Gospel Library 4.0 for Android

Discussions around the Android version of the Gospel Library application.
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sbradshaw
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Re: Gospel Library 4.0 for Android

#31

Post by sbradshaw »

peter.robison wrote:The listen feature no longer lists text-to-speech as an option. Anyone figured out a way to use text-to-speech to listen to content, or has that feature been completely removed? If so, that's a real loss, I used it a lot when driving in areas without mobile data coverage or trying to limit mobile data consumption.
Yes, text-to-speech has not been implemented. The update was written from the ground up, so each feature has been recreated from scratch. I agree that it's a useful feature. Thank you for providing a good use case – I will forward it to the designers and we can hope it returns in a future update!
stullv wrote:I just downloaded the Book of Mormon audio to my Android device because when my library was automatically updated all my audio that was in the android/data/org.lds.ldsa/files/1/media file is now gone. (So is the directory). We're does this version store the audio files when you download it. I can not find them. I saw the download occur but they don't show up in recent downloads or any place else I have looked.?
You can see your downloaded audio under Settings > Downloaded Media. Note that there is a bug we discovered that prevents playing some downloaded audio files directly from the Downloaded Media screen (any audio with multiple voices – like the English scriptures – will cause the app to restart if you try to play it from Downloaded Media). This is a high-priority bug that will be fixed with the next patch release. In the meantime, you should be able to still play your downloaded scripture audio from the chapter itself, when you're offline.
Samuel Bradshaw • If you desire to serve God, you are called to the work.
stullv
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Re: Gospel Library 4.0 for Android

#32

Post by stullv »

I see that you can now speed up the audio but the recordings are so slow to begin with that moving up to 2 on this system is not sufficient. I use a third party audio player. I would like to try it on the new files, however your answer above only got me to the list of files and I still couldn't find where those files reside on my device. (You were right, though, every time I tried to play them from that list, the system crashed.). Can you give me the path to the location where the files are stored.
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sbradshaw
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Re: Gospel Library 4.0 for Android

#33

Post by sbradshaw »

stullv wrote:I see that you can now speed up the audio but the recordings are so slow to begin with that moving up to 2 on this system is not sufficient.
Note that the changes won't take effect until you pause and press play again on the audio. This is something that "feels like a bug" that I'm hoping will get fixed with the next release.
stullv wrote:I would like to try it on the new files, however your answer above only got me to the list of files and I still couldn't find where those files reside on my device. ... Can you give me the path to the location where the files are stored.
Media is stored at these locations:
/data/data/org.lds.ldssa/files/content/content-audio
/data/data/org.lds.ldssa/files/content/content-video
Samuel Bradshaw • If you desire to serve God, you are called to the work.
jasonhyer
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Re: Gospel Library 4.0 for Android

#34

Post by jasonhyer »

sbradshaw wrote: Release history would definitely suggest that, but never fear – you can expect a patch release with minor changes and bug fixes sometime in January. :) I expect that auto scrolling on all devices will make it in by then.
Auto scrolling doesn't do a any good if the tray covers the text. I know on my tablet I can rotate my screen to see the text and the tray but it doesn't work on my phone. While there are some nice things about this release, I've hated it ever since I saw the first alpha version. The tray, bookmarks changes and the highlight styles really ruin it for me.
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sbradshaw
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Re: Gospel Library 4.0 for Android

#35

Post by sbradshaw »

jasonhyer wrote:Auto scrolling doesn't do a any good if the tray covers the text. I know on my tablet I can rotate my screen to see the text and the tray but it doesn't work on my phone. While there are some nice things about this release, I've hated it ever since I saw the first alpha version. The tray, bookmarks changes and the highlight styles really ruin it for me.
If you turn your phone to landscape mode, you have the option of pinning the sidebar open.
Samuel Bradshaw • If you desire to serve God, you are called to the work.
jasonhyer
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Re: Gospel Library 4.0 for Android

#36

Post by jasonhyer »

sbradshaw wrote: If you turn your phone to landscape mode, you have the option of pinning the sidebar open.
That's a workaround though. Before I could hold my phone in a normal position, read text and footnotes, and my footnotes scrolled. I can't even look at a footnote that is highlighted without having to choose which I want to look at in another dialogue box. I get that you want Android and iOS to look and feel alike but the redesign pretty much broke the last six years of work on the app.

It's less user friendly and intuitive to use, it offers less functionality, and is a resource hog. I can't even open it on my phone without having to wait for it to try and load updates and after it never opens I have to close it and open it again.

I don't know what drove the timeliness for release but it was a poor decision from a user view.
daltonkd
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Re: Gospel Library 4.0 for Android

#37

Post by daltonkd »

I've taken some time to use the new app. Although I do appreciate some of the new features which look like they have a lot of potential, the basic usability for me is a step backwards. The biggest struggles for me are the quickness and ease of the basic functions (e.g. multiple screens, highlighting, bookmarks and footnotes). The menu-driven interface adds extra steps to this process making these basic functions much quicker (trying to use all colors to do highlights for example).

The biggest issue for me is the pale highlighting colors which are difficult to see vs. the bold colors in the previous version. It was easy to distinguish between orange and yellow before, but now it is hard to tell which color is which unless they are next to each other. For someone who has thousands of highlights and underlines color-coded by topic and application this is a huge deal for me. I used to be able to open a page and go right to the topic I needed, but its more challenging now.

BTW... Is the old version still available anywhere? I'd probably be better served with the old app right now at least on my android tablet.
winonadavies
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Re: Gospel Library 4.0 for Android

#38

Post by winonadavies »

Please! Let me have the old version. I can't see my footnotes, links, or tags on the same screen. I can't do a quick search so I can link things easily. The menu is not nearly as intuitive as the 3.0.3 version.
bobbred
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Re: Gospel Library 4.0 for Android

#39

Post by bobbred »

Is it possible to post a link to download the old GL apk? I know a few folks have asked me about some of the missing features mentioned in this thread.

As another idea, is it possible to have a beta GL app for 4.0? That way those that use GL 3.x features that are missing in 4 can still have 3.x.

Personally, I love 4. Bluetooth audio controls finally work! Big deal for me. I can listen to the scriptures while I run and still pause with the push of a button in my headset.

Keep up the good work. Have a great Christmas break!
sylviachristensen
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Re: Gospel Library 4.0 for Android

#40

Post by sylviachristensen »

Downloaded the app this morning as recommended a couple of weeks ago by tech support. Wish I hadn't done it yet. I need the 2017 Primary Sharing Time resources, which I had in the old app. Well, it isn't available in the new app. Primary Presidencies are going to be frustrated all through the church, we need to plan!
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