For any iPad owners out there I see that the Morcombe field guide app has just been updated, and it will now display properly on an iPad as well as an iPod touch or iPhone. In other words it doesn’t just look like a stretched version of the iPhone app on an iPad any more.
There was a warning that the update can delete your bird lists if you haven’t backed them up beforehand.
I understand a blackberry version is now available too.
Murray
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The publishers have confirmed that one can’t transfer the licence from a Blackberry to an iPhone, and I assume vice versa, or to an Android phone.
They seem ok with transferring it to a new phone of the same type. I assume it’s a problem with digital rights management, rather than anything to do with the program itself.
Peter Shute
I agree with Alastair I purchased my Morcombe app some 6 or 7 months ago, downloaded it to by ipod touch and have never had to ‘validate’ at any time. It works for me anytime, everytime .. daily.
Jude
More on the Blackberry version: – if I search for birds with upturned bills, the results include Dollarbird and Rainbow Bee-eater.
Peter Shute
Yes, sorry it was the android version that caught me out. Since then gone to iPod and apple app and never had a problem. I must add howver, that I have received updates when online such as additional calls
Steve Sass Principal Ecologist EnviroKey Pty. Ltd. 0432 414 845 steve@envirokey.com.au http://www.envirokey.com.au
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Yes, it’s a pity Blackberry don’t have a Steve Jobs to guide them. But then again, Apple don’t have one either now, so you never know how things will turn out.
I made a mistake in saying that screen touches don’t work in some parts of the app. I’ve discovered that they do, but you have to stab at the screen quite a bit more decisively that I’m used to. I don’t know if that’s the app’s fault or the Blackberry’s.
Peter Shute
I run it on an iPod Touch 4. I sync this regularly to update calendars from Outlook etc., and also have a home wireless network/Wi-Fi. No problems so far, but next month I will be travelling for 6 weeks, caravanning from Sydney to Atherton Tableland and return. I will see what happens then, as I won’t be syncing and would not normally go looking for public Wi-Fi.
Roger.
I dont have a mobile phone.I carry a field guide.Always accessable.No problems.
David.
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“BTW, my friend also said on their version of the Morcombe app, the ranges of the Yellow-throated Scrubwren races have been reversed. i.e. shows race cairnsi in NSW, but should be Nth Qld. They reported this error over 6 months ago via online feedback, but a subsequent update hasn’t fixed it. I’m curious to know if the Apple & Blackberry versions have the same error?”
That’s how it is on the Blackberry version too.
Peter Shute
Peter,
I think your post gives us all an idea why Blackberry is rapidly heading towards becoming the Norwegian Blue of hand-held devices.
As for transferring the licence from a Blackberry version to that for another OS, I wish you luck. It would be rather like buying a book title in Swahili and some time down the track, asking the publishers for a version in English
Cheers,
Carl Clifford
Sent from my iPad
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Steve,
I have just spoken to one of Apple’s “geniuses” at the local Apple store (Charlestown, NSW) about apps requiring validation every 30 days. She thought it was hilarious. The idea is another urban myth, it seems.
Cheers,
Carl Clifford
Sent from my iPad
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Alastair & others, In online reviews for the Android version of the Morcombe eguide, a few people mention the licence validation issue, & I’ve seen it happen more than once to more than one person, so yes it’s very true. From memory they were all Android users. Now in the case of the Apple version, considering the strict controls that Apple place over applications & how you access them via iTunes, perhaps either the publisher of the Morcombe eguide didn’t consider the regular licence validation necessary or Apple didn’t allow it.
Murray, The problem is exactly as described by Julie Sarna in a previous post. Whilst out in the bush, out of mobile range, my friend tried to open Morcombe app, but it failed open, with message something like ‘unable to validate licence’, & it couldn’t be used until back in mobile signal range or a data connection available. The phone is a Samsung Galaxy S2, was running Android version 2.3.3 (I think), has since been updated to 2.3.6 & very recently 4.0.3. There hasn’t been a validation issue since updating to 4.0.3, but it may be too soon to tell. Their partner with a Sony Ericsson has also had the same problem. As you suggested, maybe it’s got something to do with the setup or what permissions you give the app when you load it. If you could get further info or feedback via Michael or David that would be great.
