New build 2/18: bug fixes
Posted by: Hassan in Inside Redbox Mobile on February 18th, 2009
A new build is available from the beta test page. Nothing too earth shattering here, just a few minor bug fixes on the location and map pages.
Cheers,
hassan
Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts New build 2/17: Functional Complete
Posted by: Hassan in Inside Redbox Mobile on February 17th, 2009
The latest build for today has been posted and is avilable on the beta testing page. We are functional complete for this build, all subsequent builds leading up to the iTunes submission this weekend will be for bugs only. This latest build adds additional promo codes available only to members of the Inside Redbox website (and is only available for the full version of the app). We have also added admob ads to most all the other screens–just more incentive for users to update to the paid version of the app.
cheers!
-Hassan
Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts New build 2/16: changed geocoder
Posted by: Hassan in Inside Redbox Mobile on February 16th, 2009
So we have a new build for 2/16 available at the beta test page. We have overhauled the geocoder that we are using (the module that translates addresses into longitude/latitude coordinates). The Google geocoder was just too finicky and could not process addresses that had additinoal details like the name of the shopping mall, or alternate spelling of city names (Whitemarsh, MD vs. White Marsh, MD).
Sooo… we are now using the Yahoo! geocoder. This geocoder is much more forgiving in the allowable address formats. Also, this geocoder gives us better notices when it cannot place the location accurately. Now you will see an additional warning message on the location list page when the geocoder cannot place the location correctly on the map. We are seeing addresses in Puerto Rico just don’t geocode very well, as well as some addresses like the redbox machine on “milemarker 23.7 on the Kanasa turnpike”, no geocode service will be able to process that address, and what we have seen is that redbox also uses the same approximations that we use on their website when they cannot geocode an address either. At least with us you will get a warning when an approximation is being used 
.
Also, we have added the promo code detail pages, so now you can view the history for promo codes.
In other news, we have finally got all of our contracts approved for our iTunes connect account, and are planning on submitting our app to Apple this weekend, which means that if everything goes smoothly, we could have this app live in itunes by the beginning of March. As you see in the package, we are now breaking the app out into a lite version and a full version. The lite version will be available for free in iTunes, and has all the functionality except the capability to rent a DVD. The full version will have the ability to rent a DVD and will not have ads.
Also we have stopped doing version specific builds, and are now reverting to the lowest common denominator of OS 2.1 binaries, as there seems to be no difference functionally between the various binaries.
Take care!
-Hassan
Join the forum discussion on this post - (6) Posts New build 2/15: misc bug fixes
Posted by: Hassan in Bugs, Inside Redbox Mobile on February 15th, 2009
Hey gang,
Just a note that a new build is available. I’ve added online status for redbox machines, so you will see a note if there are any machines in your location results that are offline. Also, a few other misc bug fixes.
One thing I want to make a note of, if you are not seeing a machine that you know is in your area, let me know. We have found a ton of issues with the redbox people entering inconsistent addresses when setting up their machines such that when we put the address through google maps it doesn’t return any results. I’m trying to fix as many of those that I can find–but i need your guys’ help to find these. Send us a message if you can’t find a redbox in your location so I can make sure to cleanup the machine address if need be.
thanks!
-Hassan
Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts New Build 2/13: Where did the map go?
Posted by: Hassan in Inside Redbox Mobile on February 13th, 2009
Hey everyone, there is a new build available on the beta test page. We made some BIG changes to the app. In particular the Locations page looks way different. Instead of seeing a map, you now see a list of redbox machines in the order of distance from your current location. You can still get to the map by clicking on the map button from the locations page. This new layout makes finding redbox locations and renting movies super fast when you don’t care to use a map. If you still want to use a map, you can always click on the map button. Also, you’ll notice when you are browsing a machine on the map, there is now a list button so that if you want to browse movies faster than 3 at a time you can just touch the list button.
enjoy the new build, let us know what you think of these changes!
-hassan
Join the forum discussion on this post - (2) Posts New Build 2/9: Map bug fixes
Posted by: Hassan in Inside Redbox Mobile on February 9th, 2009
The latest build for 2/9 is now ready at the beta testing page. Please note that we’ve changed the build package a little bit. We’ve added binaries for older iPhone/iPod versions. Please use the directory that corresponds to your device’s OS version. Also, we’ve fixed a bunch of bugs that were preventing redbox locations from appearing correctly in the map. One thing we’ve noticed though, are that a few location addresses in the redbox system have little notes in the address that make determining the address really difficult, notes like: “(INSIDE STORE)”, “MACHINE A”, etc. If you run across a redbox machine that you know is there, but that is just not showing up when you zoom in or pan around and refresh, let me know so I can check out the address and see if there are more little notes that we need to strip out from the address.
thanks!
-Hassan
Join the forum discussion on this post - (6) Posts New build 2/7: Lots of good stuff
Posted by: Hassan in Inside Redbox Mobile on February 7th, 2009
I’ve just posted a new build for 2/7, which is available for download at the beta site. Lots of good changes. Most notably are faster start up times for the first time startup, faster tab switching, and faster movie detail page loads. Also better user notification when the phone is thinking, and a few miscellaneous bugs have been fixed that were posted in the forum.
Check it out!
-hassan
Join the forum discussion on this post - (7) Posts New build 2/6: progressive loading
Posted by: Hassan in Inside Redbox Mobile on February 5th, 2009
Ok, the newest build is out, go to the beta test page to get the new build. In this build I’ve implemented progressive loading of images in the movie lists (all of them). This means that the table cell will render without the image if the image hasn’t loaded yet, and when the image is available it will be displayed. This allows for much smoother scrolling in the movie lists.
Also, we have added release date section headers to the Movies page. This way to can easily understand what the release date for the movie is, and it provides a much more organized view of the data which is sorted by release date.
Enjoy,
Hassan
Join the forum discussion on this post - (4) Posts New build for 2/5, faster load times
Posted by: Hassan in Inside Redbox Mobile on February 5th, 2009
Headsup, there is a new build out for today. Feel free to install at your convenience. Visit the beta testing page to download the new build. Some of the major highlights are greatly improved startup times. We’ve reordered the tabs and switched a bunch of the backend logic around. I’m seeing pretty consistent startup times after the initial load of around 3-4 seconds on my iPhone. (Also the initial startup load time has decreased by about 33%). Another big change was that we moved the banner ad to the movie detail page so that it is not as annoying.
And Kim, yes, for some reason your phone is the troublemaker, I haven’t heard any other reports of consistent crashing on startup. Why don’t you try with this new build, the startup logic is pretty different–hopefully things are better.
So check it out and let me know what you think.
thanks again!
-Hassan
Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts New build is available
Posted by: Hassan in Inside Redbox Mobile on February 4th, 2009
Just want to thank everyone again for all of their time testing today. It was really exciting/sobering to see this app out in the wild. We have identified that we need to really focus on bringing the startup time down. For the first time you launch the app after installing it, the startup time will be around 30-90 seconds. There really isn’t to much I can do here, Redbox has such a massive movie catalog that takes a little while to insert into the application’s DB (network bandwidth really isn’t the issue here–it’s the iPhone CPU power that is the issue). Afterwards, though, the application should be able to start up very quickly, and we will focus the majority of our effort on improving that startup time before the beta testing is over. This evening I’m posting the first of what will probably be many builds that will address the startup time.
The new build can be found on the Beta Testing page, along with a short summary of the changes that I’ve made. Please try install the new build at your convenience. When posting issues to our forum, please note the build date that you are testing against. As far as installing the new build. I’d recommend uninstalling the current build from your device before installing the new build.
Thanks again!
-Hassan