Continuous improvementsVersion 7 was launched 6 months ago and since then thanks to your feedback the app has seen a continuous stream of releases with improvements and fixes based on your input, so keep them coming! Among the notable features that were added were dark theme, colors for tags, archiving parameters, more display options for dashboard cards and graphs, more languages support and many bug fixes and performance improvements. I have been interviewed :)App of the day have made a short interview with me about the development process of the app, check it out here.
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After almost 3 years of work version 7 is finally here and will be available to all users this month (May 2021). This version is a complete rewrite of the code and is written in a cross platform technology which allows it to run on both iOS and Android as well as on the Web (in the near future). So, what's new?A lot. If you are coming from a previous Android version the changes are big, the UI has been overhauled and updated. Many features have been updated and are sometimes used in a different way than the one you were used to. The most notable ones are groups and units. Groups are the new implementation of "Multi value" parameters, as they are grouping several parameters for mutual work and analysis. A new parameter organization screen lets you drag and drop parameters to arrange them in groups or just change their order in a group or as individual parameters. A new concept of units has been introduced and now units are being managed separately from parameters, so several parameters can share the same unit. A parameter can also be defined without any units which will make it similar to a "marker" or a "text" parameter type from previous versions. To make adjustment to the new version easier I have also added a tutorial in the app with all the information above and much more, check it out to get familiarized with the app. Your feedback is welcomedAs this is a huge change and a lot of the code is meeting users for the first time this update might have rough edges. If you encounter a bug, missing a feature or think that the way a previous feature is not implemented as well on the new version, let me know! A series of updates with more features is planned to arrive in a fast pace.
After a (too) long publishing process i am glad to announce the availability of the new KeepTrack for iOS. It has been about a year and a half since the re-write project has started and this is its first day of light. Still, this version is missing many features that currently exist in the Android version and so it is not released for Android at this time. Work is already in full motion on the next major version and it is expected to arrive sometime in Q2 of 2020. This version will contain most of the features and will be available for Android users as a beta. The complete version will follow later on in 2020 and will replace the existing Android version. The released iOS version does not support KeepTrack accounts that were created with the Android version. Importing Android accounts will be introduced in the beta version so users with existing Android accounts are advised to wait until its release.
Its been a long road, longer than expected but the new app is almost done and I hope to release it during October. The new app features a new design and updated features. This version will be available for iPhone users only since it still lacks some features of the existing Android app, the Android app will arrive at the first half of 2020.
Where are my updates?The last few months have been quiet for KeepTrack without a significant update to the app, but that does not mean development has stopped, quite the opposite. I have taken this time to write the app completely from scratch and I would like to explain the motivation for this action, the timeline and what you might expect to see in the next major version. A rewrite? Why??The decision to re-write an app is one of the most dramatic one a developer might take, it poses huge risks: the support of existing users as well as the stability and availability of the new version so it was not taken lightly. In the last years KeepTrack has seen huge refactoring periods (like moving from Java to Kotlin) however this time the change is much bigger and the app is being re-written using the new Flutter toolkit. Flutter allows developers to write apps that are faster to build and maintain with a much nicer and fluent UI. It is also cross-platform, which means it will be able to run on both Android and iOS. But that is not all! in the near future it will also be able to run on a web browser as well as naively on most operating systems. Every project such as this makes me re-think the app in general as it is a good point in which to assess what is working well and what needs to be improved in the app. Concepts such as multi value parameters, graph handling, tagging and more are being reconsidered and refined. So the benefits are:
When should we expect all this?The plan is to launch a new app with a somewhat reduced set of features in the first half of this year, basically in the next 2-3 months. This version will be available for iOS only as it will be missing features that are available in the Android version and so I will not be able to replace the existing Android version. The full version which will be available for both Android and iOS will arrive towards the end of the year and will be a significant update for the existing Android users. A web version will follow that version.
How did we get hereKeepTrack started a long time ago.. in those days there were no in app purchases and so to support the app I have created a free regular version and a paid pro version which added more functionality. With the introduction of in app purchases I have decided to cancel the pro version and introduce pro features as in app items so users would be able to pick whatever they wanted instead of buying the whole package. With the introduction of cloud storage I have limited the amount of entries and added a subscription with the intention of supporting the server costs. This situation has led to a confused pricing model of both in app items and a subscription, it also limited the number of entries which some users did not like. Still, I needed some way of supporting this project so a new pricing model is now in place. The new pricing model offers no in app purchases, only two paid subscription plans. The basic (and free) plan removes the limit on entries but added a limit on parameter count. I believe the majority of users will feel comfortable with this limitation as it means a casual user can use the app with no limits. The pro plan increases that limit and adds all previous in app items (widget, multi value, goals) and the ultimate plan removes all limits and will contain additional future features. Important: Any user who has previously bought an in app feature still has that feature as it was a purchase for life, also previous subscribers will get the ultimate plan functionality with no additional cost. Additional featuresVersion 6.0 also introduces a couple of major enhancements: the entries list has been improved with a new look and more options for you to control. We have also added more options for you to choose on your card display and these options were also added to the widget.
Introducing tagsVersion 5.8 is here and its biggest feature is tags. Many of you have requested a "folders" feature that will allow you to sort your trackers and now you can use tags which are exactly that. Create tags for the categories of your trackers (e.g. Work, Sport, Home..) and then assign them to your trackers in the tracker's settings, you can assign more than one tag per tracker. After assigning the tags you will be able to filter your trackers by the tags, check out the screenshots. Control graph colorAnother highly requested feature is the ability to select the color of the graphs per tracker, you can do this now by selecting a color from the tracker's settings. The color will also appear on the main screen as small dot. Additional period: YearSome of you have asked to track entries over a period of a year and with this version I have added the option to aggregate entries by years. I have also added an option to set yearly goals.
New calendarThe calendar view of the app has been revised and now you can see the values encapsulated in a ring that shows the value in proportion to the values range, this is clearer than the previous design and also lets you quickly view items with yes/no values or pre defined values. There is also a new layout which shows three months instead of one, this gives a better overview over a longer period of time. Navigation has also changed and you can now easily swipe up or down to move through the months. More polishA new font is now used for the app and many elements of the app has been revised, the notable ones are:
KotlinA new version is upon us, version 5.6's has gone through a remarkable make over under the hood by switching most of the code to a new language - Kotlin! The switch was used to rewrite many parts of the implementation and will hopefully lead to shorter development cycles and improved stability. Goals
WidgetsVersion 5.5 is rolling out and together with its predecessor (version 5.4) is focused on visiting existing features and polishing them according to user feedback. One place for settingsVersion 5.4 organized all of a tracker's settings in a single screen instead of being placed on tracker cards, entry dialogs and menu settings. Settings by their nature are not used very often and once you set them to your liking they hardly change so it made more sense to place them in one convenient spot. Other changes included an improved appearance to the side drawer and some more ui touches. Graph, revisitedSome users complained about the graph settings and I have used some of the feedback to do a total redesign of this feature. Now you can easily see what additional graphs are available and select them, I have also added some new ones like maximum and minimum and simplified others such as moving average. Some settings were removed like labels display which is now being calculated automatically or settings the minimum and maximum values of the Y axis which can now be set by pinching and dragging the graph. Many other small bits were added as well like showing a whole note when tapping on its flag, improved look for the buttons and easy selection of Y axis tracker. More polish to come...I am not done.. version 5.6 will focus on polishing both the widgets and the goals in the app. Got ideas about these features? Drop me a note :)
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