Version 1.2.2 for iPhone… and more
If you’ve ever visited out our About Us page, you know that our plan is extend the Simplify approach to photos and videos. We’re not ready to announce anything yet concerning other media types, but we do have some news to share on the music front.
First, later today or tomorrow, you will receive notification that Simplify version 1.2.2 is available for the iPhone and iPod Touch through the App Store. It has some bug fixes and, for our developer friends, full OS 3.0 compatibility. As always, if you encounter any problems, please let us know using the Troubleshooting options or by emailing us at support at simplifymedia.
Second, Music 2.0 should be ready for release in about three weeks. A year ago May, we exited beta and released desktop 1.0. In August, we released Simplify 1.0 for iPhone. And, now, after receiving extensive feedback from you to help us prioritize new features, it’s almost time to unveil 2.0.
Version 2.0 will be free for Mac, PC and Linux and offered for iPhone and iPod Touch at an introductory price of $2.99. Unfortunately, given our development costs, we can’t afford to make it a free upgrade on all platforms, but we hope our current users will be able to take advantage of the discounted initial pricing.
Third, and most importantly, we want to say thanks for all of the encouraging emails, awesome tweets and amazing blogs posts. There are too many to list, but I did want to call attention to a few:
- an incredible list of useful iTunes applications from Gizmodo
- a wonderful tutorial on using Simplify from Macgasm
- a detailed evaluation at The PhenixbluE
- some slick screen shots at 58% Geek and at Shut Up and Listen
and, the greatest opening sentence ever at The Modern Materialist.
Jordon said,
April 15, 2009 @ 7:47 pm
Good to see that everything is still on track! I’m completely OK with paying for the upgrade to 2.0, but would like an idea of what’s going to be in the upgrade and a roadmap of what features will be added. Any chance we could get that now?
paul said,
April 15, 2009 @ 7:52 pm
Jordon, thanks. We’ll post a complete list of features on our blog, but, for the iPhone, it’s safe to say that the new version will have the top 3 or 4 most requested music-related enhancements.
Josh H said,
April 15, 2009 @ 8:28 pm
I got to say, I am pretty disappointed that you’re going to make everyone pay again for v2.0. Maaaaajor buzzkill!
I do use the current version every now and again, but I don’t know that I can justify shelling out money again on an update. I guess it’s going to ride on what new features you guys included!
paul said,
April 15, 2009 @ 8:37 pm
Josh, that’s a totally fair viewpoint. As adding 2.0 to your iPhone / iPod Touch is optional, we’ve tried to pick features that will make you want to upgrade. When we’ve annoucement them, please let us know what you think.
Josh H. said,
April 15, 2009 @ 8:50 pm
Looking forward to all the details!
I have subscribed to your blogs RSS since day one, so I’m all set
Gary J. Talley said,
April 15, 2009 @ 11:26 pm
Wooo! Video and photos would make this the best application for the iPhone. I get enough use out of it on my iPod Touch because free wifi has so permeated my city.
shiveringgoat said,
April 16, 2009 @ 2:21 am
Superb news! – no problem for me to pay the ££ to upgrade – its an amazing application – I would be happy to pay £5 for the upgrade AND fly from London to the Simplify Media office dressed as Barbara Bush and fart Kraftwerk’s ‘Trans Europe Express’ through a small plastic trumpet stood on a chair. If that’s not a satisfied customer then I’m a banana:) Keep up the good work:) best Goat:)
andy said,
April 16, 2009 @ 7:54 am
Considering you left the cost of the v1 app at FREE for so long, I think it’s more than fair to charge $3 for the v2 upgrade. It’s been a rollercoaster of instability up until now, but it’s been running smoothly for me since the last handful of upgrades. Can’t wait to see what v2 has in store for us!
FreeBSD said,
April 16, 2009 @ 3:58 pm
Will there be a 2.0 server that runs on FreeBSD? The current linux server has trouble on FreeBSD using Linux compatibility.
rik derris said,
April 17, 2009 @ 2:33 am
Love the app on the iphone – are there any plans for version that will work on Android?
Andre said,
April 17, 2009 @ 6:37 am
Will this be a forced update? Meaning that we’ll need to purchase the iPhone app in order for it to continue working, or if we choose to stay on the 1.2 platform everything will continue to be operational?
Dieds said,
April 17, 2009 @ 11:56 am
I’m really hoping that skipping through a track (with the slider of holding the next track button) will be one of the new features.. It’s an absolutely amazing app, but having to listen to the entire (mostly boring) DJ friendly intro of my tracks is a small downside.. And since I have multiple libraries, one for my DJ tracks and one for my other music, i’d really like to see multiple library support…
But, ahwell, it’s a great app as it is!
paul said,
April 17, 2009 @ 5:30 pm
Thanks for the great comments. A few answers:
Dieds, thanks. All I can say is that I think you’ll be quiet happy with at least one of the new features.
Andre, great question, and no. You can keep using the 1.2 version.
Rik, we’re keeping our eye on Android. Like any feature, the more requests we get, the higher we will priortize it. But, right now we don’t have concrete plans to port.
And, shivergoat, we’re thinking of sending you a plane ticket. I’m not sure I want to see you dressed as Barbara Bush, but I suspect a video of the event would be a YouTube hit.
