bouncing speed via the Settings. It has full 3d motion detection, it bounces off the sides, and also the "front" and "back" of the screen. I just added a little vibrate to the bounce event, will put that in the next version, its very cool and really makes the bounce seem real!
When in Album mode, you can shake the device a few times to trigger the picture refresh, the cube shrinks into the screen, and then zooms back out with the new pictures all ready.
Finally there is an experimental Background Depth feature, which when switched on moves the background image left and right as you tilt the phone sideway, as if the background is being shown a few cm "behind" the screen as opposed to on the screen. Its not perfect yet, but is still fun to play with.
I am off on holiday to England for a week tomorrow, so will not be working much on it, but will keep an eye out for any bug reports so I can fix any issues which arise. As much as I try, it is hard to find everything when I only have a few devices to test on.
Now I have to take a break and think about new development. Improving the Background Depth feature, maybe doing a nicer Motion Detection settings screen with live previews. And of course back to my long delayed project, the Weather Widget with top secret killer feature. :o)
That has the motion detection stuff I have been working for the past week or two, and a range of bug fixes for the various issues introduced during the Album mode release.
You can now shake to bounce the cube around the screen, and adjust the bouncing speed via the Settings. It has full 3d motion detection, it bounces off the sides, and also the "front" and "back" of the screen. I just added a little vibrate to the bounce event, will put that in the next version, its very cool and really makes the bounce seem real!
When in Album mode, you can shake the device a few times to trigger the picture refresh, the cube shrinks into the screen, and then zooms back out with the new pictures all ready.
Finally there is an experimental Background Depth feature, which when switched on moves the background image left and right as you tilt the phone sideway, as if the background is being shown a few cm "behind" the screen as opposed to on the screen. Its not perfect yet, but is still fun to play with.
I am off on holiday to England for a week tomorrow, so will not be working much on it, but will keep an eye out for any bug reports so I can fix any issues which arise. As much as I try, it is hard to find everything when I only have a few devices to test on.
Now I have to take a break and think about new development. Improving the Background Depth feature, maybe doing a nicer Motion Detection settings screen with live previews. And of course back to my long delayed project, the Weather Widget with top secret killer feature. :o)
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Bug Fix Version 2.6
Almost finished the Motion Detection stuff, but had to release a quick bug fix version, too many Force Close issues popping up which I needed to sort out first.
Version 2.6 is on the Market/Play Store right now. It should fix all the Force Close problems that a few people have reported.
Then on to the end of Motion Detection!
Version 2.6 is on the Market/Play Store right now. It should fix all the Force Close problems that a few people have reported.
Then on to the end of Motion Detection!
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Shaken not stirred..
Work on the Motion Detection continues at a good rate.
I have completed the Shake to Refresh for Album mode. When a shake is detected, the cube and floating panels quickly shrink into the screen, and then swiftly restore back to their original size with the newly refreshed pictures. The time for this operation will depend on the speed of the phone, but is usually less than a second. Looks very cool!
Jerking the phone left or right now gives the cube a bit of extra spin in that direction. That took a good bit of working out, particularly because the direction depends of course on how the phone is held, working out which way is really "right" or "left" can vary enormously, particuarly on newer devices like tablets, which can have 4 distinct orientations, not just landscape and portrait.
Today got the maths working for the 3D background effect, the phone now seems like a window on the background, tilting it left or right shows the background from another angle, as if you were walking past a window and looking out, the view through the window would change. A very subtle, cool effect, but I need to make it super smooth, its still a bit jerky. I think a day or two more for that.
Then need to extend the jerking effect to give the cube a bounce off the "walls" of the phone.
All this new Motion Detection stuff will be in a major new 3.0 release. I want to do a nice Settings screen, with nice previews of the effects.
Last night I did a quick bug fix release 2.5, to fix a few issues that had come up from Album mode, mostly from when users had only a single picture in an SD card album.
I have completed the Shake to Refresh for Album mode. When a shake is detected, the cube and floating panels quickly shrink into the screen, and then swiftly restore back to their original size with the newly refreshed pictures. The time for this operation will depend on the speed of the phone, but is usually less than a second. Looks very cool!
Jerking the phone left or right now gives the cube a bit of extra spin in that direction. That took a good bit of working out, particularly because the direction depends of course on how the phone is held, working out which way is really "right" or "left" can vary enormously, particuarly on newer devices like tablets, which can have 4 distinct orientations, not just landscape and portrait.
Today got the maths working for the 3D background effect, the phone now seems like a window on the background, tilting it left or right shows the background from another angle, as if you were walking past a window and looking out, the view through the window would change. A very subtle, cool effect, but I need to make it super smooth, its still a bit jerky. I think a day or two more for that.
Then need to extend the jerking effect to give the cube a bounce off the "walls" of the phone.
All this new Motion Detection stuff will be in a major new 3.0 release. I want to do a nice Settings screen, with nice previews of the effects.
Last night I did a quick bug fix release 2.5, to fix a few issues that had come up from Album mode, mostly from when users had only a single picture in an SD card album.
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