Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Release 11 - Version 1.504

There is an update available on the Android market!

This fix was geared towards fixing an oversight that i had made when testing the update prior to releasing the it that resulted in data loss.

Note that lost data retrieval is only possible for users who have previously saved their birthdays to the SD card before the last update. If you updated and appeared to lose data, this update will allow you to retrieve your old backup information if and only if you have not saved anything to the SD card after the last update.

WARNING: Current entries are likely to be overwritten because you are loading only what is on your SD Card. Please be sure before you actually perform this change that it is what you want to do. This change is just in case some piece of information is difficult to recover.

After update, hit menu -> Save/Restore -> Load Birthdays from SD Card

Then you should hit menu -> Save/Restore -> Save Birthdays to SD Card to ensure that the changes are saved.

If you are having issues, please feel free to contact me.

See previous blog for update information from the last update.

In the next few weeks i plan on tying this application to Facebook to automatically pull all of your friends' birthdays from your friends list and put them in your Birthday Organizer list.

Please report bugs if you find any.

Here is a link followed by the QR code to the app in the Android Marketplace:
Birthday Organizer

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Release 10 - Version 1.5

An update is available on the Android Market!

Here's a summary of what changed:

What's new:

     After many requests, and with time to spare to work on this project, I've added the ability to sort by upcoming birthday.

     Also, the birthday notifications are no longer persistent. That is, users no longer have to manually hit the "clear" button after pulling the notification window down to view notifications. The notification will now be removed when the user clicks the birthday notification.

Future Additions

     I am planning on tying this app to Facebook in the future. This will give users the ability to pull everyone from their Facebook friends list who has a birthday and be notified when a birthday approaches.

     The ability to change/include images for birthday entries will be a feature implemented soon. So stay tuned!


As always, if you come across a bug, please report it by sending me an email:
organizer.android@gmail.com


Here is a link followed by the QR code to the app in the Android Marketplace:
Birthday Organizer

Monday, September 27, 2010

Release 9 - 1.404

Just a quick fix brought to my attention by Mark. Here's what was happening:

What was fixed:


   The time that the alarm was set for was being displayed incorrectly. It would show that you would be notified a year ahead of time even when the date had yet to pass this year. This is fixed and the notification time will be displayed correctly. Thanks Mark!

   More sort options will be available as soon as i've got the time to devote to this project. These are next on the agenda as far as features.

Report bugs if you come across them. Please and thanks!

Here is a link followed by the QR code to the app in the Android Marketplace:
Birthday Organizer

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Release 8 - Version 1.402

A couple changes this time around. Here's a summary:

What was fixed:
   A notification bug that wouldn't erase the last alarm you set. For example, if you were to set an alarm for 2:00pm and 2:02pm, you'd be notified both times. So i now have it set to only notify you the last time you set a time for notifications.

What's new:
   If you happen to have two or more notifications that occur at the same time during the day, the number of notifications that you've received is shown in your notification bar. That is, the number of notifications unread will be superimposed over the notification icon in your notification bar.

Please report bugs if you come across them. More updates will come as I have time to work on this.

Here is a link followed by the QR code to the app in the Android Marketplace:
Birthday Organizer

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Release 7 - Version 1.401

Just like most other times, I've overlooked small bugs that tend to screw with the user. Here's an overview:

What was fixed:
1)   The "Refresh" button incidentally brought up the "Save/Restore" window. This has been fixed.

2)   Fixed force close when importing backup from SD card.

3)   Changed the location of the saved backup on the SD card.

Please continue to report bugs!

Here is a link followed by the QR code to the app in the Android Marketplace:
Birthday Organizer

Release 6 - Version 1.4

   In light of the recent changes i thought i would take the time to add another feature. This one i think is more necessary at the moment than other possible features. Seeing as how right now users must manually enter in birthdays, I think it's important to be able to save these entries. So that's just what i've done.

What's new:
   I've added the option to backup/restore your birthday entries to/from your SD card in case your phone takes a crap (which has happened to me plenty of times), or you accidentally delete a birthday you wanted to keep. Whatever the case, to perform either of these new features users just need to hit the menu button and select Save/Restore. Then you have the options to either save or restore!

   I've already noticed a few bugs that need to be addressed so there will be another quick update released shortly to correct for them.

Please report bugs/issues if you come across them instead of leaving 1 or 2 star ratings. This is far from a professional product.

Here is a link followed by the QR code to the app in the Android Marketplace:
Birthday Organizer

Release 5 - Version 3.101

Just one fix this time. Next i'll be working on saving/restoring the birthday list to/from your SD card. Hopefully i can work this in in the next few weeks.


What was fixed:


   Fixed force close issues that users have noted. Should not force close anymore. Please report if a force close does occur.

Here is a link followed by the QR code to the app in the Android Marketplace:
Birthday Organizer

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Release 4 - Version 1.3

First things first - Please hit menu > Refresh after update! This is necessary to set all alarms that were likely previously erased! Notifications will not work until this is done.

