News: all updates for our software and apps
CLZ Alwin here, with the CLZ News for May 2016.
This month we saw great progress in some areas, but delays in others:
A nice feature update for iOS, but some technical difficulties on Android, causing delays in getting the same features out for droid fans. (we did add the requested No-Limits packs for both though!).
An improved Core search engine for movies (now live in all movie editions), but further delays in launching the new v16.3 versions for Windows.
Here’s what’s live and what’s cooking:
- Live: Better Add By Title searches for movies.
- Live: Easier editing and Field Defaults for the iOS apps.
- Live: new “No Limits” purchase option for all iOS and Android apps.
- Cooking: Quick Filter panel + Light vs Dark Skin options for the Windows programs.
Live: Better Add By Title searches for movies
Our web guys are always working to improve our Core and Cloud systems.
Now live and immediately available in all our movie-related programs (for desktop, mobile and online): a complete re-written Core search engine for finding movies by title.
The new search engine is much faster and will provide better search results that are more “to-the-point” and less “fuzzy”. We’re still tweaking it though, so we’d love to hear your feedback on the results!
Live: Easier editing and Field Defaults for the iOS apps.
Last week, we released new 4.1 updates for all 5 CLZ iOS apps
(CLZ Movies, CLZ Comics, CLZ Books, CLZ Music and CLZ Games).
For these updates we added a Field Defaults feature, easier editing of pick-list fields and the new “No Limits pack” In-App-Purchase option (see below).
Field Defaults
Long awaited, but finally here: the ability to set default field values for your new additions, e.g. set the Seen It or Read It field to Yes or No, preset the Owner field, etc… Field Defaults can be set from the Settings screen (the little “gears” icon top right).
Improved edit screen for easier editing
More and more users are doing most of their editing on the mobile apps now, so we spend a few weeks to make that a bit easier, reducing the amount of typing needed:
- New “Select Value” screen for easier entry of pick list fields (e.g. Authors, Artists, Formats, Genres, etc…)
- Improved layout: easier on the eye, Cancel and Done buttons have been moved to the top bar, so they’re never hidden by the keyboard anymore. New Delete button at the bottom.
Live: new “No Limits” purchase option for all iOS and Android apps.
In version 4.0 of the mobile apps we introduced a new pricing model, the app being free to download and using In-App Purchases to unlock higher database limits. However, since its’ launch we’ve been receiving feedback from users asking:
“Why can’t I just unlock to unlimited and get it over with?”.
So that’s we did last week: we added a new “No Limits pack“, priced at US $15, that removes all database limits in one go. This new No Limits pack replaces the “+10,000” and “+25,000” packs.
Haven’t tried the mobile apps yet?
Then just open the App Store / Play Store on your mobile device, search for “CLZ” and download the ones you want.
Cooking: Quick Filter panel + Light vs Dark Skin options for the Windows programs.
Ronald and AJ have been working on this for quite a while, but these v16.3 releases for Windows have been postponed again.
Not because of unexpected difficulties or problems, but because we have now decided to go all-the-way with the new Skin options, tweaking all toolbar icons and lots of list item images (e.g. format icons) to better fit the light *and* dark backgrounds.
About v16.3, quoted from last month’s newsletter:
Skins for all screens: Light and Dark.
The Light Skin will be a clean look, white backgrounds, dark fonts. Very readable, easy on the eye.
The Dark Skin is going for a cooler, modern design, with dark backgrounds, light fonts.
Of course, there will also be a “Default” option for users who prefer their software to adhere to their configured Windows theme.
Quick Filter Bar in main screen
The new Quick Filter Bar lets you make simple selections quickly and easily, right from the main screen.
For example, to quickly find a movie to watch: find all movies (not TV Series), that you actually own, that you have not seen yet, having an IMDb Rating above 7, reasonably recent and not over 2 hours.
That’s it for today. Enjoy!