At long last, version 3.0 went live yesterday morning.
Thanks to everyone for their enduring patience while awaiting the long-coming update. I, as well, had to call on my own patience reserves over the late-summer and fall in dealing with the less-than-smooth introduction of iOS 5 and Xcode 4, and the bumps they brought with them in developing for Core Data. But, I’ve been told that “All’s well that ends well”, and… in the end, I’m very happy with the update. So, onward and upward!
I’d like to formally introduce the new forum. One of the things that many users ask for is a way within Roastmaster to import and export data like Profiles, Programs, Curves, Roasters etc. Version 3.0 brings this capability, but without a venue geared toward the app, and way to exchange this data, this feature is limited in its usefulness.
There are a number of coffee-roasting forums, run by some great people who devote a lot of personal time to moderating them. First and foremost, I have no desire to recreate the wheel. My time is better spent developing Roastmaster, and giving help to users with questions. Even so, I believe the forum will be the perfect venue for a number of things.
Naturally, forums are geared toward communal discussion and file exchange, so they’ll be a good fit for sharing your own personal data, and searching and downloading others’ data to experiment with yourself. That’s the main goal.
In addition, though, I want to take a more active role in sharing some of the more common questions I get about Roastmaster, as well as provide some much-needed resources for new users, and those seeking information on some of the more advanced workflows possible in Roastmaster.
The internal app help files do a good job of explaining the basics of the app, but I’ve dedicated too much time to coding, and not enough to supplying help that gives folks the bigger picture of how the app works, and how to best tailor it to their unique needs.
So, keep an eye on the site in the coming months. I’m beginning work on a few tutorial videos that will hopefully be a great resource for those with questions, and expanding the support page to offer more help to users coming to the site with questions. In addition, I’m always here to answer in questions you have via email.
As far as Roastmaster itself goes, my main focus in the coming months will be working on automated readings. Things are finally coming around in the probe market, and I want the app to be ready for products that will most assuredly materialize in the (hopefully soon) future.
As always – happy roasting!
Danny