Kent Place Software News

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BeerAlchemy Mac 1.8.6

2010-02-08T13:17:00.002Z

I just uploaded BeerAlchemy 1.8.6 for Mac. This release has only one change over 1.8.5 but it's a pretty important change.

For some reason, at some point, data corruption appears to be creeping into text fields in the app. What happens is that 'special characters' (e.g the degrees symbol, non-English characters) get corrupted and a large amount of invisible junk gets inserted into the files, every time the file is saved this junk grows until either BeerAlchemy gets too slow to use or the app simply can't load the file as it's too large (hundreds of megabytes)

What the new release does is check the length of any text fields. If they are over 10,000 characters long it replaces the entire text with a piece of placeholder text. I realize this could be seen as rather drastic but given the choice of losing some text or all your recipes I know which I'd choose...

Currently it seems that this problem occurs with text entered in the past (it hasn't been seen to happen with stuff entered after version 1.8.4). But it seems that once the corruption had started it would still continue to happen and get worse with newer versions. Hopefully, the changes I've made in the last few releases will catch the problem before it gets out of hand and eventually it will disappear altogether.

Text Problems

2010-02-07T09:49:00.002Z

Somewhere along the line (I don't know where, how or why) problems seem to have crept in when 'special' characters are used in text in the app. This often seems to happen for the degrees symbol but others are affected. I have tried to fix this in the new release but might not have completely fixed it.

Can you please check this size of your ~/Library/Application Support/BeerAlchemy/Recipes.plist file? If it is greater than 10MB in size stop using the app and contact me at support at kentplacesoftware.com. If you catch it early enough it can be fixed.

Tiger compatibility to end.

2010-01-28T21:03:00.004Z

After much thought on the matter, I've decided that the 1.8.x releases will be the last that will support Mac OS 10.4 Tiger. Whilst there is at least one more update in the works in the 1.8.x series, all new work (1.9 and beyond) will be done on a Leopard/Snow Leopard only codebase. There are several reasons for this but the main one is that I want to try and share as much code between the iPhone and the Mac as possible. This is everyone's interest as it means it will be easier for me to add features and keep both versions in sync.

Even after the move away from Tiger, I plan on keeping the latest 1.8.x version available to download on the website for some time and I will continue to support users using it as far as possible.

If you can though I'd update to Leopard/Snow Leopard.

BeerAlchemy Viewer is approved

2009-10-21T21:34:00.002+01:00

Just had an email from Apple - they've now approved BeerAlchemy Viewer. It doesn't appear to be on the stores yet but should appear in the next few hours.

Just a reminder about what the app is (and isn't). It's a free app that syncs with BA on the Mac and lets you look at your recipes and inventory on the device. It doesn't do any sort of editing or creating of recipes - if you want to do that then you need to buy BeerAlchemy Touch.

Another rejection...

2009-10-07T20:22:00.003+01:00

This time for BeerAlchemy Viewer. Can you guess which icon Apple's claiming as their own?

All those icons (except the app icon) are in BeerAlchemy Touch which has been approved TWICE. Obviously the app reviewer couldn't be bothered to tell me which one....again.

Dear Steve,

Thank you for submitting Beer Alchemy Viewer to the App Store. We've reviewed Beer Alchemy Viewer and determined that we cannot post this version of your iPhone application to the App Store because of an Apple trademark image. We want to remind you of the importance of following Apple's posted Guidelines for Using Apple's Trademarks and Copyrights: .

If you believe that you can make the necessary changes so that Beer Alchemy Viewer does not infringe on Apple trademarks, we encourage you to do so and resubmit it for review.

++++++++++++

Apple Logo and Apple-owned Graphic Symbols:

You may not use the Apple Logo or any other Apple-owned graphic symbol, logo, or icon on or in connection with web sites, products, packaging, manuals, promotional/advertising materials, or for any other purpose except pursuant to an express written trademark license from Apple, such as a reseller agreement.

++++++++++++

For additional information regarding the image we are requesting that you remove, please refer to the attached screenshot.

Regards,

iPhone Developer Program

A loaded question or two..

2009-10-07T15:20:00.003+01:00

How many of you are still using Mac OS X Tiger (10.4)?

I don't actually collect stats on this other than from the crash reports that users send to me. From those it seems that the majority are on Leopard or Snow Leopard with 4% still on Tiger. This is from crash reports from the start of June. Is this representative?

Going forward I'd quite like to tidy up the internals of BeerAlchemy on the Mac using the new stuff from the iPhone. Having one code base makes it a lot easier to fix bugs once and maintain compatibility between the two. The iPhone code is also a lot more efficient and generally better written. Unfortunately using the iPhone code would mean killing Tiger support.

