Highlighting for iPad

Anthony,

Should be in another week or two.

When Logos 4.5 goes gold (already in release candidate), then shortly afterward they will release the Logos 2.0 iOS app (which has already been submitted to the App Store).

This information comes straight from Bob Pritchett. Let me see if I can track down what he actually said...

Found it!

http://community.logos.com/forums/p/5923/321264.aspx#321264

I'm very sorry for the frustration about sync. I've experienced a bug in it myself, and it's very annoying.

We haven't changed the copy on the app page because it's still accurate: the app does sync reading plans.

There is, however (as in so many software packages), a bug. This bug
apparently shows up when you have a synced plan you're reading on two
devices, and change the document (usually by marking a reading read) on
Device B before Device A has finished syncing the change. Normally we
should be able to gracefully handle this conflict, but there's a bug we
haven't found. Even more importantly, you shouldn't come across the
situation very often, because syncing should be nearly instantaneous.

The original sync framework was designed for desktop software, which
typically has different behaviors than mobile software. Your desktop
software can typically sync large documents with few problems, and
typically is either connected or disconnected -- it rarely is moving in
and out of sporadic and/or slow coverage the way a phone does.

Moreover, we only have so many desktop Logos Bible Software users.

To accommodate mobile syncing, we had to build an intermediate
service with different performance / bandwidth / etc. characteristics. 

Since then we've had literally 10 times as many people download our
mobile app as ever used the desktop, dramatically increasing our
bandwidth.

This extra large user base, bandwidth requirement, less consistent
"sync before quitting the app" behavior, etc. are what cause the
increased frequency of Device A (your mobile device) not having
completed syncing before you go to Device B (your desktop or other
device) and modify the document there. So our previously rare bug is
occurring a lot more.

We've learned a lot about the less reliable/consistent behavior of
mobile Internet connections (which were not part of our original
design).

(This is also why we've been unable to deliver mobile notes and
highlighting so far -- the document architecture and bandwidth needs.)

So we embarked on a complete re-write of the sync framework designed
for millions of users and a wide variety of devices with much less
reliable / consistent data connections. The new sync framework requires a
lot less bandwidth for common behaviors, too.

 

The new sync framework is basically done, and ready to deploy for
v4.5 of the desktop and v2.0 of mobile apps. The v2.0 version of the iOS
app is in the app store and ready for release when the desktop is
ready.  This features Sync v2 for what had been the number one user
demand -- notes and highlighting on iOS devices.

We're right now (and I mean right now -- it's late on Thursday night
and much of our team is here working away at the office) hunting down
and eliminating performance bugs in the Sync v2 framework. It's a big,
big change and it involves user data, so we want to be very careful to
get everything right.

Sometime very soon we'll ship a desktop v4.5 Release Candidate.
Within a week of that release we'll make it final, and it'll roll out to
everyone. Within a day or so of that we should be able to release the
new iOS app with notes and highlighting syncing

 

In parallel, developers are working to get Reading Plans to Sync v2
as well. This may still be a few weeks out; I very much wish it wasn't,
and we're all acutely aware that many people start reading plans on
January 1, and we're disappointed that we were unable to deliver this
before then. And, until recently, we thought we'd be able to, or that
the release was right around the corner. But there are 50+ people on the
development team, and the holidays introduced 50+ differing vacation
schedules, and quite a few people have a piece of such a large system
migration, so communication has suffered. 

But we're almost all back (by Monday everyone is, I believe) and
we're putting everything together and shipping it as soon as we can.

Just as trivia... we're also deploying a massive amount of new
storage, servers, and firewalls to handle the increased load. This is
itself a non-trivial project.

And, of course, we still have other products and features (Logos Mac,
for example) on which other users rightly desire our attention. I'm
sorry reading plans aren't  first on the list -- they're important to
me, too! -- but I know that lack of notes and highlighting on mobile was
equally important to other "I'm going to write you a bad review in the
app store!" users -- right after lack of NIV support. :-) But at least
we were able to add that recently. 

I know this doesn't fix the pain point, but I hope it helps you
understand where we're at, and why we're doing things the way we are.
Sync v2 should result in a superior experience very soon.

In the meantime, you might make a reading plan and try to either just
use it on mobile, or give the mobile app some time to sync while
connected to the Internet before going back to the home page (or at
least before you mark off a reading on another device). This should
reduce your chance of hitting the bug.