After feverishly working to fix the notification problems, I'm nearly certain that they're fixed. Please provide feedback if you notice something odd. Remember this app this still in beta and the time I have to spend on this app is greatly reduced during the semester. So updates will be a little longer in the making.

Now... For the changes.

What's new:

There isn't much new this time around as I only had time to fix bugs. And I probably took too much time away from my homework as it is. I've added a menu option to refresh the birthdays currently in your list. This feature is geared more towards verifying that the notifications are absolutely set to trigger when you chose to be notified.

I added support for Froyo (Android 2.2). Users can now move this app to their SD card. *PLEASE NOTE* Per the Android 2.2 specification, when an application that uses alarms is moved from internal memory to external memory, all alarms that were set are erased. Please hit the menu "Refresh" button after moving to your SD card to reset your alarms. This is important if you want to be notified on time!

What was fixed:

The big one: Notifications should now work correctly. The problem was Android related and something I wasn't initially aware of. When I set alarms for notifications to go off when the user asks, the alarms are only active as long as the device is on. If the device is turned off, all alarms are erased. So I've corrected for this by adding a brief service to run at system boot.

There was an error in date comparisons and thus an error in displaying when the user would be notified. So all dates shown on the birthday information dialog for notifications are correct.

Future Features:

Adding a person's age to the main list so users don't need to hit a birthday to see how old they are. That's one click too many, I agree!

Sorting by month - this is a big one and will likely be the next feature implemented. The only thing i'm missing is time.

Ability to add/change the image for anyone on the birthday list.

At least give options to show zodiac/birthstone for those who'd like it.

That's all for now. Please continue to provide feedback. It is all much appreciated.

Here is a link followed by the QR code to the app in the Android Marketplace:
Birthday Organizer

Status on Birthday Organizer

There have been complaints that notifications aren't working on this app. I've found that an unfortunate side-effect of alarms in Android is that they are stored in a volatile state. This means that they are active so long as the phone stays on after the alarms are initially set. Well it isn't really feasible to expect that everyone will keep their phones on forever. So this issue needs to be addressed.

Among the influx of homework i've been assigned this semester, i've found time to address the problem. An update is on the way - so if you can hold out a little longer, the problems will be fixed. Thanks!

Mike

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Release 4 - Version 1.2

What's new:

1) If the birthday has already passed, I show what day the birthday will be on next year as well as what day the birthday was on this year so you can begin your planning early!

What was fixed:
Several bugs were brought to my attention. Here is an overview of what was fixed:

1) Fixed bug (force close) when you select to delete a birthday after long pressing on the birthday that you wish to delete.

2) Fixed bug where if the birthday had already passed, the birthday view dialog would accurately represent the next time you would be notified.

3) Fixed bug where it would say that a birthday had passed this year when the date was clearly later on in the year.

Here is a link to the app in the Android Marketplace:
Birthday Organizer

Any questions? Send an email.

Mike

Friday, August 13, 2010

Release 3 - 1.01

This update just removes redundancies in the code noticed after publishing the last update. No major changes. See previous post for link to marketplace.

Mike

Release 2 - Version 1.1

It didn't take long for bugs to arise (who would have thunk it :-) ). Here's a summary of what changed:

1) The notification information on the birthday information screen (the dialog that comes up after you click on a birthday) now displays the correct notification date and time.

2) The notification time displayed on the same dialog now displays minutes correctly. It was showing 4:4 for 4:04.

3) The listview for the birthday list actually scrolls now - so if the number of entries in your list exceeds the amount of space it takes to display them, you are able to scroll to see the rest. Minor oversight.

This is it for now. Please continue to report bugs if you come across them!

Here is a link to the marketplace:
Birthday Organizer

Mike

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Release 1 - Version 1.0

The point of this application was to do something productive instead of playing Modern Warfare II for hours on end without anything to show for it. I like games just as much as the next aspiring computer scientist but it is nearly time to find a job and jump into the bane that is the real world.

Here is a description of this application as well as possible future enhancements:

Everyone has trouble keeping track of birthdays - this much i can certainly attest to. Currently, Birthday Organizer (BO) will allow you to keep track of not only birth dates, but gift ideas as well as various other information about a particular person. You can sort my name or date to find an entry quickly and easily. BO also has options to set birthday reminders for different times. You can be notified of an upcoming birthday a week before, a day before, and/or the day of someone's birthday.

Right now, the picture for each entry is a static thing. I've made provisions for tying this app to the users contact list. Thus being able to send an email/sms/mms or whatever to someone directly from Birthday Organizer.

I welcome criticism, but realize i'm not a professional by trade at the moment and that this was simply a summer project created by an undergraduate student. So please, send an email or comment on this post with either praises or suggestions!

Here is a link to the app in the Android Marketplace:
Birthday Organizer

Mike