New OpenLoopz Beta for Android Released!

[Paul Drummond]

Hi everyone,

Good news!  I am pleased to announce the new OpenLoopz Beta (for Android 2.1 and above) is now available to download from Google Play!

The sync feature is not complete unfortunately and is therefore disabled at this time but this release still marks a very important step in the history of the OpenLoopz project.  I hope you all like the new direction I have taken with the app and that you find it good enough to consider giving OpenLoopz another chance.

I would greatly appreciate it if those of you who try the app would report any bugs, issues and general feedback to me on this forum.  I am very much looking forward to opening up the lines of communication again and discussing the new features with you all after such a long period of silence!

I plan to keep the app in beta for a few weeks while I iron out the bugs then I will make an official 1.0 release, along with a promotional website and lots of documentation, tutorials and blog posts about how to get the best out of the app.

I am also looking at ways to raise funds to support continued development of OpenLoopz.  I am keen to give users the opportunity to support the project to help make sync a reality as quickly as possible.  If anyone has any ideas or opinions about the best way to approach user-based funding, please let me know.  It would good to get an idea of how many of you would consider supporting the project this way (by making a small donation/contribution) and what your preferred method of payment would be?  I would be very interested to hear your thoughts and opinions on this during the beta period.

I hope you enjoy using the new OpenLoopz and I am looking forward to your feedback.

Regards,
Paul Drummond
Iode Software

[Attila Darazs]

Hi Paul,

Awesome news, been waiting for this a long time too (and still using the original OpenLoopz). Congratulations for the release!

Some remarks:
- it should be possible to select location accuracy (gsm towers/gsm towers+wifi/gps), because I don't want to turn off GPS globally, but I also don't want OpenLoopz to use GPS
- I setup an All day context, added a "test" task for it but it doesn't appear in my Now list. Do I need to add it to a project and set it as next action for it to work? That is not good.

This is so far. :)

BTW very smooth and nice interface, although I have to guess sometimes what button does what and there's no text for them, but I guess this is the style of the newer Androids, so I will get used to it.

Thanks again,
A.

[Jon Morgan]

Hi Paul, really great to see an updated product release. Congratulations, I know how hard it is to keep going on a project like this when personal circumstances keep pitting themselves against you!

Can't wait to see what you've got planned for the sync options. The only reason I can't use your product any more is because I need to access my todo list oj multiple platforms, iPad and browser as well as my android phone. Also will need some way of importing and exporting if I stand a hope in hell of moving over from my current toodledo based system.

Look forward to hearing what you've got available next as once again I remember how spot on your app is in term of usability.

Jon

On 1 Jul 2012 12:45, "Paul Drummond" <paul.d...@iode.co.uk> wrote:

[Mark Derricutt]

w00t w00t w00t

Installed last night just before I went to bed for a quick play and
already love the direction you're taking with OpenLoopz.

One thing I notice that was missing ( or maybe it was me who missed it
) but on repeating no form of "n days after..." but I think I can
easily adjust my thinking to "start of week".

Are you planning a widget for 1.0 or is that slated for later?

User funding - have you looked at Kickstarter or indiegogo?


On Sun Jul 1 23:45:20 2012, Paul Drummond wrote:
> *Good news! I am pleased to announce the new OpenLoopz Beta (for

> Android 2.1 and above) is now available to download from Google Play

> <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=iode.openloopz>!*

[Paul Drummond]

Hi Attila,

Thank you for your kinds words on the release! :-)

In response to your remarks:

1. Yes, location accuracy should be configurable - I will add this within the next few days.

2. Your test task should appear in the Now List if your "All Day" context is set-up correctly.  Can you go into the "Edit Context" screen and double check that the time-range is correct please?  It should be "Everyday between 09:00 and 22:00" if you set it up via the setup guide using the default settings.  If you are sure the time-range is correct and your action is still not appearing on the Now List, let me know and I will look into this further.

As for your commet on the buttons, it is the Android way, but you can long press on any button in the action bar to see a textual description.

Regards,

Paul.

