Pass Time Software

Tonight, an update was approved that will change the behavior of the Listen button. Now, it will be shown in red if the audio is unavailable, and you will be reminded that some audio is posted after 5pm Eastern.

It would appear to me that the application is functioning as expected now. The missing audio links have reappeared.

I’m getting a load of reports that audio isn’t playing. After looking into the issue, it appears that there is something broken with NPR’s service. I’ve notified them, and hope to see it corrected soon.

It also appears that NPR changed the format of some of their responses to the queries that my app sends it. Their responses aren’t being parse properly, and therefore, the “All Programs” listing has stopped working. I’ve updated my code, along with a couple of other bug fixes. I’ll be submitting an update soon.

(About 10 minutes later…) 

Now NPR is returning nothing for a query for the All Programs listing…

(http://api.npr.org/list?id=3004)

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<list id="3004" typeid="3004">
  <title>All Programs</title>
</list>

I think I’ll just go to bed instead.

(and about a day later…)

They have All Programs fixed up, but still we’re missing a lot of audio. It sounds like they’ve changed their licensing/rights on some items. I’ll be following up on the details of this.

It is nice to see that so many of you have stuck with the application to see it through to this recent update. I can see from my statistics provided by Apple, that many have already gotten the newest version of the application.

I hope that you find it is more reliable, and more functional. I would appreciate any feedback you have to offer.

Many have been asking for a playlist queue, which is under development now, and hopefully can make it into your hands in the next month or two.

Keep an eye out for the update. It was approved tonight.

Last night, Apple rejected the update because of an incorrect icon (one that’s been in the app since day one).

So a two minute fix results in another week of waiting for you (and me).

Sorry…

I’ve gotten a lot of comments and questions regarding available content. I’d just like to explain a couple of things-

• Market Place is a program offered by American Public Media. APM is not NPR, and therefore is currently not available via this application.
• This American Life is a program offered by Public Radio International. PRI is not NPR either…
• Programs like Car Talk WILL become available to you from the Podcast section, once you get the update.

I appreciate your patience in waiting for the update. There have been a couple of minor problems with it that have kept it from being approved- some my fault, some not… My fingers are crossed that Sunday will be our day.

If I had one gripe regarding the whole Apple Store process, it would most definitely be the fact that when an application is rejected, it takes an entire week for it to be reviewed again. So a simple 2 minutes fix, takes an entire week to get into your hands. Maybe I’m just an instant gratification kind of guy..

Lessons learned.

Many have expressed their interest in the station finder and the podcasts. They’re both on their way- development has been completed and we’re waiting on Apple for approval of the update. I’ve been using the new version on my iPhone for the past week, and have found it very useful. I’ve listened to Fresh Air and Car Talk, as well as the NPR Hourly News Updates. What’s really nice is that I’m able to listen to many shows that my local affiliate station doesn’t carry.

It’s worth noting here that the images in the App Store are NOT the ones that I added for the currently approved version. They’re the images I associated with v1.3, which has the station finder and the podcasts in it. For some reason, when Apple published the app, they used the wrong images. From my perspective, the result has been a lot of user confusion, and dashed expectations. All we can do is wait.

I’ve continued my contact with the folks at NPR. Per their request, I’ll be changing the name of the application.

So it’s been made painfully obvious to me that I forgot to escape-encode search strings. As a result, the application crashes when you perform a search with a term that has spaces. This has been corrected in the pending update, so please hang in there. I’m guessing the update will be made available on Sunday night. Seems to be Apple’s trend so far.

It looks like it made the store listing. It really is nice to see your hard work become available, and to have an immediate positive response! Thank you!

The screen shots that are posted here and in the app store are showing version 1.2, which as I mentioned in my previous post, was submitted last night for approval. You should get an app update within a week, which will make the station finder and podcasts available.

Again, thanks for the positive feedback. All great ideas that I will take into immediate consideration.