What's new in CLZ Movies for iOS? (page 2)

Adding Actors as folder option has been on our ideas list for a long time, but it was never implemented because of performance problems.
After all, on large collections, the list of actors can get HUGE.

But during the past few weeks, our mobile team has been working to improve the performance of the folder lists, including the recently introduced folder list search.

Soo… today we can finally introduce Actors as a folder option!
(BTW: the performance improvements we made will also make your other folders faster!)

New folder options for Actors

With this update, we’re introducing an Actors folder option:

IMPORTANT: for correct sorting of actor folders, you first need to use Update from Core on all your movies. Here’s how:

• Go to your All Movies list.
• Tap and hold on 1 movie to select it, then choose Select All on the top right.
• Now tap the menu icon on the bottom right, then choose Update from Core.

Redesigned Select Folder Field screen

Through the years, the number of available folder fields has grown enormously, making the Select Folder Field screen a bit “unwieldy”. And with todays addition of yet another folder option, we decided to come up with a better solution.

That is why version 5.5 also includes a re-designed Select Folder Field screen, with all folder options nicely grouped under sensible headers, and the most popular options (Format, Director, Actor, Location, IMDb Rating) instantly accessible at the top (see screenshot above).

Faster Update from Core

The Update from Core feature has become essential in this update, so that you can retrieve the correct sort names for your Actors from Core and get nicely sorted Actor folder list.

However, on large collections the old Update from Core feature was quite slow, as it updated your movies one by one, that is doing separate requests to our server for each and every movie.

So for this 5.5 update, we also complete rewrote the Update from Core feature to do the updates in batches of 100 movies at a time, making it much much faster!

Fixed:

• Sorting on Release Date could be off within the same year

Enjoy!

Fixed:

• Add Movies / ‘Search for’ – popup did not show up right on devices with large font.
• When downloading new entries from CLZ Cloud, previously cleared fields could get filled in.
• In the Add from Core screen, when adding a movie that is already in your app as ‘On Wish List’ or ‘On Order’, the app will now offer to change its status to ‘In Collection’.
• Box set images were not downloaded.
• On devices with intermittent internet connection, app could revert to trial mode
• After down-syncing update cover images, the list could still show old cover.
• Improved error messages in case of core search problems.

Faster CLZ Cloud syncing!

We have made several structural changes to the CLZ Cloud syncing, making it much much faster than before, especially when syncing large amounts of entries up to the CLZ Cloud or down from the CLZ Cloud.

To enjoy the faster syncing, you need to use the actual Sync with CLZ Cloud screen.

(The Auto-Syncing in the background is also slightly faster now, but if you need to sync many entries up or down, please use the Sync with CLZ Cloud screen.)

New design for Sync with CLZ Cloud screen

While we were at it, we decided to do a quick make-over for the Sync screen, with a new look and layout and a direct link to your CLZ Cloud page online.

In this update we introduce a new quick-search for your folders, sorting your folders by the counters, and more stable cloud syncing through our brand-new dedicated Sync-server.

Quick-search your folders

Grouping in folders is a powerful way to browse and filter your collection. Just group by Format, or Director, etc… tap a folder and the list will give you all movies for the selected Format or Director.

However, if your collection spans thousands of movies, that “tap a folder” part is sometimes easier said than done. It may require lots of scrolling in the folder list.

But not anymore! This version introduces a new search box right above the folder list, that lets you instantly search/filter the folder list as you type! Just typing a few letters is often enough to bring the folder you are looking for into view:

Sort folders by count

By default, the folders are sorted alphabetically. But as of today, there is another option: sort your folders by the counter, that is by the number of movies contained.

Sorting by the counters is a nice way to find the most popular Formats, Studios, Directors, etc..

Switch between the Alphabetical and By Count sorting using the sort toggle at the top:

Improved barcode scanning

We have improved the scan engine and gave it a larger “scan area”. This should help scan barcodes faster and easier.