The other question is about PowerPC support. My guess is there's a lot more people using G5 and G4 machines than there are still using Tiger. Am I right? I should still be able build universal binaries after moving to the iPhone code so that is less of an issue right now.

I'm just toying with the idea at the moment but it's interesting to note that in xCode on Snow Leopard you have to specifically install the stuff to allow you to build for Tiger. My money's on it being removed completely on the next major xCode version (as well as support for universal binaries). When that happens I won't have a choice...

BeerAlchemy Touch 1.0.1 is out

2009-10-01T11:21:00.002+01:00

...so that fixes the BeerXML upload bug.

I have 1.0.2 ready to go so that will be submitted later today. This fixes a bunch of other bugs and crashes.

I'm currently working on 1.1 which will roll much of the BrewMath functionality into BeerAlchemy Touch. BrewMath will however continue as a separate product for those that don't want or need BeerAlchemy Touch. There might be other stuff in 1.1 - it depends on how long Apple takes to approve 1.0.2 and on what I get done during the recovery from my op.

Irritating behavior in Safari

2009-09-30T21:04:00.003+01:00

It seems that Safari on Snow Leopard seems keen on changing the file extensions on BeerAlchemy .bar files to either .xml or .bar.xml. It does this with the recipe files on the website and also files exported by BeerAlchemy Touch. Other browsers don't seem to do it and I'm pretty certain Safari on Leopard didn't either.

It's probably related to Snow Leopard's new fixation with file extensions and I'm not sure there's a way around it other than either using a different browser or renaming the files afterwards.

It's annoying though.

Going under

2009-09-28T12:12:00.002+01:00

Just wanted to let people know that I won't be replying to emails etc for a couple of days from Friday onwards. I'm going into hospital and won't have internet access (or probably the inclination to use it)

BeerXML bug

2009-09-21T21:58:00.002+01:00

It seems there's a bug in the BeerXML import code that I didn't find with the files I tested with but seems to affect BeerSmith files. I've now fixed the bug but, due to the approval process, I can't immediately give the updated version to you via the AppStore. If BeerXML import is absolutely critical to you and you can't wait a week or so - let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Bugs and Tips

2009-09-20T22:03:00.002+01:00

Firstly bugs...

BeerAlchemy Mac - there were problems with the Profiles and Shopping editors which are now fixed in 1.8.1. Please update to avoid these.

BeerAlchemy Touch - known issues. The recipe batch display doesn't show the actual mash efficiency for the batch - it shows the target efficiency. The instructions don't show the right mash temps etc for newly created batches. The workaround is to change the 'profile' for the recipe (it's under 'target volumes') then change it back. Both these issues will be resolved shortly. Due to Apple's approval process there will be a delay before this comes out.

A tip. The iPhone and iPod Touch can get rather short of available memory and BeerAlchemy Touch is a fairly big app. Whilst I've spent a lot of time trying to reduce the memory footprint, you may find you get better performance if you restart the device before starting the app. The main reason is that some of Apple's apps don't really quit when you tell them and hang around using up memory. Personally I haven't had any problems on the iPod Touch but this tip may help if you do.

Approved!

2009-09-19T17:27:00.002+01:00

BeerAlchemy Touch is now available

iTunes AppStore Link

I'm a bit busy right now but I'll update BeerAlchemy Mac shortly so you can sync away...

In other news, I will shortly lower the prices on BrewMath - to $2.99 (local pricing varies). I will also submit the free reader app I mentioned in a previous post. I'm also working on BeerAlchemy Touch 1.1 so if you have bugs to report, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Rejection #1

2009-09-02T14:11:00.000+01:00

I got an email last night - Apple has rejected BeerAlchemy Touch. They're not happy about an icon I'm using (not that they told me exactly which one it was so I'm taking a guess). Not a disaster but annoying and it will, of course, delay the release of the app.

The wait is nearly over.

2009-08-25T15:40:00.002+01:00

Last night I submitted BeerAlchemy Touch for review by Apple. Hopefully they will approve it without revision but who knows? Depending upon how long it takes them affects the release date. I go on vacation soon and don't want it released whilst I'm away so it may be a few more weeks until it actually released.

The release will be accompanied by a new release of BeerAlchemy for the Mac that mainly adds syncing support.

