Edited to say "Resolved" - explained in newer posts, below.
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Hello - just wanted to get the word out to everyone who uses the Shop-It App on iPhone that there is a a keyboard incompatibility issue with iOS 8. We are working on resolving it! But it will probably take 2 to 3 weeks to get through all the steps. If you depend on our app frequently, I would recommend waiting a while to update to 8. Thank you - I appreciate your patience - Apple does keep things interesting!

Do let me know if you have any questions.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/10/2014 07:23PM by dkdshop.

Is this about the photo and send buttons not working because ios 8 now has that bar that has common phrases on it? I wish I saw this thread before I updated. Beyond losing those two buttons' functionality, the rest of the app works fine, right? Unfortunately I have a lot of shops scheduled for the end of september.

Can't you reverse the update? I've been able to do that on apps... restore to the previous update.

Misanthrope, I'm so sorry.... I should have caught this, but we thought all was compatible. We are working on it, and will get it resolved ASAP.
Yes, it does have to do with the new keyboard arrangement. It is acting differently on different phone models, so you will need to experiment with it on your device to see what functionality is affected (basically, it seems the new keyboard and buttons "hide" ours so you can't get at them). You can try one thing that did work on one of our devices but not others... Go to 'Settings', 'General', 'Keyboard', and toggle off 'Predictive' Text. Don't want to get your hopes up, but let me know if that helps things?

If you happen to have access to another phone that you could use for your shops, (or an iPod touch), I can give you a promo code to install the app on that device at no cost.

dont forget apple is allowing 3rd party keyboards
on their phone for the first time which means it
is going to have to work with every one of those
too....

Techman, it should be a matter of coding our keyboard to take precedence over any others (within our app only)- but your comment is noted. Thank you, it's much appreciated!

I'm not expecting it to be a tough fix; getting through the Apple review process will likely take longer than the coding! Even so, based on experience over the past 3 years, we are probably looking at 2 to 3 weeks. Ours is not the only app affected, of course, so they will have a bunch to review... But they seem to staff up after an iOS update.


Edited to say: "Techman, you were right!" Thank you



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/23/2014 04:16PM by dkdshop.

Thanks for the warning. I updated my iPad, but will hold off on my iPhone.

I have the paid Android version. I was wondering how to get it to show the game on the Android for when an employee walks by.

yawarakai Wrote:
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> I have the paid Android version. I was wondering
> how to get it to show the game on the Android for
> when an employee walks by.

Hi Yawarakai - right now that is only on iPhone.... I didn't want too many 'moving parts' on the Android since it was a new introduction, but we will add that at some point.

The Android has an often-requested feature of its own which unfortunately I can't put on iPhone because Apple won't at this time let us re-purpose buttons (hoping that changes soon) - you can press the 'volume up' button to mark time (in addition to a screen tap). Each platform has its own bonus feature.

dkdshop Wrote:


>
> The Android has an often-requested feature of its
> own which unfortunately I can't put on iPhone
> because Apple won't at this time let us re-purpose
> buttons (hoping that changes soon) - you can press
> the 'volume up' button to mark time (in addition
> to a screen tap). Each platform has its own bonus
> feature.

Yes I found that feature. I was doing a timing and accidently pressed the volume button and added an extra time. Fortunatly it keeps those notes and I was able to go through them again when the time looked off. :-)

Hmm, mine seems to still be working okay, and I updated to iOS 8 on Saturday. You can swipe that bar with common phrases down, and the send and picture buttons are still functional for me. It took me a minute to figure out I could swipe that bar down though. I am using an iPhone 5.

I also found that swiping the bar down fixes things.

I was in contact with Jamie, one of the app developers and she was so great. I must say you guys are the nicest people willing to work really hard.

I had updated to ios8, rushed out to a job, and quickly tried typing something in this app which I kept hitting the NEXT button, not realizing the send was hidden. I was so frustrated through my entire shop using notepad to record my steps. In any event I wrote to support and that's when Jamie emailed me. I had downloaded the swiftkey keyboard which does NOT have the option to swipe down the bar because that is the actual typing area for that keyboard. It wasn't till yesterday I discovered you can toggle back and forth between keyboards. So now that I can toggle when using this app, I'm in good shape.

I love this app and there is nothing like it for ios. Thanks guys for working so hard on this.

mleighb Wrote:
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>
> I love this app and there is nothing like it for
> ios. Thanks guys for working so hard on this.

Thank you mleighb - that made my day!

And Thank you ALL so much for for your feedback and help. I was perplexed because I wasn't having an issue, but now I understand. It looks like a combination of all comments above (including the one about 3rd party keyboards) contribute. I will add to the FAQ's and instructions on the website, and I imagine Apple will soon update to allow apps to take control of the keyboard from within, but in researching this week I found we can't yet do that (it's affecting lots of apps, so I bet they address it).

I can't thank you enough!!! This is an amazing community.