Now uses our brand-new CLZ Cloud Sync-server

Previously one big server was handling the Connect website, the CLZ Cloud website AND the CLZ Cloud syncing from the desktop programs and the mobile apps.
But this week we have set up a brand-new dedicated Sync-server to handle just the CLZ Cloud syncing.

In today’s update, CLZ Movies has been updated to sync through this new server, which should result in faster syncing and a more stable syncing experience during high load times (weekends).

Fixed:

• Field Defaults: It wasn’t possible to set the rating field back to zero.
• Manage Pick Lists: Merging list items caused too many sync changes.

Fixed:

• Rare incident where timeouts occurred during CLZ Cloud sync.

A big update for the CLZ Movies app again, introducing a new Statistics screen, a cool “infographic” style screen, showing totals and statistics about your movie collection.
To open it, just choose “Statistics” from the menu.

In this new screen, you can find:

• Your total number of movies and TV Series and how many different formats you have.
• A nice pie chart showing the distribution of your movies over formats (DVD, Blu-ray, etc..).
• A top 5 list of your most recent additions.
• A bar chart of your movies by genre.
• A bar chart of your movies by director.
• A bar chart of your movies by IMDb rating.
• A pie chart showing your Seen and Unseen movies.

The app could crash during syncing of certain items. Shouldn’t happen anymore now!

Fixed:

• App could crash while syncing with CLZ Cloud

Another big update for your CLZ Movies app today. In version 5.1, we added many new fields for DVD/Blu-ray/4K specific information. These fields are now editable on the new Edition tab of the Edit Movie screen and also available as folder options:

• Subtitles
• Audiotracks
• Screen ratios
• Layers
• HDR (HDR10 / HDR10+ / Dolby Vision)
• Color vs Black and White
• Edition Release Date
• Extras

Of course, all the new fields sync to/from the CLZ Cloud too.

Read more

Fixed:

• Custom images were uploaded too often

Changed:

• Add by barcode: Swipe to remove a single barcode wasn’t working. To remove a single barcode now, just press and hold on it!

Fixed:

• When changing a cover, the list and images view wasn’t updated correctly
• Date pickers weren’t showing correctly
• Some colours were wrong (tabs/switches)

Instead of working on new features, we decided to take a few weeks to look at existing screens and functionality and see where things could be improved, of course all based on your feedback.

Today’s update brings you new iOS 13 style “sheet” screens and a batch of user interface improvements we implemented (more coming up!):

Read more

Fixed:

• Fix for a crash that some iPhone users experienced after adding/editing entries

Several small tweaks for your CLZ Movies app today:

• iPhone: details page now has clearer Edit and Remove buttons at the bottom
• New “Update All IMDb Rating & Votes” option in menu.
• “Sync with CLZ Cloud” menu now indicates whether there are sync changes pending.

Fixed

• ‘Add manually’ button was missing in the add screen
• ‘Move to other collection’-option was missing from the pop-up menu
• When adding a movie by barcode that was “already in collection”, the barcode wasn’t cleared from the barcode queue

This post is about CLZ Books iOS v5.0.5, CLZ Music iOS v5.0.5 and CLZ Movies iOS v5.0.2.

Improved:

• When trying to send a support e-mail, instead of showing an error message, redirect to a web based contact form if there is no e-mail address set in the E-mail app.

Fixed:

• Re-added the ability to save a cover to the photo’s app in the edit screen. (Long-press the cover)
• Small text fixes

It’s finally here: CLZ Movies 5.0, for both iOS and Android!

New in v5:

• Now supports and syncs multiple collections
• Automatic cloud-syncing of your own “custom” images
• Get IMDb Number of Votes from Core (Premium)
• Batch Update IMDb Ratings & Votes from Core (Premium)
• Add Movies by IMDb Number/URL (Premium)
• Re-designed top-bar and main menu

On top of that:

CLZ Movies is now a subscription app

To allow us to keep delivering our CLZ online services (CLZ Cloud and CLZ Core) and our continuous updates to the app, the app has now become a subscription app. For new users, this subscription is necessary for access to the CLZ online services:

• CLZ Core: for adding movies by title or barcode
• CLZ Cloud: for online backups and syncing between devices
• Adding by IMDb Number/URL
• Getting and updating IMDb Ratings and Votes from Core

What if you already purchased the app earlier?

