Crystal Popup Suite betatesters NEEDED!

[Mikael_S]

Hi everybody, I'm a developer for NewBornGames/NewBornGear and we are soon about to release an application called Crystal Popup Suite.

Crystal Popup Suite is a multi-purpose popup tool for Palm OS 5 and above devices. Partly it's supposed to be a replacement for some of those 'hacks' that are/were popular on earlier Palm OS versions. By pressing a hardkey button or making a graffiti stroke, you get immediate access to these functions, within any other application (no need to switch apps).

Calculator
Memo pad
Notepad/Drawing program
Timer/stopwatch
Launcher

Basically, Crystal Popup Suite has been tested on Tungsten T and to some extent on Tungsten T3, but we *hope* it will work on just about any Palm OS 5 device. We would be extremely happy for test reports by any Palm OS 5 device users, such as various Tungsten models, Treo600, and various Sony Clie models.

The beta version URL posted previously is no longer available. Download the official version 1.0b from

http://www.palmgear.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=software.showsoftware&prodID=55404

If you decide to try it out, first make sure that nothing is crashing. Then you are free to look for any errors (or missing features), as well as trying to force errors to happen.

Some known issues:
1. If the underlying app has forced a screen with less than 256 colors, things will look weird (but still work)
2. The timer ends on 0, not 1
3. If the system is low on memory, saving the background isn't possible. If the underlying application responds to FormUpdate events, it will redraw anyway after returning, but if not, junk may be left on screen.

Thank you very much for your help!

[jonnyauk]

-UK Treo 600 on Orange
-ZLauncher (registered-v4.01)
Graphiti Anywhere (1.4.5)

I've downloaded the beta - and no probs after playing with it for a while... I'll let you know how I get on with it in a few days.

So far I'm very impressed with this app - back to the old hack style days as you said, which has caused such problems on OS5 - this looks like a really good app so far! This is my fourth palm (Pro/Vx/515) - I've been a loyal palm fan for many years, and (Im not just kissing your *** by saying) this is one of those really essential apps - I've missed a popup calc!

If you are reading about this thread I heartily recomend you download this app and give it a try - help this guy finish this 5 star app off!

Issues so far:
-When you hold down a hardkey to activate it pops up the menu, but on release it launches the app associated with the hardkey

-Stroke from left to right doesn't work with Graphiti Anywhere (as of course, treo doesn't have even virtual silkscreen area!). I have tried a number of times, but it doesn't launch Crystal. I appreciate that this is out of your hands as Im using another third party app, but it would be nice!


Quick suggestions so far:
-Enable usage of the centre button on 5 way navigation to launch app
-Maybe an option to double press a hard key to launch Crystal?

-Popup list on favorites?

Otherwise, like I said I really can't fault it too much - with no crashes yet - good work!

[Mikael_S]

Sorry for the late response...

jonnyauk: thanks a LOT for testing on Treo600, we tried on several forums to get someone to do it, and then we actually decided to release it without hearing any treo600 report.

Glad it seems to work well for the most part! As for the stroke issue I don't think there's anything we can do at this point but we might figure something out for version1.1.
I'm not sure what you mean with the keys problem. If the popup quits as soon as you release the button then how have you been able to use it at all? Or do you mean it only happens when you have set a longer pressing time than 0 seconds?

Actually the centre button *should* work for selecting apps. If not, it's a TReo600 issue we'll have to look into. (if you press the centre button when on the launcher screen you should see a red box, move it and run app by pressing centre button again).

Thanks again for the testing - very helpful!


Some changes have occured: The beta is no longer available for download, instead download latest version from

http://www.palmgear.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=software.showsoftware&prodID=55404

We have done a small bugfix so this is now 1.0b. There were some issues with navigator keys in some applications and also, as TechTeacherTT pointed out, the timer (and actually the stopwatch too) wasn't functioning as it should if the device was put to sleep.

We also modified the prize. Seems it was a bit too high. We set it to $12, but PalmGear may also run a special offer with an additional discount of $2. Our apologies to those who already bought it at a higher prize, but it seems we just set it a bit too high, and hope you're still happy with your purchase.

[jonnyauk]

I have tried it out lots today with no further problems, it's a lovely little application!

I appreciate that the stroke activation is hindered by the fact Im relying on a third party application (Graphiti Anywhere 1.4.5) for graphiti input, but it would be cool!

The hard keys activation works perfectly when you have the press set to 0 seconds in all the applications ive tried so far. It doesn't work when its set to a longer press for activation - it comes up with the crystal menu, but when you let go of the button the application launches (eg sms/phone). You are not able to tap the menu items whilst the button is pressed also.

