PodPlayer 1.2 released!

A few minor updates in this release:

- Bug fix: when device put in silent mode, the time chimes would get stuck in a loop when silent mode turned back on. Now fixed.

- ‘Library updated’ message removed (for iOS5 users). iOS5 fixes the crashing problem caused by syncing with the app open, so PodPlayer no longer needs to be restarted after sync.

- When sleep timer stops playback, it now also turns off Time Chimes, if necessary. If you didn’t have the ‘mute chimes when podcast not playing’ option turned on, it would keep announcing the time after you’d fallen asleep.

You may notice that the app About screen and Help screen still say “version 1.1″. This is because in my haste to release the bug fixes, I forgot to update those screens. Apologies for any confusion.

iOS5 users will also discover that when podcasts are downloaded from the iTunes app, the artwork isn’t missing anymore.

Which Way Back? 2.0 released!

The handy tool for getting your bearings, Which Way Back?, has been updated and rewritten from the ground up. See previous post for more screenshots.

Previously it was designed to save the location of your home, workplace and some other temporary places like your hotel, car, tent or a meeting place. But after using it for several months, it became apparent that storing many permanent locations would be useful. So now, every time you save a place, it is stored in a table and you can find your way back there any time in the future. Edit the name, delete it or refine the location on a map.

The Home and Work save slots still remain, because everyone has at least one or two permanent places they’d like to always be pointed back to, but the other save slots now take the form of template name buttons. When you save a place to the table, pressing one of these buttons will save you having to type in a name. Any place name that is already in the table will be overwritten, so these are effectively temporary places as before. These appear in green, whereas your custom places appear in light blue.

If you are upgrading from a previous version, it will keep your Home and Work places and put any other places in the table. You can go through and decide which ones to keep/edit/delete.

There are some other new additions too, go to the app page for more information. 

 

 

Which Way Back? 2.0 submitted!

Rewritten from scratch, now the app gives you much better management over the places you save and a few other new features too.

It will probably be a week or so before the upgrade is available, but for now, here’s some screenshots:

PodPlayer tip: 2x speed

Several users have asked me how they can turn on double speed and half speed through PodPlayer. Unfortunately there is no way to implement this yet, as iOS doesn’t give developers the option to control that part of the built-in iPod player.

However, the good news is that because PodPlayer is controlling and playing podcasts through the iPod player app on the device, it means you can open the iPod app at any time, turn on 2x or 1/2x speed, then go back to PodPlayer and it will play at that speed until you turn it off again.

If a future version of iOS gives the option to turn that on and off from within another app, I will definitely implement it within PodPlayer itself.

PodPlayer 1.1 released!

After a few more weeks of use, along with some feedback from users, the new version of PodPlayer is now on the app store.

For more information on what’s new, see it on the iTunes Store.

Tip: To turn the new time-chimes feature on, make sure you go to the settings page to configure it, then toggle the clock icon on the Now Playing Screen.

PodPlayer 1.1 submitted

There is an update coming for PodPlayer with a few extra features, tweaks and improvements. The free update should be available to download within the next couple of weeks, but in the meantime, here’s some screenshots:

 

PodPlayer 1.0 released!

As an avid podcast listener on the iPhone I found there were certain features missing from the existing iPod player. PodPlayer is my best effort to give me the features I need on a daily basis and hopefully others find it useful too.

When you’re travelling on the train, it can often be so crowded that getting your phone out of your pocket to choose a new podcast, or skip forward past the long intros or adverts, can be a pain. PodPlayer gives you a continuous playlist of your podcasts, in the order you want to hear them, so you can go for hours without needing to get the phone out of your pocket. Just set up your favourites and they will get played first.

It lets you set up start times for particular podcasts to make sure it skips past the long intro music or adverts and straight to the content. It also lets you perform a “slow double-click” on your headphone remote to skip forward a specified time, meaning you can skip forward past adverts or boring bits without getting the phone out.

These features require the app to be in the foreground unfortunately, but as you are putting the phone in your pocket anyway, it’s not a huge problem – just remember to load the app before it goes in your pocket and you have all the control you want.

This would work equally well in a car, where you want a long list of podcasts and don’t want to be fiddling with the controls while driving.

Another thing I like to do is listen to podcasts when I go to sleep. The in-built Timer on the iPhone is fine for telling it to sleep after a while, but if you are still awake and want to continue listening, you can use the remote to start playback but you still have turn the phone on, enter your passcode and set the timer going again.

With PodPlayer it’s all inside the app. When Sleep Mode is on, playback will always stop after a set time. If you are asleep, the phone will go to sleep shortly afterwards. If you are still awake, press play on the remote, playback will resume and the timer will start again. This cycle will repeat as many times as you need to fall asleep. All without touching the phone. In the morning just turn Sleep Mode off.

PodPlayer recreates the familiar feel of the iPod player, but aims to provide more control and and app more tailored to podcast listening.

Which Way Back? v1.1 released!

After using the app myself every day, I noticed a few things that bugged me, so I have released this minor update.

1) When editing the names of the buttons, the keyboard would obscure the textboxes, so I’ve rearranged the options screen so that doesn’t happen. I’ve moved other information to its own info page.

2) The accuracy of the arrow relies entirely on the the accuracy of the iPhone’s GPS at the time of saving and while finding your way back. Different factors might affect the GPS, which I can’t control, however I have added a couple of things to help:

a) When looking at the Save screen it will now tell you in real-time the accuracy of the GPS. This usually sits between 65m and 5m, so you can at least wait until you see the accuracy improve a bit before you save your location.

b) If you have internet available, you now have the option to go into settings and fine-tune the locations after the fact on a map. This is especially useful for your two ‘permanent’ locations at the top (eg Home and Work).

3) I have tweaked a couple of thing on the main compass arrow screen: the back button is now more subdued and the target location is now in green, leaving the distance information to stand out more, which has also been enlarged.

Download it now on the appstore.

Which Way Back? v1.0 released!

If you have a bad sense of direction like myself, this app is for you. Even if you don’t, it’s still pretty handy.

The Google maps app is great for most things but if you just want to quickly glance at your phone to see if you’re heading the right way, you have to work out how the streets on the map relate to the street you’re on and also work out which direction you should be facing. If you press the compass icon twice on Google maps it rotates the map to reflect your heading, but if you want to zoom in, it resets back to North Up view again. Most annoying.

So this app doesn’t have a map, doesn’t need you zoom in, just gives you a big compass arrow pointing to to your destination. This means you have to decide which streets to go down, but most of the time you just want to know the direction and the distance. You can keep it in your hand and follow it all the way back, or glance at it, put it in your pocket, then glance again if you need help.

The idea is you press a button to save your position before you leave, then press another button later to make it point the way back to that spot. You can store up to eight locations, two permanent ones at the top (Home, Work, School etc) for when you just wanted to know which direction and how far away your home is from here – and six temporary ones, like Car, Bike, Hotel, Toilets. If you forgot to save the spot and think you can find it on a map, that is also provided.

Buy it for 59p/99c on the appstore

Movie Blocks reviewed on AppSlappy podcast!

Eric and Scott from the AppSlappy podcast reviewed Movie Blocks and though they thought the graphics weren’t that wonderful, Eric thought it was cool little game: “… a great game if you’re into movies and movie trivia… I definitely would recommend it”. Listen to the podcast here.