-- Bob

Yes it's very frustrating to see other free bible apps with all these cool features, and the one program I payed a bunch of money for can't come up with an app good enough to highlight, bookmark, make notes, adjust reading plans etc...

Before all the Logos apologists (of which I am one sometimes) tell you that the app is free, let me say that it's not free just because I don't pay money to Logos. The cost is built into the books and such that we bought when we bought Logos 4 base packages.

I am eager for the improved app, rather than frustrated, but I do think you are quite correct on this point, Kevin.

As soon as Logos began to advertise that certain resources were available on multiple devices, customers began, potentially, to make decisions regarding there purchasing options on the basis of that advertisement. In this sense, the app is not free, but part of the advertised functionality of L4.

However, I am pleased with the (in my view) improvement to notes in 4.5 and am excited by the now impending deployment of the app.

On release, I may even buy a new book to celebrate [;)].

Andy

But can you run a search on any Greek word and get ever usage in the GNT, LXX, Philo, Josephus, Perseus, and the Apostolic Fathers and have them returned in less than 5 seconds total?  I can.  We have to consider the full scope of what this program is to be and it is not to be a simple reader like Olive Tree.  Bob has made t clear over and over that this is a powerful research tool and that the priorities have been established based on that.

of course we all have our own opinions based on how we use the products.  I would agree that as a desktop application Logos is very strong.  I would disagree, however, about the mobile app rating.  At best it is 2 or 3 in my opinion.  That will improve if the long promised notes and highlighting comes.  However, until it has significant functionality offline, it will still be quite low as a mobile app in my opinion.  Depending on a wifi signal for functionality is very hit and miss.  It does have promise, but I think they were slow tor recognize that the future is mobile.  I hope they catch up because I have a big investment in the library. 

As a package (mobile+desktop) OliveTree doesn't get anywhere near Logos.

I think you drastically underestimate the OT desktop app. I get a lot of language study done simply and quickly with it. It doesn't do as much but it does the simple and most important hints really well quickly.

I would disagree, however, about the mobile app rating.  At best it is 2 or 3 in my opinion.  That will improve if the long promised notes and highlighting comes.

I guess that depends on your perspective. For me, I need to be able to access scholarly resources like the Dead Sea Scrolls, Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary. and I need full interlinear functionality (normal and reverse) and so on, so I score OliveTree's desktop app poorly because it just can't do those things.

On a mobile device I'm not looking to study. I just want to be able to access my resources. So although OliveTree has a fabulous morphology search (just as one example), I've actually never used it. Personally, I rarely use notes and highlighting, so I don't miss that on Logos.

But I stand by my comment that the gap between the desktop apps is very significantly bigger than the gap between mobile apps (even though I think that BibleReader will still be a better app than Logos 2.0 will be).

the future is mobile

It seems to me that Logos absolutely get that, but they also get that the present is not mobile. And the short- and perhaps medium-term future will not be mobile for deeper Bible study such as that done for sermon preparation and academic writing. It would be truer to say that the future includes mobile.

the OT desktop app.

Even their website says only that its "very adequate for basic Bible study". I agree that the speed (and the nice clean look) is nice. It's fine for searching, and reading Bibles and Commentaries, but hardly does anything else. When ever I use Logos desktop I'm either writing a sermon or my thesis - and it can't do enough to help me substantially with either one. It would be great on a Windows 8 tablet if you need quick access to resources on the move, but I can't imagine a scenario where it could do all I needed.

Do you have any original language tools for OT. It does more than offer bible and commentary reading if you have those tools. If not then I can understand why you say that. Also one thing they can do that I couldn't do reliably for man months ... Sync notes, highlights bookmarks and reading plans.

I think OT has a great future. Their prices are much cheaper than logos and their first edition of PC for the start is really great. I love their design as well A++++, very easy to read. Other features I believe will be added soon. They are rising a huge competition to logos which is very good because logos has to much expensive prices. For example, NIC commentary in OT you can buy without the whole set, for very affordable price. In logos you have to buy the whole set for the huge price and stick with some books which you didnt prefer to have. 

I was sent an email 2 or 3 months ago saying a desktop version would come out by the end of January that would sync highlighting and notes between platforms and, by George, that is exactly what happened.

Say what you will, but I like that better of promises of "soon" for a year

Say what you will, but I like that better of promises of "soon" for a year

Yes, I agree. Better to promise little and over-deliver than to promise much and fall short.

The Resource Guide is not working for me (it says "no results to display"). Maybe it it was working there would be more to see.

Then you should get in touch with OT unless you just don't care. It works great for me.