Better syncing with PocketPedia

[MattW]

First of all, let me say that I really like PocketPedia. I had been exporting my collections to my web server and looking up my collection in that manner, so this is a welcome improvement over that process.

However, I'd like to see better syncing. I have a rather large CD collection (1128) and it takes a long time to sync. The first time is certainly acceptable, as all the data must be copied over since it is, after all, the first time. However, any further syncing appears to do a "full sync" and copies all 1128 records again. I'd like to see a little smarter syncing where only new changes to the database are synced (new additions added, deleted records removed). That should make the sync cycle much faster for larger collections.

Also, when syncing the first time, the iPhone will "time out" and go to stand-by mode during the sync due to no screen interaction from the user. Is there a method for an application to keep the iPhone "awake" until the application is done with an operation? I had to keep touching the screen during the previously-mentioned large sync and the images actually didn't all make it over because the iPhone went into stand-by mode without my realization, thus disrupting the sync.

Will you be looking into utilizing the push notification service that Apple is creating? I would love to have my information in PocketPedia be automatically updated when any new records are added via the desktop applications.

Keep up the great work!

[meglet]

I'm so excited to see this software, I've loved using the Pedias on my Mac, but viewing my collections on the web was a pain.

I agree with MattW that it would be nice to have the iPhone stay awake on it's own during the first sync, especially for large collections. I tried plugging it in during a collection sync and it still went to sleep before the sync was done.

Further syncing, at least from Bookpedia, seems to work fine, in that it only pulls down changes and not the whole collection again. If I try to sync and there are no changes, agreeing to a "clean sync" also works fine.

I have the following three feature requests to add:

Ability to rate collection items on the iPhone that have been synced from a Mac, and have the rating sync back to the Mac.

Ability to add a title to a synced collection, either manually or by searching Amazon. When I tried to do this today the item was added to the local iPhone collection.

Ability to delete an item or collection, either from the local iPhone collection, or the synced collections.

[teacher24_70]

I will be buying an iPod Touch within the next 24 hours. I'm so excited about finally having my collection information with me. It's never worked on my iPod 5th Gen. because of the 4k limit to each note. My collection is just too big. And I don't have a website, so getting to them that way is a no go for me.

This will be the first app that I purchase.

I would also like the option to add a book/DVD to my collection from the iPod Touch and then have it sync back to the collection on my Mac.

[Conor]

Thank you for all the feedback. These are all things we took into account when developing the program. Some of the features did not make it into the 1.0 because of lack of time. The program is smart and only updates items that have changed or been added since the last sync. Matt, in your case, what happened is the program went to sleep during the sync and since it was not complete it starts from the beginning. It's only when it gets to the end of a successful sync that it remembers the last sync date, so that no information or cover is left behind by mistake. We also just found out that it goes to sleep when not connected (which makes perfect sense to conserve battery); by connecting your iPhone via USB to your Mac it will stay on during the sync, even though the screen turns off. The iPhone screen can be activated at anytime to see how the sync is progressing. We will add that information to our small Pocketpedia manual.

We did not get time to implement a backwards synchronization yet, for this reason adding, deleting and editing of the rating on items inside the Pedia collections is disabled. This avoids any confusion for users that change an item on their iPhone that is then not updated on their desktop. Adding, deleting and editing the rating are possible on the Pocketpedia collection, the delete is a bit hidden (swipe a finger across the item you would like to delete, to show the delete button). Deleting can also be done with entire collections the same way. We also did not get time to implement Cover Flow in the landscape orientation yet. We have a lot planned but are thrilled that the 1.0 has been a success.

These are exciting times, the iPhone is a brand new platform. We are learning as we go and we appreciate all the feedback. Once the App Store launch is complete I am sure developers will be given access to the new push notification and we can start integrating that for the next version.

[MattW]

The program is smart and only updates items that have changed or been added since the last sync. Matt, in your case, what happened is the program went to sleep during the sync and since it was not complete it starts from the beginning. It's only when it gets to the end of a successful sync that it remembers the last sync date, so that no information or cover is left behind by mistake.

Ah, that makes perfect sense. Good to know, thanks!

Is there a way to change the sort order for PocketPedia? My collection from CDpedia is sorted by album title but I'd rather sort by artist. Same thing with my Bookpedia collection. It's currently sorted by title but I'd rather sort by author.

[stx66]

A feature I'd like to request in addition to adding a title to a synced collection, is to do this with the UPC via the iPhone camera.

[Nora]

Is there a way to change the sort order for PocketPedia? My collection from CDpedia is sorted by album title but I'd rather sort by artist. Same thing with my Bookpedia collection. It's currently sorted by title but I'd rather sort by author.

At the moment the sort in Pocketpedia is set to always be by title. But that might change in the future as we develop the program further. Thanks for the feedback.

[Conor]

[Search] with the UPC via the iPhone camera

All kinds of developers have been interested in our barcode scanning code and have been porting it to the iPhone. We ourselves have yet to take a stab at it but it's near the top of our to do list.

[eozden]

Pedia are great software indeed and Pocketpedia was the first app I have downloaded.
Thank you.

I would join people requesting the sort by artist. I'll wait for it, I know that this a
first version and that you are committed to continuous improvement.

[slin]

Hi!

First of all: Great programs, both Desktop DVDPedia and Pocketpedia.

I would like to second the feature request of being able to browse the library in iPod style, e.g. it would be very useful to browse by Director ("I'd like to watch a Kubrick movie tonight...").

Regards

Nils

[Conor]

Thank you for all the great and useful feedback.

[yoyo2222]

Love the Pedias and PocketPedia.

I second the suggestion of being able to list by artist or genre not just title.

I,too, have a big CDPedia collection. Being able to NOT sync the album covers would save valuable space in my iPhone.

[yoyo2222]

One more thing:

I have DVDPedia and CDPedia.

I made two attempts to delete my CPedia collection from PocketPedia (finger swipe on CDPedia then click delete) and it locked up my iPhone both times.

I finally deleted the PocketPedia app. and started over.

[meglet]

Is there any way to have the Pocketpedia collections (or at least the synced ones) excluded from the iPhone backups? I don't know if Apple would have provided you the necessary information, but backing up nearly 500 MB of data for my collections makes the already slow backup in 2.0 even more painful. I can see the need to back up collections created on the iPhone, but since the collections synced from a Mac already exist somewhere else, it seems unnecessary to have them backed up.

Thanks again for the great software!

[Conor]

We'll have to look into the backup to see if it's an option to only backup certain data. (This is the same as with the synching though - after the backup is done once, subsequent backups should be much quicker because it only has to check whether anything changed and not actually backup the information again.)