Announcing version 2.0.0 (Communication/Press - add your suggestions!)

With version 2 upcoming (including our then new logo), it would be great if we could get some (press) coverage and maybe gain some new users along the way :slight_smile:

It’d be great if we could draw up a list of media (both big and small, digital native and traditional) that we might reach out to.

@tonytamsf from what I remember you seemed to have an interest in this a bit. Would you be happy to join in this effort?

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Here’s a list of potential media. Please feel free to add your own! (It’s a wiki, so you should be able to edit via the button on the bottom-right of this post.)

And a list of communities we could share the news in:

Sure, I can try to help.

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Didn’t dare to add them before suggesting but I think it would be a good idea to appeal to :

English :

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You might consider reaching out to the lads at Late Night Linux. Whilst they are Linux focused, they often discuss Android and regularly promote using F-Droid.

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Thanks @Matth78 and @tenkara_vt for your suggestions. I’ve added them.
Except Xda-Developers, as I wasn’t sue yet whether we should send in a content suggestion or rather post it in the Apps & Games forum section. Anyone has experience or a feeling for what may be wisest, either just as an Xda reader, Xda forum member or general human being?

I am not really sure about sending a content suggestion because after reading what you are not supposed to do it say to not ask for a review. I think we are asking to promote a major version update but maybe it’s too close to asking for a review? Maybe we could point out we are not sure if it’s ok to ask but we feel it’s more about an “original development work” than a review which would respect rules about suggesting content.

About Apps & games I won’t post in it since we already have a user forum. I think thread for apps are supposed to be a way to get feedback for free app.

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A couple of thoughts. I used to be fairly active on XDA, though that has pretty much slowed down to only checking a couple of times a month. There isn’t a real privacy focused ROM for my current phone, so I’ve it rooted and that’s it.

Personally, I’ve found very little useful in the apps and games section. It often becomes just people complaining and devs answering questions that are better answered elsewhere. Maybe that’s because I’m very picky about what I install on my phone or because I’m old and don’t care about the same things as younger people.

To the point that @Matth78 makes. One thought is that you could have two different press releases. That way you could send something to the content section of XDA without violating the requirements for posting there. Then in other locations you could still ask for reviews where it seems acceptable.

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Hi all,

I’m so sorry this thread got closed - I hope we didn’t miss out on any of your brilliant thoughts in the meantime :wink:

As you may know, we have picked and released our new app icon. Version 2.0.0 has been sent to and accepted by Google. It’s a staged roll-out, so not everyone will get it at the same time. But hopefully we’ll all get to benefit. As soon as roll-out is (close to) 100%, we should send out the communication.

It’s time, therefore, to start drafting the texts. I would love to get help from you all. I was thinking of setting up a shared doc (a pad maybe, as it’s Google-free?) so we can all contribute. @tenkara_vt I’d love to get your help also with a check as a native speaker.

At this point (I’ll create the shared doc tonight): any ideas on what we should highlight/can focus on in the text?

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I’ve created a Pad in which you can all contribute. For the moment I’ve just added my ideas for the rough content of the message. Feel free to add your ideas or contribute actual text. Your comments here on the forum are also most welcome, of course :slight_smile:

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Apologies for the delay, been rather busy.

I’d love to help! I’ll take a look this weekend and see what we can do!

5 posts were split to a new topic: Release of next version?

Hi all,

Rather busy at my end as well. I wanted to start writing the press release over the weekend, but then realised I wanted to have more info to be able to say something interesting. So I ended up working yesterday and today with ByteHamster to prepare a full list of (interesting) changes in v2 (vis-à-vis version 1.8.1). The result you can see below behind the button/link.

Full list of changes

special mention: new app logo & icon #4441

NEW

  • option to export favourites to HTML file #4106
  • ask user if they prefer streaming to download, when streaming a lot #4121
  • feed settings to reduce its volume (none/light/heavy), skip its episodes’ intro and ending #3975 #3248
  • include modern security provider (Conscrypt) to fix SSL issues on older Android versions [F-Droid] #4077
  • app shortcuts to directly refresh, or go to episodes, subscriptions or queue #3748
  • notification when episodes have been auto-downloaded #3839
  • ‘special thanks’ screen to credit individuals for contributions other than code or translations #4386
  • option to preview episodes when adding new podcasts #4177 #4039 #3882
  • possibility to export latest crash log #3886
  • support for chapter images (only for new episodes) #3838
  • statistics screen to show storage size of episodes on device #3523
  • support for “Subscribe on Android” links on websites #3739

GENERAL IMPROVEMENTS

  • more fail-safe adding of feeds #4301
  • support for feeds that don’t specify episode duration #4162
  • theme switching by keeping settings opened #4125
  • support for RTL languages #4097 #4020 #4046 and other localisation improvements #4096 #4088 #4047 #4032
  • show warning when importing database #4011
  • performance improvements #3998 #3997 #3996 #3993 #3992 #3989 #3991
  • fast scrolling available across all lists & screens #3995
  • show dialog instead of notification when attempting streaming over mobile network #4324 #3897
  • datestamp in filenames of all exports (database, opml and html) #3980
  • better in-app search experience: faster, don’t display episodes if podcast matches, added progress bar #3830 #3715 #3714
  • display podcast author instead of feed URL when searching for new podcasts #3762
  • updated translations in 28 languages: br, ca, cs, da, de, es, et, eu, fa, fi, fr, gl, hu, hi, it, iw, ja, ko, lt, nb, nl, pl, pt-rBR, pt, ru, sv, uk, zh-rCN & zh-rTW
  • prevent Google snooping on WebView (show notes) #3877
  • stop attempting automatic downl oad when content is not available any-more #3848
  • increase button sizes on notification & lock screen #3840
  • Allow to click timecodes in item screen, not just on the player screen #3813
  • applied design to html subscriptions export #3796
  • decrease likelyhood of duplicates after gpodder sync #3690
  • paged loading on the ‘new episodes’ list #3711

