0.10 doesn't load the Settings screen properly on pre Android 4.0 devices, so I had to scramble to get some workaround code. It's back to normal for now, I'll start working on a solution that works cross-version, since my current setup obviously does not. (The Settings menu shows slightly differently depending on your Android version, but it will work on all devices now regardless of version.)
0.10.1 has been published to the market but, as usual, it will take an hour or so for Google's servers to push it out.
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Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Auto Respond 0.10
I have published Auto Respond 0.10 on the Play Store. Some of this was actually included in previous releases (0.9.2 or so), but I included all of it in this changelog.
Big things:
• The Android SDK changed to make it a lot harder to have the menu setup the way I did, so I had to put everything into categories
• Added a couple new options: notifications are totally optional now, with an additional option for it to be permanent, and there is now an option for vibrate as well as silent
• Added more info into the JB style notifications
Small things:
• Fixed a few small bugs
• Added "Cancel" to the long-press menu for the list of messages
Full Changelog here: http://bit.ly/Rmi6Wf
The new version should be live in the Play Store as soon as the Google servers are updated (an hour or so usually.)
Big things:
• The Android SDK changed to make it a lot harder to have the menu setup the way I did, so I had to put everything into categories
• Added a couple new options: notifications are totally optional now, with an additional option for it to be permanent, and there is now an option for vibrate as well as silent
• Added more info into the JB style notifications
Small things:
• Fixed a few small bugs
• Added "Cancel" to the long-press menu for the list of messages
Full Changelog here: http://bit.ly/Rmi6Wf
The new version should be live in the Play Store as soon as the Google servers are updated (an hour or so usually.)
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
More Work on Notifications
I've been playing around a lot with notifications. I enhanced the JB style notifications more. They now tell you your current message, how many replies were sent, and provide a list of contact names that have been replied to.
I also made separate options of "Show Notifications" and "Permanent Notification". If only "Show Notifications" is on, you will see a notification every time a response is sent and the notification will be able to be cleared. If both "Show" and "Permanent" are on, there will be a permanent notification, as it works now. If neither are on, the app will not display a notification at all.
I may throw them into a new sub-category of settings, and I will likely keep building on the current options. (Especially for Android 4.1+ users.) If you have any ideas, suggestions, etc. feel free to let them be heard!
These notification enhancements have not been released yet, but I will let you all know when they are!
Also, I've been working with ad displays in the free version. I may have overlooked something stupid, and there may not have been an issue in the first place. I am still working with Tap for Tap on some other lingering issues, but I'm not sure if there were any issue with ads displaying properly or not. If anyone has any feedback as to whether or not you are seeing ads in the free version, it would be appreciated. (If you're not now, I've confirmed that they will be displaying correctly in future versions.)
I also made separate options of "Show Notifications" and "Permanent Notification". If only "Show Notifications" is on, you will see a notification every time a response is sent and the notification will be able to be cleared. If both "Show" and "Permanent" are on, there will be a permanent notification, as it works now. If neither are on, the app will not display a notification at all.
I may throw them into a new sub-category of settings, and I will likely keep building on the current options. (Especially for Android 4.1+ users.) If you have any ideas, suggestions, etc. feel free to let them be heard!
These notification enhancements have not been released yet, but I will let you all know when they are!
Also, I've been working with ad displays in the free version. I may have overlooked something stupid, and there may not have been an issue in the first place. I am still working with Tap for Tap on some other lingering issues, but I'm not sure if there were any issue with ads displaying properly or not. If anyone has any feedback as to whether or not you are seeing ads in the free version, it would be appreciated. (If you're not now, I've confirmed that they will be displaying correctly in future versions.)
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Auto Respond 0.9.3
As promised, I looked into the issue with the notifications. It took me some time to figure out how to make notifications work properly on JB and pre-JB, but I did it.
Notifications pre-JB should be working again. And for users who are actually using JB, you should have a little extra info in your notifications. (Your current response message and the number of responses sent. I'll build on it later.)
For those of you pre-JB (or at least pre-ICS) ads are still not working in the free version. Lucky you. I have been in constant contact with Tap for Tap trying to get numerous issues worked out in the past 24-hours, so hopefully (for me, not hopefully for you) you will be seeing ads soon.
