PhoneMyPc- suggestions/comments/fix requests

[solar]

I'm making this thread so that I and other people can post suggestions for the devs, post probems so that we can tell if its isolated or something the devs can look at, or questions for the devs or those of us who use it. The devs are very active in the forum and I think it might help them to have a new thread to check since a lot of the previous ones have become stale.

Issues i've noticed:
*Sometimes when attemting to type a password, it desn't seem to type the correct password. It may just be the way the droids keyboard reacts through the software. Devs, can you explain how the shift/Atl work for numbers and Caps? Like holding versus the double tap to cap locks or number shift?

*I've noticed when using the Control Mouse+Keys feature, if the droid goes to sleep and I wake it up, the software won't respond until I exit the program, reopen it up and relaunch the Control Mouse+Keys.

*A couple of times also when using the Control Mouse+Keys feature my laptop has lost its connection to my wireless router. I can't confirm for sure wheter this is and issue with the software or a coinsidence. But I don't normally have that issue when i'm not using the software. It doesn't happen everytime though, but enough to notice. Other devices don't loose connectivity to the router when this happens. (Its a crappy little netgear, I forget the model at the moment

*suggestion: maybe when typing a password to unlock the program, you can , program it so each previously typed letter/nuber automatically is hidden with an * instead of the whole password being visable until you hit ok

 

[r314bd]

I just want to say that the multitouch is amazing on this app. Amazingly accurate...way better than the 2.1 stock browser/gallery multitouch

 

[solar]

I haven't tried the 2.1 since i'm not rooted yet. But imagine ultitouch is pretty cool. Once they update to allow more actions like sharing, deleting and such, it will rule.

 

[SoftwareForMe.com]

Great thread! Happy to participate.

*Sometimes when attemting to type a password, it desn't seem to type the correct password. It may just be the way the droids keyboard reacts through the software. Devs, can you explain how the shift/Atl work for numbers and Caps? Like holding versus the double tap to cap locks or number shift?

The only strange behavior we have seen when entering passwords is that sometimes the auto-complete tries to insert words. This is an oversight on our part; we need to make the field into a password-type field and this problem will be solved.

*I've noticed when using the Control Mouse+Keys feature, if the droid goes to sleep and I wake it up, the software won't respond until I exit the program, reopen it up and relaunch the Control Mouse+Keys.

We made a decision early on to make sure PhoneMyPC would stop using the CPU and memory resources the moment it wasn't being used. This was an over-kill strategy to make sure we didn't waste resources. This is why the software is not responsive until you re-start it. This issue will be addressed, but has not been high enough priority yet.

As for the phone going to sleep in the first place, this is a simple bug, and you are the first to report it. This is so easy to fix I can say it will be in the next release.

*A couple of times also when using the Control Mouse+Keys feature my laptop has lost its connection to my wireless router. I can't confirm for sure wheter this is and issue with the software or a coinsidence. But I don't normally have that issue when i'm not using the software. It doesn't happen everytime though, but enough to notice. Other devices don't loose connectivity to the router when this happens. (Its a crappy little netgear, I forget the model at the moment

We have not heard or seen anything like this. My best guess is that whatever what you are experiencing while using PhoneMyPC is also happening at other times, but PhoneMyPC is the only app sensitive enough to network reliability to make it noticable.

We know our networking code needs to be a bit more robust, able to handle brief outages and disconnect. We are continually improving this code, so I will like to hear if you still have this issue with the next build.

*suggestion: maybe when typing a password to unlock the program, you can , program it so each previously typed letter/nuber automatically is hidden with an * instead of the whole password being visable until you hit ok

Quite right. The solution to this is the same as the first issue you raised. We'll get it done.

 

[Dibrom]

Glad there's a new thread. Only two issues I've seen.
-the quality settings don't persist. If "highest" is set and the screen has to be redrawn, it's not redrawn in "highest". Can easily be seen if you're zoomed out on text, zoom in, then zoom back out. Text will be aliased until you tap settings then change it to another quality then back to highest. (zoom using shortcut keys to get appropriate resize ratios)
-clicking doesn't always work via screen tap. Tapping the screen doesn't pass a click event but pushing the ok/center key does. Right clicking via long press works though. No idea about this? Different codes sent for screen tap versus ok key? Rare issue with certain programs only.

Not an issue but an orientation option would be nice too (._. )
Awesome program regardless. Love the mouse + keys option as a remote!

 

[bristolcat]

I have the same problem with screen taps not registering in "Interact Live". It seems like I have to click something ten times to get it to register. I get this with both the on-screen taps and using the mouse cursor and enter key. I'd also like to add that it's not just me missing the area I'm supposed to click - I'll zoom right in on an icon or button and it just won't click on it. I usually have to reconnect to the computer to get full functionality back, but it doesn't take long for it to have problems again. It's also not always consistent. I can struggle to click on something and then go click on something else and it will register fine.

Other than that, the app is amazing. I'm so glad I paid for it! And yes, the multitouch is great.

Droid non-rooted stock 2.0.1 connecting to an XP computer on a fairly fast network connection.

 

[Shadez]

Maybe stupid question but, I want to be able to remotely watch my laptops webcam, ie:, turn it on, view, etc... is this possible with PMPC?

 

[Dibrom]

Maybe stupid question but, I want to be able to remotely watch my laptops webcam, ie:, turn it on, view, etc... is this possible with PMPC?

Yes, the streaming video quality probably won't be that good over 3G though. You also have to leave your laptop unlocked.

 

[Shadez]

Hmm might be worth trying.. not worried about leaving it unlocked.. thank for the info!

