New SoftwareForMe.com Beta: Imagine Multi-Touch

[QR_addict]

Hi SoftwareForMe,
I recently tried out your software on my Droid. I am a computer graphics professional interested in looking at new dynamic ways of presenting photos. I understand your product is still in beta so I can live with the quirks, as I deal with them myself sometimes. I was wondering if you might consider a coverflow type navigation for your photo library, very similar to Cooliris in Firefox, I think it would make the navigation a very intuitive function and then use the multi touch to select, zoom, and other stuff to the photos. While your focused on one photo maybe you can show a partial preview of the next photo in the queue. Thanks

[SoftwareForMe.com]

Hi QR_addict,

Totally!

See, this is why we do the whole "Beta --> Headaches --> Hard work --> Better --> More Work..." process. We're stogy, dry yet capable Engineering types, and YOU folks know how this stuff should work. We're the perfect team.

Cooliris is more like our vision than the old Android Gallery. We started small, but we'll get there.

Thanks for the outstanding feedback!

Warm regards,
SoftwareForMe.com
Makers of Imagine Multitouch
& PhoneMyPC

[ironosity]

Imagine Multitouch update has arrived! Yay! From the developer's website the following changes have been implemented:

"We've received a ton of outstanding feedback, and we're hard at work implementing the features you've requested. In this release, we've focused on the most requested changed, including:

Full SD-card folder navigation, including folder thumbnails
MANY force-close bugs fixed
Better memory handling (both for performance and bug fixes)
Support for very large images (they are down-scaled to fit into Android's memory)
Rudimentary "swipe to switch images" feature--this feature will get better, so stay tuned!
Auto-load of high-res images, similar to default Android Gallery
Volume control when viewing a single image to switch to Next or Previous"

I for one am very pleased with the update. Still some bugs but I can't WAIT to see what this will become. Get it NOW while it's only $.99. I truly believe this update is worth at least a McDonald's double cheeseburger.

[trenen]

...

Regarding pinch zooming... what phone do you have? And, how could you "not know" if you can or not?

...

I think he was saying, how would we know if the application supports pinch and zoom. That is the feature everyone wants.

[ironosity]

No, he was asking exactly what he said. The app specifically says it supports all devices so it wouldn't matter. thus How did the person know that their device didn't work? Did they try it? This app does support pinch zooming. Thus the name . More likely the dev was just surprised. They now state on their website that it doesn't work on the Samsung Moment right now.

[JoePhoto]

Hi SoftwareForMe,

I'm trying out your Imagine Multi Touch app and am happy to have the multi touch! I'm a professional photographer, illustrator, and graphics professional - in that light I have a lot of suggestions for you.

*Display Bug*
On some images, (mostly larger than screen resolution images,) I can see a checkerboard grid pattern across the image when the image is fit to screen. It greatly detracts from the visual quality of the image. The pattern is not visable once the image is zoomed in close to 1:1 resolution. It appears to be an image compression. This should be a priority fix.

*Better Transitions*
At the moment, on the latest update the images transition very abruptly. The swipe gesture is great, but it would be be better to have the gesture affect the image by sliding to the next image like on the iPhone (or like sliding the home screen) rather than just having the next image simply appear. This would be a nice polished feature to have.

*Slideshow*
To have the ability to create a slideshow would be wonderful. Ideally, what I'm looking for here would be the ability to put together an impromptu slideshow to show off my latest images, or images in a particular directory to be specific. I would like the ability to decide on display time per image in seconds, and also to choose from various transition effects like fading or swiping. Display effects (dare I call it a "theme") like zooming/panning, fading, swiping, etc. during the slideshow would also be top notch. A Fading transition would be the minimum. Being able to link the slideshow to an mp3 on the SD card so music can play during the slideshow would raise this app to another level (and price bracket!)

*Folder View Beautification*
I'm trying to be nice here, but the file browser is a bit ugly. In the file browser, consider using single image icons for the directories and perhaps have the image be user selectable from within the directory. Picture-less directories should be a folder icon. Neat and clean. At the moment, the thumbnails don't load in the gallery view until the directory is browsed and the stack of empty thumbnails is a little gaudy. If you want help with creatng some cool web 2.0 looking icons, I can make them for you.

*Do Stuff*
When in what I'm calling "gallery view", when I have opened a directory of photos, I'd like to be able to do some stuff with my photos like set one as the home background or attach the image to an SMS or email. I think a press and hold should open up a menu with these options.

That's all for the moment, great work thus far. If you want to talk about making some web 2.0 / iPhone looking icons, feel free to drop me a PM. I'd be happy to help.

-Joe

[ironosity]

FYI...some of the features you are requesting are already in progress.
From the developer's website, softwareforme.com...

"Upcoming Feature List
As we receive feedback from you, we'll compile the list of features we've committed to add.

User selectable animations when switching between images
Send option for MMS and Email
"Set As..." option for Desktop wallpaper
Better integration with Android and Camera
Better thumbnails
Password-protected and/or hidden folders
Rotate and crop features
Delete feature
User-preferences for gestures and use of buttons"


See link for info on currently known bugs that are in the works (includes your bug about pixelation).

[mrschmitz]

Hopefully all these improvements won't comprise the overall speed of the app. That, with minimal but useful decoration, would make it the killer gallery app, in my opinion.

[JoePhoto]

Thanks ironosity

[MAzing87]

I'm glad people are trying this app, but I am very opposed to paying for beta products. After all, your feedback is what makes the product usable and sell-able in the future.

The developer gets the feedback from you for free, so why should you or anyone have to pay for the app while it is still in the beta stage? Don't you think you are getting screwed by paying a buck and then providing your feedback so the developer can make a better product and make more money from it?

I vote boycott the app until it is either a free beta or out of the beta stage.

Thank you for this excellent perspective.

Our approach to software development is new, something we've never tried, and something I've not seen anybody else try. As I said in an earlier post, the small up-front cost is to eliminate the droves of people seeking free-only software, and to give customers a stake.

I can tell you from experience with our other product that the feedback has been incredibly positive; I think we get better feedback and interaction with our customers, and our customers are more apt to get what they want from the software. Instead of being the "men behind the curtain," we are really partners with our customers.

And, I sure hope nobody feels screwed; there's always that "Return and Refund" option in the market, and as I also said in a previous post, if somehow we really botched something and couldn't deliver, we have a refund button as well :-)

Lastly, making money. We started developing Android apps because we are geeks and were excited that finally there were general-purpose, programmable pocket computers that would become ubiquitous. Of course we'd like to turn a profit, but so far nobody is paying bills with our revenues, and we're not even close to earning back what we've invested (look at news and Google groups for talk about profit in the Android Market). But, this doesn't sway us; we're having fun, Android users ROCK, and we think what we're doing is cool.

Warm regards,
SoftwareForMe.com

I dont mind paying a dollar for a beta app. As long as your communication with your customers are consistent, that goes a long way with excellence in customer service, reputation, etc. I'll check out your app a little later.