[Paul Drummond]

Hi Mark,

I'm glad you like the new direction! :-)  

Regarding your comment on repeating, are you referring to the "auto re-open" feature?  I have intentionally kept this simple for now, but I can look into adding an option to "Reopen every # days" if that is what you are asking for?

As for a widget for version 1.0, I have considered it.  I have already developed a simple App Widget that shows the number of now, next and inbox actions and acts as a launcher for the app.  Ideally I want to add an edit box so users can create actions directly from within the widget.  I will look into getting this done for the 1.0 release or soon after.

As for user funding, I can't use KickStarter as I am not based in the US, but I am looking into indiegogo - it definitely seems to the best KickStarter alternative. 

Regards,

Paul.

[Paul Drummond]

Hi Jon,

Thanks for your positive feedback :-)  Ideally I want to have a complete OpenLoopz service with integrated sync and a OpenLoopz webapp but unless I can generate enough funding to work on this full time, it isn't going to happen any time soon unfortunately.

I am deliberating whether to go in another direction to support sync in the short term.  I have always planned to support 3rd party "Sync Plugins" to enable integration with other products like GMail Tasks for example.  It will still take time to implement (and I would still be looking to fund the project to implement this) but even without funding, I see this as a much more realistic short term sync solution.

Would you consider using OpenLoopz if it supported sync using GMail Tasks or would you require sync support for a different product?

Regards,

Paul.

[Attila Darazs]

2012. július 2., hétfő 15:09:10 UTC+2 időpontban Paul Drummond a következőt írta:

Hi Attila,

Thank you for your kinds words on the release! :-)

In response to your remarks:

1. Yes, location accuracy should be configurable - I will add this within the next few days.

Great to hear this.
 

2. Your test task should appear in the Now List if your "All Day" context is set-up correctly.  Can you go into the "Edit Context" screen and double check that the time-range is correct please?  It should be "Everyday between 09:00 and 22:00" if you set it up via the setup guide using the default settings.  If you are sure the time-range is correct and your action is still not appearing on the Now List, let me know and I will look into this further.

It appeared as soon as I went outside and it was able to get a lock on my position. So without position the Now list was not updated, even though All day was a time context. This seems like a bug.

As for your commet on the buttons, it is the Android way, but you can long press on any button in the action bar to see a textual description.

Hah, this is a nice trick! Thanks.

BTW I'm working since about 9 months now as a Quality Engineer, so hopefully my bug reports will be clear and useful. ;)

Looking forward for some more testing,
A.
 

[Paul Drummond]

On Monday, 2 July 2012 15:07:58 UTC+1, Attila Darazs wrote:

It appeared as soon as I went outside and it was able to get a lock on my position. So without position the Now list was not updated, even though All day was a time context. This seems like a bug.

Hmm, it certainly sounds like a bug.  Just to be certain, can you go into the settings screen for the "All Day" context and tell me exactly what the context settings are.  Next to the clock icon it should say something like "Everyday between 09:00 and 22:00" and next to the place icon it should say "Select to add places".  Can you confirm that this is the wording you see?

BTW I'm working since about 9 months now as a Quality Engineer, so hopefully my bug reports will be clear and useful. ;)
Looking forward for some more testing,

That's great to hear! I appreciate your support and your help testing will be invaluable during the beta phase. :-)

 

Regards,

Paul.

[Attila Darazs]

2012. július 2., hétfő 17:02:38 UTC+2 időpontban Paul Drummond a következőt írta:

On Monday, 2 July 2012 15:07:58 UTC+1, Attila Darazs wrote:

It appeared as soon as I went outside and it was able to get a lock on my position. So without position the Now list was not updated, even though All day was a time context. This seems like a bug.

Hmm, it certainly sounds like a bug.  Just to be certain, can you go into the settings screen for the "All Day" context and tell me exactly what the context settings are.  Next to the clock icon it should say something like "Everyday between 09:00 and 22:00" and next to the place icon it should say "Select to add places".  Can you confirm that this is the wording you see?

Confirmed. That's the only two line I see there (so there were no place associated with the context).

A.
 