Of course, since you have purchased the app earlier, you have automatically received a “Basic”-level app unlock. Which means:

• You keep ALL functionality that you had before. In particular, you keep full access to your existing Core and Cloud functionality. You do not lose anything.
• You can still update your app to v5 and enjoy the new “non-premium” improvements.
• You can keep updating your app and keep geting our app improvements.
• You do not need to pay for a subscription.

If, for any reason, the app does not unlock to the Basic level for you, please CONTACT US here and we’ll get it resolved ASAP.

Optional “Premium” Services that do require a subscription

So… you will get everything you had before (and more), without paying again.

However, with v5 we are offering several new, optional Premium online services, that do require a subscription:

• Get IMDb Number of Votes from Core
• Batch Update IMDb Ratings & Votes from Core
• Add Movies by IMDb Number/URL

What’s new in CLZ Movies 5.0 ?

Now supports and syncs multiple collections !

It is now possible to manage multiple “collections” within your app. The collections you create will be listed in the main menu, so you can easily switch between them.
Use the menu to add new collections, edit their names, change the order, etc…

Multiple collections now also sync through the CLZ Cloud, e.g. to/from the Movie Connect cloud-based software or the Movie Collector desktop software. So if you have created multiple collections on the desktop side, these will now finally be separated on the mobile app too!

Already have multiple collections in the CLZ Cloud?

If you already have multiple collections in the CLZ Cloud, here’s what to do to get your existing entries split up into multiple collections on your mobile app too:

1. Tap the menu top left
2. Tap “Sync with CLZ Cloud” and make sure you’re in sync.
3. Tap the menu top left again and tap “Maintenance”
4. Tap “Update all from CLZ Cloud”
5. Now use “Sync with CLZ Cloud” from the menu again.

Automatic cloud-syncing of your own “custom” images

Before v5, if you replaced the automatic Core front cover with your own image (e.g. from Camera Roll), it would not automatically sync to the CLZ Cloud. You had to “force” the upload by using Upload to CLZ Cloud in the Edit screen.

For version 5 we made this more automatic. We introduced a new toggle “Custom Image” in the Edit screen. This toggle will be automatically set when you replace the Core image. Once the Custom Image toggle is set, that cover will automatically sync to and from the CLZ Cloud.

IMDb Votes (requires subscription)

Adding new movies will now give you the amount of votes from IMDb, refreshed every day.
You can also sort by number of IMDb votes to see which movie has the most votes on IMDb.

Update your IMDb Ratings and Votes in one go (requires subscription)

The new IMDb content license gives us fresh daily updates of the IMDb Ratings and Votes, so let’s make use of that daily fresh data now!

– Tap and hold on a movie, then tap Select All
– Tap the blue button bottom right
– Tap Update IMDb ratings/votes from CLZ Core

This will connect to our Core and retrieve fresh IMDb Ratings and Votes for all selected movies. Don’t worry, this won’t take long. We have implemented a super efficient system that can update ratings/votes in chunks of 100 movies in one go.

When done, it will report the number of movies it has updated the Ratings and Votes for.

Add Movies by IMDb Number or URL (requires subscription)

Can’t find a movie in our Core? But it is on IMDb?

Then use the new “IMDb” tab in the Add Movies screen, for finding and adding movies straight from their IMDb Nr or URL.

The movie entry will then be retrieved from IMDb automatically AND added to our Core, so that you can then immediately Add it to your database!

