What's new in LaterRex: the Queue, and moving off iCloud
My library passed a thousand items a while back and I noticed something annoying. Opening the app told me everything I had in my backlog in the order it was added, nothing about what I actually want to do next.
That is the problem the last few updates have been aimed at solving, and since I have been bad about posting, here is the whole lot in one go: versions 1.1 through 1.2.1, which is everything since LaterRex hit the App Store.
The Queue
The Queue is a addition to the Library screen that shows three things for one media type at a time: what you finished recently, what you are part way through, and what you have actually lined up next.
Adding things is a long press on any poster in your library. That is it. The queue is a proper ordered list, numbered, and you can drag rows around if you change your mind. Marking something done from that screen removes it from the queue and if you abandon something back to Backlog later it returns to its old spot in the line, which I only got right after getting it wrong twice...
One thing I am still chewing on: I deliberately kept music and podcasts out. An album finishes in one sitting and Spin Through already handles "what should I put on", so a queue for it felt like an answer to a question nobody asked. Might be wrong about that. Let me know if you disagree and why.
Shows that come back
Related, and my favourite small fix in the batch. If you finished a show and it returns for a new season, LaterRex used to flip it back to Watching, which made it look like you had stopped halfway through. It now says New Season, which is way more accurate.
Those shows can go straight into your queue too, and you get a notification when one you were caught up on comes out with a new season.
Your library moved off iCloud...
LaterRex used to keep your library in your private iCloud. That was the right call at the start, because it meant no account and no server of mine holding your data. What I did not anticipate was how little control it left me when it comes to security and permissions. iCloud turned out to be the thing that made the app possible and then quickly blocked and new feature I wanted to build.
So your library, your friends and your activity now live on your LaterRex account instead. Changes save straight away. Notifications got more reliable because they are no longer riding on iCloud's 'best effort' schedule. And a reinstall now rebuilds properly (verified by me reinstalling the app over and over ... and over again).
A few smaller fixes come in with it as well:
- Goodreads imports keep your read dates and your star ratings now, rather than saying every book was read the day you imported it. If you already imported, run it again and it fills in what was missing.
- Rating a book you had marked DNF no longer flips it back to Finished.
- Signing in on a second device stopped asking you to invent a new username when you clearly already have one.
- A film you watched on release day could quietly slide back to Backlog and refuse to stay marked
- Songs you rated in Spin Through only saved on the device and could vanish after a reinstall
- Custom covers sometimes never uploaded at all
...so it can land on Web!
Moving the library was the groundwork. Version 1.2.1 is what it was for.
There is a proper sync service now, so a change made on one device turns up on your others instead of waiting for the app to notice. Settings shows you when it last checked, so you can be sure it's all there.
Also in there: several recommendations from the same friend arrive grouped rather than collapsing into one, and if you credit a friend as the recommender on something you have already finished, LaterRex now asks whether you want to let them know instead of deciding for you.
All of those changes have allowed me to deliver against something I've been building out for months - LaterRex on the web. Quite a few users want to bring their friends on to the app so they can exchange recommendations, but not everyone's on iOS. The web allows any users to register and makes leaving longer reviews a breeze. It's still in beta and actively deployed, but you can check it out at app.laterrex.com.
All of this foundational work now enables me to build out LaterRex for Android, which I'm hoping to release by the end of the year, if all goes well.
Quite a bit of polish in there too:
- Getting started is a conversation with Coach Rex now rather than a wall of permission prompts.
- You can recommend something to a friend from their profile, and see everything they have sent your way in one place.
- Discover got a redesign with tiles that zoom open.
- There is a Coming Soon widget for upcoming releases, a Recent Activity sort for your library, and seven more Rex avatars to unlock.
If you are on an older version, all of this is waiting in the App Store. And if something in here still misbehaves for you, the Contact Support link in Settings goes straight to me, which is both the good and the bad news about a one person app...