Auto download of resource like on desktop
I have a question, is it possible to configure the iOS app to auto download resources when they are available, so it works like the desktop version (meaning, when new resources are available, it will just download them and ask you to restart)? This is becoming more practical as devices have more memory..
Thanks!
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I don't think Logos is likely to implement that feature. To the contrary, the app is designed to access ones library online. I don't recommend users download their entire library unless absolutely necessary. For most users, auto downloads would be a bad thing. Most users would not have adequate storage on their device.
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alabama24 said:
Most users would not have adequate storage on their device.
Hence the reason a setting would be useful....with 128GB iPads out now, which will only increase in the next couple of years, having a full library on a tablet won't be an issue. An 8500 resource library takes up about 25GB; even a 64GB tablet, if that's what someone bought it for, easily handles a rather large library.
It opens up some more productive use of Logos as well. Settings are a nice way to ease new features in, because people don't have to use it. But why have a product more suited for hardware that every day will be in the minority?
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Depending on what country the user lives and the way the Internet is being accessed this could prove to be very expensive. I know you indicated it be optional but I still think because of the potential expense it is not a good idea, but other things also raise alarm. What of updates, would these be automatic? Desktop does not distinguish between new resources and updates. The result of automatic downloads , indexing , causes enough heartache and complaints on the forum on the desktop that I'm not sure adding that to the mobile apps is probably not a good idea either - I know the process is a little different, but still would you want the mobile app to have reduced functionality every time you fired it up because it was downloading and indexing new resources and indexing.
If it was purely about storage requirements I agree with you Don this is becoming less of an issue, but in practice it is about much more.
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I know this will sound contentious and pretentious... I don't mean to be so, I hope you don't mind conversing about it. [:)] Here is my thinking on the issue. Many people strongly value "let each customize their own device." While I am not opposed to such per se, I am in the boat that it is often best to craft a user's experience. Android, for example, is highly fragmented. In other words, everyone gets to choose. It is confusing. Apple, on the other hand, strives for a single, unified user experience. I strongly lean towards that philosophy.
When it comes to the issue of automatic downloads, I am not against the idea... but I don't think it is currently a wise move for most users. I can't imagine that there are 10% of users for whom I would recommend them downloading their entire library. [Actually, there might be... but those would be customers who have 1) paid nothing for the app & resources or 2) have only picked up a few things... They aren't "Logos" users, who keep the company in business. In my argument, I am thinking solely of Logos users with base packages.]
The issue of "why have a product more suited for hardware that every day will be in the minority?" is a non-starter. THIS app (the one we have now), isn't the app we WILL have when devices with 16GB become "in the minority." Right now, they are in the majority. Even devices with 32 GB aren't enough.
Furthermore, the mobile app needs to be reinstalled from time to time. How many users are going to be happy when they have to redownload many gigabytes of data?
The mobile app isn't a replacement for the desktop app, although a number of users want it to be. Some users slam the mobile app as being a "glorified reader." I am sure that Logos doesn't like to hear that, and I think it is unfair. There is a truth to the statement, however. The mobile app IS a reader, and it is an excellent one. I don't think there is any better experience for reading my Logos resources than to use the mobile app on my iPad. I rarely use my desktop for "reading." I do use it, however for "studying."
I don't have any extra pull at Logos, and they will "do what they will do." Perhaps they have a different thought on the subject. Personally, I think at present, it would be a mistake and a headache to encourage more users to download their entire library. At some point, in the not too near future, this will change. I don't see it happening in the next couple of years.
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Disciple of Christ (doc) said:
If it was purely about storage requirements I agree with you Don this is becoming less of an issue, but in practice it is about much more.
[Y]
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I understand your comments, but again most of the arguments are why *some* people wouldn't want it - hence it's nice to have a setting. iOS has tons of settings, they make the app's features flow, that doesn't mean there aren't customization for different types of users. Just one example is check out all the options you have for when, how, and where pictures are stored. How come Apple lets customers decide whether to keep their pictureso nly on a device, or in the cloud, or across all devices, or sync'd to a Mac or PC? That doesn't seem confusing and there sure are customers that desire all the approaches - all configured by users.
For every argument against, there is an argument for. Some have high speed internet only some of the time, hence an interest to download. Some have smaller libraries (you discount those, maybe if they had a better experience with Logos they would in fact buy more!); growth in high speed internet increased by 4x over the last 3 years; people are buying less and less desktop PCs in preference for tablets (again, maybe they do more with Logos if it's a better experience).
You would be hard pressed to prove that world wide the trend for *everyone* isn't high speed internet, high storage tablet, and less use of desktop. Adding a simple setting to start to accommodate users interested in this experience is a lot more rational than some of the features added in, at least when compared to their interest level on the user choice and forums.
Please don't make this an argument of why *someone* doesn't like the idea - that only shows they don't understand how a setting gives us choice. If Logos doesn't see the tablet is more than a glorified reading device with minimal other features, they will be passed in the marketplace. I am sure they know that full well.
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I have no idea whether or not Logos will choose to implement something like this or not (that decision is above my head!), but I wanted to mention something about app design in general.
alabama24 said:I can't imagine that there are 10% of users for whom I would recommend them downloading their entire library.
A good rule of thumb when deciding whether or not to include a setting in an app is "Would at least 80% of users set this control to the same exact value and never change it again?" If the answer is no, go ahead and make it a setting. If the answer is yes, the next question is "If the right answer were implemented as fixed behavior in your app, would it cause harm to the minority of users who wouldn't be able to change it?" If you answer yes to the second question, make it a setting, otherwise just stick with the behavior that the majority of users will be satisfied with.
Google provides a nice little flow chart that includes these and a few other questions for determining if something is a good candidate for a setting, and (although I don't know if Apple documents it the same way) I'm sure the same principles apply on iOS.
Just a little something that seemed relevant and I thought you guys might find interesting. [:)]
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Thanks Drew, interesting.
Drew Hannay said:A good rule of thumb when deciding whether or not to include a setting in an app is "Would at least 80% of users set this control to the same exact value and never change it again?" If the answer is no, go ahead and make it a setting. If the answer is yes, the next question is "If the right answer were implemented as fixed behavior in your app, would it cause harm to the minority of users who wouldn't be able to change it?" If you answer yes to the second question, make it a setting, otherwise just stick with the behavior that the majority of users will be satisfied with.
Google provides a nice little flow chart that includes these and a few other questions for determining if something is a good candidate for a setting, and (although I don't know if Apple documents it the same way) I'm sure the same principles apply on iOS.
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