BTW, my friend also said on their version of the Morcombe app, the ranges of the Yellow-throated Scrubwren races have been reversed. i.e. shows race cairnsi in NSW, but should be Nth Qld. They reported this error over 6 months ago via online feedback, but a subsequent update hasn’t fixed it. I’m curious to know if the Apple & Blackberry versions have the same error?
Cheers, Steve McBride
I have had it on I-pod for ages and used it all over Auystralia (including Cocos islands). I have never seen a request for validation. Mind you, I rarely connect it to the internet. Steve Murray
As I said before – I’ve never seen any need to do anything other on the iPad than just open the app and get on with it. This has been the case for some 18 months and covering a fair bit of country including 3 months around central and western Qld. (14 new birds in 14000km! – great!)
The comments that refer to a need to have an Internet connection or to validate a licence intrigue me. As far as I know, there is nothing like a “lite” version or a free version, but if there is, maybe that might require a validation – but would it need an Internet connection? Is it a problem that lies within the units where these things have happened? Also seems unlikely to me. Is it because mine is iPad 1, and the two later versions are different in some way?
Peter Morgan
They also wade who only stand and surf.
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It’ll be interesting to see how long Blackberry can hold on. They were once the default smart phone for businesses, but there’s open revolt among users, with many insisting on something else (usually an iPhone) to the point where many are opting to buy their own rather than take a company supplied Blackberry. Very unusual.
Equally unusual is an app developer fulfilling their promise of “Blackberry version coming soon”. Well, in this case it didn’t come soon, but it did come, and I never expected it to happen. Perhaps this is only to be expected from the author of what I consider to be the most progressive of Australian field guides in terms of usability. First we had text with pictures, a quick index and a built in bookmark ribbon, now we have a Blackberry app!
Despite the likelihood that, after 7 years as a Blackberry user, I will end up with an iPhone in a year or so when this contract runs out, I bought and installed the Morcombe app on my 9800 via Blackberry App World last night without waiting for a response from the authors asking if the licence can be later transferred to a different type of phone.
I easily paid by Paypal. The download process wasn’t straightforward, mainly because my home WiFi is dodgy, but it eventually installed the 2MB program. Now for the 300MB of data. This is where the programmers revealed their inexperience developing for Blackberries. The precise instructions it showed when I ran the app said I should now click either the Install button to download wirelessly, or the Exit button if I wanted to download the data files on a PC. But there were no buttons.
What it should have said was to press the (physical) Blackberry button and choose one of those options from the popup menu. This is where, for an app-weary Blackberry veteran, it gets funnier. You can’t click on the menu options either! It took me a while to think to try tapping the touch screen instead, and that worked. Blackberry is still coming to terms with the touch screen, and developers unused to devices with a touch screen, trackpad and a physical keyboard are forgetting to check that all the input methods work.
But Blackberry apps that don’t work properly have been a fact of life for a long time, and I’ve seen worse than this so I persisted.
I chose the option to download the data files wirelessly, just to see what happened. It failed a few times, but managed to get about 30MB of them before I gave up. With more reliable WiFi, wireless download might be feasible. The fact that there are many small files and doesn’t retry those it already has is good design that will get you there eventually.
I instead followed the instruction to use a computer to browse to the download site to download them. The URL given in the instructions results in this browser message: “HTTP Error 403.14 – Forbidden. The Web server is configured to not list the contents of this directory.” I browsed around the site and found the right place to download them. They need to fix those instructions.
The download on the PC was done with a browser Java app that showed the download progress, once I’d told it which part of the phone memory I wanted it in. When it reached 100%, it just sat there, appearing to do nothing. I expected that it would then show me the progress of loading the files to the phone, which I’d already connected via USB. Had it already done it? Instead of assuming it had, I browsed around the phone’s memory and found where it was putting them. It hadn’t finished – I could see new files appearing all the time.
