2013

Starting with v2.6 StitchBuddy requires iOS 7

Both iOS apps, StitchBuddy View and StitchBuddy HD, have been redesigned to meet the flat user interface of iOS 7. These changes come with some minor improvements e.g. a better display performance and support of single-stitch selection on the iPad (details can be found in the change history). But more important is the fact, that starting with v2.6 both apps require iOS 7. It just became to much effort to support older iOS versions in parallel as Apple has changed a lot under the hood. In addition I lack the required testing devices to ensure proper quality checks with older iOS versions.

StitchBuddy HD is permanently reduced to USD 9.99!

I know that a lot of you would like not only to view, but to edit embroidery designs on your iPad, upgrading from the free version to StitchBuddy HD. And I also know that this purchase is not an easy decision with a tight budget (like most of us have). So finally I decided to drop the price of StitchBuddy HD significantly:

Starting today with a new iOS 7 version StitchBuddy HD is sold for only USD 9.99 (65% off!), with free updates. And this is not a one-time offer, but a permanent price reduction, so please enjoy and share this info with others!

In 2011 when I designed StitchBuddy HD I thought users would hold only a few dozens of embroidery files on their iPad, just to work on favorite designs. I clearly underestimated what people would do with a highly mobile embroidery editor, especially after introducing Dropbox synching…

In the meantime I have learned about users holding thousands of designs in StitchBuddy HD / View, unfortunately pushing these apps over their limits: The flat gallery can’t keep track of all the preview images, literally running in cycles, the synching can’t complete in time, and the apps might stall or even crash. These issues are high on my priority list, and after releasing the iOS 7 versions my next goal is to improve StitchBuddy with a more robust and powerful gallery and synching process, so you can save and manage more designs on your iOS device.

I just released a minor update of StitchBuddy (v2.5.3) fixing an issue when importing some rare PES designs, and preparing StitchBuddy for OS X 10.9 “Mavericks” by an internal change of the stitch simulator. Although the latter modification might impact the simulator’s performance, I am confident it will not affect the user’s experience.

New releases of the iOS apps were sent for Apple’s review in parallel, incorporating Facebook / Twitter integration and minor bug fixes.

During my vacation a user reported that some few PES files were not shown correctly by StitchBuddy. With the given example file I could easily reproduce the error, and today I was able to identify and fix the problem. Interesting enough: Some other embroidery programs have the same issue.

The bug fix still needs some thorough testing, but I expect minor updates of all (!) StitchBuddy products in the next weeks. The new version will also include a fix to support OS X 10.9 “Maverick”, and Facebook / Twitter support for iOS … and the mentioned limitation to iOS 6.0 (and above).

It seems I have to drop iOS 5.x support: Zooming into designs requires memory the 1^st generation iPad lacks, causing the app to crash. Unfortunately without a notification beforehand, there is nothing I can do to avoid this situation, and the loss of work is possible. After restarting the iPad things work for a while, and on all newer iPads (with more memory) the problem does not exist at all.

On Monday Apple has introduced the next versions of OS X and iOS at its Word Wide Developer Conference. While OS X 10.9 “Mavericks” (a surfing location in California) is expected to come with only little changes for the end user, iOS 7 features a complete redesign of the user interface.

The WWDC keynote made me curious enough to download and install very first versions of both operating systems, previews only available to registered developers: Although I was able to identify minor issues with StitchBuddy’s Quick Look plugin and the stitch simulator on OS X 10.9, these might be caused by the very early state of Apple’s preview. I will check again at a later more stable state, and I am confident to resolve any possible problem. iOS 7 is currently only available for the iPhone, so I checked StitchBuddy View, and found it working, yet with an unfamiliar appearance.

Both iOS apps, StitchBuddy HD and StitchBuddy View, were approved in less than 12h and are now “ready for sale” … Thank you, Apple!

With this “Expedited Review” I was able to provide updated versions in the App Store only two days after the bug with corrupted gallery entries was reported, something I’m proud of…

Feel free to update to StitchBuddy HD / View v2.5.2, and please leave a rating or review in the App Store if you like the apps!

If you are facing errors opening designs after the last update of StitchBuddy HD, enter its settings and turn “Empty Cache” on to rebuild the gallery without data loss. This procedure is also mentioned in the FAQs of its integrated help to correct wrong entries in the gallery.

Because of this issue I have just removed StitchBuddy View from Apple’s approval queue and I will provide a bugfix ASAP. Sorry for the inconvenience!

A user reported gaps in her designs after importing PES / PEC files and saving them with StitchBuddy. It turned out that StitchBuddy was too strict when identifying regular stitches: Some were interpreted as jump stitches, resulting in gaps after optimizing the design when saving…

This bug existed since the early days, but now it is corrected, and I just released StitchBuddy v2.5.1. While Mac users can immediately download from the web site, the iOS versions of StitchBuddy View and -HD will take some more days until they are approved by Apple.