Edu said,
April 18, 2009 @ 3:17 pm
Hello guys. Your application is really cool. I have followed its development since this Jailbreak days, so perhaps I can make some suggestions:
.Realese .2.0 like new application, not a upgrade. The guys of Tap Tap Revenge did this and was really good. Bug fixes for 1.xx is not as expensive (in my opinion).
. Price for release as 0.99 cents or 1.99 for 2 or 3 weeks. 2.99 sounds expansive as introductory price.
. When 3.0 is done, offer upgrade to 2.x series via the new in-app purchases system (minor price for prevous users is the idea).
.Promo codes,
Also I wanted to ask some features, because I really love your app
. Use of local network via Bonjour or bluetooh (firmware 3.0). 70% of my stream is for my iPhone connected to my stereo hifi system.
. Future use of “new” bluetooh capacity in the 3.0 firmware . I want use my wireless phone!
.Transmit iPod library via Simplify network, bluetooh (including no iDevices), and UPnP / DLNA. I do not know if this is possible using “new” iPod access library, but sounds like a really killer feature.
.Built-in chat + push notifications.
Sorry my poor English.
Steve Schwartz said,
April 19, 2009 @ 2:58 pm
So I just downloaded this and will have to buy it again in about 3 weeks? Yes, I do mind having to pay for it again. I love the app, but this isn’t right.
paul said,
April 19, 2009 @ 9:46 pm
Steve, sorry if I wasn’t clear above. If you like the new features, we hope you’ll buy the new application. If you don’t think they are worth the money, you can keep using the version you already have. It’s like a new version of Photoshop or iiLife (at 1/50th or 1/100th the cost).
Gary J. Talley said,
April 20, 2009 @ 12:37 pm
This sounds like the difference between Photoshop 7 and CS2. What about taking pictures with the onboard camera and sharing them immediately to your simplify account?
Isaac said,
April 21, 2009 @ 1:44 am
On Simplify I would like to see the artists and bands organized like they are on iTunes alphabetically with bands like “The Smiths” under the letter S and not the letter T, it seems much more clean and organized and seems easier to find the bands.
That is my only suggestion for this app. Otherwise it is one of the top apps I have. I can’t live without it.
paul said,
April 21, 2009 @ 7:38 am
Isaac, thanks! You won’t be disappointed with 2.0.
Gary, a great suggestion for when it is time for photos. It’s probably can’t be part of the initial release but it should be possible for a later version.
Edu, there are some excellent ideas in your comment; some we’ve discussed and some that our new to us. We’re still exploring what is possible with 3.0., so thank you!
FreeBSD, send me an email at paul at simplifymedia or at support at simplifymedia. If you can help us with testing and marketing, we can give you a build to try.
PierreMancini said,
April 22, 2009 @ 8:02 pm
Okay, so far I love it. My biggest question is whether (and perhaps Im just not seeing it) there is a way to choose to just share specific playlists with others. I am hinky about sharing my own library with others (though I would love to maintain access to it myself)
Another question is, is there a maximum size to the lirary where it stops working effectively?
thanks
keep up the good work
jj3 said,
April 24, 2009 @ 9:55 am
Don’t know what the “top 3 or 4 most requested music-related enhancements” are, but hopefully one is that sorting be fixed such that I don’t have 50 consecutive artists starting with “The” sorted under T.
paul said,
April 24, 2009 @ 10:08 am
You are all very good at guessing.
Pierre, we’ve had users with 50K or 100K song libraries. That suprised us, but the only negative effects you should see with very large collections are slower initial scan time (perhaps even running over night), longer initial sync time on the iPhone (plugging it in will prevent system sleep) and the time it takes iTunes to load the full song list. We’d like to be able to speed up the last part, but we found that iTunes will crash on older systems, so, for stability, we have to pace it.
PierreMancini said,
April 24, 2009 @ 10:21 am
paul–
thanks. my library is bit north of the 100k song range (a little 500g). the biggest problems for me have to do with select-ability. I do not need access to my entire library all the time…as a matter of fact, many of my playlists are records of works in progress that are now finished. the playlists are for my records and do not need to be accessed remotely. Additionally, I have material I do not wish to share with others though I may want to share other things with them. Until I can pick and choose playlists, I cannot share with anyone. Also, when working on specific projects, it would expedient if I could choose one playlist specifically generated for that project to use as a reference for the other people working on it without having to have them wait for 500g to scan let alone the privacy issues already covered. Admittedly, these may not be common concerns but they are mine. Looking forward to version 2
Shane said,
April 25, 2009 @ 1:14 pm
I just got this app. I think its great. I was wondering if there is any way to receive phone calls while running this app on my iphone ?
fknA said,
April 25, 2009 @ 8:35 pm
Ok. when is this 2.0 going to be released? Why not release some of the features to give some more anticipation for the app? Keeping it all secret and stuff…. What’s the point?
CJ said,
May 1, 2009 @ 10:19 am
Love the app guys. Perfect solution to listening to your entire library that won’t fit on the Iphone. Future Enhancement Request: Sort the All Artist Playlist by the Itunes “Album Artist” listing when available. This would keep my Santana Album songs from appearing as 10 different artists instead of just 1 artist “Santana” for the Album Supernatural. Right now I see 10 different artists each with 1 song in it.
paul said,
May 1, 2009 @ 5:14 pm
CJ, thanks. 2.0.2 will have a Compilations mode. It is a little different than Album Artist, but it should go a long way toward cleaning up your All Artist list (should you decide to enable it).