I kept refreshing the screen until no more files appeared, and disconnected the phone. The Java app still just sat there, giving no indication that it was all finished. They should fix that, or people will end up corrupting their phone memory by disconnecting before it’s done. This kind of install is normally done via the Blackberry Desktop Manager, which I don’t like, and I’m grateful for an alternative method.
Then I started the app on the phone, and it checked for missing files and started up. Not the smoothest Blackberry app install I’ve done, but far from the worst.
The app itself is riddled with interface inconsistencies, with some buttons requiring screen touches, and some requiring trackpad clicks, even with mixtures on the same screen. All typical Blackberry app stuff, and nothing to faze the experienced Blackberry user.
I haven’t used it enough to comment much on the content, other than it seems to have roughly the same stuff my compact Morcombe has in it, plus the nest and egg illustrations. I can find species, look at the pictures, zoom in on them, scroll between species variations, read the text and listen to the calls. I was pleased to see that the calls for each species are divided into types, unlike the BOCA calls, which I assume are more complete but are all lumped into the one track for each species.
I don’t know if there’s a trick to it, but I can’t get the search function to come up with any results at all. Surely there is at least one mostly black and white land species found in Victoria? Does this work for you iPhone users? I’m not that fussed about this, but I’d like to get it working.
Obviously a few glitches in this app, but I’m looking forward to always having a field guide with me, and I’d recommend it to other Blackberry users.
Peter Shute
Sent: Saturday, 2 June 2012 2:11 PM Cc: birding-aus@vicnet.net.au
Strange choice given that Blackberry is apparently only the 6th best selling OS (depending on which website you look at!) and that it may not be around much longer. I would have though Android would be a better bet and then some of the others.
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Steve,
I’ve used Morcombe’s on my ipod since the app was available and well out of range of any Wi-Fi without any problem. I’ve never been requested for licence details. A mystery. Last night I updated both my wife’s and my ipod’s without any problems.
Regards
Neville
I ran the app for a long time on an iPad touch that rarely connected to wifi and never had an issue. So it sounds like a setup problem of some sort.
Steve if you can send me exact details of the problem I will see if it’s possible for Michael or Dave to get feedback from the publishers on what might be causing the issue.
Murray
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Hi All, Unless it ‘validates’ surreptitiously in the background, mine never has!
John Tongue Ulverstone, Tas.
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But if it validates automatically via the web, you might never know.
This app runs on iPods too, doesn’t it? There must be many iPods out there that are rarely connected to WiFi, so these should have the problem if it’s true.
Peter Shute
Steve, That is patently untrue. I have had it on my iphone for 18 months. Once purhased and downloaded it does not require any validation. Regards Alastair
Sent from my iPhone
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So what do you do if the 30 days falls due when you’re out of range?
Or have I misunderstood, and you’d have to be out of range and/or not opening the app for 30 days to have the problem?
Peter Shute
As far as I’m aware, the apps requires validation on the next every 30 days….. In between you can use it anywhere without service……
Sent from my iPad
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i’ve never had a problem on the iPad.. never had it require the internet to work. never seen anything come up about licence validation. Seems strange – not trying to be smart, but was it in fact the Morcombe app?
Peter Morgan
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Hi Steve Certainly not the case for the iPhone version… Don’t remember it ever being Cheers Tim
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Steve,
I have used the Morcombe app. since it first came out. I have never had a request for licence validation. It even works in Cambodia, with no wi-fi within co-ee.
Cheers,
Carl Clifford
Sent from my iPad
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Are you sure that’s the case, Steve? I’ve used the app in many locations outside of mobile and 3G range – Gluepot, for instance. I am not aware of it requiring any internet connection to be used.
Paul Dodd Docklands, Victoria
Does anyone know if the Morcombe app still requires a regular internet data connection for licence validation.? I’ve been with friends when out of mobile reception range & their Morcombe app wouldn’t open because it couldn’t validate their user licence. A deal breaker for me.
Cheers, Steve
Dave,
An Android version has been available since last year.
Regards,
Murray
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Strange choice given that Blackberry is apparently only the 6th best selling OS (depending on which website you look at!) and that it may not be around much longer. I would have though Android would be a better bet and then some of the others.
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