I've been doing a lot of thinking, and I think that the scheduler may end up becoming a paid only feature. It's a lot of work, and I need to give people incentive to buy the paid app, especially since ads aren't even working right now.
New versions have been posted for both the free AND paid versions. It may take a while for the updates to get through Google's servers though.
Oh, and one last thing... the new options I mention in a previous post... they're in there ;-)
(Vibrate as well as silent, and the *still untested* option to ignore calls - use at your own risk!)
Notifications pre-JB should be working again. And for users who are actually using JB, you should have a little extra info in your notifications. (Your current response message and the number of responses sent. I'll build on it later.)
For those of you pre-JB (or at least pre-ICS) ads are still not working in the free version. Lucky you. I have been in constant contact with Tap for Tap trying to get numerous issues worked out in the past 24-hours, so hopefully (for me, not hopefully for you) you will be seeing ads soon.
I've been doing a lot of thinking, and I think that the scheduler may end up becoming a paid only feature. It's a lot of work, and I need to give people incentive to buy the paid app, especially since ads aren't even working right now.
New versions have been posted for both the free AND paid versions. It may take a while for the updates to get through Google's servers though.
Oh, and one last thing... the new options I mention in a previous post... they're in there ;-)
(Vibrate as well as silent, and the *still untested* option to ignore calls - use at your own risk!)
Monday, October 22, 2012
Auto Respond 0.9.2
Found another FC in Auto Respond, thanks to a crash report someone sent in. I just released an update that fixed it.
Unfortunately, I did some work on notifications today too (working toward getting Jelly Bean style notifications working) and that work has made notifications stop working in some Android versions (possibly all versions prior to 4.1)
I was in a rush to fix the FC, and pushed the update, not realizing that it broke notifications. (I tested it later on my Droid 2, and that's how I realized it broke notifications.) I am extremely tired, after dealing with Tap for Tap developer support most of the day, and some craziness happening at work, so I need to go to sleep. Sorry for the issues, I will try to fix notifications tomorrow and push an update ASAP.
BTW - Only the free version is affected by this FC and notification issue. The FC wasn't present in the paid version, therefore I did not push an update for it and I did not break notifications for it.
Unfortunately, I did some work on notifications today too (working toward getting Jelly Bean style notifications working) and that work has made notifications stop working in some Android versions (possibly all versions prior to 4.1)
I was in a rush to fix the FC, and pushed the update, not realizing that it broke notifications. (I tested it later on my Droid 2, and that's how I realized it broke notifications.) I am extremely tired, after dealing with Tap for Tap developer support most of the day, and some craziness happening at work, so I need to go to sleep. Sorry for the issues, I will try to fix notifications tomorrow and push an update ASAP.
BTW - Only the free version is affected by this FC and notification issue. The FC wasn't present in the paid version, therefore I did not push an update for it and I did not break notifications for it.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Fixing Bugs, adding options
I've been working on some stuff for Auto Respond.
BUG FIXES:
I noticed that other day that between 12am and 1am, the hour shows as -12, and it shows as pm instead of am. That has been fixed.
I also noticed, on my phone, that my ringer kept getting set to "ring", instead of "ring and vibrate" and I finally figured out that it's my own app that's causing it. If you have the "Silence Ringer" option selected, it wasn't always properly returning the ringer to it's previous value when disabling Auto Respond. I figured out why, and fixed that as well.
NEW SETTING:
Another thing that bothered me was that when I selected the "Silence Ringer" option, it turned off vibrate as well. So I kept the silence ringer option (for those of you who want it truly silenced when active) and added a sub-option to set it to "Vibrate" instead of fully silent. This has been tested, and seems to be working fully, so it will be in my next release.
IN PROGRESS:
I'm also working on an option to "Ignore Calls". This will be enabled when "Auto Respond to voice calls" is active. If "Ignore Calls" is active, it will ignore any call that is sent a text response. If the call does not come from a mobile phone, comes from a number that's not in your contacts, or comes from someone on the "Do Not Respond" list, it will not be sent a response and therefore will not be ignored. For this reason, the ringer options are still available even when ignoring calls is enabled. (This function is not tested yet, so if it doesn't work properly, it may not make it into the final product.)
As I was thinking about the "Do Not Respond" list, I also thought about creating a number based list. Any phone number in this list would not be responded to. I haven't even begun to implement it, I just got the idea while working on other things.
