Storm / 1.1.1 issues

[scottr55]

First of all, *thank you* for creating this app; it was the missing link to let me replace a blackberry + iPod with one device.

A few things I've noticed with the Storm and version 1.1.1:

- When you're listening to a podcast, and a call comes in, then you finish the call, Podtrapper seems to lose track of the playing/not playing state. In particular, you can start playing it again, but the button will be the "Play" icon and the menu will have the "Play" option, even though it's already playing. Choosing one of these options won't have any effect. The only to stop playback is to exit the app. I'm not sure if this is particular to the Storm or not...

- It's extremely difficult to hover/press the correct button on Yes/No dialog boxes. In particular, it seems like there's about a single pixel position that will activate the "Yes" button.

- Of course, it would be wonderful to have a Storm-specific version that takes full advantage of the large touch screen. E.g., clicking on icons instead of swiping to emulate trackball movement, turn off keyboard when not needed, etc.

[marwatk]

Hey Scott,

Thanks for the feedback.

I've been hearing a lot about the storm, and definitely want to customize to it, but it'll probably have to wait until the base functionality is solid

One issue that I wanted to look at immediately, though, is the playing/receiving a call thing. Tell me if I understand correctly...

So it'll pause it, but then won't know that's it's paused, so you click play and it'll think it's paused but really it's playing.
And you can restart playback, but once you do you can't stop it again without exiting?

Let me know if I understand that correctly and I'll try to duplicate it here and see if I can resolve it.

Once I get these issues sorted out I'll check out what I can do about making it work best on both storm and non-storm berrys.

-Marcus

[marwatk]

Hi Scott,

I found a few issues with the playback and put fixes for them in version 1.1.2. Can you try it and see if you still have the phone issues?

Also, since it sounds like the keyboard is always up, I thought of an idea on the Yes/No thing until I figure out what's going on there. You should be able to hit 'Y' or 'N' on the keyboard to get that to work, let me know if this is viable and I'll post it somewhere more visible.

Let me know if you run into any other issues...

-Marcus

[scottr55]

Marcus:

Well, I was writing that description of the problem from a few experiences I had while driving. If I try to replicate the issue now at my desk, I can't - it works fine. Your re-description of the problem as I recall it was accurate though. I've tried to duplicate it twice (on 1.1.1 and now 1.1.2), but can't.

One thing that may be related - When I hit the 'Play' icon on a podcast that's been paused (via the pause button or a phone call), I don't hear anything except a faint hiss that indicates that the audio engine is 'on', but the progress bar begins moving. If i bump the fast forward or rewind buttons, the audio returns. This happened on 1.1.1, and in 1.1.2

The progress bars look great on the storm in 1.1.2. I didn't know there was progress bars on 1.1.1

The keyboard shortcut idea won't work because the keyboard is disabled when a pop-up dialog is open. The pop-up generally covers up part or most of the keyboard anyway. This problem only applies to popups generated by Podtrapper. If I get a pop-up from my calendar while using podtrapper, it responds correctly.

Thanks again

[WarER4X]

At least this thread is telling me that the PodTrapper works with the Storm. I'm not having any luck downloading podcasts via OTA or through the desktop. This thread is encouraging, but I may need to contact the developer for further help. Did any of you guys have to do anything funny to get this to work on the Storm? Also, does anyone have a podcast address I can try... one that I know works with this App. Perhaps the problem is my podcast addy.

-SR-

[marwatk]

Hi SR,

Easiest way to figure out where the issue is is to send the logs over to me and I can [hopefully] see what/where the issue lies.

Follow these steps to send the logs:
From the main screen, hit the menu and choose 'View Downloads'
From this screen, hit the menu and choose 'Send logs'
From this screen hit the menu and choose 'Send'

That sends me a little bit more than you can see in the log viewer, and gives me a big picture view of podcasts that both work and don't work on your device.

The fact that you can't download over desktop is a little disconcerting, I was hoping that would work for everyone. One possible issue there is if you have mass storage mode enabled. Podtrapper can't see your media card any time mass storage mode is on, and sometimes people have their berrys set to auto-enable mass storage mode when connecting to their computers, which would mean that the podtrapper desktop app would never work

Try that, and see if it solves it, otherwise I'd definitely like to know what your logs say...

-Marcus

[Geoff]

Marcus,

First of all I want to thank you for creating this application. After purchasing this yesterday and flawlessly downloading a handful of podcasts, my storm is complete. Finally I can leave my ipod at home on the drive to work!

Ok, now for the couple bugs i've found in the short time i've had to play with it.

Here's how to replicate the first one:

With the phone in an audible ring profile:
1. Start a podcast
2. Send an email to yourself
Result:
- Podcast pauses for the chime but never resumes. The exact scenario was with my screen locked and driving to work.
- Had to tediously drive and input my password to press play in PodTrapper.

