UniBrowse (Unified Browser icon) Update 1.3 - Beta Testers Needed for Trackpad Phones
- UniBrowse (Unified Browser Icon) is about to be updated with the ability to select which connection to use (BIS, BES, WAP, WiFi) as well as which browser, and will also include an option to use gestures instead of multi-click to select which option to launch.
edit: Beta 2 is now publicly available without having to send an email (see the end of page 2)
Kindly send feedback directly to LSphone or else post it here.
It shouldn't take more than 15 minutes of your time to install, test, and describe how it's behaving.
Thank you!
Last edited by LSphone; 10-20-10 at 02:46 PM. Reason: smaller images
10-18-10 05:50 PMLike 0 -
- Hey,
Email sent. I am interested in how this will work with a trackpad. If this goes over well, I also wonder if you will carry this new type of functionality to MCI.
BTW, I think he is preferring to not test on a device with that small square between the menu key and the escape key like on the Torch with the 480X360 screen in landscape. lmao. The testing is already done on devices with touchcreens.
Brad.Last edited by MADBRADNYC; 10-18-10 at 07:00 PM.
10-18-10 06:45 PMLike 0 - I don't have a Torch, but the simulator shows both a touchscreen and a trackpad. On the Torch, this app's Browser Selector "gesture widget" will ignore the trackpad and require use of the touchscreen, which is already tested, so I didn't think testing on the Torch would be useful.
On second thought, if anyone with a Torch and someone with a Storm 9550 would volunteer (non have yet), there is one feature included specifically for those devices that needs to be tested. In the Browser Selector, if you have 2 fingers on the screen, it's supposed to launch if either finger is touching a browser (whether that finger was the 1st or the 2nd to touch the screen).
That way, if someone's inadvertently touching the edge of the screen with the hand they're holding the phone with, it will still respond when the "2nd touch" enters a trigger zone.
Not a critical feature, but would still like to test everything.
Thank you,10-18-10 09:29 PMLike 0 -
- This kind of navigation is so wierd, but very fun! I guess I'm not used to this movement on OS5, but I like it very much! Sigh-will OS6 ever come to the 9700? haha.10-18-10 10:28 PMLike 0
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I'd love to learn to develop apps, but with school and a new baby, I barely have time to breathe.
Love the UI, and the browser switch thing is slick (a little laggy though).
On the topic of MCI, I think you could really get that going with OS6 if you could make it launch webpages/contacts that you saved to the homescreen.
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.comLast edited by SCrid2000; 10-19-10 at 01:55 AM.
10-19-10 01:49 AMLike 0 - What I'm looking for about the trackpads is:
1. How is the rate factor generally? Do you have to do too much of a swipe to get something selected, or is so fast that you barely move and it's already selecting something?
2. How is the diagonal movement? More sensitive, less sensitive, or about the same rate factor as crosshair (up/down, left/right) movement? i.e. If you try first swiping up/down/left/right just enough that the light gets to the borders of the central area but doesn't get trapped by any of the arrows... Then, turn the device diagonally so you can swipe exactly up/down/left/right from your point of view, but it's diagonal to the trackpad. Do the same swipes make the light move the same distance, or is it more, or less? And does it follow the line of your movement, or is it erratic?
2) I understand what you mean, and I have done several tests as per your instructions. I would have to say the same for the diagonal movement. It seem to slip into the crosshair movement then "jumps" into the diagonal slots alot. I have to use very slight gestures to deliberately make it go directly to the diagonal slots on the first try. It doesn't quite feel natural as well. As stated before, for users not on OS6 touchscreen, it's like you have to walk on eggshells to make it get where you want it to go. But in normal use, OS5 users pretty much "rub" the trackball rather than "flick" it.
On a side note, I am noticing that aside for the selector taking a long time to open, I am having some issues where when I am going through the icons, it opens 2 different browsers at a time. as if the key selection is not being registered as quick as it should. For example... I have it set up for Browser/Opera/Bolt/Search/Selector. while going through trying to get to "selector" it may open Opera and Search on top of that. I have to close out both and start again to get to where I want to go. It just seems to open things randomly along the way. This was not present in the previous version.
Just my own thoughts. Others may feel differently though.
Brad.10-19-10 01:55 AMLike 0 - Man, I really should be asleep, but:
1. I don't find it too sensitive, it seems about right to me.
2. It doesn't really do diagonal very well; it does it sometimes, but usually it moves more like stairsteps.
Me being on 6.0 might make a difference.
Oh, also, the only BlackBerry browser that it shows as working for me is the wifi one - I'm not on wifi right now though. I think this also might be an os6 issue (browser selects connection automatically).