I haven't forgotten about the scheduler. I have spent a lot of time working on it, and have been thinking about the best way to implement some of the necessary aspects of it. It is by far one of the most complex features I have worked on thus far for this app, so it may take more time than expected.
This is how the "Phone Settings" menu looks now (Assuming the "Ignore Calls" function works properly)
tl;dr - some small bug fixes, new vibrate setting, testing ignore calls setting, possible DNR number list in future, still working on scheduler.
BUG FIXES:
I noticed that other day that between 12am and 1am, the hour shows as -12, and it shows as pm instead of am. That has been fixed.
I also noticed, on my phone, that my ringer kept getting set to "ring", instead of "ring and vibrate" and I finally figured out that it's my own app that's causing it. If you have the "Silence Ringer" option selected, it wasn't always properly returning the ringer to it's previous value when disabling Auto Respond. I figured out why, and fixed that as well.
NEW SETTING:
Another thing that bothered me was that when I selected the "Silence Ringer" option, it turned off vibrate as well. So I kept the silence ringer option (for those of you who want it truly silenced when active) and added a sub-option to set it to "Vibrate" instead of fully silent. This has been tested, and seems to be working fully, so it will be in my next release.
IN PROGRESS:
I'm also working on an option to "Ignore Calls". This will be enabled when "Auto Respond to voice calls" is active. If "Ignore Calls" is active, it will ignore any call that is sent a text response. If the call does not come from a mobile phone, comes from a number that's not in your contacts, or comes from someone on the "Do Not Respond" list, it will not be sent a response and therefore will not be ignored. For this reason, the ringer options are still available even when ignoring calls is enabled. (This function is not tested yet, so if it doesn't work properly, it may not make it into the final product.)
As I was thinking about the "Do Not Respond" list, I also thought about creating a number based list. Any phone number in this list would not be responded to. I haven't even begun to implement it, I just got the idea while working on other things.
I haven't forgotten about the scheduler. I have spent a lot of time working on it, and have been thinking about the best way to implement some of the necessary aspects of it. It is by far one of the most complex features I have worked on thus far for this app, so it may take more time than expected.
This is how the "Phone Settings" menu looks now (Assuming the "Ignore Calls" function works properly)
tl;dr - some small bug fixes, new vibrate setting, testing ignore calls setting, possible DNR number list in future, still working on scheduler.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Auto Respond Play Store Banner
I made a new banner for my Auto Respond apps, which is displayed at the top of the page when viewing the app listing in the web app store. (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.havens1515.autorespond and https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.havens1515.autorespondfree)
Update: I've got a new one that includes a screen shot. Any preferences?
Update: I've got a new one that includes a screen shot. Any preferences?
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Auto Respond 0.9.1 (oops!)
Sorry guys, 0.9 causes a FC every time you receive a text message. (BIG OOPS!)
It has been fixed, and a new version has been published. It is NOT live in the Play Store as of this update, but it should be in an hour or so. (about 4:30 Eastern time, 1:30 Pacific)
Sorry again!!
It has been fixed, and a new version has been published. It is NOT live in the Play Store as of this update, but it should be in an hour or so. (about 4:30 Eastern time, 1:30 Pacific)
Sorry again!!
Auto Respond 0.9
I was doing some thinking yesterday about the fact that I had a lot of duplicated code. So I did some looking around as to how I could get rid of it, and have 1 instance of all of the duplicate code that I had.
I've said before that this is my first Android project, and it is also my first major Java project. I took a class in Java in college, but it was my first ever programming class so a lot of the information presented to me in the class didn't really sink in.
I read up yesterday on static variables and static methods, and I used that to get rid of A LOT of duplicate code in my app. Streamlining this code seems to have made navigation a little smoother from one screen to the next.
While doing this, I also changed a few things. My settings menu was starting to get cluttered, and is just going to get even more cluttered as time goes on, so I separated it into multiple menus. There is now "Do Not Respond List", "Dock Options", and "Phone Options", and a couple loose end options that remain on the main settings screen.
I also implemented an option in my SMS to GPlus app to have the permanent notification be optional. I added this into Auto Respond as an option in the settings menu. (Which is actually what led to all of the code re-arranging and consolidation.) This option is on by default, but can easily be turned off.
