Robert Stainsby’s software news

Degrees Down Under broken pre-Leopard

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:48:09 +1100

Unfortunately Degrees Down Under and the DDU Widget no longer work with versions of Mac OS X before 10.5 Leopard. Recent changes to the web page format used by the Bureau of Meteorology mean that the mechanism used to read the pages no longer works on older OS X versions.

I’m sorry if you have been affected by this issue. However, if you upgrade your operating system, you can continue to enjoy Degrees Down Under.

Snow Leopard compatibility

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 11:41:44 +1000

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard is out! One of my favourite features is the refreshed Services architecture, which makes services like MappingService more accessible by putting them in the control-click context menu.

The current MappingService version works fine with Snow Leopard, but the setup requires an extra step. When I get a moment, I’ll also look at better integration with Snow Leopard’s Services interface.

Snow Leopard’s Address Book application is 64-bit, which means my 32-bit plug-ins are disabled by default. You can run Address Book in 32-bit mode to keep using the plug-ins, as detailed on the plug-ins page.

RMIT iPhone lectures

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 11:40:34 +1000

For the last couple of months, I’ve been preparing and lecturing RMIT University’s iPhone Software Engineering course. It’s exciting, but with my existing job to handle as well, I’ve had no time to look at maintaining the software on this site.

We have a mid-semester break this week, so I’m at least able to post a note about Snow Leopard compatibility. After October I hope to have more time to spend on updates.

Via Directions & iPhone OS 3.0

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 08:44:54 +1000

iPhone OS 3.0 brings some great news for Via Directions users, along with a minor annoyance.

The Maps bug that added a leg back to your starting point is fixed. So OS 3.0 users will now get accurate maps and trip lengths from Via Directions.

The less welcome change is that selecting addresses from contacts no longer works in Via Directions 2.0. An update to version 2.0.1 fixes this issue. The new version will be available from the App Store as soon as it has been approved by Apple.

Of course, now that the Maps bug is fixed, I can start charging for Via Directions again! I’ll wait a day or two while everything settles down however. So grab your free copy of Via Directions while you can.

Via Directions 2.0 now available

Wed, 8 Apr 2009 10:48:46 +1000

Version 2.0 of Via Directions is now available on the App Store for iPhone and iPod touch. Now you can detect and use your current location for directions from A to B via C.

The new version has a completely revamped user interface. It can use street corner addresses (e.g. “Smith St & Johnston St”), in addition to existing address formats.

Because of an ongoing issue with the display of multi-stop trips in the Maps app, Via Directions is temporarily free of charge.

Via Directions should handle any addresses which work in the Maps app. If you find an address which doesn’t work, please let me know so I can sort out the problem.