I've recently decided to move my Android app to Github for source control hosting. As a result the master and branches are now safely checked in on a remote server. This allows me to make changes to the application locally and have a master copy on a remove computer. Now I can have a viable archive of my code changes so I can rollback changes if they don't work as desired.
What this has bought me is the comfort to fully refactor my app. I've decided to rollback my most recent changes adopting the Android Action Bar. I will create a version of the app only using Android 2.x libraries. I've found the transition to using Fragments and the Action bar more difficult than originally estimated. It seems once I solve one issue, I find another one waiting for me. Since less than 5% of my users are on an Android 3 or 4 device I am not going to optimize for those version of Android in my next release.
What I plan on doing this year is finish this refactoring then refactor again to only support Android 3.x and up. I will then have two deployed apps that target the two different UI approaches in Android. My hope is this will allow me to release a quick update for a new feature I have in mind and give me time to resolve the flaw I discovered in my current implementation.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Release 2.3
Over the past month I have been working to make version 2.3 available in the Android market and Amazon App store. This new version will be a departure from how I have been releasing changes for Handicap: Golf Tracker and Handicap: Golf Tracker Pro. In the past the only real difference between the two version was a grass background and the lack of ads in the pro version.
In this version there are some significant differences between the free version and the pro version. In the pro version you will now see a more streamlined Add Round screen. The new screen gets rid of the drop down boxes and replaces then with text fields. I hope this will made entering round much easier. The other difference will be the addition of graphs to the Stats screen. You can now see five different graphs to see how you are trending. I will be adding more graphs and features to this screen in later releases.
Both version will see significant changes to UI navigation. I am no longer duplicating some features in the menus. Some features are also no longer hidden in the menus. Now the Action Bar will be used to display features like adding a course/round, filtering rounds or easy access to the help screens.
The Pro version is now available in the Android market while the free version will be available in August. Both versions will be on the Amazon App Store once they pass the app validation process.
In this version there are some significant differences between the free version and the pro version. In the pro version you will now see a more streamlined Add Round screen. The new screen gets rid of the drop down boxes and replaces then with text fields. I hope this will made entering round much easier. The other difference will be the addition of graphs to the Stats screen. You can now see five different graphs to see how you are trending. I will be adding more graphs and features to this screen in later releases.
Both version will see significant changes to UI navigation. I am no longer duplicating some features in the menus. Some features are also no longer hidden in the menus. Now the Action Bar will be used to display features like adding a course/round, filtering rounds or easy access to the help screens.
The Pro version is now available in the Android market while the free version will be available in August. Both versions will be on the Amazon App Store once they pass the app validation process.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Adding AChartEngine to Handicap: Golf Tracker Pro
Over the past couple weeks I've been working to improve the user experience for the paid users. As a result I have begun working on adding graph support to Your Stats section of the android app. These stats should provide a little more context on how your game is progressing. Here are a couple screen shots to give you an idea on what to expect.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Action Bar
A new version of Handicap is now on the android market. The main changes have been around navigation and the help screens. Now on the help screens you find information on using Backup and Restore functions as well as the version of Handicap you are using.
The navigation change has been the adition of a Home button on the action bar. For now all android devices have buttons for back, menu and search. Gradually that might change. Now a button in the top left will return you to the Handicap dashboard screen so you don't need to use the bach button. For now i will keep the menu buttons as an alternative to the buttons on the screen. Eventually more buttons will be shown in the action bar.
A new version of Handicap is now on the android market. The main changes have been around navigation and the help screens. Now on the help screens you find information on using Backup and Restore functions as well as the version of Handicap you are using.
The navigation change has been the adition of a Home button on the action bar. For now all android devices have buttons for back, menu and search. Gradually that might change. Now a button in the top left will return you to the Handicap dashboard screen so you don't need to use the bach button. For now i will keep the menu buttons as an alternative to the buttons on the screen. Eventually more buttons will be shown in the action bar.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Version 2.0.1 Released!
A new version of Handicap: Golf Tracker was released for the Android market last night. The changes are mostly all under the covers for the Pro users and a couple layout changes for the Lite users. A few of the processes that run behind the scenes when you add a round or delete a course no longer require you to wait for them to complete.
For the Lite folks you may see a change in the ads displayed. As part of the Google purchase of Admob, a code change was required to display ads. I was able to change some of the screen layouts for landscape users so that the ads don't take up too much room.
Handicap: Golf Tracker Pro
Handicap: Golf Tracker Lite
A new version of Handicap: Golf Tracker was released for the Android market last night. The changes are mostly all under the covers for the Pro users and a couple layout changes for the Lite users. A few of the processes that run behind the scenes when you add a round or delete a course no longer require you to wait for them to complete.
For the Lite folks you may see a change in the ads displayed. As part of the Google purchase of Admob, a code change was required to display ads. I was able to change some of the screen layouts for landscape users so that the ads don't take up too much room.
Handicap: Golf Tracker Pro
Handicap: Golf Tracker Lite
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Working on Handicap 2.0
I'm currently working on delivering a sizable amount of new functionality. The feature list includes more course data, a new crowd sourcing approach to course data and new stats. I'm hoping to deliver a really top notch experience that will distinguish my app with the others available for Android. Below are a couple new screens I'm working on. You'll see there is now info for the hole like par and yardage. I have also added the option to track the club hit off the tee.
I'm currently working on delivering a sizable amount of new functionality. The feature list includes more course data, a new crowd sourcing approach to course data and new stats. I'm hoping to deliver a really top notch experience that will distinguish my app with the others available for Android. Below are a couple new screens I'm working on. You'll see there is now info for the hole like par and yardage. I have also added the option to track the club hit off the tee.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Handicap: Golf Tracker 1.9 released!
A new version of Handicap: Golf Tracker is now available on the Android marketplace. The new version contains changes to the Play Golf screen that allows you to enter a round hole by hole. The new screen removes the golf ball links and allows you to go directly to the first hole or the next hole you haven't entered a score on. You can now choose to save the round on this screen as well as share the round. The cancel button will remove the temporary round created when you clicked on the Play Round button.
The main feature I hope this will resolve is the occasional force close error being reported. On occasion the
round data has been lost which causes a force close to occur when you clicked on the next hole to play. The fix should handle the issue by reloading the saved round data.
Here are a couple screen shots of the new Play Golf screens for both the Pro and the Lite versions. The lite version will display ads and has a solid green background.
Android Market links:
Handicap: Golf Tracker Pro
Handicap: Golf Tracker Lite
A new version of Handicap: Golf Tracker is now available on the Android marketplace. The new version contains changes to the Play Golf screen that allows you to enter a round hole by hole. The new screen removes the golf ball links and allows you to go directly to the first hole or the next hole you haven't entered a score on. You can now choose to save the round on this screen as well as share the round. The cancel button will remove the temporary round created when you clicked on the Play Round button.
The main feature I hope this will resolve is the occasional force close error being reported. On occasion the
round data has been lost which causes a force close to occur when you clicked on the next hole to play. The fix should handle the issue by reloading the saved round data.
Here are a couple screen shots of the new Play Golf screens for both the Pro and the Lite versions. The lite version will display ads and has a solid green background.
Android Market links:
Handicap: Golf Tracker Pro
Handicap: Golf Tracker Lite
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