Cupcake Interim Test Release
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kolbysoft
May 9, 2009, 7:49:47 PM5/9/09
to SteelAndroid
I've posted a test version of an interim release of Steel on my
website at http://www.kolbysoft.com/downloads.html. Since I don't have
a 1.5 phone available, I would like for people to download, install,
and test it a little. You can leave feedback here, or on the blog.
Make sure you read, understand, and follow the instructions on the
download page. All of them. Now go play.
website at http://www.kolbysoft.com/downloads.html. Since I don't have
a 1.5 phone available, I would like for people to download, install,
and test it a little. You can leave feedback here, or on the blog.
Make sure you read, understand, and follow the instructions on the
download page. All of them. Now go play.
Mike Loomis
May 9, 2009, 8:12:07 PM5/9/09
to steela...@googlegroups.com
OK, I just installed it and took it for a quick spin, and it seems pretty much like the Steel of old, except for the bookmarks. When you pull up the bookmarks it is a not-very-appealing list of the websites. Each line is kind of thin and hard to select with your finger, especially the one at the bottom of the screen, but the biggest problem is when you scroll up and down the list the screen goes black. It comes back when you stop scrolling so it could be worse, but that is the only problem I have seen. As always, great job!
kolbysoft
May 9, 2009, 9:11:25 PM5/9/09
to SteelAndroid
Thanks Mike,
I've modified the bookmark list view, the black-out issue should be
gone. I've also made the text a little bigger. This is the problem if
you don't get to test on the real phone, the emulator only gets you so
far. The download page links to the new version.
Michael
On May 9, 8:12 pm, Mike Loomis <loomi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> OK, I just installed it and took it for a quick spin, and it seems pretty
> much like the Steel of old, except for the bookmarks. When you pull up the
> bookmarks it is a not-very-appealing list of the websites. Each line is
> kind of thin and hard to select with your finger, especially the one at the
> bottom of the screen, but the biggest problem is when you scroll up and down
> the list the screen goes black. It comes back when you stop scrolling so it
> could be worse, but that is the only problem I have seen. As always, great
> job!
>
I've modified the bookmark list view, the black-out issue should be
gone. I've also made the text a little bigger. This is the problem if
you don't get to test on the real phone, the emulator only gets you so
far. The download page links to the new version.
Michael
On May 9, 8:12 pm, Mike Loomis <loomi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> OK, I just installed it and took it for a quick spin, and it seems pretty
> much like the Steel of old, except for the bookmarks. When you pull up the
> bookmarks it is a not-very-appealing list of the websites. Each line is
> kind of thin and hard to select with your finger, especially the one at the
> bottom of the screen, but the biggest problem is when you scroll up and down
> the list the screen goes black. It comes back when you stop scrolling so it
> could be worse, but that is the only problem I have seen. As always, great
> job!
>
> On May 9, 2009 7:49 PM, "kolbysoft" <kolbys...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I've posted a test version of an interim release of Steel on my
> website athttp://www.kolbysoft.com/downloads.html. Since I don't have
>
> I've posted a test version of an interim release of Steel on my
Mike Loomis
May 9, 2009, 9:23:43 PM5/9/09
to steela...@googlegroups.com
Don't worry man, we got your back! It's the least we can do, after all your hard work.
On May 9, 2009 9:11 PM, "kolbysoft" <kolb...@gmail.com> wrote:
Thanks Mike,
I've modified the bookmark list view, the black-out issue should be
gone. I've also made the text a little bigger. This is the problem if
you don't get to test on the real phone, the emulator only gets you so
far. The download page links to the new version.
Michael
On May 9, 8:12 pm, Mike Loomis <loomi...@gmail.com> wrote: > OK, I just installed it and took it fo...
> On May 9, 2009 7:49 PM, "kolbysoft" <kolbys...@gmail.com> wrote: > > I've posted a test version of...
> website athttp://www.kolbysoft.com/downloads.html. Since I don't have
> a 1.5 phone available, I would like for people to download, install, > and test it a little. You c...
jl
May 10, 2009, 12:26:13 PM5/10/09
to SteelAndroid
I had to use the default browser for 2 weeks and I am so
glad to be able to use Steel again! Even the cupcake
built-in keyboard works for me. Even though I've tried
everything to get it, I never see the Steel soft keyboard.
One small bug: "Long pressing the back button allows for
immediate exit of Steel". Actually you get an Exit button
but the quarter circle below it gets precedence, so when
pressing Exit actually you display the navigation bar. To
really exit you need to press on the left side of the Exit
button.
"Autorate with keyboard" does not work with cupcake. When
this option is _not_ selected, Steel still automatically
rotates to landscape mode when either the keyboard is
opened, or when the phone is rotated to landscape
orientation. This occurs regardless of the general phone
orientation setting "switch orientation automatically when
rotating phone". That's bug 1: Steel should not auto-rotate
when both options are unset.