Centre button activation would be great, if you could set it to activate crystal after a delay.

Once again, a really fantastic program that ive had no problems with - although to generate more interest in it when people trial it you should let it work fully for a few days, and then bring up the nag screens so people get used to using it!

Also, good karma on reducing the price - im sure this will become a VERY popular application!

[PatrickS]

Is it true that the memo application has an independent database from the built-in memopad? If so, I frankly don't understand the rationale for this. Why would I want to manage two separate but similar memo databases?

[Mikael_S]

PatrickS: The idea is not to replace or compete with the existing memo app, the idea is more to have it as an advanced clipboard. That is, if you need to copy something from the current application (codes, text, whatever) and paste it temporarily. It could be several things in a row you need to copy. In normal cases, you would need to copy the first thing, go into memopad, paste it, then start up the program again, go back to the place you were when you got the first text you wanted (which may require several steps), copy the new text, go into memopad again etc... With CPS there is no need for this.
Or you could keep notes that you (for some reason or another) need to paste into other programs frequently.
Or, say, you're in the middle of something else (game or whatever), and a thought pops into your head. Bring up CPS, write it down, go back. Sure, you could launch standard MemoPad as well, but there's no question CPS is quicker.
I think it's pretty much individual if you find the "extra memo" useful or not, some will think it's useless, others not.

[jonnyauk]

Indeed - I do actually use the built in memo app in Crystal to store things like my email addresses and stuff like that - its fairly obvious its not meant to be a replacement - and far more, as stated, as a multi item clipboard.

Still no crashes - what a great little application!

[PatrickS]

Originally posted by NBG_Developer
PatrickS: The idea is not to replace or compete with the existing memo app, the idea is more to have it as an advanced clipboard. Hi NBG_Developer

I agree with everything you said. I think you are right not to compete with the memo application, and the advanced clipboard paradigm is useful. However, I don't see how what you describe means that you can't use the memo database. No reason that two apps with different purposes but fundamentally the same data structures can't share the same database. That would make your application that much more useful since it would automatically enjoy the benefits of a conduit which syncs with Outlook/PalmDesktop.

Just my 2 cents.
Patrick

[Mikael_S]

PatrickS: Not a bad idea to share databases, and we might look into it later on. It's probably more trouble than it seems though. The standard memo app is of course rigorously tested while CPS is still 1.0, which means there can be some bugs left. It would be pretty disastrous if for some reason CPS would mess up the memo database. For example, I'm not sure that every Palm compatible device uses the same database format for their memo databases. Still, it *is* a good idea!


Note:
Did some bugfixes, archive updated to v1.0c at PalmGear.

[jonnyauk]

Well, I can tell you I maxed out the trial of Crystal Suite on my UK Orange GSM Treo 600 a few days ago - and once Id ironed out the activation issue mentioned previously it worked perfectly!

Great application - I'll be getting my girlfriends visa to register this one in the next few days, and would be more than happy to beta test any other sofware or versions of Crystal for you!!

FANTASTIC app - very impressed!

[kennyd]

Thank you very much for being the first to provide a multi-clip option that works in iSilo! One request. Is it possible to allow the larger clipboard to "Paste" into other apps. I can successully copy a large amount of text into CPS, but I cannot paste the same text into another app such as WordSmith.

[Mikael_S]

jonnyauk: Glad you like it so much! So far it seems that those who like it *really* like it (we get a lot of happy e-mails), but the number of sales hasn't been overwhelming.

kennyd: we'll look into it and see what we can do for v1.1 (are you getting a 'clipboard limit exceeded' message?).

[kennyd]

Originally posted by NBG_Developer
kennyd: we'll look into it and see what we can do for v1.1 (are you getting a 'clipboard limit exceeded' message?).

Yes

[jonnyauk]

Im not suprised you are getting lots of praise for this app - but I guess that it tkaes a while for word to get around the palm community. I will be getting my girlfriend to buy me this on her visa card asap - so at least you will have one more happy purchaser!

[PatrickS]

Add this to your feature request list...

In your stopwatch/timer app, I find myself tapping the big digits on the top and bottom of the digit to get the number to go up or down. This is what happens in BigClock and I guess I'm just programmed to do this now. Unfortunately, your digits go only up. So... suggest you do the same as BigClock, which is so natural I don't even think about it.

[PatrickS]

In the calculator...

With zero in the memory and zero in the display, press M+.
You'll see the little M annunciator show up in the display, even though the memory is zero.

What's really odd is that I found this same bug in SnapCalc! I must have a knack for finding "M" errors in pop-up calculators....!