StitchBuddy View

All StitchBuddy products were renewed this week: With StitchBuddy HD the stitch order of threads can be changed and color changes can be deleted. The Mac version shows a color indicator in the thread list, making it easier to identify colors of small design parts. The overall memory consumption was improved, and some bugs were fixed.

More details can be found in the version history on StitchBuddy’s website.

StitchBuddy 2.9 is a free update for all registered users, and can be either downloaded from the corresponding Download page (OS X), or updated in Apple’s App Store (iOS).

An update of both iOS apps was released last night: The most important improvement of StitchBuddy HD / View v2.7.2 is a bugfix of the Dropbox synching: One user synching thousands of files with Dropbox reported incidentally deleted files. For whose who are interested in details, there are two situations when StitchBuddy is deleting files on the iPad / iPhone:

1. When a file exists on Dropbox, but not on the iPad, and its modification date is before the previous synchronization: It can be assumed that this file has already existed at the last successful synchronization, was synchronized, and afterwards was available on both sides, Dropbox and StitchBuddy. So after the last sync it was deleted on the iPad and therefore needs to be deleted on Dropbox, too.
2. When a file exists on the iPad, but not on Dropbox, and its modification date is before the previous synchronization: The same case vice versa … the file has already existed at the last successful synchronization, so it was on both sides afterwards, and was delete on Dropbox in the meantime. Therefore it is now deleted on the iPad.

As you can see synchronization relies heavily on the modification dates of files in combination with the last successful (!) synch. There were (rare) situations when a synch was considered successful although it wasn’t, especially after several retries of file transmissions. Now such synchs will be marked as unsuccessful.

Directly after releasing v2.7 users have reported a problem with „barely visible" and unresponsive views on iOS. I had thoroughly tested the app with iOS 7.0 & 7.1 on several devices without even similar issues, and could not reproduce the error … After a while reviewing recent changes based on some screenshots showing the error situation, I was able to identify the reason.

Yesterday I submitted v2.7.1 of both iOS apps, and requested an expedited review from Apple, hoping for a fast approval… The update v2.7.1 was released this night, and first users are reporting the bug being fixed! In addition I incorporated 64 bit support for new devices (like the iPad mini Retina). Wow, what a weekend…

Today I released version StitchBuddy v2.7, renewing all iOS and the Mac applications, including Quick Look and Spotlight plugins. Although you can find comprehensive descriptions of all changes in the version histories (Mac, iOS), here is a short overview:

• Gallery with subfolder support (iOS)
• Designs can be opened in other apps (iOS)
• X-ray view shows underlays when selecting stitches
• Madeira Rayon thread colors added
• Support of JEF+ file format (read-only)
• Support of Janome MC 9900 (new hoops)

Update your apps for free, either from StitchBuddy’s download page (Mac) or in Apple’s App Store (iOS).

Starting with version v2.7 StitchBuddy HD / View will support subfolders, including Dropbox synching; here is a short demo of this release, which is announced for March, 2014: Preview of subfolder support on iOS.

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.

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.

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.