Re-designed top-bar and main menu

• The menu icon now includes the “CLZ Movies” mark (bigger tap area)
• The “Collection Status” filter button has been moved to the right
• The menu now clearly shows your Account and App Status at the top. Tap either of those to manage them.
• New “Maintenance” screen that now contains:
  • the “Clear Database” option
  • the “old Import from Movie Collector” option
  • the new “Update from CLZ Cloud” option (only use when instructed by support staff)

How to update your CLZ Movies app to version 5:

• On your device, open the App Store app.
• On the bottom, switch to the Updates tab.
• Find the CLZ Movies entry and tap “UPDATE” on the right.
  
  TIP: if you don’t see the CLZ Movies update yet, pull down to refresh!

We’ve updated 2 formats with new names, and we’ve changed the icon for 4K Ultra HD:

• Renamed format “Blu-ray Disc” to “Blu-ray”
• Renamed format “Ultra HD Blu-ray” to “4K UHD”
• Updated the format icon for 4K UHD

Great news! We now have a new and more comprehensive content licensing agreement with IMDb, which means the IMDb features are back in your CLZ Movies app!

• When adding new movies, it automatically downloads IMDb Ratings and Links again.
• The IMDb Number field has been replaced with an IMDb URL field. Of course, your existing IMDb numbers have automagically been turned into IMDb URLs.
• In your movie list, the IMDb Ratings are shown in “IMDb yellow” again 🙂

Because the new IMDb content license is more comprehensive, more IMDb related data and features are coming soon, including:

• Official cast and crew listings, straight from IMDb.
• A tool for updating all your IMDb Ratings with fresh ratings from IMDb.

Also new in this version:

• Fixed: The ‘region’ field was missing in the folder list

IMDb, IMDb.COM, and the IMDb logo are trademarks of IMDb.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

Pending our discussion with IMDb, it was necessary to update the CLZ Movies app with the following changes:

• The app does not download/update IMDb Ratings or IMDb links anymore.
• All occurrences of the “IMDb” name and logo have been removed.

We hope to reach an agreement with IMDb soon, so that we can re-enable the above features.
Our apologies for the inconvenience.

New:

• The resizable panels in the add screen now have the same design as the ones in the main screen.

Fixed:

• iPad: Wrong initial panel layout in the main screen when the app is started in landscape mode.

A useful update of your app today, that is, if you are using the app on an iPad:

All panels in the main screen (folders, list and details) are now resizable using draggable separators between the panels, so that you can customize the layout to your own liking.

New:

• Added the following fields to the Manage Pick Lists screen: audience rating, region, studio, distributor.

Fixed:

• Unlinked movies caused error message during downsync.
• Original title was not set when adding/updating a movie.

New: Redesigned app icon

We designed new icons that give new users a better indication of what the app actually does (as opposed to just a different color CLZ logo), but still obviously belong together, when shown together.

New: Add box sets as single entries instead of multiple movies

In July this year, we introduced the new Box Set adding feature in the Add Movies screen, where it automatically “knows” which movies are in the box, then creates separate entries in your database for all the movies contained, then “links” them using the Box Set field:

Most users love this new way of adding Box Sets. However, since the introduction we have learned that some users would like to add box sets as single entries.

So as of today, the “multiple movie entries” behaviour is now optional.

When adding a box set, found by title or barcode, you can now choose between:

• Add box as 1 entry
• Add box as [x] movies

Change your preferred way using the box set option button in the add screen:

Add box as 1 entry:

Add box as 3 movies:

Some changes in 4.12.3 for you:

• The buttons to switch folders, sorting and view options have been moved to more logical places to make them more accessible.
• The skins and templates options have been moved to the settings screen.
• The selection mode button has been removed, just tap and hold on an item to start selecting items.

Fixed:

• Field default setting for the “Seen it” field did not work.

Fixed:

• Movies added through a box set that were supposed to get a format set sometimes didn’t.
• It was possible for movies added through a box set got the box set cover instead of their own movie cover.
• The ‘Unrecognized Barcode’ popup would crash the app on iPad.