 

[SoftwareForMe.com]

-the quality settings don't persist. If "highest" is set and the screen has to be redrawn, it's not redrawn in "highest". Can easily be seen if you're zoomed out on text, zoom in, then zoom back out. Text will be aliased until you tap settings then change it to another quality then back to highest. (zoom using shortcut keys to get appropriate resize ratios)

This is a very useful find--thank you! It's amazing that we've never seen this nor had it reported, but nonetheless from your description I know exactly what is happening.

If you're interested, here's a description: in fact, the quality setting is persisting, but the PC is losing it's knowledge of what your zoom level is. You see, the data streamed from the PC is adjusted for quality in two ways: (1) Your Quality setting, and (2) Your zoom level. When you zoom out, we drop the quality of the data proportional to the down-scaling that occurs on the phone's screen. This is why it is possible to zoom all the way out and watch a full-screen (perhaps 1920x1200) video on the PC and have it run nearly as fast as a much smaller video when zoomed in.

So, what is happening is that when you zoom in, the PC is not noticing that you have zoomed in and thus the graphics need to be higher quality.

This should not be a hard fix, and I have added it to the list.

-clicking doesn't always work via screen tap. Tapping the screen doesn't pass a click event but pushing the ok/center key does. Right clicking via long press works though. No idea about this? Different codes sent for screen tap versus ok key? Rare issue with certain programs only.

This is most likely caused by the touch-screen sensitivity. We added a fix in the last build, but it wasn't good enough. If the program notices your finger move only slightly when tapping, it things you are panning and not clicking. We have another fix for this in the next build.

The DPAD center button executes the same code as tapping [when the program thinks you've tapped]. The only difference is the timing between the mouse down and mouse up: in the DPAD case, they are only a millisecond apart or so. In the TAP case, they are as far apart as the length of your tap.

@bristolcat,
What you describe sounds like something more, and the explanation will probably be more complicated. We had added this and will try to reproduce it. Would you mind sharing what Windows version you have?

 

[solar]

Glad there's a new thread. Only two issues I've seen.
-the quality settings don't persist. If "highest" is set and the screen has to be redrawn, it's not redrawn in "highest". Can easily be seen if you're zoomed out on text, zoom in, then zoom back out. Text will be aliased until you tap settings then change it to another quality then back to highest. (zoom using shortcut keys to get appropriate resize ratios) QUOTE]

So you're saying that if you login, go to interactive view, set resolution to "high" and zoom in on some text, zoom back out, it looks like the setting isn't set to "high" until you click the screen again?

 

[solar]

I've noticed the tap thing a bit too, but I always just thought it was me "slipping" a particular directionwhen tapping or accidentially "panning". I have more success sometime using the mouse cursor mode. I'll have to try this more too

Thanks SoftwareForMe for being so awesome about responding to our issues/questions!

 

[SoftwareForMe.com]

So you're saying that if you login, go to interactive view, set resolution to "high" and zoom in on some text, zoom back out, it looks like the setting isn't set to "high" until you click the screen again?

I believe the use case to reproduce would look like this:

* Run Interact Live
* Select High or Highest quality

Now, as you look at the screen, the PC is sending image data at 1:1. In other words, 840x480 pixels, and you're seeing that much of your monitor as well.

* Zoom OUT to view your full screen (full screen not required, but added for clarity)

Now, you are looking at maybe 1200x1024 pixels (or whatever the resolution of your monitor is), but the PC application is compressing it and sending only 840x480 pixels, because that's all you can see on the Droid. This has the effect of reducing the quality, but as long as you are zoomed out, you cannot tell.

* Zoom IN to 1:1 or more

When you zoom in, the Phone app tells the PC app, and if there is data on the phone that has been shrunk, the PC will refresh it with higher quality data.

That last big is where I believe the bug is; the PC is not remembering that it sent shrunk data, so it is not refreshing for higher quality when you zoom back in.

Note that for this bug to be seen, you must change something on the screen when you zoom out (so that some lower-res data will be sent to the phone). Then, you must zoom in without changing anything on the screen.

 

[solar]

Ah, I think I understand now. OK, interesting. I'll have to try it.

 

[Dibrom]

Sorry, I wasn't very clear. Here's exactly what I'm seeing. (I feel like a crazy person shaking my phone at work to take screengrabs :icon_eek

Start PhoneMyPC, zoom out (not full screen in this shot but also happens at full screen), set the quality to highest:
Look at the text, looks amazing.



Then I zoom in.
(no shot needed here, it looks good too.)

Then I zoom back out:
Note text quality drop



It looks like this until I set the quality to something else (medium) then reset the quality to high/est. This also happens if the screen refreshes for any reason as well (let's say the text scrolled).

I haven't noticed a problem zooming in.

This is most likely caused by the touch-screen sensitivity. We added a fix in the last build, but it wasn't good enough. If the program notices your finger move only slightly when tapping, it things you are panning and not clicking. We have another fix for this in the next build.

The DPAD center button executes the same code as tapping [when the program thinks you've tapped]. The only difference is the timing between the mouse down and mouse up: in the DPAD case, they are only a millisecond apart or so. In the TAP case, they are as far apart as the length of your tap.

I had that same thought, but this occurs even when I'm zoomed in as far as the program can go the screen tapping never passes a click regardless of how many times I try.

I did a quick grab of the events sent out via autohotkey's recorder and there's a difference between clicking via the screen and clicking with the center key- the center key added the ascii characters 255 (literally "255"). Autohotkey obviously isn't capturing the right behavior, but it does show some difference between the 2 methods. The regular mouse press and the screen press send the same event (no 255). I'm going to look into it some more tonight when I get back on my computer.

edit: weird as heck, cant reproduce it outside of 1 program. Also the control mouse+keys option works too (autohotkey shows no 255 after click event.)