Armchairware blog

Photato 1.0.5.0 beta available

mthornal — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:46:15 +0000

I’ve updated the beta version of Photato that is available on the download link on the main site to 1.0.5.0. This release addresses a number of stability issues which could cause the application to hang or generate an exception stack trace. There are also a number of other fixes that should improve resource usage. I didn’t explicity announce the last couple of beta releases on the blog, although in my previous post I discussed the updated login experience. This release continues to use the semi-integrated Facebook login pages.

I’d recommend downloading this version. If you have a previous version installed you do not need to uninstall it first, this version should automatically upgrade it.

There’s still a long way to go, various features to implement and numerous other bugs to fix, but I would say there is a reasonable amount of functionality on offer to make it worthwhile trying out the current beta.

As ever I welcome your feedback, even it it’s just ‘hey, this just isn’t working for me’. Please either post your comments here in the blog or preferably in the support forum.

Thanks.

Logging in to Facebook

mthornal — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:05:38 +0000

The logging in to Facebook experience in Photato leaves something to be desired. Unfortunately Facebook themselves require that all 3rd party desktop applications use their login web pages to log a user into Facebook. This is normally only a one time process for a given user on a particular PC, so it’s not a major problem, but it is one that I want to make a smooth as I possibly can.

In previous versions I have used a simple seperate pop-up window to load the web page. This was easy to develop, but not very suited to Media Center especially since it doesn’t work on an extender. The current beta has the web page displayed in the main Media Center application which I feel is better, but because it’s a web page provided by Facebook, it’s not designed to be interacted with with a remote control, although a keyboard is sufficient. I’d be interested to hear people’s views on how well this works, please either leave a comment here, or preferably post some feedback in the forum.

Thanks

Website updates

mthornal — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 12:50:56 +0000

I’ve updated the website a little, so there is now a simple home page for Photato and a public link for downloading the latest beta. There is also a fairly minimal FAQ on the Support page which will be added to over the coming weeks. The Blog and Forum have been themed as well to fit with the style of the main site. Hope you like it.

What is good news is that now I can spend pretty much all my time on fixing and enhancing Photato itself. Keep checking back for the latest news or better still subscribe to the news feed.

Photato Beta 2 now available to download

mthornal — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:29:10 +0000

It’s taken a while, but the new beta of Photato is available to download over on the forum. If you’ve already registered you’ll be able to download it straight away, if not, simply apply for membership and once your application has been approved you’ll have access to it. There are details of what’s changed in the forum post.

New screenshot

mthornal — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:43:27 +0000

It’s been a while since I posted, so I thought I better just let you know that things are still progressing. The recent Facebook profile changes have caused me a few problems, but hopefully I’m back on track again now. We should be seeing the second beta in a week or two which will include the updates required by the changes to the way Facebook desktop apps save login information as well as some UI improvements. The screenshot below is a recent idea to display the album information. Hope you like it.

And lastly, don’t forget, if you want to try out the beta just email photato.beta@armchairware.com

Photato Flash demonstration

mthornal — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 21:52:53 +0000

Here’s a brief Flash demo of the current Photato beta in action. It’s of limited size and resolution, but hopefully it gives you some of idea of what the add-in does and how it does it.

The Flash plugin is required to view this object.

Photato Beta 1 enthusiasm

mthornal — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 21:03:08 +0000

There have been some positive comments coming out of the Photato beta 1 testing, here are a couple of them:

“For a beta this program is very good!! Its so easy to use and i love how it has its own interface! You’ve really done a good job”

“Excellent app. I love the interface and I can tell already that once other parts are implemented, it’s going to come together perfectly.”

There’s still lots to be done, but it’s really encouraging feedback.

Photato Beta 1 now available for download

mthornal — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:23:44 +0000

The first beta of Photato is now available for download from the support forum. If you’ve already emailed photato.beta@armchairware.com to register for beta testing then you should have been included in the list of beta 1 testers and have access to the download once you’ve registered for the forum. If not, but you want to register for a future beta, please email us and you’ll be added to the waiting list.

Support forum now live

mthornal — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:51:58 +0000

I’ve setup a support forum mainly at this stage to help the beta testers discuss the issues their experiencing and features they’d like to see in Photato. There is also a category to discuss ideas for new Media Center add-ins, which hopefully I’ll be able to tackle after Photato.

The forum requires registration to contribute, but the discussions in the main categories (with the exception of the Photato beta testing category) are viewable without registration.

For anyone interested, the forum has been built using the Vanilla open source forum. It’s only just been setup and currently has the default theme and styling. I hope to integrate this (and the blog) into the overall site design at a later date once my main site is live. If you notice any problems with the functionality of the forum please post the details in the General category or email forum.support@armchairware.com.

Thanks.

Photato beta testing

mthornal — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:26:14 +0000

I am looking for beta testers for Photato. I will be starting a private best test very shortly, so if you are interested in volunteering please email photato.beta@armchairware.com and include some details of your Media Center setup i.e. version of Windows, PC specs and whether you have an extender.

Thanks.