Update 1.2.9105 ready for approval

Sorry this update was delayed because Microsoft updated Visual Studio and that broke some of the “ancient” web connection SL servers use for the connection.
Had to make a complete rollback and re-invent the “wheel”.

• adjusted icons sizes for smaller devices

  MAP

• switch between mapview and landmarks
  in mapview the simwide avatars are visible (scrollable list)
  select an avatar in avatarlist marks it on the map
• rearranged view to make room for dual list

INVENTORY

• could not load worn tab in inventory, solved

RLV

• sometimes did not work, was related to “current outfit folder”

GROUPS

• title can only be changed in active group

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Status about current problems

There are some problems with the latest switch to the new inventory protocol.

Overall the inventory loads much faster but as a side-effect the “WORN” tab in inventory leads to a crash.

The same protocol that uses the extended IM protocol leads to not loading some IMs correct.

This problems are under inspection and a new update will be out asap.

SL/OpenSim protocols are not documented there are no messages about changes and there is no help how to use. Sometimes that leads to unexpected errors.

Update 1.2.9104

Sorry but 1.2.9104 got rejected and about some family drama i didn´t notice.

This time the update is big because the whole code (and the libraries – around 60.000 lines of code) where checked with external testing-tools.

One thing: There is no mobile SL/Opensim. MetaChat is a viewer like any other PC viewer with the same system requirements (network ….) it just runs on mobile devices. Switching cells, unstable (packet loss) connections cannot be supported. This is a server side requirement.

Changelist

• improved “server disconnect” detection

FRIENDLIST

• loading friendlist set waittime from 60 seconds to 100 for slower connections
• use cached textures to increase loading speed of friends and profiles

MESSAGES

• waittime for UUID set from 10 to 30 seconds for slower connections

IM

• double check the UUID for receiver
• added extendedIMformat description
• timing for typing start/stop adjusted
• problem with delete IMs solved

GROUPS

• increased loading speed of group-profile
• CRITICAL PROBLEM: count of unread IMs calculated wrong while in GroupsView, resolved

FRIENDS

• use cached textures to increase loading speed of friends and profiles

ACCOUNT

• limiting the password to 16 chacters (SL servers do not accept more)
• check password for spaces (not allowed)

Status update

I received some reports about connection issues when using Hotel-/Car-/Plane-/Airport…Networks.

While i´m constantly working to improve the network code MetaChat cannot ignore the SL protocol.

Login in to a sim must download all the terrain maps, decode and store them in the device memory. Profile pictures inventory …
MetaChat cannot just download what is needed for a text-only viewer because SL is not designed for.

If you have a low connection please check “mobile mode” in settings. This limits what is downloaded or decoded.

Sometimes the app shows you as online but you cannot do anything (or just not IM people). This is because the server closed the connection without telling. Usually this is the result of packet loss or unsynced communication.

Whats next?

Using cache for all pictures, this will speed up subsequent logins – or download all the stuff at home and use it while you are away.

Future: Upload/Download pictures (textures) to/from SL/OpenSim.

Update 1.2.9104

This update contains bug-fixes for the group-notice-counter and friend list loading

Most problems are connected to networking. SL servers want to open 24 http connections to the clients. iOS devices can only handle 4 (four) connections. Thus all conversation between the app and servers have to be throttled and queued. If you use other applications like streaming music, video, downloading, updating …. you may encounter random log outs.

This is simply a hardware restriction for mobile devices and no app bug.

Sorry for the problems with group-chat-counters. This was due to reconfigure the way chats are stored in the SQL database and a bug in MySQL didn´t like this changes.
Until MySQL updates the save/load handling we use a workaround.

FRIENDLIST

• loading friendlist set waittime from 60 seconds to 100 for slower connections

MESSAGES

• waittime for UUID set from 10 to 30 seconds for slower connections

GROUPS

• count of unread IMs calculated wrong while in GroupsView, resolved

IM

• timing for typing start/stop adjusted

Current problems

It seems that with the latest update for Microsoft Visual Studio (that has to be used now to be accepted by apple) the MySQL plugin started to act funny.

This plugin is used to store all messages and retrieves them on demand.

Because i dont know when or how the plugin will be fixed i´m working on a hot-fix for the next update.

This bug affects even the “cannot delete stored messages for some avatars”.

Update 1.2.9103 ready for approval

MS released the update for Visual Studio on time so here we go:

All over speed increased – especially because of the new event management.

If you encounter a delay in message receive/send this is not direct related to MetaChat.
It´s either a common SL problem or simply because your network isn´t as fast as recommended by LL.

Global

• removed InWorldz from the default grid list (USER REPORTED)
• problem with privacy text selection cleared (USER REPORTED)
• event system reworked to call simulator events only once to reduce  server/app communication load
• checked against the new iPhone XR screen resolution

GROUPS

• sometimes search groups give empty rows, disable selection to avoid crash
• problem with activate titles and show active title cleared
  (you cannot change your title too often shortly)

CHAT

• in all chat windows you can now pinch zoom (two fingers move) text
  (reset: leave chat and enter again)
  (MapChat, IM, GroupIM) (USER FEATURE REQUEST)

MAPCHAT

• problem with “show avatars near me” when tapping the top bar, cleared

BACKGROUND MODE

• settings: change if you do not want notices/alarms while in background
  (USER FEATURE REQUEST)