Bug 2 is that once it has auto-rotated with "Autorate with
keyboard" unset, Steel gets stuck in landscape orientation
regardless of the general phone orientation setting. The
only way to get Steel back to portrait mode is to exit and
run it again. Even setting "Autorate with keyboard" has no
immediate effect, you must exit Steel first.
In short Steel works correctly only when "Autorate with
keyboard" is set. I suggest suppressing this option and just
using the global orientation settings for the phone.
The above issues are minor. There's only one thing really
irritating for me, that I already reported and which
unfortunately is still not fixed in this new version: there
is no way to get rid of the address bar and navigation bars
other than waiting for a long timeout (up to 15 seconds for
example when reading Google Groups). I prefer browsing in
landscape orientation; the two bars at top and bottom take a
lot of screen space, and are very disturbing to me anyway.
I already suggested a simple way to fix this: make the
quarter circle at the bottom right corner always visible,
and let it become a toggle. If the navigation bar is
visible, pressing the quarter circle would hide both
bars. Another way would be to add a configurable timeout,
but I would still prefer a way to get rid of the two bars
immediately.
Even though I'm really irritated by this Steel feature,
Steel is still much better than the default browser, because
there is no way to get rid of the zoom buttons in the
default browser: they keep popping up again when scrolling.
Thanks so much for this cupcake version of Steel!
Jean-loup
glad to be able to use Steel again! Even the cupcake
built-in keyboard works for me. Even though I've tried
everything to get it, I never see the Steel soft keyboard.
One small bug: "Long pressing the back button allows for
immediate exit of Steel". Actually you get an Exit button
but the quarter circle below it gets precedence, so when
pressing Exit actually you display the navigation bar. To
really exit you need to press on the left side of the Exit
button.
"Autorate with keyboard" does not work with cupcake. When
this option is _not_ selected, Steel still automatically
rotates to landscape mode when either the keyboard is
opened, or when the phone is rotated to landscape
orientation. This occurs regardless of the general phone
orientation setting "switch orientation automatically when
rotating phone". That's bug 1: Steel should not auto-rotate
when both options are unset.
Bug 2 is that once it has auto-rotated with "Autorate with
keyboard" unset, Steel gets stuck in landscape orientation
regardless of the general phone orientation setting. The
only way to get Steel back to portrait mode is to exit and
run it again. Even setting "Autorate with keyboard" has no
immediate effect, you must exit Steel first.
In short Steel works correctly only when "Autorate with
keyboard" is set. I suggest suppressing this option and just
using the global orientation settings for the phone.
The above issues are minor. There's only one thing really
irritating for me, that I already reported and which
unfortunately is still not fixed in this new version: there
is no way to get rid of the address bar and navigation bars
other than waiting for a long timeout (up to 15 seconds for
example when reading Google Groups). I prefer browsing in
landscape orientation; the two bars at top and bottom take a
lot of screen space, and are very disturbing to me anyway.
I already suggested a simple way to fix this: make the
quarter circle at the bottom right corner always visible,
and let it become a toggle. If the navigation bar is
visible, pressing the quarter circle would hide both
bars. Another way would be to add a configurable timeout,
but I would still prefer a way to get rid of the two bars
immediately.
Even though I'm really irritated by this Steel feature,
Steel is still much better than the default browser, because
there is no way to get rid of the zoom buttons in the
default browser: they keep popping up again when scrolling.
Thanks so much for this cupcake version of Steel!
Jean-loup
kolbysoft
May 10, 2009, 2:35:05 PM5/10/09
to SteelAndroid
Jean-loup,
thanks for your feedback, good input.
I hadn't had the time to further develop new features into Steel, but
will do so in the near future.
I'll look into the auto-rotate issue, there were no auto-rotate phone
settings in the 1.1 sdk, and Steel is still compiled against that.
I will also look into the exit button issue.
About the sliding bars, wouldn't the quarter circle obstruct the
navigation bar at the bottom if it were always visible? Maybe I don't
fully understand your proposal yet.
Michael
thanks for your feedback, good input.
I hadn't had the time to further develop new features into Steel, but
will do so in the near future.
I'll look into the auto-rotate issue, there were no auto-rotate phone
settings in the 1.1 sdk, and Steel is still compiled against that.
I will also look into the exit button issue.
About the sliding bars, wouldn't the quarter circle obstruct the
navigation bar at the bottom if it were always visible? Maybe I don't
fully understand your proposal yet.
Michael
jl
May 10, 2009, 3:02:08 PM5/10/09
to SteelAndroid
> About the sliding bars, wouldn't the quarter circle obstruct the
> navigation bar at the bottom if it were always visible?
There are currently 4 or 5 icons in the navigation bar (5 if
> navigation bar at the bottom if it were always visible?
several windows are open). I am suggesting to make this 5 or
6 icons, the rightmost one being an icon to hide the sliding
bars. There is enough horizontal space for 6 icons even in
portrait orientation. This additional icon doesn't have to
be the quarter circle but I think it would be consistent to
use the same one; a cross would be confusing together with
the other cross closing the window.