As I was doing this, I also realized that if Auto Respond is enabled and you reboot or turn your phone off, it may not be re-enabled on boot. That is no longer the case. Also, the dock listener may not have been active on boot in previous versions. Which means that when you dock your phone, Auto Respond wouldn't automatically turn on unless you had opened the Auto Respond app after the phone turned on. That service is now started on boot, if the dock options are enabled.
And lastly, TapForTap (the new ad network that I am using in the free version) just updated their SDK and changed the way their service works. I included the new SDK in the new version of Auto Respond Free. Part of this change is that the ads from TapForTap are now single ads, instead of putting 2 apps in 1 banner sized ad. You should, however, see a mix of ads from TapForTap and ads from admob.
I noticed when I initially implemented TapForTap that the ads didn't display on devices running anything prior to Android 4.0. I'm hoping that this is fixed with the new SDK but I haven't tested it on my Droid 2, which is the only device I own which has anything prior to 4.0. (and unfortunately, the ads don't seem to show AT ALL on emulated devices. Even with 4.0 or 4.1) If it's not working properly, I guess those of you running 2.2 or 2.3.x can enjoy ad free Auto Respond for a while until I get the ads fixed.
Full change log for version 0.9:
• Start services and show notification (if enabled) on reboot
• Re-arranged settings menu
• Made permanent notification optional
• Cleaned up A LOT of unnecessary code (Seems to have improved performance as well)
(Free Version Only)
• integrated updated TapForTap SDK
Both the free and paid versions 0.9 are live in the Google Play Store right now.
Free:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.havens1515.autorespondfree
Paid:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.havens1515.autorespond
I've said before that this is my first Android project, and it is also my first major Java project. I took a class in Java in college, but it was my first ever programming class so a lot of the information presented to me in the class didn't really sink in.
I read up yesterday on static variables and static methods, and I used that to get rid of A LOT of duplicate code in my app. Streamlining this code seems to have made navigation a little smoother from one screen to the next.
While doing this, I also changed a few things. My settings menu was starting to get cluttered, and is just going to get even more cluttered as time goes on, so I separated it into multiple menus. There is now "Do Not Respond List", "Dock Options", and "Phone Options", and a couple loose end options that remain on the main settings screen.
I also implemented an option in my SMS to GPlus app to have the permanent notification be optional. I added this into Auto Respond as an option in the settings menu. (Which is actually what led to all of the code re-arranging and consolidation.) This option is on by default, but can easily be turned off.
As I was doing this, I also realized that if Auto Respond is enabled and you reboot or turn your phone off, it may not be re-enabled on boot. That is no longer the case. Also, the dock listener may not have been active on boot in previous versions. Which means that when you dock your phone, Auto Respond wouldn't automatically turn on unless you had opened the Auto Respond app after the phone turned on. That service is now started on boot, if the dock options are enabled.
And lastly, TapForTap (the new ad network that I am using in the free version) just updated their SDK and changed the way their service works. I included the new SDK in the new version of Auto Respond Free. Part of this change is that the ads from TapForTap are now single ads, instead of putting 2 apps in 1 banner sized ad. You should, however, see a mix of ads from TapForTap and ads from admob.
I noticed when I initially implemented TapForTap that the ads didn't display on devices running anything prior to Android 4.0. I'm hoping that this is fixed with the new SDK but I haven't tested it on my Droid 2, which is the only device I own which has anything prior to 4.0. (and unfortunately, the ads don't seem to show AT ALL on emulated devices. Even with 4.0 or 4.1) If it's not working properly, I guess those of you running 2.2 or 2.3.x can enjoy ad free Auto Respond for a while until I get the ads fixed.
Full change log for version 0.9:
• Start services and show notification (if enabled) on reboot
• Re-arranged settings menu
• Made permanent notification optional
• Cleaned up A LOT of unnecessary code (Seems to have improved performance as well)
(Free Version Only)
• integrated updated TapForTap SDK
Both the free and paid versions 0.9 are live in the Google Play Store right now.
Free:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.havens1515.autorespondfree
Paid:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.havens1515.autorespond
Sunday, October 14, 2012
That was quick
I've developed my first version of my SMS (Twitter) to G+ app. It works as I need it to work, and at the beginning of November. all of my #EFOTD tweets will be automatically texted to me, then forwarded to G+. I also added functionality (for myself, it can be optional if I release it as a public app) that all tweets tagged #GPlus will be forwarded too.
