Printoid for OctoPrint

Monthly release is out (yes, I’m publishing monthly release since a while now!)

This version brings some major changes.

Progressive release:

• If the update is still not available yet for you, please be patient, it will available very soon for everyone.
• Please do not ask me for the APK by email, Google Play is the only vector of distribution you shall trust 🙂

 

1/ Feedbacks on buttons

A lot of you were complaining about the fact that, Printoid sends commands to OctoPrint, but it wasn’t possible to know exactly when the command was executed, and if it was a success or a failure.

I’ve totally reworked the way the app sends requests to the server, in order to provide you a great feedback, directly within the button you’ve pressed itself:

• When the request is sending, then you will show a loader around the icon, within the button
• When the request has been sent successfully, then you will see a green-glowing animation within the button itself (+ with a nice morphing animation, actually implemented only on “homing” features)
• When the request has not been sent for any reason, then you will see a red-glowing animation within the button itself (+ with a nice morphing animation, actually implemented only on “homing” features)

Please note that, the feedbacks are relative to the communication between Printoid and OctoPrint – and not between Printoid and your printer. I can’t provide you a real feedback regarding on the real execution of the command by your 3D printer, but I trust OctoPrint, the server should return the real status of the command most of the time.

See a short video on Twitter:

2/ App config and OctoPrint Profile config

Until today, all the configuration was handled by the same screen. And for each OctoPrint profile configured in the application, you were able to define a whole set of app settings. That means : switching to another profile implied to load its own set of app settings.

It was a bit confusing for every users. So right now:

• From the “App parameters” screen you can adjust the settings relative to the app itself. This set of settings is static, that means it won’t change if you switch between different configured OctoPrint profiles.
• From the “Server parameters” screen you can adjust the settings relative to the current OctoPrint profile. This set of settings will be reloaded according the OctoPrint profile you want to select.

For example:

• The settings “Enable the notifications”, “Show unread messages”, “Currency”, etc… are relative to the application and not to the selected OctoPrint profile, so these settings are present in “App parameters”
• The settings “Enable advanced axis control”, “Connection mode”, “Max bed temperature”, etc… are OctoPrint profile relative, so these settings are present in “Server parameters”

Both screens can be accessed from the left menu.

3/ Printoid Debug Bridge

Because most of time, when a user run into an issue regarding the content of the application (for example, files wont show in the app) I need to request the user to send a specific request in its web browser, in order to have the result of the dedicated REST API.

This is the best way for me to debug that kind of issues, but each time I need to ask the user to customize the URL with his own information (IP, port, and API key). It’s annoying, and it’s a bit confusing for those who are not accustomed to that kind of  manipulation.

The Printoid Debug Bridge is here to break this step: on the ask of the developer (me) you will be able to get the REST API result on few clicks, without having to manipulate the URL 🙂

4/ New animations and reduced package size

I now use Lottie in the app, a powerful library made by AirBnb to simplify a lot the way to integrate wonderful and smooth animations on Android.

These animations are kind of “vectors”, that way I was able to remove all the previous animations (as GIF files) from the package, and the application lost at least 3MB ! That’s a very good news for users with old devices and few available space for applications.

The app size is now between 11MB and 14MB, depending on your device.

🌿 Changelog

✏ App relative settings and OctoPrint Profile relative settings are now separated
✏ Buttons for OctoPrint action now show a feedback (request sending + success or failure)
✏ New feature for debugging: Printoid Debug Bridge
✏ Integrate new animations in progress dialogs
🔧 Reduce package size (-3MB)
🔧 Fix issues with cURL commands
🔧 Fix issues with slicer profiles
🔧 Fix issue between timelapses & VLC

🌿 Notes de version

✏ Séparation des paramètres de l’app et des paramètres du profile OctoPrint
✏ Les boutons d’action affichent un retour (envoi de la requête + succès ou échec)
✏ Nouvelle fonction de déboggage : Printoid Debug Bridge
✏ Integration de nouvelles animation de progression
🔧 Réduction de la taille de l’app (-3Mo)
🔧 Fix des commands cURL
🔧 Fix des problèmes de profil de slicer
🔧 Fix des problèmes de lecture de timelapses avec VLC