Jean-loup
kolbysoft
May 10, 2009, 3:18:00 PM5/10/09
to SteelAndroid
Jean-loup,
thanks for the clarification, this could easily be made into a UI
option.
Now all I need is an icon for the sliding back that doesn't look like
the forward arrow.
I'm also interested to find out more about why you're not seeing
Steel's soft keyboard.
It shows up when I use it in the emulator, and more annoyingly, both
of them show up if you touch an input field with the soft keyboard
already open.
This would be much easier if I already had cupcake on my phone.
Michael
thanks for the clarification, this could easily be made into a UI
option.
Now all I need is an icon for the sliding back that doesn't look like
the forward arrow.
I'm also interested to find out more about why you're not seeing
Steel's soft keyboard.
It shows up when I use it in the emulator, and more annoyingly, both
of them show up if you touch an input field with the soft keyboard
already open.
This would be much easier if I already had cupcake on my phone.
Michael
jl
May 10, 2009, 4:35:06 PM5/10/09
to SteelAndroid
> I'm also interested to find out more about why you're not
> seeing Steel's soft keyboard.
Now I have been able to see it by disabling the cupcake
> seeing Steel's soft keyboard.
keyboard and enabling the Steel keyboard. When both are
enabled, the Steel keyboard is visible very briefly, but the
cupcake keyboard hides it after < 1s, and it works fine.
In the emulator did you try disabling the Steel keyboard
and enabling the cupcake keyboard? (I have not tried it,
I have to upgrade my emulator first.)
> This would be much easier if I already had cupcake on my phone.
with the official version from HTC:
http://www.htc.com/www/support/android/adp.html
Otherwise if you feel adventurous you can try flashing JF 1.5
http://jf.andblogs.net/2009/05/01/when-is-your-15-coming-out/
In any case I'd be very happy to test any Steel version on
a real cupcake phone for you. You already have my email address.
Jean-loup
kolbysoft
May 10, 2009, 7:44:24 PM5/10/09
to SteelAndroid
Jean-loup,
I don't have a dev phone, and I really try to avoid having to use the
JF version. I'm hoping to get 1.5 with the general roll-out in the US
next week.
The emulator works fine (the 1.5 version), but doesn't fully reflect
the real device. For example, you can't simulate a phone with no
keyboard yet, so when you go into landscape mode it never pops up the
Android soft keyboard.
I'm building a new release for 1.5 only, to better be able to control
the soft keyboard behavior, the version on the website is still
compiled against 1.1 but fixes the black/transparency bug in 1.5).
Should be out for testing next weekend.
Michael
On May 10, 4:35 pm, jl <jlou...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > I'm also interested to find out more about why you're not
> > seeing Steel's soft keyboard.
>
> Now I have been able to see it by disabling the cupcake
> keyboard and enabling the Steel keyboard. When both are
> enabled, the Steel keyboard is visible very briefly, but the
> cupcake keyboard hides it after < 1s, and it works fine.
> In the emulator did you try disabling the Steel keyboard
> and enabling the cupcake keyboard? (I have not tried it,
> I have to upgrade my emulator first.)
>
> > This would be much easier if I already had cupcake on my phone.
>
> If (and only if) you have a dev phone you can flash cupcake
> with the official version from HTC:
> http://www.htc.com/www/support/android/adp.html
> Otherwise if you feel adventurous you can try flashing JF 1.5http://jf.andblogs.net/2009/05/01/when-is-your-15-coming-out/
I don't have a dev phone, and I really try to avoid having to use the
JF version. I'm hoping to get 1.5 with the general roll-out in the US
next week.
The emulator works fine (the 1.5 version), but doesn't fully reflect
the real device. For example, you can't simulate a phone with no
keyboard yet, so when you go into landscape mode it never pops up the
Android soft keyboard.
I'm building a new release for 1.5 only, to better be able to control
the soft keyboard behavior, the version on the website is still
compiled against 1.1 but fixes the black/transparency bug in 1.5).
Should be out for testing next weekend.
Michael
On May 10, 4:35 pm, jl <jlou...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > I'm also interested to find out more about why you're not
> > seeing Steel's soft keyboard.
>
> Now I have been able to see it by disabling the cupcake
> keyboard and enabling the Steel keyboard. When both are
> enabled, the Steel keyboard is visible very briefly, but the
> cupcake keyboard hides it after < 1s, and it works fine.
> In the emulator did you try disabling the Steel keyboard
> and enabling the cupcake keyboard? (I have not tried it,
> I have to upgrade my emulator first.)
>
> > This would be much easier if I already had cupcake on my phone.
>
> If (and only if) you have a dev phone you can flash cupcake
> with the official version from HTC:
> http://www.htc.com/www/support/android/adp.html
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