PodTrapper for Android Alpha Version!

[marwatk]

The sky has fallen and hell has frozen over, I finally got a working* version of PodTrapper for android posted. I'll skip right to the good stuff:

http://ota.versatilemonkey.com/beta/PodTrapperA.apk

I'll be following up with the blackberry version tomorrow or Friday. Here's what's changed:

* Everything

*New recycle bin feature that keeps recently deleted episodes available for restoration
*Fixed bug with initial coverage reporting when no podcasts are subscribed
*Backups now happen daily for those that don't exit PodTrapper regularly

With these versions (labeled 2.9.0 for both android and BB) almost the entire back end has changed. What you'll see has remained mostly the same, but expect bugs. I'm releasing these as 'alpha' versions, so not even my usual crappy beta quality

Ordinarily I'd be testing changes as I went, but the amount of change meant that the entire code base didn't even compile for a contiguous 2 month period while I changed stuff. That means there was no way I could test the entire app, so I'll need help. This applies to the BB version too, since now they're the same code base.

So use this thread to report any bugs you find, I imagine it's going to take a couple of weeks to bring it up to stable. On android it seems that my log email feature pretends to send but doesn't actually send, but I didn't want to hold up letting you guys have it while I fixed that, so make sure to post as much detail as you can about what you're seeing, and on what type of phone and OS version.

Note: Do not attempt to purchase the android version yet.

The codes will not be the same, and I haven't implemented any of that, so you'd just end up getting a code for the BB version, and that would just be a maintenance pain for everyone

That's all I can think of at the moment, let me know what you think!

-Marcus


* working not actually guaranteed

[mtcachers]

I loaded this on my HTC Eris running 2.1.

In the settings menu the drop down options are hard to read. Grey text on grey background. Also first option says "Run when Blackberry starts". The popup to change setting is kind of small and hard to select. It does not seem to be keeping the settings either. When I return from the General Settings menu a dialog box pops up with an OK button and then quickly disappears. When I go back into General Settings they are back to default.

I get a force close when I try to go into individual podcast settings. "(process net.marcuswatkins.podtrapper) has stopped unexpectedly"

I was able to load podcasts by manually entering by URL. It found them and started downloading. I have not figured out how to delete them yet. I usually use Delete Below on my blackberry.

I will try to play with it more this weekend.

[mtcachers]

I figured out how to delete episodes of podcasts. It works fine deleting one at a time. When I use Delete Below I get a Force Close error.

[ronyosh]

mtcatchers, how do you delete the individual podcasts?

[mtcachers]

mtcatchers, how do you delete the individual podcasts?

Press and hold on the individual podcast and a menu will pop up.

[ronyosh]

Thanks, MTcachers. I notice that when using "delete below" the app goes into "force close" mode.

[marwatk]

In the settings menu the drop down options are hard to read. Grey text on grey background. Also first option says "Run when Blackberry starts". The popup to change setting is kind of small and hard to select. It does not seem to be keeping the settings either. When I return from the General Settings menu a dialog box pops up with an OK button and then quickly disappears. When I go back into General Settings they are back to default.

I get a force close when I try to go into individual podcast settings. "(process net.marcuswatkins.podtrapper) has stopped unexpectedly"

I was able to load podcasts by manually entering by URL. It found them and started downloading. I have not figured out how to delete them yet. I usually use Delete Below on my blackberry.

Thanks for these reports. I published a new version friday night that should fix them, so no one downloading this weekend should see them.

I figured out how to delete episodes of podcasts. It works fine deleting one at a time. When I use Delete Below I get a Force Close error.

Press and hold on the individual podcast and a menu will pop up.

Will fix the 'Delete Below', thanks for letting me know. Out of curiosity, how do most apps handle deleting stuff? I've never really used android day-to-day, so I wasn't quite sure what the typical design looks like. My plan is to get it working first, then make it more android-like. Right now it's basically just a direct port of the BB version, so it probably doesn't act a lot like and android app.

-Marcus

[therealjoeblow]

I'll be following up with the blackberry version tomorrow or Friday.

You *really* shouldn't say things like that, unless you meant this coming Friday and not actually the one following your Wednesday post

Cheers,
The REAL Joe

[inspirado]

Really excited that this has finally made it to the android.

Used the app a lot this weekend, and have noticed the following issues on my Moto Droid:

1) Closes in the background occasionally when using the Google Maps "Navigate" tool. i.e. GPS'ing. Did not have enough occurrences to determine a pattern.

2) The progress bar doesn't seem to correctly track percentage. A 60 minute podcast will fly through 100% within a few tens of seconds, then reset itself to a low percentage, and take a few minutes to hit 100%, resetting itself again.

3) If podtrapper closes, it does not resume an "in progress" podcast in the correct location, despite the fact the progress bar shows the "correct" percentage completed.

