Cloud Sync and RemoteApp

[WildMonkeyLaura]

After using the iPad HeroLab app for several weeks I've concluded two things: it's a fabulous product and it needs better cloud support.

Currently I use desktop HL to create portfolios, use Windows 8 OneDrive to sync it to the cloud, and then use iPad OneDrive to move the portfolio into iPad HL using "open in another application". To get the portfolio back to hero lab after the session, I'm stuck emailing the portfolio to myself and using my email client to overwrite the old portfolio before I can open it again in desktop HL. It works, but it is definitely a kludge.

I know that RealmWorks syncs blobs like HL portfolios using a cloud-based object-store (or at least it did as-of a few months ago). It would be really great to tap into that object-store inside HL too. I'd be happy to pay for a premium version of the iPad app that could seamlessly share cloud storage with the desktop version. Portfolios are small and you probably wouldn't pay more than $0.07/Gb/mo to store and stream them. A $1.99 app would likely cover the costs for years.

I would also pay a subscription fee to access a version of HL that had all of the data sets (or at least all of the data sets for one game) and was constantly being updated, perhaps hosted using Azure's RemoteApp service or something similar. I think it could be a very interesting venture into SaaS for Lone Wolf, and it would be much cheaper than developing an Android version. That assumes of course that your current licenses would allow such a product.

[liz]

Thanks WildMonkeyLaura! I'll make sure that the HL developers see your suggestions.

[mirtos]

I couldnt agree more. It would be useful for PC/Mac users as well. Id even pay for a multi-tier. One that had portolios (which are tiny) and another that would store/read from custom HL files. Im constantly storing my portfolios and .user files on the cloud when i transfer from my four licenses. (well, three these days). If it could happen automatically, it would be WELL worth a subscription charge (as well as the security of having it an offsite backup)

[Colen]

We're planning to add Dropbox support to Hero Lab for iPad in the not-too-distant future, and we've architected our code in such a way that it should be fairly easy to add support for other cloud services (OneDrive etc) after that if needed. That'll add the basics of cloud support, as you'll easily be able to create portfolios on other devices and then use them on your iPad.

A subscription service is something we're not currently able to offer, but that might change in the future. It's definitely something on our radar as a potential new avenue for Hero Lab.

[Tyrannofex]

For what it's worth, I'd pay a moderate fee as well for this convenience.