Free42 version 1.5.7a & 1.5.8a - 1.5.8f

[Thomas Okken]

I'm getting the impression that the action bar causes as many problems as it solves; that whether the app has an old-style title bar and options menu, or a new-style action bar and overflow menu, you can never depend on all Android >= 4 devices to show the menu icon in No Title and Full Screen modes.

So, I figure I might as well go back to the old-style title bar, restore support for the four people still using Android < 3 ;-), and make tapping in the top of the display activate the menu, like in the iPhone version. That way, everyone will be able to access the menu, regardless of whether they're in Normal, No Title, or Full Screen modes. (I guess I'll get rid of Normal mode, because a title bar that doesn't do anything but show a title is a waste of space, which is why Free42 <= 1.5.6 didn't have one, either.) N.B. The top-of-the-screen tap will act as the menu activation trigger *in addition* to whatever other triggers are provided by the OS -- menu button, long-pressed on-screen button, or menu icon -- it will not replace them.

Expect a new release in one or two weeks.

[Massimo Gnerucci]

(03-21-2016 12:43 PM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  I'm getting the impression that the action bar causes as many problems as it solves; that whether the app has an old-style title bar and options menu, or a new-style action bar and overflow menu, you can never depend on all Android >= 4 devices to show the menu icon in No Title and Full Screen modes.

So, I figure I might as well go back to the old-style title bar, restore support for the four people still using Android < 3 ;-), and make tapping in the top of the display activate the menu, like in the iPhone version. That way, everyone will be able to access the menu, regardless of whether they're in Normal, No Title, or Full Screen modes. (I guess I'll get rid of Normal mode, because a title bar that doesn't do anything but show a title is a waste of space, which is why Free42 <= 1.5.6 didn't have one, either.) N.B. The top-of-the-screen tap will act as the menu activation trigger *in addition* to whatever other triggers are provided by the OS -- menu button, long-pressed on-screen button, or menu icon -- it will not replace them.

Expect a new release in one or two weeks.

Great, I think that this approach should satisfy everyone.

Thank you very much Thomas.

[Thomas Okken]

I just posted 1.5.8, in which I rolled back the vibration code, so it uses the old Vibration service again, rather than the new Haptic Feedback API, which apparently doesn't work on a lot of devices.

I also changed the target Android version to 2.2, which makes the action bar go away. I retained the three-way normal / no-title / full-screen selector.

There are still some things to be done to make the Android UI better: tapping in the top of the screen to bring up the menu on devices where it cannot otherwise be reached, because they have neither a hardware menu button nor show the "three dots" in the navigation bar. Also, I'll add an option to hide the navigation bar, for a true full-screen experience.

I had planned to have those features in 1.5.8, *and* have 1.5.8 out the door two weeks ago, but reality intervened, unfortunately. I'll probably do those remaining Android UI improvements next week; after that it'll be quiet for a while, but I have some other much-requested improvements on the way, including import and export of matrices to CSV files.

UPDATE: Whoops, the "tap in the top of the screen to bring up the menu" really should have been in this release. The fact that some Android devices have neither a menu button nor show the "three dots" in the navigation bar was precisely the reason why this whole action bar drama got started in the first place!
I just pushed out 1.5.8a, which includes this feature.

[Gerald H]

Excellent work Thomas, thank you.

[Massimo Gnerucci]

Just found my devices updated.

Thanks a lot, very well crafted.

[Didier Lachieze]

(04-17-2016 11:06 PM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  Also, I'll add an option to hide the navigation bar, for a true full-screen experience.

I've received the latest update 1.5.8f and I noticed that the full-screen experience is here! Everything works fine.
Many thanks Thomas for this nice improvement.

[walter b]

Thanks a lot, Thomas! It's the reference standard for all smartphone calculators (and more).

d:-)