Also in the pipeline is another app called BeerAlchemy Viewer that restores the 'export to iPod' functionality lost when the iPhone and iPod Touch were released. This app will not allow you to edit recipes or batches but will allow you to view them. It uses the same syncing mechanism as BeerAlchemy Touch. This application will be free of charge. I intend submitting this to Apple once BeerAlchemy Touch is approved so it might be out a few weeks later.

Why BrewMath doesn't have a timer.

2009-05-12T21:50:00.002+01:00

Just took a look at the comments on the US AppStore (I'm British so I use the UK store by default). It seems a few people have asked for BrewMath to have a hop timer. There's a very good reason why it doesn't (well I think it's a good reason). Apple doesn't allow third party applications, such as BrewMath to run in the background. When answer a call, your program gets booted out. Can you guess what this means if you have a hop timer running and you get a call? Yep, no timer.

BeerAlchemy Touch won't have one either.

The #1 support question is...

2009-03-31T11:52:00.002+01:00

Why can't I see all the fermentables in the recipe editor?

This is because BA only shows those ingredients that are applicable to the recipe type. If you've set the recipe type to Extract then you don't see ingredients that require mashing.

BrewMath and the 3.0 SDK

2009-03-20T21:15:00.002Z

It's been pointed out to me that BrewMath crashes immediately on launch on devices with the 3.0 beta SDK installed. As the beta is really a developer only release (and end users shouldn't really be installing it) I don't currently support using the 3.0 SDK (this means you're on your own if you do). I will of course try to ensure that BrewMath runs fine on the new SDK when it is eventually publicly released by Apple.

BeerAlchemy Touch - update

2009-03-18T09:34:00.002Z

Work is moving forward on BeerAlchemy for the iPhone although there's still a lot to do. The recipe/batch editing and inventory functions are done but I still need to do a bunch of other stuff - not least the networking code for syncing etc.

The main reason for this update, however is to ask a question. Realistically, BA for the iPhone will come out in the same sort of time frame as the final version of the 3.0 SDK from Apple. The SDK update will be a free update for iPhone users but iPod Touch users will have to pay for it ($10 I think). There are things I'd like to use from the 3.0 SDK but it's not a dealbreaker if I don't - I could make do with 2.x.

So make up my mind for me... as potential users are you definitely NOT going to update to 3.0 when it comes out?

OK, I changed my mind.

2009-01-05T20:44:00.003Z

No, it's not ready yet...nowhere near. ETA is not known but it's a least a few months away.

BrewMath now available on iTunes Store

2008-10-24T11:24:00.002+01:00

Just a quick note to let you know that BrewMath went live on Apple's AppStore last night. The iTunes url is

Link to iTunes

I'll update this site later with more info when I'm back home.

So...about this iPhone app.

2008-09-18T20:11:00.002+01:00

A little more about the iPhone app I mentioned in the last post. Whilst it's still a work in progress, I'd like to share a few screenshots with you. The app is called BrewMath (or, at least that's it's working title).

Here's the main screen

And here's the bitterness calculator

As usual with prerelease info, these images are only a guide and are subject to change, but at least you can see what I'm aiming for.

It's been a long time

2008-08-30T09:31:00.002+01:00

...since I last posted and a lot has happened in the Apple world.

Leopard arrived and luckily BeerAlchemy only needed a few small changes to run on it.

The big news was the launch of the iPhone followed by the iPod touch. Since the SDK was announced I've had a fair few requests for an iPhone version of BeerAlchemy. That's a pretty big request and to my mind I'm not sure a full port of BA to the iPhone would be that good a fit to the device anyway.

That's not to say that I'm not working on an iPhone app....so watch this space.

Leopard is Coming

2007-10-24T21:39:00.000+01:00

...and so is a new version of BeerAlchemy. The current release 1.5.3 doesn't work on the latest developer seeds so I must presume the same will be true on the retail version. The new version (1.5.4) will be released in the next day or so in time for Leopard.

Unfortunately I don't have access to the retail version before it hits the shops (nor do any other third party developers). If there's any other problems I will try to get those fixed asap.

By the way, I'm also working on version 1.6 of BA which has some nice new features and improvements to existing ones. Hopefully this will be out in the not too distant future. More on that nearer the time...

Fancy a discount?

2007-04-13T10:35:00.000+01:00

I'm pleased to announce that, in conjunction with Basic Brewing Radio, for a limited time we are offering listeners of Basic Brewing Radio a 25% discount on BeerAlchemy. To find out more about what you need to do (and Basic Brewing Radio) check out this page

The offer is good until the end of June which means that right now you've got enough time to download our free thirty day demo, give it a try out and still qualify for the discount when the demo expires.

Download the demo here