Hello, again …

It´s been a rough time so i couldn´t release updates as i wanted.

Now, suddenly Microsoft stopped support for Visual Studio for Mac and thus in a few weeks i cannot upload anything to Apple anymore because they will reject older versions of iOS-dev kits.

That was a nice move from Microsoft. The announcement came a few weeks before release of MacOS Sonoma what broke the whole upload process finally. And even if MS still keeps the doors open until September 2024 all further development using MS Visual Studio for mac is terminated by Apple.

Alternatives, like JetBrains Rider, comes with a cost – 150 bucks a year. The app roughly makes 150 for Jetbrains plus 100 for Apple (= 200 / year) so i have to find new ways to make the bills payed.

Until that is cleared i try to find a way to upload the latest and biggest ever update with new handlers for all the messaging and teleporting and …. stuff plus a stripped 3D view.

Hopefully better news next time!

Version 1.2.9140 waiting for approval

make sure to stop the event queue on logout, this could cause problems login in another account

improved speed of message queuing server client, using iOS functions not the old PC style

fixed display names not loading

updated push to background, sometimes could crash the application in newer iOS´s

fixed problem in “aroundMe”, did not load all items or crash when there are items closer than 1 m

fixed problem dragging map in “WorldMap”, now with visible dragging the map around

ignore broken inventory links without crash, please fix in your main viewer – if you view items from inventory the app cannot load the permissions, creator …. check you main viewer how to replace/fix this broken links

some other adjustments for new iPhone 14 screen size are coming soon because Microsoft has not released the update needed yet!

No updates ??

Well, after only 6 months my Mac Pro M1 stopped working. And you can guess “Liquid damage”. Ok, never has any liquid touched this MacBook but Apple is always right.

Of course this is no guaranty case and the repair costs around 850 €. Ouch….

The current ongoing and the last 2.5 year situation wasn´t very easy for a lot of us so i have to plan and see how to pay this huge bill.

For the time waiting i have to use my old 2015 MacBook. Problem is, while compiling the current code the CPU is reaching out to 100°C – close to damage it and editing code is more of type wait type wait …..

Maybe you heard about the new puppeteer project viewer launched by LL ?

For the time waiting i will try to release some smaller updates and read, try, test if or how that could be implemented. Would be great because of the 3D cameras most iDevices have ?!?

Version 1.2.9138 waiting for approval

Just internal changes. Update to VS2022 and some updates for new libs.

The “3D” mode have to wait because of personal and functional issues. iDevices simple are too limited – not in power – just by rules and regulations, so there is a lot of rewrite stuff to fit in apples ideas.

Release 1.2.9137 ready for approval

No, no news on the 3D update. I ran into so many problems with the server communication being to slow, i decided to analyse and test things a bit more.

So ,this is the next update:

• messages received during login will be send after fully login
• group invites show the full invitation text
• messages from scripted objects are now processed
• map shows the right z position of own avatar (SL bug with heights above 1020)
• MAP rounds distance value to integer, easier to read
• MAP fixed problems with names and sort by distance
• AROUNDME – fixed problem when only <10 objects around

2022 – Quo vadis

It´s already March i know and news come sparse.

Two years, and ongoing, lockdowns brought my little shop close to bankrupt, my wonderful 27 year old car broke apart – getting a new car with no money is fun (not!) – and finally my MacBook 2015, the ones with the “exploding battery” – kicked the bottom of because the battery inflated to a crazy/dangerous extend.

Geez – that´s a long sentence.

Anyway, i´m still working on the background code to make it more stable and faster. That takes hours of time writing a line testing it under all circumstances and so on ….

Will there be something new, something users can see ?

7 Years ago i started with this app because i wanted a real mobile viewer. No one tried it and most everyone said – It´s impossible on an iPhone.
Well, it´s possible and – not sure when – there will be a limited 3D view available. Because apple dropped support for OpenGL there is no reference and the whole 3D code has to be written from 0 in apples metal engine. Most things are not even documented on the apple help pages or have examples.

For more than one reason it won´t be a full 3D viewer. One reason is that even the very very limited style i´m working on makes my iPhone ready to cook eggs and the battery % drops rapidly. But it works so far.

Stay tuned and as always i´m working on old bugs and ideas from users – sooo – it´s done when it´s done 🙂

Version 1.2.9136 waiting for approval

This update should address some issues with login/logout functions.

Version 1.2.9135 waiting for approval

This comes with a hotfix to solve the logins problems

Will monitor if this breaks other feature but looks promising for now (next version coming soon with improved handling of the updates login protocol)

• fixed: problem after viewing profile, Tabs are mixed up related to iOS15
• fixed: small problem with a crash at forced logouts
• setting a viewer ID to clearly authenticate to the servers

Version 1.2.9134 waiting for review

• fixed: group messages display on startup
• fixed: ignore “ghost”-IM with no text
• fixed: show “ACTIVE” in group when this group is selected
• fixed: not loading actual “Message of the day”

• update: iOS 15 compatibililty

• new: new screen size for new device
• new: handling sim-wide messages as popups
• new: on logout clearing database from ghost IMs

overall improvements for speed and stability

Making the app iOS 15 compatible is not as easy as it seems because the rendering of menu-bars, tables and such are now completely different. Working on it !

iOS 15

Because of all the changes/updates and problems with iOS15 and the new devices (mainly screen size changes on aspect ratio …) the next update will be delayed until Apple and Microsoft have ironed out the problems.

Right now under iOS 15 tables will be shown “weird” and the icon bar on the bottom screen turns into funny colors on some devices.

Fixes for this and other problems are announced around October, 8 and after testing, the update will be released ASAP.