Second bug (which would solve bug #1):

With PodTrapper running in the background:
1. Press mute/play/pause button on the top right of the phone.
Result:
- Nothing happens. Seems that the program has to be open to view in order for the button to work.

I have a couple questions too, which could be answered here on the forum somewhere, but I'm at work and if they have fast answers i would appreciate some feedback:
- Is there a way to tell how often the program is pinging the rss feeds?
- I forgot the other one

Thanks again for a great program and looking forward to future updates! Keep up the good work!

- Geoff

[Geoff]

ps - i'm running v1.1.2

[Geoff]

remembered my question. Do you think you can add a volume bar on the now playing page of the program. I can obviously turn up/down the volume with the side keys, but can't tell exactly how loud the volume is set at.

This comes in handy when using an aux input for the car b/c i usually want to device set at 50% volume to optimize the sound in my car. Too loud on the device will distort the sound in the car. Just a thought. Thanks.

[Geoff]

bug three:

Phone locked, volume keys on the side are no longer functional.

Constructive criticism! I love the app still!

[marwatk]

Hi Geoff,

For the easy question, Podtrapper checks for new podcast episodes once an hour when it has proper downloading coverage.

For the chime interrupting playback and then never resuming, I have that on my todo list and am hoping to get it done in the next feature version (the next version will likely only be bug fixes, with no functionality changes).

With the keys being unresponsive when the phone is locked you've hit my biggest gripe with the blackberry platform. There's unfortunately no way for a third party (non-RIM) application to see any keypresses (even the side keys) while the application is not in the foreground (which includes when the lcd goes dark or when the device is locked).

To try to get around this as much as possible there's a 'Key lock' screen built in to podtrapper that attempts to keep podtrapper focused, but it's a total hack and I'm not sure how well it'll work on the storm.

My #1 wish for RIM would be a way for other applications to listen to those keys just like the built in media player can, but so far there's been no luck on that front.

For the volume bar, I'll definitely add some sort of volume feedback somewhere. Thanks for the suggestion.

Always like suggestions, keep them coming

-Marcus

[Geoff]

Marcus,

Just wondering if you've heard of this bug or maybe i've done something incorrect.

Last night i updated to newest version of podtrapper and lost all my podcast urls in the process. I am running 4.7.0.85 but that shouldn't be a problem i would imagine. Any ideas?

[marwatk]

Hi Geoff,

No, I haven't heard of that. There is an issue with upgrading your blackberry os, though (Podtrapper doesn't yet pass the necessary information to the Desktop manager to preserve settings during an OS upgrade).

But podtrapper should handle updates to itself with no issues. Has it happened with previous updates?

-Marcus

[scottr55]

Marcus-Regarding the item below I had reported about difficulty selecting buttons on popups, I've now "disabled compatability mode" in options/advanced/applications, and no longer have this problem. (This setting change also improved the whole experience of the app tremendously, e.g., the keyboard no longer stays on all the time, it works in portrait mode, etc.)

I know there's another thread where compatability mode has been mentioned, but I wanted to specifically point this out as I see it's still on the to-do list.

Thanks!

Scott

First of all, *thank you* for creating this app; it was the missing link to let me replace a blackberry + iPod with one device.

A few things I've noticed with the Storm and version 1.1.1:

- When you're listening to a podcast, and a call comes in, then you finish the call, Podtrapper seems to lose track of the playing/not playing state. In particular, you can start playing it again, but the button will be the "Play" icon and the menu will have the "Play" option, even though it's already playing. Choosing one of these options won't have any effect. The only to stop playback is to exit the app. I'm not sure if this is particular to the Storm or not...

- It's extremely difficult to hover/press the correct button on Yes/No dialog boxes. In particular, it seems like there's about a single pixel position that will activate the "Yes" button.

- Of course, it would be wonderful to have a Storm-specific version that takes full advantage of the large touch screen. E.g., clicking on icons instead of swiping to emulate trackball movement, turn off keyboard when not needed, etc.

[sreid55]

Another note regarding turning off "compatability mode" on the storm for this app -- Changing this setting basically fixes all of the issues I had mentioned below. Larger play control buttons would be the only improvement for the Storm here.

- Of course, it would be wonderful to have a Storm-specific version that takes full advantage of the large touch screen. E.g., clicking on icons instead of swiping to emulate trackball movement, turn off keyboard when not needed, etc.[/quote]

[marwatk]

Thanks for following up on this, guys.

I finally figured out how to disable compatibility mode by default when downloading OTA (though it'll still show up on those that install via the desktop manager).

Hopefully this will solve most people's storm problems.

Also, larger icons are in for version 1.5.5, which I'll be releasing tomorrow.

Hope everyone is having a good new year.

-Marcus

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