Update on roadmap/features
Hi -
Love the product, but i'd love to see some more communication about what is happening with the product timeline-wise. There are a few other products starting to come up to the same spec as TouchFS -- so i'd be wanting to consider jumping ship if no updates are planned in the near-ish future.
For me, there are some key things i'd like to see, and approx what timeline (e.g. "X - Sept, Y - Oct/Nov):
- _Basic_ Image Browsing: swipe sideways to browse to next image within the folder (e.g. like Apple Photos application); a Prev/Next arrows in toolbar so you can quickly browse through files.. (Prev/Next may work better for text files/pdfs/etc)
I know you have a "full media browser" planned, but basic next/prev functionality would go a long way to bridging the gap to when this feature is released. - Thumbnail Images: would be much nicer to find photos this way, rather than remembering "IMG2525.JPG" as being 'the one', etc.
- Password on startup/folders: i uses this as a place to store my private photos, that i don't want sync'd to iPhoto or easily browsable by people 'checking out my phone'
- Full Screen Viewer: Less important, but be good to be able to have the toolbar disappear after a timeout/etc (like Photos app)
Aside from this i generally have a few issues with the app returning to the 'root directory' after closing an image (e.g. losing the current directory i am in). I can't seem to detect a pattern, but will advise if i work out how to reproduce it. I think it's if you do something too quickly.
Many thanks. Love the app and look forward to more enhancements :)
/Mark.
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Message received
Yes, this has been a slow month for update news, but that's not because no work has been done...it's because we've been trying to tackle features a little too complicated...a custom PDF viewer which supports "jump to page" and password protected PDFs comes to mind.
I'll take a look at the feature request emails and forum posts and see if I can't put a prioritized list together for all to see next week. We should probably get some of the "easier" features out of the way first anyway–I for one just got carried away with my PDF idea.
As for the image viewer dumping you back to the root folder, I've never encountered this and couldn't reproduce it at all...maybe my fingers and thumbs aren't fast enough. *smile*
Let me know if you figure out when it occurs.
Thanks
Thanks for the update - i look forward to seeing that list posted.
Unable to view pictures in Word Docs
Not sure if others have had the same problem but I can't seem to see any pictures that are saved in my word documents. All I see is a box with a little icon in the top left corner. The pictures in the Word document were pasted in there from the clipboard ie. not inserted.
Is it possible to load Word docs with pictures?
Otherwise the app is going great guns.
About Image Behavior In Office Files
TouchFS uses the system's Office file viewer to display Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. It should display any Office document exactly like it would appear if you viewed it in iPhone Mail or Safari.
I created a Word file and inserted some line art clip art, a copied and pasted image, and an image dragged in from my desktop. Here's the results of viewing this file in Mail, Safari and TouchFS. The results surprised me to say the least, but at least prove that TouchFS's behavior in this matter is no different that Apple's own applications.
Hopefully future iPhone OS updates will improve the system's ability to view Office files like this. When this happens, TouchFS will automatically gain the new abilities.
I should probably add that this also goes for any file viewing app out there when it comes to Office files. I'd be willing to bet nobody out there has written their own Word/Excel/PowerPoint viewing component for the iPhone...especially when dealing with the standard, non-XML Office formats.
Another slow month
So another slow month it seems for updates. I'm a bit disappointed the feedback i made seems to be being ignored.
COMMUNICATE WITH US!
Seriously - a weekly/fortnightly update, on what features you're working on, approximate progress, etc.
OR - be honest and say 'v1.2 is it' feature-wise, and only bug-fixes and compatibility updates to come.
Of course i'd love to see the features i had previously posted done. I still primarily use TouchFS - but the competitor products seem to be improving their product and i suspect the next updates from a few will overtake TouchFS.
/Mark
I'm still here...had a bit of
I'm still here...had a bit of a "political" falling out on the team these past few weeks, and had trouble getting the 2.1 firmware to install. I apologize for the lack of responses.
All the feedback the community has given is being heard...some of these features have been harder to implement than expected. Having issues with using Bonjour names to connect, having issues connecting over an ad hoc WiFi network, having issues "jumping to page" in the PDF viewer, having issues playing audio/video files that are recorded at too high a bit rate, etc...
We're getting there though. I feel 1.3 is going to be a smaller release, with 2.1 compatibility and better text file handling and password protection.
While we're on the subject, I have a question...how important is it to be able to change the port number that TouchFS listens on? Did we go overboard w/unnecessary options like this?
Port Numbers
For me, the ability to change the port number was not very important. There is only one iPhone in the house (mine) and no other devices/services are using port 8080. I can see how it could be useful to change port numbers, but I haven't needed to.
Minor preferences
Hi Paul -
I personally don't _need_ the port number change, and i hear you about adding too many preferences.
Lack of customisability is probably one of my main concerns with the iPhone. With the goal to get the "simplelist UI possible" Apple and other developers at some point end up limiting user preference to achieve that goal. I support the goal, but sometimes simple tweaks can really make an application.
Desktop apps may solve this by having a prefs file with more options than the GUI presents -- obviously harder on the iPhone...
--
If it's a question of "which do i focus on" - i again suggest a voting table for features, etc. Let the users provide the feedback on what they want most -- then if port #s is 'up there' then obviously it needs to happen.
/Mark
Good Feedback
Good ideas and feedback all...I know Drupal has a Poll module I can use for this. I'll come up with a list of features I think are attainable short-term and we'll have a vote.