iRed2 - Remotes for the rest of us

Well, well, well, 

it has been a long time since the last (real) new version for iRed2. I have been working really hard for this beta 20, but it does not look very much improved - at least from your view as a user.

However, under the hood I have changed so much, that I always compared the development process with a heart surgery. For weeks the patient does not even showed any signs of life, but one part of the app after the other came back to life in the end.

For the curious: I have completely replaced the data model, that is the library and the remotes are no longer relying on Apple's "Core Data" technology. While Core Data is very scalable and may have many advantages, I was killed by its complexity and the inability to debug the code if things go wrong. And, it was not as fast as I hoped.

Obvious changes

At the first start of iRed2b20 you will see a "log window" which shows some processes going on: your archive of codes and actions and all remotes need to be converted to the new data format. I have checked this process with lots of remotes without problems. However, if your remote does not look or work as it did before, please send me this remote beast for some more surgeries.

Improvements

• Stability: beta 20 is much more stable than the versions before. That was my main concern which lead to this complete overhaul of the app.
• Speed: Opening and saving remotes and the library is much faster as before
• Action Browser: actions are no longer organised by their kind (e.g. AppleScript, IR Code), but by their context: "Applications", "Devices", "More".
• Tuners are now in the "More" section of the action browser/editor. Tuner editor has changed but is still under construction. An assistant for code learning is to come ...
• AppleScript support (see this manual page for the details)
• Bug fixes! Of course! Lots and lots of bugs has been fixed. 

Features under construction

I know that many of you are waiting for new features and improvments in other areas, mainly "Navigation actions", "URL actions", remote editor and, of course, improved support for all features of the IRTrans modules.

Unfortunately nothing of this has been implemented yet, but now standing on a fresh basis of iRed2, I will very soon come with new versions and new features.

Problems? Back to build 162?

If anything goes wrong with the conversion process, you may go back to the latest version before this beta 20. iRed2 will NOT change the existing files (archive.xml, vrc.xml in remotes), but will add new files with the new format. So as a fallback you may go back to beta 12 build 162. Caveat: remotes that you created with the new version will not open in the former versions. iRed2 beta 20 is NOT backward compatible!

More?

For now I will go out and do some garden work. While iRed2 beta 20 was under construction, spring has suddenly occured here in Germany and I need some spare days to check this beautiful weather. We had lots of rainy days until now ...

Stay tuned,

Robert

 In March '09 there is a special discount price for iRedTouch and for a special IRTrans module, too!

For this month, iRedTouch' price is lowered by $5 (other currencies accordingly), and you can save another $20, if you get this special IRTrans offer as an US customer.

Cheers, Robert

Finally, the forum is online.

Please note that a registration is necessary for adding topics or comments. I will check all registrations manually because I had some bad experiences with spam in my last iRed forum. For the curious: even with a image-based check I got 13.000 registrations within 2 years!

If you don't get an approval within 3 days, please contact me: site-admin@tinbert.com

Stay tuned,

Robert

First of all: I wish you a happy new year 2009!

iRed2 in 2008:

it should have been the year of iRed2, but something went wrong. One problem was the release of iRedTouch, which brought IR to a lot of iPhone or iPod touch owners. Even though both iRedTouch and iRed2 were developed side by side, iRed2 fell behind.

While iRed2's release date was postponed again and again, some major problems with this application were never adressed. iRed2 never reached the level of quality which I expect from a "release version". These are the main issues:

• stability: still crashs on save, hangs on use
• reliability: IRTrans modules get lost or were not found on startup
• usability: remote editor is powerful but not very usable

The last months I tried to fix all open issues, but mainly the stability issues could'nt be solved in the end. I don't want to bother you with technical details, but it looks like I have made a failure when I choose a specific data model technology back in 2007.

So what's next?

It was a hard decision, but now I am convinced that a fresh start is overdue! I will cut iRed2 into pieces, trash the existing data model, make a blend with good ol' technology from iRed 1, write some new code and mix it all together into an application that you can rely on and I can be proud of.

Of course, this will take time and stress you for more patience, but in the end we will all benefit.

Just rest assured: iRed2 is the center of my application suite and I have great plans for it.

Upgrades? Licenses? Compatibility?

I keep my promise: all purchasers of iRed 1 in 2008 or later will get a free upgrade to iRed2. And, all remotes (or "VRCs") which are created in iRed 1 or iRed2 will be compatible to the new iRed2. Your exisiting work will not get lost, so you may work on with your current remotes and codes and action archives.