Thanks to the great people at IFTTT, I can now send my tweets to my phone, then auto forward them to G+.
Thanks to the great people at IFTTT, I can now send my tweets to my phone, then auto forward them to G+.
SMS to Google Plus
I'm going to begin working on an app that will forward SMS messages to Google+. I'm doing this so that I can update G+ from Twitter, by incorporating it with a recipe on IFTTT. (Trust me, it works. It took me a LONG time to devise a working way to do this, since IFTTT got rid of Twitter triggers and G+ doesn't have an API yet.)
The app will look for a specific username, and specific hashtag(s) in texts received from IFTTT. If the text begins with "username: " and includes the hashtag in the SMS somewhere, it will cut off the leading username and forward the SMS to Google+.
In order to do all of this, the way that I plan to use it, you will need an IFTTT account, and you will need SMS status updates turn on within Google+. To enable SMS status updates on Google+, you need a phone number from the US or India. If you are not in either of those countries, there are ways around it using Google Voice and a proxy within the US or India (Google search it if you are interested.)
This app has been inspired by a personal need for such functionality. Initially, I am going to be developing the app solely for my use. I need something to be working properly by the beginning of November, so the first version will ONLY work with my username and the specific hashtag that I need to be forwarded to Google+.
If people show interest in this app (via comments or +1 on this blog entry, sending me e-mails, tweets, however you want to display interest) I will work on making a public version that is able to be personalized for your username and multiple personalized hashtag triggers. But step 1 is to get a working version for myself written and usable by Nov 1.
Let me know if you're interested!
The app will look for a specific username, and specific hashtag(s) in texts received from IFTTT. If the text begins with "username: " and includes the hashtag in the SMS somewhere, it will cut off the leading username and forward the SMS to Google+.
In order to do all of this, the way that I plan to use it, you will need an IFTTT account, and you will need SMS status updates turn on within Google+. To enable SMS status updates on Google+, you need a phone number from the US or India. If you are not in either of those countries, there are ways around it using Google Voice and a proxy within the US or India (Google search it if you are interested.)
This app has been inspired by a personal need for such functionality. Initially, I am going to be developing the app solely for my use. I need something to be working properly by the beginning of November, so the first version will ONLY work with my username and the specific hashtag that I need to be forwarded to Google+.
If people show interest in this app (via comments or +1 on this blog entry, sending me e-mails, tweets, however you want to display interest) I will work on making a public version that is able to be personalized for your username and multiple personalized hashtag triggers. But step 1 is to get a working version for myself written and usable by Nov 1.
Let me know if you're interested!
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Auto Respond Free "Derps" fixed
I had a few small errors in the free version of Auto Respond. Not sure what even made them come to mind, but they did.
- The menu is supposed to have a "Buy" link (which takes you to the market to purchase the full version) in the free version, and a "Donate" link (which takes you to paypal to donate to me) in the full version. In my last update, I accidentally made them both "Donate". This has been returned to normal.
- In both versions of the app the "Feedback" page, which shows with each update, linked to the market page for the full version of the app. This now correctly links to the free version if you are running the free version, and the paid version if you are running the paid version.
Neither of these really affect functionality of the app, but I do want them pointing the user to the correct places. I'm sure nobody is going to want to donate when they still have ads in the app, and I definitely want feedback to appear on the correct app. If you haven't done so already, please go pick up the latest version if you are running the free version. (The paid version was not updated. There were no issues in the paid version.)
Monday, October 1, 2012
Auto Respond 0.8
I just released a new version of Auto Respond. The scheduler is NOT working yet, but I figured that I had done enough work on other things to make it worth releasing a new version.
Change Log:
Free Version Only:
Change Log:
- Default message is now editable
- "About" screen is now "Help"
- Added feedback page
- Auto Respond toggle is now color coded
- Initial setup for scheduler (doesn't work yet)
- Made layouts look more consistent
Free Version Only:
- Moved ads
Check it out on the Google Play Store
Free:
paid: (No ads - $.99)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.havens1515.autorespond
It's available now, so if you already have it, go get your update. If you don't already have it, go download it!
It's available now, so if you already have it, go get your update. If you don't already have it, go download it!
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