Updates to Attest 3.3 and future plans
Aug 5th, 2011 by Dave
Just a quick update on bug fixes and where Attest is headed in the future. I’ve received a few emails about the Learning view in Attest 3.2 not loading the content. This is a bug introduced by yours truly 
where the app may not show any learning content, but instead you’ll see “Loading…” or empty screens. I made the patch for this bug and submitted it to the Adobe AIR Marketplace last week, but for some reason it’s taking longer to get it released.
You may or may not be aware that the AIR Marketplace is shutting down as of August 31st 2011. If you currently own a license for Attest, or you get a copy before Aug 31, you’ll be able to continue to use it in the future. However, there will be no more sales for any apps on the AIR Marketplace after that date unfortunately.
In the meantime, we’ve been working on mobile versions of Attest 3.3 (soon to be released – hopefully this week). It currently works well on tablets, but the screen real estate is too small to show all the content on phones. So we need to get fancy with fitting all the content onscreen for the smaller displays on phones.
We’re aiming for Android and iOS support for tablets first, phones will probably come later. In the near future, we’ve tossed the idea around of moving Attest to a web-based service instead. Since the use of Attest is to help study for the Flex certification exams, it really only has a temporary lifespan and doesn’t need to be a desktop app. The benefits of moving it to web-based are:
- Subscription payment methods. Pay for 1-3 months, or a custom time period for as long as you need to study
- New content and bug fixes will be released quicker because we remove the approval process
- Access the app and study from anywhere with an internet connection
The only possible downside we found for web-based is no offline support. I haven’t had many requests for offline so it feels like a non issue.
I want to try to gather some info from you so I know where best to focus our production time for future releases of Attest. So make sure you run through the polls below and let me know what you think in the comments.
Hi Dave, I purchased Attest 3.2 and am experiencing the issue with no content in the Learning View. Actually, I purchased it because I thought that the content fell under “or whoever feels they need the extra features” with the Learning View being paid content. I am taking my ACE exam in 3 weeks, any idea of when the patch will be available? I need to make a decision very quickly.
Best regards,
Doug
Hi Douglas,
Yup, that’s the bug. We released an upgrade already but it looks like Adobe isn’t going to release it to the public since they’re shutting down the AIR Marketplace. That leaves us in a tough spot, so what I might do is build a patch outside of the AIR Marketplace that fixes this bug, and I’ll have to point everyone to the spot to download it.
Are you on Win or Mac?
Dave,
Ya, that is a tough place to be. Assuming you are using the air update framework, perhaps it won’t be too bad, just have to let people know where to go get the new update the first time.
Thanks, I’m on a Mac.
Doug
@Douglas: That’s the tough part, I can’t release an update on my own because the app counts on the AIR Marketplace. Worst case, I can create a patch outside the marketplace to fix the bug, but I’m trying to push Adobe to release the official patch already uploaded.
If they don’t respond soon, I’ll just create and release that outside patch to make sure everyone’s covered. Keep checking back for updates.
@Everyone: My apologies to everyone for the wait, it’s been a real PITA this past week or so! Will keep you all posted.
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