UI IMPROVEMENTS

  • pretty display of episode art now in landscape view #4292
  • greatly improved support for video feeds #4306 #4306 #4105 #4002 #4000 #3858
  • more spacious player screen for easier tapping #4174
  • darker dark theme #4138
  • improved audio description of elements (TalkBack accessibility) #4132
  • no more shouting, caps-locked buttons #4107
  • tweaked podcast view & transitions #4069
  • consistent colour use #4036 #3981
  • several other improvements #4043
  • easier to understand sorting options #4004
  • improve statistics screen, especially for smaller screens & in landscape mode #4005 #3873 #3821 #3751
  • updated queue icon #3960
  • prettier lists: unify all lists, rounded image corners, display favourite status, display episode duration whenever possible, more subtle drag handles in queue #4015 #3937 #3827 #3957
  • updated ‘add podcast’ screen: cleaner, more proposed podcasts, pre-fill URL from clipboard when adding from, clearer alternative search options URL #3936
  • fancier header on podcast screen with animation & other improvements #3923 #3927 #3922
  • new speed indicator with animation #3785
  • smoother spinner in refresh button when updating feeds #3874
  • updated episode detail screen: bigger image, everything left-aligned, reduced line thickness #3854
  • updated player screen: cleaner screen, sharper buttons, improved display of cover image & episode information, wider seek bar for easier scrolling #3856 #3857
  • cleaner sleep timer dialogs #4174 #3811
  • indicate with open circle in player screen tabs when there are no chapters #3817
  • improved import/export settings screen #3794
  • consistently use the term ‘podcast’ instead of ‘feed’ #3763
  • add summary for each of the categories on the main settings screen #3745

FIXES

  • issues with time stamp links in show notes #4286 #4023 #3825
  • app unusable after removing SD card storage #4270
  • don’t always pass on correct useragent to server #4272 #4008 #3931
  • database import not working or causing a crash in some cases #4269 #3832 #3831
  • played/unplayed state in downloads not updated while playing podcast #4250
  • service notification intendedly persistent #4199 and tapping loads wrong screen #4197
  • issues with searching & subscribing to podcasts #4179, #4147, #4110 #4024
  • issues with gpodder sync #4100 #3970
  • embedded episode images not being used #4059
  • player sometimes not updating #3966
  • sidebar menu sometimes highlighting wrong item #3958
  • “confirm” text not visible when entering private feed credential 3948
  • default sort order not selected for newly added podcasts #3926
  • error in download log not always showing podcast title #3921
  • multi select crops long episode titles #3920
  • app crashes when trying to resume streaming after a while #3881
  • changing default playback speed while playing podcast does not work correctly #3819
  • seeking not possible in edge cases with variable bitrate #3782

So, next step is picking the most interesting things and drafting the press release. Roll-out of 2.0.1 was started Sunday morning, so I guess it’ll soon reach 100%. At that point new installs will also be that latest version, so that’s the time to send out the press release.

Thanks for following up everybody until now. I’ll continue with the press release tomorrow evening. Let’s wrap up this major milestone this week! :muscle:

Allright - it’s finally here. My proposal for the press release. @tenkara_vt @ByteHamster and others: your critical reviews are most welcome!

Free Android podcasting app AntennaPod launches major new version

Version 2 of AntennaPod has been released today on Google Play and F-Droid. The release is a major milestone for the popular free and Open Source podcast manager for Android. Over 20 volunteers from across the world collaborated on this version. The app has been given a fresh new brand selected through a unique public vote, brings a big update of the user interface throughout, and contains many new features and improvements under the hood.

Lead developer ByteHamster: “With a total of 511 commits, this release is probably the biggest update since the initial release of the app. I’m proud of this new version: the new app icon and many new functionalities were worth the wait.”

The new feature set includes ‘app shortcuts’, allowing users to directly go to their queue or episodes list from their home screen and new per-podcast settings to adjust the podcast’s volume and to skip intros and outros of its episodes. Also a new option has been added to preview episodes before subscribing to a podcast.

Other notable improvements include enhanced audio-description of the interface, benefiting visually impaired to navigate around the app. And AntennaPod is now fully available in 17 languages, with many more partially supported. A full list of new features, improvements and bug fixes is available on the project website.

Possibly the biggest user-facing change is the project’s new branding, including the new app icon. After a call in the Open Source Design community the team received 12 proposals, of which two were selected and put to a public vote.

Keunes, coordinating communication and translations: “We’ve seen an incredible interest and response. Well over 6,000 of our users voted for their favourite proposal and left comments on the designs. All votes and open comments were analysed and used in an intense iteration process. A unique process to get a new brand. Even in the Open Source community.”

The chosen brand is from the hand of designer 221 Pixels. The new app icon and branding feature prominently in the latest release. A remake of the project’s website, based on the new brand, is in the making. The app itself will soon get support for podcastindex.org, a new database from the hand of ‘Podfather’ Adam Curry.

Nice start! There are a few edits I will make and repost here.

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Maybe you can make the edits here on the RiseUp Pad. Then we can more easily continue from there with more edits from others, without having to merge changes or repost a lot.

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Okay. I made some edits on the RiseUp Pad.

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