Explorer 2D for phones and tablets

[Auld_Pharrrt]

Ahh, I just saw your update ... Darn.

OK. I had my first try of the app this afternoon. I haven't had a lot of energy today so this was a good opportunity to test the app on my Samsung Galaxy S8 (I might download and instal this on my older S6 if it runs ok on it and use that as a dedicated device for the app).

My very first impression was ... I like it. I couldn't see much of the HUD, but I soon found I could move the screen to bring it fully into view, almost perfect because I was also able to knock it a bit off centre which left it slightly askew. That was no biggie and I can understand why you have the facility for riders to look around at the scenery if they wish, but maybe a quick and easy (or auto) re-centre screen would be handy to save having to fiddle around trying to get it back where you wanted it.

I assume I came across the issues you mentioned immediately above about memory, I got 5m 30(ish) seconds when the app simply closed down ... If it helps, I was resuming my ride on the Old Military Road in Ireland at 82% (3.7 miles from the end). and each time I re-started the app I was put back to the same place each time in an endless loop ... My 3 5½ minutes rides don't seemt o have registered with the stats and usage pages (no biggie, I can live with that small discrepancy because I can go back on the main app and finish my ride.)

So, all in all I like this wee app, the auto-steer feature was a bonus imho you should make that available to riders using the VR app, especially to get newbies started, I find leaning to be quite intuitive in the headset, but I also find it rather hit and miss on occasion and I often find myself leaning so far on the bike I am almost ready to throw a foot down in case I over do it ... But, bear in mind, I am old and very obese, so it's probably much less of an issue with skinny, fit youngsters). My only criticism of the android app is the HUD ... I think the entire display needs the grey background highlight to make it more readable and maybe even made a little bigger too, I found I was having to lean really far forward to get my face close enough to my phone to be able to read it. I didn't bother with any form of mount for my phone, I simply used the folding leather case to hold it at an angle and I sat it upon the bike's own "computer", I use the term "computer" very loosely and only because that's what the makers call the pathetic little timer thing.

All in all the app gets my approval and with a few tweaks I'd support it 100% ... I didn't try casting it to my TV Firestick yet, I was watching the Masters Snooker championship on TV.

I'll run the update now and will maybe try again.

P.S. My three 5 minute sessions ended at approx 1615hrs (UTC) 18/01/2020 should this be of any use to you ... As far as I can see, neither of the three sessions have registered on my usage stats ... although my account does seem to know I was on at 1609hrs (UTC) as it is showing that as my last session.

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Right, updated app now installed on both phones and tried on S6 ... Everything working ok on S6, but, the screen frame updating is a lot more jumpy than it was on the S8 (I am assuming you are resetting the memory upon each section of the map loading, if so, it has made it look quite jerky.)

The update has taken care of the app closing down so I got to finish my ride on the Old Military Road ... My S6 is currently doing a full factory reset in preparation of becoming my dedicated device for this app and the bike.

If you can smooth out the frame transition in the mapping a little (maybe reset the memory every 10 or 20 sections instead of every frame?) then I'd be happy to use (and recommend) the android version ... I could see this being used in an office environment with one of those very small units that are basically just a pair of pedals sitting on the floor under a desk!

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Oh, and I'm happy to say the session using the updated app has registered on my stats and usage pages.

[emalafeew]

Thanks, great feedback!

It's possible the jerkiness you saw was over-aggressive memory resetting. I'll try to smooth it out in next build.

As you noticed, with the memory-related crashes in previous build, the app had no warning and was unable to save your progress.

The HUD and menus are definitely on the small side for a phone, agree we should make it bigger then. We didn't adjust them from VR size, and seems about right for tablet-sized screens as is.

We're unable to bring autosteering over to VR, for the very specific reason that your head input is important in VR to avoid getting simulation sick. But we are planning to add a "head tilt" option to the Quest, which will allow you to steer without leaning your whole body. That's the way we have to steer on the Go because it doesn't have position tracking, but on the Quest we can allow both ways.

[emalafeew]

I just uploaded a 2D build with fewer memory reset calls, to hopefully smooth out framerate on older phones/tablets. Download and install it from the original link.

It seems to run smoother on my Pixel 1, which has about the performance of a Galaxy S7.

I forgot to mention there's already a way to recenter your view! Just tap once anywhere on the screen that's not a menu button.

[Auld_Pharrrt]

Excellent ... On the S8 the screen was remarkably smooth with the oldest version of the app that I had but I haven't tried the memory fix version on S8 yet ... That was the jerky version on the S6, it wasn't really a massive issue but it was very obvious compared to the S8.

I think head tilting already works in the Quest, but for sharper bends body tilt and head turning seems to be best so far. I did find the VR version rather lumpy when riding in an urban environment, but I understand you are working on that ... In urban areas, I found turning to be a real issue, I just couldn't get round a 90° corner without hitting the buildings on the opposite side of the road.

As for the menus, I only found the HUD to be difficult to read because of the white text on pale blue sky background ... If the entire HUD had the grey background the size issue would be far lessened, maybe a small enlargement would help, but greying the background, imho, would be far better.

Ahh, yeah, I forgot there are people who suffer motion sickness ... I'm one of the lucky ones, it's heights that reduce me to a quivering wreck.

All in all, I think this app has great potential ... I'm almost certain I can get my daughter on board with it and she works in our local council's IT dept. Several of her colleagues enjoy VR and I know at least one is an avid cyclist ... I truly see a situation where they buy at least one unit for the team to use with at least two of them buying their own unit for use at home.

[Auld_Pharrrt]

Argh, it looks like you'll need to revert back to the jerky version for S6 ... I got two rides of 3m 10s before the app closed down this time ... It did look a lot smoother though.

Or I could revert to the S8 on which I haven't tested the latest version yet.

[emalafeew]

Okay I'll have to do something a bit trickier then, to solve both memory and smoothness. Stay tuned.

[Auld_Pharrrt]

An app version number might be handy when posting any updates to make it easier to identify the memory loss, jerky, arrgh memory dimentia is back versions?

[emalafeew]

I haven't released since your last test. The next time I release I'll note the build date, which appears when you first launch the app.

[Auld_Pharrrt]

That'll do.

[emalafeew]

Build 1/20/2020

I updated the build with less frequent memory cleanup, that should be less jerky on older devices.