Time for an annual update??

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Time for an annual update?? - 1/4/2023 9:40:41 AM

Dr.Cork

Posts: 17
Joined: 1/16/2021
Status: offline

Dear Eric and team,

with the reminder for my annual subscription that just appeared, I though the timing would be great to know what are the plans for CT.

There is obviously a lot of work done in the background for bug fixes, minor updates and tweaks, but most if not all of those are transparent to users unless experiencing particular issues.

Looking forward to hear about new developments and enhancements to CT.
(yes, we'd love a visual representation and a faster way to search a bin in the iPhone app instead of the spinning wheel...!

)

cheers,
Benoit

Post #: 1

RE: Time for an annual update?? - 1/4/2023 10:43:32 AM

Eric

Posts: 17322
Joined: 10/10/2003
From: Seattle, WA
Status: offline

We are very heads down getting a totally revised mobile app out (approaching a very small alpha test soon).

_____________________________

Cheers!
-Eric LeVine

http://twitter.com/cellartracker
http://facebook.com/cellartracker

(in reply to Dr.Cork)

Post #: 2

RE: Time for an annual update?? - 1/4/2023 3:22:37 PM

Dr.Cork

Posts: 17
Joined: 1/16/2021
Status: offline

really looking forward to it.

(in reply to Eric)

Post #: 3

RE: Time for an annual update?? - 1/23/2023 4:25:48 AM

jclary60015

Posts: 23
Joined: 5/22/2009
Status: offline

Will the update include the long-promised advanced search capability, including our own saved custom searches? That would be a big help. Also improving the barcode scanner using the iPhone camera would be welcome. It has really become hit or miss. Thanks!

(in reply to Dr.Cork)

Post #: 4

RE: Time for an annual update?? - 1/23/2023 9:40:37 AM

Eric

Posts: 17322
Joined: 10/10/2003
From: Seattle, WA
Status: offline

So Apple has ubiquitously broken most 3rd party scanning libraries with the iPhone 14 Pro and Max. This impacts 10's of thousands of apps. Just Google, and you will find hundreds of support threads. Of course it works fine for the built-in Apple stuff.

For example:

https://www.reddit.com/r/iphonehelp/comments/xi348e/has_anyone_else_noticed_that_the_iphone_14_pro/
https://www.reddit.com/r/MacroFactor/comments/xivjmn/blurry_barcode_scanning_with_iphone_14_pro_max/

Apple has released iOS 16.0.2 with specific relevant fixes: "Camera may vibrate and cause blurry photos when shooting with some third-party apps on iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max"

However that has not fixed it. We hope they have subsequent fixes.

_____________________________

Cheers!
-Eric LeVine

http://twitter.com/cellartracker
http://facebook.com/cellartracker

(in reply to jclary60015)

Post #: 5

RE: Time for an annual update?? - 1/24/2023 3:34:12 PM

AlexGarner

Posts: 135
Joined: 6/19/2010
From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Eric

So Apple has ubiquitously broken most 3rd party scanning libraries with the iPhone 14 Pro and Max. This impacts 10's of thousands of apps. Just Google, and you will find hundreds of support threads. Of course it works fine for the built-in Apple stuff.

I hope I'm not telling you and Dan how to suck eggs here! :)

I notice that the cellar tracker app uses the main 24mm camera to scan the barcodes on an Iphone 14 pro, which is always going to produce blurry images at anything but arm's length. The better camera for the job is the 13mm ultra-wide camera. I'm assuming you guys know this and that even though calling the builtInUltraWideCamera camera device type property should use the ultra-wide camera, it's not working and has some sort of bug you're waiting for a fix for. There is also the builtInTripleCamera device type property which in theory should just use the best camera for the job, depending on how far away from the camera array the wine bottle is.

However, if you have really good light and hold the wine bottle about an arm's length away from the phone, you can usually snap a barcode assuming you've got a good quality label. The Dymo labels from the Labelwriter 450 are pretty sharp and do a good job given the less-appropriate camera, so it's not the end of the world.

(in reply to Eric)

Post #: 6

RE: Time for an annual update?? - 1/24/2023 3:36:26 PM

Eric

Posts: 17322
Joined: 10/10/2003
From: Seattle, WA
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We just use one of the most common open source libraries (ZXing), so we don't control the logic directly.

_____________________________

Cheers!
-Eric LeVine

http://twitter.com/cellartracker
http://facebook.com/cellartracker

(in reply to AlexGarner)

Post #: 7

RE: Time for an annual update?? - 1/24/2023 4:57:04 PM

AlexGarner

Posts: 135
Joined: 6/19/2010
From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Status: offline

Ahhh I see, and it looks like it's not being updated any more.

Someone made a fork because of the exact issue (https://github.com/MariusPCK/ZXing.Net.Mobile) with a specific option called TryUseUltraWideCamera which might do the trick. Could be worth a look as folks do say it successfully switches the camera on an Iphone 14 Pro.

Cheers

Alex

< Message edited by AlexGarner -- 1/24/2023 4:59:08 PM >

(in reply to Eric)

Post #: 8

RE: Time for an annual update?? - 1/24/2023 5:02:51 PM

Eric

Posts: 17322
Joined: 10/10/2003
From: Seattle, WA
Status: offline

We are not in a position to update the current app at present. It uses components from Apple that they no longer support.