4) The press-and-hold menu for an individual podcast should probably have the "play" function on it. Otherwise we have to navigate through to the podcast info screen and hit the small play button.

5) Different android phones will have different convenience keys, which will definitely suck for the developer. Not even sure if the app can override global settings. However, at the very least the menu for changing the convenience keys is incorrect on my phone as it asks for left and right convenience key options, which my phone does not have.

6) Text at the bottom of the screen (e.g. "no downloads in queue") is overlaid on the main text on the screen (podcast info, or something like that).

7) App deleted a podcast that I had been downloading and listening to simultaneously. Not sure why, but it may have been that the player reached the end of the downloaded file.

Hope that helps! Keep up the good work!


P.S. Will we get notified of updates through the program, or should we check periodically?

[mtcachers]

On my HTC Eris the volume down button does not work with PodTrapper. Volume up works fine. Both volume buttons work in other applications.

[inspirado]

Most importantly, I can't answer phone while Podtrapper is open (even if in the background). I get the call, but can't slide the "answer" slider over.

[BrewerBC]

Just downloaded this on my Motorola Cliq XT:

1) Volume buttons don't work.

2) The progress bar doesn't seem to correctly track percentage. A 60 minute podcast will fly through 100% within a few tens of seconds, then reset itself to a low percentage, and take a few minutes to hit 100%, resetting itself again.

3) Different android phones will have different convenience keys, which will definitely suck for the developer. Not even sure if the app can override global settings. However, at the very least the menu for changing the convenience keys is incorrect on my phone as it asks for left and right convenience key options, which my phone does not have.

4) Text at the bottom of the screen (e.g. "no downloads in queue") is overlaid on the main text on the screen (podcast info, or something like that).

Soo glad to see this for the Android. Thank you.
Will post more in a few days after I use it more

P.S. Will we get notified of updates through the program, or should we check periodically?

[mtcachers]

Volume works fine when podtrapper is in the background. Delete below still causes a force close.

[brandonchr]

I can't see more than 50 podcast episodes. There are some that I listen to that have hundreds of epsodes. Any help would be good.

[marwatk]

Thanks for all the feedback guys!

I'll definitely get all of these fixed pronto.

You *really* shouldn't say things like that, unless you meant this coming Friday and not actually the one following your Wednesday post

Heh. Actually I meant Friday, Oct 11th. Yeah, I kind of suck at the whole 'estimation' thing

P.S. Will we get notified of updates through the program, or should we check periodically?

Update notification won't work yet, at least not until it's stable enough to call a beta, since the online version number won't be updating. I'm still figuring out how I'm going to do version numbers for the two platforms, so eventually it will, but not now.

I can't see more than 50 podcast episodes. There are some that I listen to that have hundreds of epsodes. Any help would be good.

This is actually by design (and happens on the bb version as well). You can adjust the limit in your 'Storage Settings' from the main settings screen.

-Marcus

[inspirado]

Couple things:

I have confirmed the problem on my moto Droid with Podtrapper being open and problems receiving calls. Sometimes I cannot slide the "answer" over, sometimes Podtrapper force closes when I get a call. If I use Advanced Task Killer to kill Podtrapper the problem still exists. If I remove the phone battery, without starting podtrapper I can receive calls. However, once I open podtrapper for the first time after a battery pull the phone call receiving issues start again.

The main headphone volume seems to always be reset to max when starting new podcasts. This can be quite jarring.

[Ossprey]

i managed to get podtapper working on a Samsung Galaxy S i9000 works well but get the same issues as above.
I also get the issue of Calls comeing in but then only ringing after the caller has hung up. the wi fi downloads seem too be rather slow over a wifi-n connection as well.
Good work BTW I use paid podtrapper on all my blackberries. hope too see this go Beta ASAP

[norm807]

Ok, installed it on my Droid Incredible. I was able to download new podcasts and play them. I did run into the same volume issue as above, where in podtrapper, my side volume keys don't work, but when I move it to the background, my volume keys work just fine. I also tried to exit out of podtrapper by using menu>More>Exit and podtrapper acts like it wants to exit, i.e. pops up the are sure message, exits download manager. But then, it pops up the this is a trial version and reopens podtrapper. I can never seem to truly close podtrapper. So I just restarted the phone. After that, I went into the podtrapper to continue the podcast I was listening to and it said it was paused and it showed it was paused where I left off, but when I hit play, it started over again and the beginning of the podcast..

To sum up:
Love Podtrapper on the blackberry and looking forward to a release version.. good job..

Issues on the Incredible:
-Side volume keys don't work inside podtrapper, but do with podtrapper in the background.
-Podtrapper doesn't exit even after exit command given.
-Not continuing to play from previous paused location.(restarts playback)

[marwatk]

Hi guys,

There's a new version, check out the details here:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1228

-Marcus