BTW - it's just me (and a few good programmers I use)... And my husband who has encouraged the whole process. My middle name is Lynn, and my first name is Jamie. I answer to both, and many years ago got in the habit of using Lynn in my online life (and later, for mystery shopping).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/23/2014 09:14PM by dkdshop.

Update for Shop-It App iPhone users:
- As noted above, it works fine on ios8 when the "predictive" text bar is swiped down (and any 3rd party keyboards are toggled off).
- I'm going to issue an update adjusting our text entry so you can use predictive If desired, and some 3rd party KB's

Question I need your feedback on please:
- I have had lots of requests for AM/PM time (instead of 24 hr).... can change it in this update, but I don't want to frustrate anyone who is used to it. I like 24 but can adapt, and really the only time it would even be an issue is for shops that span the noon hour. I would really welcome your input on this. I'm always concerned about 'unintended consequences'

Many thanks

Edited to add: Feel free to PM me or answer here



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/2014 04:12PM by dkdshop.

I understand and prefer 24hr time.

why not offer both options and let the user choose

Techman, that is my preference and I keep trying to justify it... I asked the programmer to look into it again this morning (if he comes back with a good option I may do it, but no promises). It seems simple enough, but may mean a new screen and certainly more moving parts. The more complicated it is, the more it costs up front... And the more it costs every time Apple does an update, like now, to make sure everything is still playing nice. Every little change is more costly than you would think. "When" sales really take off, I have a great list of features I would love to put in!

My strategy with this has always been to keep it linear and streamlined... It isn't perfect, but with this strategy I was able to get a stable, useful app into the store at a development cost I was willing to front. It about breaks-even currently (paying for my direct expenses) and doesn't begin to pay me for my time - but it is a hobby and not intended to be an income stream. I have learned a lot from the process that I do apply to other areas of work, so it is also kind of a 'lab' in that sense. I enjoy doing it, and am committed to maintaining it, but I have to carefully consider cost before rolling anything new in, however minor it seems. Also, from a very pragmatic angle, I don't think the app will have any more sales based on this feature and I have started forcing myself to be realistic - though I hate being practical sometimes!

If we can do it easily this time I'll jump on it, but I wanted to get some opinions now so I can have a quick answer for my coder when we get back together if it isn't practical. Anyway, just wanted to explain. Very reasonable question. Thank you.

I haven't updated to IOS 8 yet and I'm glad I didn't! Thanks for the warning and the advice! Shop-It is great.

I would like to see AM/PM time be an option too but I can deal with the math. What I really would like to see in the app is an option to make the font larger and an editing option to add notes inside the shop name after I've finished the shop, because I often remember things afterward and putting them on that notes screen with everything unrelated doesn't really work for me. I know a larger font probably goes against the stealth idea if someone else can see what you're typing but I can barely see the tiny font with my readers on. Without them, forget about it.

I love the app though, and I thank you very much for it! It helps with the fast food shops especially.

nycrocks Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> I love the app though, and I thank you very much
> for it! It helps with the fast food shops
> especially.

Thank you so much for the affirmation - I really appreciate it!

Your suggestions are great, and are on my wish list. On some future update we simply will have to incorporate a settings page for total customization. I, too, need those readers! But decided to leave it small for stealth at the moment...

OK, my "Shop-It App" iOS8 update is ready to be released into the app store (Finally! only took 2 days to program, but 2 weeks in the queue to get reviewed by Apple... It usually takes less than a week, but they were very backlogged). It now allows use of predictive text.

mleighb - or anyone else who has Shop-It installed and has upgraded to iOS8, would you be interested in trying the update before I release it? It's a simple process using a promo code (and if you don't like it for any reason, it's simple to convert back). We test, of course, but I always like to get a few extra people to test updates pre-release.

Just let me know here, or PM me.

Thanks!

after a quick test, the extra space for the keyboard works great.

Thank you all for the feedback -

OK, I am going to go ahead and release it.... Sigh... the one reason I selfishly hate to do it is 'Ratings'. The App Store Shows "No Ratings" until you get 5 reviews for any given version (or people go in and update their reviews), so it's almost punishment for updating and improving the app. That's why so many apps bug you with pop-ups to review them...

It took 9 months for me to collect 5 reviews on the current version (I think we have about 15 overall or so), and it's only been showing that way for 3 weeks! I can tell that has improved sales a bit by being more visible (I'm banking it for the next update). It's a matter of pride, but all of our reviews are legit - not a single friend or family member in the bunch, not even me. So...when I update, any and all good ratings would be appreciated more than you can imagine.

Many Thanks!

I submitted my review.

I paid for the original app, do I have to pay for the newer iOS 8 version?

cubbiecat Wrote:
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> I paid for the original app, do I have to pay for
> the newer iOS 8 version?


Absolutely not! It is just an update. If your phone is set to auto-update, you won't do a thing... Otherwise, just manually update like with other apps. If someone isn't using 8 yet, nothing will change visibly - but it will be ready.

Thanks!

quiettime Wrote:
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> I submitted my review.


Thank you so much - 2 down, 3 to go.... Maybe it won't take 9 months this time!