iPad Feature Request - No autoload portfolio upon app startup

Kizan · October 15th, 2015, 10:09 AM

I've been using HL on the iPad for as long as there has been an HL iPad app. I converted all five of my licenses to be used on my iPads. My group uses iPad HL exclusively and for the most part enjoys it.

However, we have a request for a feature. We have noticed that when the iOS-HL starts it tries to open the previous portfolio. We'd like to ask for an option to turn that functionality off.

Two bad things can happen with this functionality on by default. First, Player1 grabs a random iPad from the stack and opens their portfolio from the Dropbox list and start playing. Player2 grabs the iPad that Player1 used the last time we play starts the app. This will auto-open Player1's PC and then will wreak havoc on Dropbox with "Conflicted Files" and soon there are six copies of someone's PC (five of which are conflicted... sounds kinda emo to me). And the player won't know which of the six files the leveled their PC up on as they may have opened/edited a conflicted file unknowingly. At some point the owner of the Dropbox share has to go in and clean up. Hoping they didn't delete the players portfolio.

Second, users starts the app and picks a portfolio, but the portfolio is too complex or corrupted or the iPad doesn't have the memory to load it.... the app crashes. No big deal just restart it the HL app, but wait the app will try to reload the bogus portfolio! And crash again. This will happen again and again. A few times I've seen the app pull out of this death spiral. More often I have to delete the app from the iPad, reinstall and reconnect to Dropbox. This process takes at least 10 mins and is a pain in the butt!

And there's no way to stop the user from doing it again. As you never know when that "next" level of fighter will put the PC over the edge into "this portfolio is too big for this iPad". We know that the more complicated (i.e. more classes and more levels) a PC has the harder the app works. My wife plays a Summoner [Unchained] and having her and her eidolon in the same portfolio will make the app crash about 50% of the time on the newest model of iPad. Either while loading (the load spiral of death) or while editing either the PC or the Eidolon. The fastest way to force an app crash is to switch between PC's in the same portfolio.

Help? Can there be an option to NOT load the previously loaded portfolio upon HL first start. It's that first time startup (usually after a crash or reboot) where the option would be most useful.

Thanks,

Kizan

ShadowChemosh · October 15th, 2015, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kizan

And there's no way to stop the user from doing it again. As you never know when that "next" level of fighter will put the PC over the edge into "this portfolio is too big for this iPad". We know that the more complicated (i.e. more classes and more levels) a PC has the harder the app works. My wife plays a Summoner [Unchained] and having her and her eidolon in the same portfolio will make the app crash about 50% of the time on the newest model of iPad. Either while loading (the load spiral of death) or while editing either the PC or the Eidolon. The fastest way to force an app crash is to switch between PC's in the same portfolio.

Have you been reporting these issues to LW? The last few versions of the app have made it ultra stable for my group and we have crazy characters and loading a huge extra data package for my houserules.

One of the group has a .por file with 4 characters in it and its been much more stable. My point being if you see these issues I would ask you file a support ticket and provide the steps and information for LW to duplicate the issue.

Its the only way its going to get fixed.

As for you reload of the character I think if you force close the app it won't try and reopen the last portfolio again. "I think".

Kizan · October 15th, 2015, 12:06 PM

ShadowChemosh,

I would happily fill out a support ticket. I looked around the forum and didn't see official looking way to do that. I saw others had posted support/feature request type stuff on this forum so that's why I posted it here. Is there a sticky post or instructions somewhere that I could read for how to fill out a support ticket?

I have been religiously updating the app and data files on all the iPads each week. So I'm VERY sure we are all on the same version and all up to the latest version.

Force closing the HL app doesn't reliably fix the "auto-reload death spiral" problem.

Thanks,

Kizan

Mathias · October 15th, 2015, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kizan

I would happily fill out a support ticket. I looked around the forum and didn't see official looking way to do that. I saw others had posted support/feature request type stuff on this forum so that's why I posted it here. Is there a sticky post or instructions somewhere that I could read for how to fill out a support ticket?

On the iPad, at the bottom right of the screen where you select a character, click "Get Help", and then choose "Report a Bug".

Kizan · October 15th, 2015, 12:11 PM

Is there an option to NOT fillout the support request on the iPad? It's much easier to type these things on a normal PC. Maybe it needs to collect data from the iPad or something?

Thanks,

Kizan

ShadowChemosh · October 15th, 2015, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kizan

Is there an option to NOT fillout the support request on the iPad? It's much easier to type these things on a normal PC. Maybe it needs to collect data from the iPad or something?

In this case send the email to support@wolflair.com with all the information making sure to have a subject of "iPad".

Kizan · October 16th, 2015, 05:14 AM

This link will also work.

http://www.wolflair.com/support/repo...nder&from=ipad

ShadowChemosh · October 16th, 2015, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kizan

This link will also work.

http://www.wolflair.com/support/repo...nder&from=ipad

Except that is about Pathfinder game bugs and the above is not really a "game" bug its issues in the "base software" running the Pathfinder game.

The main separation being Pathfinder is handled by Mathias, Aaron and Hollis, and the HL software is done by Colen and his team (sorry can't remember there names).

Mathias · 09:59 AM

It's not a major thing to move bugs around - the auto-sorting in our bug tracker isn't perfect, so this week, from the shadowrun inbox, I've already moved two pathfinder and two realm works bugs into the correct folders.

Just give us a title that clearly indicates where it belongs.

P.S. Using the Pathfinder bug reporting form in this forum (http://forums.wolflair.com/showthread.php?t=24976) automatically puts a "Pathfinder Bug Report:" at the beginning of the title, which helps us identify what system someone's talking about. Same for the Shadowrun and M&M reporting forms. Of course the auto-sorting feature hasn't quite recognized that as a pattern, so some of the ones that came in through the proper forms will still get mis-placed. Using the link in the iPad puts an iPad specific identifier in the title.

ShadowChemosh · October 16th, 2015, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mathias

It's not a major thing to move bugs around - the auto-sorting in our bug tracker isn't perfect, so this week, from the shadowrun inbox, I've already moved two pathfinder and two realm works bugs into the correct folders.

Just give us a title that clearly indicates where it belongs.

Ok good to know. So go nuts using the Pathfinder support ticket section then.

Then just wait for the email response saying your ticket has been created and do a "reply" to attach a .por file or images or other helpful files to the ticket.

Kizan Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Ohio Posts: 124 October 15th, 2015, 12:11 PM	Is there an option to NOT fillout the support request on the iPad? It's much easier to type these things on a normal PC. Maybe it needs to collect data from the iPad or something? Thanks, Kizan Me: How bad could it be? Him: What's the worst that could happen?
#5