[Jon Morgan]

Hi Paul, I'd certainly support you using another online system for sync to start with if that would allow you to progress.  I currently use DGT GTD which syncs with Toodledo and so that'd be where all my data already sits. If you could allow for importing if common formats then it might not matter too much. Would very much rely on how easy the other site is to customize in order to reflect the way you use the data as until your other front ends are ready, we would have to use what's there when not ok android.  I'd say Toodledo would map easily enough, it even has locations to a certain extent.

Good luck! Always eager to help where I can :)

Jon

[Attila Darázs]

+1 on some kickstarter style founding, worth a try, but it would be tricky to generate enough interest, even though OpenLoopz is one of the best GTD system I encountered.

Also please implement the location accuracy setting ASAP, that keeps me from testing the new beta, it's really an annoyance to switch GPS settings manually all the time.

A.

[Mark Derricutt]

One of the problems I've often seen with all of the other "to do list" type apps out there that sync with third parties is they always seem to break with repeating tasks.

Usually this comes down to BOTH the phone and the remote service creating the repeated entry, and when you sync you get double ups, then more double ups etc. etc. FUN :)

OpenLoopz is somewhat different in that you don't have "repeating tasks", but you have "reopened tasks" which is a subtle, but quite striking difference.

On 3/07/12 1:31 AM, Paul Drummond wrote:

[Mark Derricutt]

On 3/07/12 1:18 AM, Paul Drummond wrote:

Regarding your comment on repeating, are you referring to the "auto re-open" feature?  I have intentionally kept this simple for now, but I can look into adding an option to "Reopen every # days" if that is what you are asking for?

Yep - altho, "after" more than "every".  My main trivial usecase for this is a simple book reading plan/reminder, with an entry like "read a chapter or two of x" that comes back after awhile.

One thing I can't find yet - how do I configure contexts? Other than the initial setup I don't seem to see where I can create new contexts, or edit existing ones?

[Paul Drummond]

On Saturday, 7 July 2012 00:26:42 UTC+1, Mark Derricutt wrote:

Yep - altho, "after" more than "every".  My main trivial usecase for this is a simple book reading plan/reminder, with an entry like "read a chapter or two of x" that comes back after awhile.

This is definitely a planned feature and something I hope to have in place for the next release.

 

One thing I can't find yet - how do I configure contexts? Other than the initial setup I don't seem to see where I can create new contexts, or edit existing ones?

To create a new context, select the contexts button from the home screen, then select the plus button.  To edit existing contexts, press the contexts button from the home screen, then select a context to see all of its actions then select the "pencil" icon to edit the context.  Editing contexts is not as intuitive as it should be.  I am planning to add an option to allow you to edit contexts directly from the contexts list in a future release.

Regards,

Paul.

 

[Paul Drummond]

Hi Henri,

Thanks for trying out the new OpenLoopz - glad you like it! Comments below:

I have been trying the new beta today and it is great. One thing that puzzles me is what decides what the next action in a project is. It would be great to be able to change the order of the actions in the list of actions, or assign a next action context as in the old version.

The next action is the first action in the project and you can drag and drop to change the order of actions.  To drag and drop you need to touch and drag the icon for the individual action.  I'm well aware it's not immediately obvious that this is possible!  I am in the process of writing a tour guide to explain all of the non-obvious stuff which will be available in time for the 1.0 release.

As a small suggestion I would be happy to have a quicker way to edit an action instead of the two clicks. For example long pressing on a action would let you edit it.

Sounds like a good idea - I've added it to the list of features.

Regards,

Paul.

[Paul Drummond]

On Thursday, 16 August 2012 14:05:09 UTC+1, fal...@gmail.com wrote:

First, I'm glad you're back :-)

Thanks! :-)

 

What about Backup/Restore feature... Is it hidden somewhere in the settings?

No, it's not hidden in the settings - it isn't available in the Beta, unfortunately.  The backup/restore didn't work very well in OpenLoopz Legacy and sometimes it was the cause of data corruption.  I decided to leave it out of the new OpenLoopz because I planned to have sync instead but unfortunately I was unable to get sync working in time. Hence the reason the beta doesn't support either feature.

Paul.