Forum

Register

If you have trouble registering then email support @ iforpowell.com and I can force things though.

The system is not that good but I prefer to spend my time working on IpBike than trying to set up an alternative. It is at least good at keeping the spam away.

It is advisable to 'copy' before you try and post as the captcha stuff is a bit to agresive and the back buttone is not working for everyone.  You can at least then paste and have another go.

Apps » IpBike » The good, the the bad and the ugly !

Started by ripthorn Sep 12 2012, 16:11

ripthorn Posts: 3	Sep 12 2012, 16:11 Apologies if any of the below has already been said / covered, or changed in the last update. The Good I like IP bike, i think it's a great app and plan to upgrade when I hit the 1,000,000 ( more about that in a bit ). It does everything in one go and when i used it for a new 100 mile route it didn't let me down ( the battery did, but that's not IPbikes fault). So the below might sound like i'm just moaning about the app, but i'm not, it's a good app ..... The bad ok first then the 1,000,000 hit count and the £5 price tag. Ouch !! first off I'm not sure when I'll hit such a high count ( esp as I now use Strava for my commutes to work and back ). Personally I think a hit of 250,000 is more than enough to decide if you like the app and a charge of £2 is much more balanced. More people will upgrade as it's a lower cost and they will hit it earlier, regaining and increasing revenue. o.k. when the screen dulls (which is fine) and you touch the screen to bring it back up you can't touch anywhere with effecting the view, can't the screen view be locked, with a long press to enable changes ? Trying to change what's displayed is a bit of a lucky dip, personally i want to see my speed, average speed, speed over the last 1 / 5 / 10 miles, altitude is pretty cool, and the current time ( so I know how long I've got left before I get in trouble with my partner), and that's about it, unless I'm on a big trip and I've loaded in a route I want to follow. Now trying to set that up is nigh on impossible, as you can only choose lines to display and not individual data "items". Choosing from individual items would be much better. Not really a "your fault 'bad'" but can you make the rotation fixed ? I prefer the landscape view but the angle i have my phone on my bike doesn't see I've rotated it so i can't get landscape). The Ugly Dam IPBike is ugly, it really is such a mess, trying to get all that information into one screen just doesn't work .... with swipe screens common place can't it be spread over several screens, perhaps with the current mph show on any screen you swipe too etc... ? Can't it be made "skinable" so it can be passed to the community to skin it to make it look good ? Just an idea ? Like i said, i Like IPBike so please don't flame me as someone that's just slagging the app off.....
Ifor Moderator Posts: 939	Sep 12 2012, 20:35 Hi and thanks for the feedback. I have no problem with constructive feedback especialy here where I can comment rather than bad reviews where I can not comment or point out a feature that has been missed. What is your phone? I could get a 100 mile ride with my xperia active if I had the screen off for most of it e.g. setting the power mode to screen power profile to screen lock disable and having the screen timeout set relativly low. Pricing is an interesting subject. I did not know where to place myself. Functionality wise I belive I offer more than alternative apps especialy where ANT+ and pressure sensor support is concerend and this I should be able to charge more to refelct this. £5 is still noting compared to a high end dedicated bike gps which is what I want to match feature wise. As I can see people balking at this price point I offer the very generouse trial period with the theory that people would really come to apreciate the app and there for pay a bit more. Screen dimming presumably in screen lock disabled mode. I will run this a bit myself and experiment I have not used it recently not going for long enough rides I am confident of getting 4 hours with the avtive screen at 25%. Landscape - Portraite. This should lock to what it is in when you go start trip. If this is not happening then let me know some hpones details and exactly what is happening. Display issues. I am looking to work on a configurable display system with multiple user configurable swipable screens. It's going to take some time though as I have just had to start full time work again so development will only be in my spair time going forward. I am interested to know why your not logging your commute with IpBike but using the strava app? Just data logging in a pocket should be comparible and upload should be similar. With all your rides on the phone simple questions like how many miles last month or time comuting in the year could be answered.
ripthorn Posts: 3	Sep 14 2012, 12:09 good to see an active apps developer I have a samsung galaxy ace plus s7500. I had the screen up most of the time so we didn't get lost, hence the battery drain.... It's a pretty good battery life, but I'm not blaming the app for drain, thats just modern smartphones for you. in regards to landscape - portrait - wow it does lock it once you start the trip ! nice one ! that makes me happy lol I guess what I use the app for will answer your questions, originally i needed an app i could load a route into for a long ride, and ip bike was perfect. Now if I'm out for a 40 mile ride at the weekend with friends it's good know current speed etc just so we can give each other a bit of banter. But for my daily commute, it's just about logging the miles and uploading to the Strava website to keep up with everyone else who's a friend on there... I'm not worried about what speed I'm doing etc as I'm not trying that hard ( esp on my way to work ! ). I think I'm not as hmmmm, 'geeky' as a lot of riders out there ! really looking forward to the swipe-able screens, that will be excellent, keep up the good work and I hope your new boss is a keen cyclist and lets you develop at work ! ha ha
Ifor Moderator Posts: 939	Dec 15 2012, 14:43 OK Swipe-able display finally up on Google Play with version 1.2.0