Release 6.3 : multi-select and date mask

For release 6.3, there are two important new features to help the user to filter the photos shown in the slideshow and one feature giving a nicer single photo view UI.

• Multi select for local and LAN sources makes it possible to select only a couple of files and folders instead of running the slideshow for every folder.

• Date mask allows the user to select only photos more recent than a fixed date or only in the last period (periode defined by a number of years, months or days)
  
   
• Satellite menu during single photo view is just a nicer look of the previous menu but in the future, it will be easier to add new functionality.

v6.2 Text options

Additionally to selecting if numbering and file name are shown, you can now also choose the location (top or bottom) and the color of the text.

Next to various bug fixes, I also achieved to minimize the file size. Don't forget you can also install it to sdcard if more space is needed.

Available on amazon app store

Digital photo frame is starting from now also available on the amazon app store! Currently only the ad-supported version but the premium version should be approved by amazon soon.

Version 6.0 released : transitions

As promised before, I worked on transitions between two photos for this next release. The implemented transitions are :

• Dissolve : photos fading into each other.
• Fade in/fade out 
• Zoom in and zoom out: The next photo replaces the previous one from inside or outside
• Slide left and right : The next photo replaces the previous one from left or right
• Random : any of the above

To make playing with the above transitions possible, I used a sliding menu to change the layout or transition during slideshow playback.

New photo frame version 5.6.1

Highlights of this version are:

• Transitions : Next to fade-in/fade-out, there is also a dissolve transition which shows the two photos blended together. More transitions to come ..., I'm open to suggestions.
• Completely redone recent slideshows. There is now the possibility to
• Rename the slideshow to whatever you want
• Delete the slideshow from the list
• Start the slideshow using the button next to the slideshow
• Go to the folder represented by this slideshow. This is a very useful feature if you often show photos from a subfolder of a certain location.
• The recent now has a (R) at the end to indicate it is a recursive slideshow.
• UPnP should now retrieve the photo with the best resolution instead of just the first one (depending on the server this would be an ok one or just a thumbnail)
• Unreadable photos crashed the app, this will now show nothing instead.
• Fixes the bugs introduced in 5.6 impacting a lot of users, sorry for this.

Released new photo frame version 5.5

The highlights of this version are

• Maximum delay between two photos is now 600 seconds
• If a layout with multiple photos is used, it is filled up as fast as the photos can be loaded.
• Selecting a specific photo starts the slideshow from that photo.
• Better full screen usage
• A new random layout as shown in the next picture

Let me know any additional feature you would like to see in the comments!
Also I keep a page about  the digital photo frame on google+, I've you would like to be kept up to date, click the follow button on the right.

Crash reporting android apps

I started using https://www.crittercism.com for crash reporting of my photo frame app. It only makes the app 40 kB bigger (peanuts on a 1Mb app) but sends the stacktrace automatically to their servers.
Where I normally receive one or two crash reports a day, it was soon clear to me that the problem is a lot bigger than that. Thanks to the detailed stack trace, I was able to resolve most of the problems really quick.

On a daily basis I have 300 people checking out my app but only 100 or less keeping it. Now it is clear to me why. Most of these users run into a crash that does not occur on my test devices. I hope the number of users that keep my app will be higher now and that the current users will have a more stable app.