Version 1.3.7 Released!

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Version 1.3.7 has been released, and the new version is available at Apple App Store. Here is the description of the update:

• Added tap information about time and location for all taps. This feature is similar as the previous tap information between the current time and last tap. This feature applies to all taps in the tap list view. This feature is available for tap list view in the tap action tab.
• Added sort feature to all table list views. User have choice to sort list by optional choices such as name, tap count or last tap item. The choices varies depending on list views of tap entities, tap items and taps. Prior to this update, the sort order is set by app. Now users have choice to list sort order. This feature is available by pulling the top item in a list view.
• Improved the map view for taps. Different colours are used to indicate altitude changes. Red colour for ascending, green colour for descending and cyan colour for almost the same. Significant change is based on the rule of: distance of two taps larger than 30 metres, and altitude change larger than 1%.
• Add dynamic height feature to tap list view. This feature will make some iOS devices easy to read tap date and time information in case they are truncated in narrow views. Due to potential large amount of tap’s note, it’s dynamic content in table list view can be displayed up to only 2 lines.
• Fixed some bugs.

We greatly appreciate you using TapToCount-3W app. We will constantly update the app with further enhancements and new features, as well as fixing bugs when detected. If you have any suggestions or find any issues, please report to us in our web site.

We took some screenshots about the update. Here are some of them:

New info button is available for each tap in the tap list view (only in the tap action tab from the main view):




A popup view will show the information of duration and distance between the current time and the tap's time.




The sort order feature is added to all table views. A sort button is displayed when you pull the first row down.




Here are the sort options for the table view of Tap Entities.




The sort options for the table view of Tap Items.




And the sort options for the table view of Taps.




Here is an example of enhanced map view of taps. Red colour indicates ascending, green for descending and cyan for not much change in altitude between two consecutive taps.



Last, the table view of Taps is enhanced by adding a dynamic height button. By tapping on this button it will toggle the height of each tap so that the tap date and time information can be viewed in full or be truncated if the iOS device screen is too narrow. Notice that the tap's note will be displayed to the maximum of 2 lines(tap note may contain large amount of text).




Great improvements and enhancements in this update. Cheers!

Version 1.3.6 New Features (3)

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In this article, we'll conclude the remaining features of version 1.3.6. Those features are some enhancements related to search. In the previous release, search feature was added to the app. This is a very important feature for the app.

Search Feature

TapToCount-3w app provides a very unique and convenient way to record and manage personal data. Over a period of time, users may add a wide range of interest areas by means of tap entities and tap items, as well as accumulate a lots of taps in those areas. With the amount of data becoming very large, it would be difficult to find information and hard to manage data.

That's why the search feature was introduced in the previous release. Here is a summary of search feature, by taking the following screenshot as an example:



Under the search bar, there are four categories for search. Those categories can be summarized in two groups.

• The first two, "Name" and "Note", refer to the properties of name and note for items(either tap entity or tap item) in the current view. The search result will be the items with their name or note containing a searched string. For example, if you type a string string of "Apple"(or "apple", case-insensitive) in Name category, the searched result, as in the example, will be the only item which name contains "Apple". In the same minor, "Note" category is for the matched items which subtitle or note contains the searched string.
• The last two, "Tap note" and "Tap date", are for items' children properties: tap note and tap date.  Taking "Tap note" as example, if an item has one or more taps, and at least one tap's note contains the searched string, then all those matched items will be the searched result in the current view.

It is very easy to figure it out by just trying some searches.

Search Carried out into Detail Views

In this release, the search is further enhanced for the last two search categories. The first enhancement is that the search condition for tap's note or taps' date will be carried out into the subsequent detail views.

For example, in the tab of tap action view, if you type a search string "New york" for "Tap note" category, not only the tap entities in the current view will be narrowed down to the ones where at least one of taps' note contains "New york" string,



but also will the next detail view be only the tap items with at least one of their taps' note contains "New york". In this example, the only tap item of "New york" is displayed.



Furthermore, in the next detail tap view, only 2 taps out of 116, which match the search condition(tap's note contains "New york"), are displayed.



This enhancement is actually very logical when you drill down the detail views, and make it easy to find out items of your interest.

For the Report view, if you set search condition, only the matched items will be exported. This is very handy if you only want to export interested data.

Search Dates

Prior to this release, the date picker for "Tap date" category is just a standard date picker, which list all the calendar dates. This may list many dates where no taps were made, and hence, it makes the search very difficult. For example, if you set data as equal-to-a-date, you may get empty taps when no taps occurred on that date.

The second enhancement in this release is that the dates for Tap date category are only limit to the actual tapped dates. This makes searching for tapped dates much easier.



This also provides a way to peek at what actual tapped dates are.

References

• Version 1.3.3 Released!

Version 1.3.6 New Features (2)

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Let's continue to discuss another new feature of version 1.3.6 in detail(feature #6). This new feature provides a way to reveal the information about the current time and geolocation since the last tap.

In many cases, before you make a tap, you may want to know the duration between the current time and the last tap. If the location is enabled, it would be very helpful if you can see the distance between the current location and the last tap, the current altitude and the change to the last altitude.

With this update, it is possible to get all those information before you make a tap action. In the tapping action view, a new button is available on the left side of each tap item. Tapping on this button, an information view will be popped up to show the current information of time and location since the last tap.

Here is an example of tap item "3-Get up & bedtime". A new info button is available for each tap item:



Information view is showing up when the info button is tapped:



We keep the information very concise in terms of units. For example, if the duration is over days, the unit of seconds is not so significant and is not in the show, as the information in the following for "Running" tap item.



If the location feature is not enabled for a tap entity or group, the geolocation will be marked as "Not available" for its tap items.

IMPORTANT NOTES

The distance is calculated based on geolocation information, i.e., coordinates of latitude and longitude, between the current location and lat tap location, and not taking any account of any altitude changes between two coordinates. The calculation is based on assumption of two coordinates in terms of flat and spherical surface. It does not take account of any actual direction changes or curve paths between two coordinates. Therefore this distance value is appropriate in nature, not the actual distance a user travels.

In this information view, we provide Pace value. This value is based on the calculation results of the distance and the time duration between the current location and the last tap location. As explained above, this value may be far away from the actual pace or speed, just as an appropriate value as user reference.

Users should be aware of limitations of GPS information on mobile devices. First, the GPS information obtained from mobile device is not very accurate(some times we had cases that GPS location was too far away from the actual locations). Secondly, if too many direction changes have been made between the current location and the last tap location, the calculated results of distance and pace would be way off the actual distance and pace.

A TIP

By introducing this information view, we notice that in some cases, the GPS information(distance, and altitude) may change during the initial period of the display, if you are in still position. This may be caused by the app design strategy. The request for GPS information is only enabled at the time when tap action view is in display, and disabled when not in display. This strategy is to keep energy consumption in minimum. As a result, the GPS information may not be stable in the initial display period (several to more than 10 seconds).

As a tip, you may this information view as an indication of stability of GPS data. You may tap on the icon on the top left corner to make a tap action when the distance and altitude values are stable.

In Summary

We believe that this feature may be a great enhancement feature for our app users.

Since the GPS information obtained from iOS device is approximate, and sometimes they may be far away from the actual or the accurate geolocation values, users should not solely rely on the information and calculation results. The information of the app does not provide any accuracy guaranty; therefore, users should use the information with caution.

References

• Version 1.3.6 Released!
• Wikipedia: Geographical distance