We are working on a totally overhauled app without any Apple dependencies, and that uses a different barcoding library. And we will beat the heck out of that.

_____________________________

Cheers!
-Eric LeVine

http://twitter.com/cellartracker
http://facebook.com/cellartracker

(in reply to AlexGarner)

Post #: 9

RE: Time for an annual update?? - 1/24/2023 5:08:57 PM

AlexGarner

Posts: 135
Joined: 6/19/2010
From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Status: offline

That sounds like a much better use of your time - and as I said - scanning does actually work, it's just a little finicky at first until you get your eye in.

(in reply to Eric)

Post #: 10

RE: Time for an annual update?? - 1/24/2023 5:40:00 PM

Eric

Posts: 17322
Joined: 10/10/2003
From: Seattle, WA
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Good to hear.

_____________________________

Cheers!
-Eric LeVine

http://twitter.com/cellartracker
http://facebook.com/cellartracker

(in reply to AlexGarner)

Post #: 11

RE: Time for an annual update?? - 1/28/2023 10:24:36 AM

kmicho

Posts: 16
Joined: 7/21/2012
Status: offline

Eric,

If you decide you need a medium sized (~350) bottle cellar and an IT guy who understands UAT, bug reporting, test cases, how to isolate bugs, and such for your testing... I turn about a bottle every 1.5 days (last I checked) on average and I usually double check bin inventory after every change, so I would know immediately if something went wrong. I move bottles around weekly to optimize my storage (I store wine in bins roughly by value) and I use CT in restaurants to lookup bottles on their menu. I would use custom searches on the mobile app at least every other day - I don't like taking my computer to my two cellars to pick what I want. I'd be happy to assist when/if the time comes you want a "civilian" to do some pounding on this thing. I'm believe you can grab my email from my profile here. iPhone 13 pro, up to date on iOS, and familiar with Testflight from alpha/beta testing a few other apps.

Cheers

< Message edited by kmicho -- 1/28/2023 10:25:01 AM >

(in reply to Eric)

Post #: 12

RE: Time for an annual update?? - 1/30/2023 9:26:24 PM

RedLoverJim

Posts: 272
Joined: 9/25/2008
From: Hurstville, Texas
Status: offline

Good to see these notes regarding the iPhone 14 Pro. I have had a lot of problems scanning my Dymo barcodes with my phone since I upgraded last month. I saw this when logging on to specifically search for info regarding that issue. I'm not a software guy as far as understanding the issue, but l appreciate that you guys are aware of and planning for something to address it.

Cheers!

_____________________________

RLJ

(in reply to kmicho)

Post #: 13

RE: Time for an annual update?? - 2/19/2023 5:50:02 PM

AlexGarner

Posts: 135
Joined: 6/19/2010
From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: kmicho
If you decide you need a medium sized (~350) bottle cellar and an IT guy who understands UAT, bug reporting, test cases, how to isolate bugs, and such for your testing...

Ditto. Happy to beta test and I have a TestFlight account ready to go.

Alex

(in reply to kmicho)

Post #: 14

RE: Time for an annual update?? - 12/12/2023 9:26:18 PM

Eric

Posts: 17322
Joined: 10/10/2003
From: Seattle, WA
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We JUST released version 1.8.1 of our iOS app which now can use the macro camera on iPhone 13+ Pro and Pro Max devices. Download the new version, and you should be all set.

_____________________________

Cheers!
-Eric LeVine

http://twitter.com/cellartracker
http://facebook.com/cellartracker

(in reply to Dr.Cork)

Post #: 15

RE: Time for an annual update?? - 12/12/2023 9:32:45 PM

jclary60015

Posts: 23
Joined: 5/22/2009
Status: offline

Downloaded the new app, glad the camera function is fixed. What other new features have been added? Specifically hoping that the search function, including our saved searches, has been updated.

(in reply to Eric)

Post #: 16

RE: Time for an annual update?? - 12/12/2023 9:40:08 PM

Eric

Posts: 17322
Joined: 10/10/2003
From: Seattle, WA
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: jclary60015

Downloaded the new app, glad the camera function is fixed. What other new features have been added? Specifically hoping that the search function, including our saved searches, has been updated.

Nothing. This is a maintenance release of the current in-market app. It is NOT the massively overhauled new private beta that we have been working on for two years. That is getting close. Please don't conflate.

_____________________________

Cheers!
-Eric LeVine

http://twitter.com/cellartracker
http://facebook.com/cellartracker

(in reply to jclary60015)

Post #: 17

RE: Time for an annual update?? - 12/12/2023 10:00:58 PM

jclary60015

Posts: 23
Joined: 5/22/2009
Status: offline

Not sure what your conflate comment means. It’s a logical question. The app hasn’t been updated in quite some time, you mention a new update, it’s logical to ask what else is included.

This is the most expensive personal software product I use. With the fewest updates. It’s fair to ask.

(in reply to Eric)

Post #: 18

RE: Time for an annual update?? - 12/12/2023 10:11:26 PM

Eric

Posts: 17322
Joined: 10/10/2003
From: Seattle, WA
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Jim, this is a maintenance release to the current app.
There is a beta of a new app coming soon.

_____________________________

Cheers!
-Eric LeVine

http://twitter.com/cellartracker
http://facebook.com/cellartracker

(in reply to jclary60015)

Post #: 19