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com10-19-10 02:02 AMLike 0 - Hmm. What's funny about that is that all of the browsers show as if they all would work for me, but I get an error when trying to use the WiFi one... And I am on WiFi/UMA at home. Weird. lol.10-19-10 02:19 AMLike 0
- Diagonal is tough because the trackball/pad does not sense angle and rate of your movements, it senses delta-X and delta-Y. Because the sensing is so coarse, when you move diagonally and the magnitude of the X/Y components becomes smaller, the data gets sparse and inaccurate, especially because the components often get relayed to the app serially as separate movements. That's why it stair-steps. On this type of hardware, sensing diagonal movements is always going to have more "noise to signal ratio" than sensing crosshair movements.
I can add a sensitivity adjustment in the settings, which has different defaults depending on whether it's a trackball or trackpad device.
OS6 is apparently not working with this yet. What I'd like to confirm is, does it correctly mark (via red/blue halos) which items will work and not work with UniBrowse, or does it mark some items Blue that result in "Launch Failed"?
As for launching the wrong items, sometimes what happens is during multi-clicking the reaction time expires while you're still clicking because you're clicking just below the threshold rate, so it launches whatever's showing at the moment, and while that's launching you continue clicking and something else gets launched also. While I can't have the subsequent clicks abort the already-triggered first launch, I can prevent it from launching more than once in quick succession.
The Selector may not be for everyone, but it does also have the keyboard shortcuts for keyboard users, and the menu selections for touch users. UniBrowse is mainly meant to be a multi-click icon launcher, and the Selector is just provided as an alternative for those who prefer it.10-19-10 09:08 AMLike 0 - Ah, one more thing. The Selector input on a trackball works best if you make a medium-speed continuous movement in the desired direction, rather than flicking, because that creates a better line with more data and is easier to track than a flick.
That may hold true for the trackpad also.10-19-10 10:08 AMLike 0 -
- UniBrowse 1.3.1 Beta Test
Thank you for assisting!
- Is now quite a bit faster, at least on slower devices,
- Sensitivity of gesture widget is now adjustable,
- Tries to suppress accidental launches and multiple launches that can occur when there is network activity or other interference during multi-clicking,
- Apparently on OS 6, this can't be used to select the connection type, but the Web Search option can be used to launch the OS6 BB Browser to the specified initial URL (which can be blank),
- I was unable to determine why the WiFi launch failed on a 9700 with 5.0.
Unless there's anything major, I think it's time to release this one and move on. But this beta test is to get your opinion on that...
Links:
for OS 4.3-4.5
for OS 4.6+ (including 5.0) with 320x240 or 240x320 display (i.e. Pearls, Curves, 88xx)
for OS 4.6 with 480x360 or 360x480 display (i.e. Bold 9000)
for OS 4.7+ with 360x480 or 480x360 display (i.e. Newer BOLDs, Tour, Storm, Torch)
Thank you!
Last edited by LSphone; 10-19-10 at 11:08 PM.
10-19-10 10:34 PMLike 0 -
-
- On second thought, if anyone with a Torch and someone with a Storm 9550 would volunteer (non have yet), there is one feature included specifically for those devices that needs to be tested. In the Browser Selector, if you have 2 fingers on the screen, it's supposed to launch if either finger is touching a browser (whether that finger was the 1st or the 2nd to touch the screen).
That way, if someone's inadvertently touching the edge of the screen with the hand they're holding the phone with, it will still respond when the "2nd touch" enters a trigger zone.
Not a critical feature, but would still like to test everything.
Thank you,
Everything seems to be working great from what I can tell. I did the "two-finger test" on my Storm 2 and it worked flawlessly every time. Very cool and well thought out!!
The red and blue halos are nice, but in my opinion, if something isn't an option, I would rather not see it at all. If they must be visible, it might be easier to differentiate if the unavailable ones were dimmed (greyed out). It's a little distracting to have to search for blue halos only. Maybe another option for greying out rather than halo'ing?? I know you are ready to release, so that might not be an option, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.
Great work!10-20-10 08:05 AMLike 0 -
Well done!10-20-10 08:09 AMLike 0 - Thanks for the update! Still working great for me. Thank you for adding the sensitivity adjustments. Much needed. Don't worry about the WiFi errors on OS5 because it does actually open the browser approximately 4-5 seconds after the error appears, so no real worries. I also don't know if it is the "placebo effect", but I feel that the browser selector does open quicker now.
Thanks for the late nights of hard work.
The city never sleeps.
Brad.10-20-10 09:08 AMLike 0
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UniBrowse (Unified Browser icon) Update 1.3 - Beta Testers Needed for Trackpad Phones
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