Kevin Cawley Goes Mobile

NewsGator On the Go

September 10th, 2006

The latest beta version of NewsGator Mobile is available… if you have a Windows Mobile device, check it out. It kicks butt!

Here is a list of the additions in this beta:

• Improved synchronization – a great amount of work was put into the client and the server to optimize this process. The number of round trips required to sync has been reduced and the payload for each client/server transaction has been reduced. You will see faster and more accurate synchronizations.
• A new API call, UpdatePostMetadata(), was implemented on the server to enable mobile synchronization optimization.
• Posts that are no longer current get purged during synchronization if there was some other change in the feed… previously, there was no way, other than manually marking read, to remove non-current posts on the device.
• Fixed a defect that would cause the feed data to get deleted on the device. This manifested itself as a feed indicating there were unread posts in the subscription tree, but clicking on the feed did nothing.
• Added the ability to go into offline mode while viewing posts. A typical scenario is for a user to sync her feeds and read the content while out of network connectivity. Before on every posts load, if the post had images there would be an attempt to fetch the image. This would result in the OS prompting the user to get connected. In offline mode, images and links are not rendered in the post detail view.
• Improved memory management. Instantiating bitmap objects on device causes unmanaged memory to be allocated. This memory is not automatically disposed by the garbage collector. It is now being manually disposed.
• Improved memory management by removing unnecessary data structures – posts that were marked as unread were previously cached on device. This is not necessary and these data structures and business logic was removed.
• Improved the exception handling throughout the application.
• Improved user feedback when an exception occurs. For example, a network exception is now distinguished from an invalid credentials exception to enhance the user’s trouble shooting experience when an error occurs.
• Changed application name from NewsGator Mobile to NewsGator Go! throughout the application.
• Modified the uninstaller so all files installed (and all files dynamically generated by the application) with NewsGator Go! get removed.
• The installer will not install NewsGator Go! if the application is currently in memory. The user is prompted to close the application.
• Modified the installer so it forces the user to uninstall any prior versions of NewsGator Go!
• When a user changes her location, a synchronization is automatically initiated.
• If a new user logs into NewsGator Go! all data from the previous user is now deleted. Previously, the new user’s feeds would be merged with the previous user’s feeds.
• Fixed the cleanup process so all posts older than 60 days are purges from the device. Previously, any feeds nested in folders or sub folders were not cleaned.
• Resolved a defect that was not persisted the sync failure state of a feed across application restarts.
• Added the ability to check to see if your version of NewsGator Go! is current.
• Remove non-printable characters from feed and post titles… this was causing rendering issues if a post or feed had a carriage return for example.
• Improved the process for changing the persistence location where your feed data is stored – improved the feedback and use of wait cursors to indicate long running processes.
• Resolved a defect that did not save read state changes for feeds and posts that occurred while a sync was in process.
• Resolved a defect that intermittently disabled the “Mark Feed Read” and “Mark Folder Read” menu options on the feed view.
• Replaced the progress indicator on the splash screen from a rotating PDA to a rotating NewsGator feed symbol – also removed the pink shadow from the progress indicator.
• Added a note on the first time a user logs in to indicate that a user needs to create a NewsGator account before proceeding.
• Disable the Clip Post capability from the post view and post detail view when a post has already been clipped.
• If a feed and/or folder name changes this is now handled during the synchronization process.
• Improved messaging when a user resets his sync state or when a new user logs into the application.
• Enhanced the navigation on all combo boxes on the Pocket PC, selecting the Up/Down keys now navigates the user to the previous/next control. This essentially replicates the default behavior on the Smartphone.
• Immediately verifying credential if the user changes her password.
• Fixed typo in the “Update Locations” menu option – used to be “Update Locationss”.

Entry Filed under: Mobile