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A Reasonable Approach to Future MAS Updates?
The Doctor
Member ✭
First off, let me say that as a long time supporter of 1P, I remain supportive of the MAS migration.
There are many reasons for this, not the least of which is iCloud. As I understand it, an App will only be able to store data in iCloud if it conforms to Apple's MAS sandbox requirements. It goes without saying that an App can only be MAS sandboxed if it comes from the MAS.
I love Dropbox, but having a dedicated 1P sandbox in the cloud in which my 1P keychain is stored will be orders of magnitude better. By definition, this dedicated iCloud container will only store 1P data...more secure...and less cluttered. Hidden settings files and complaints about wanting to store a keychain in a different folder will be things of the past. Can't wait!!
So, given that MAS is the present and the future for 1P, I have a couple of recommendations, one of which I've made before:
[list=1]
[*]Locked and Pinned thread dedicated to update news and release notes. One post for each release where the admin/mods just edit it with new information. The post is final once the release notes for that release are included and then the next post for the subsequent release is started. This post would be the one stop shop for this narrow information. It would list when a release was submitted to the MAS in addition to the release notes.
[*]Triage of what is included in an update. I think Agile needs to set folks expectations as go what goes into a bug vs a feature release and what'a reasonable timeframe. My impression, and it may be wrong, is that you guys are working on 3.9.1 rather than 3.9.0.1 Regardless of what version number nomenclature you are using, the least significant digit is reserved for bug resolution. I recommend that Agile determine with it's community what the optimum length of time is for such a release. Clearly, folks are saying 30 days is too long and I tend to agree. Speaking just for myself, I'd say that one week is about the right length of time, BUT, such a release is just for "Sev 1" bugs, possibly "Sev 2," depending on your definition. All other bugs are just included in the next "dot" feature/bug release
[list=1]
[*]For example: Not able to delete stuff = Sev 1 and would be included in 3.9.1.1 within a week
[*]Having a given login display incorrectly on one or more of the display modes, but still visible in others or when editing = Sev 3 and would be included in 3.9.2
[*]Adding the option to enable Growl Notifications (please yes) is a feature and would be included in 3.10.0
[*]Adding the ability for 1P to create a psychic link with it's user and neurally sync would be a major upgrade included in 4.0.0
[/list]
[/list]
So, I guess the net of all this is, more communication is better and that's not meant to discount the responsiveness of the Agile folks in this forum, but I think they often are forced to repeat themselves and often give unsatisfying answers because the above mentioned thought-work has not been done.
Finally, the key to the above suggestion working is everyone's understanding that these quick-release MAS updates are highly constrained to only seriously messed up bugs. Agile will have some work to do in educating what they think falls into that category initially, but I think it's worthwhile work.
It wasn't needed in the web-era of 1P, because releases came fast and furious (my apologies to AG Holder on his craptastic gun running plan), with MAS Agile is being much more deliberative because of the approval process and I think it could benefit from the points raised above...
So ends my 4 cents...
There are many reasons for this, not the least of which is iCloud. As I understand it, an App will only be able to store data in iCloud if it conforms to Apple's MAS sandbox requirements. It goes without saying that an App can only be MAS sandboxed if it comes from the MAS.
I love Dropbox, but having a dedicated 1P sandbox in the cloud in which my 1P keychain is stored will be orders of magnitude better. By definition, this dedicated iCloud container will only store 1P data...more secure...and less cluttered. Hidden settings files and complaints about wanting to store a keychain in a different folder will be things of the past. Can't wait!!
So, given that MAS is the present and the future for 1P, I have a couple of recommendations, one of which I've made before:
[list=1]
[*]Locked and Pinned thread dedicated to update news and release notes. One post for each release where the admin/mods just edit it with new information. The post is final once the release notes for that release are included and then the next post for the subsequent release is started. This post would be the one stop shop for this narrow information. It would list when a release was submitted to the MAS in addition to the release notes.
[*]Triage of what is included in an update. I think Agile needs to set folks expectations as go what goes into a bug vs a feature release and what'a reasonable timeframe. My impression, and it may be wrong, is that you guys are working on 3.9.1 rather than 3.9.0.1 Regardless of what version number nomenclature you are using, the least significant digit is reserved for bug resolution. I recommend that Agile determine with it's community what the optimum length of time is for such a release. Clearly, folks are saying 30 days is too long and I tend to agree. Speaking just for myself, I'd say that one week is about the right length of time, BUT, such a release is just for "Sev 1" bugs, possibly "Sev 2," depending on your definition. All other bugs are just included in the next "dot" feature/bug release
[list=1]
[*]For example: Not able to delete stuff = Sev 1 and would be included in 3.9.1.1 within a week
[*]Having a given login display incorrectly on one or more of the display modes, but still visible in others or when editing = Sev 3 and would be included in 3.9.2
[*]Adding the option to enable Growl Notifications (please yes) is a feature and would be included in 3.10.0
[*]Adding the ability for 1P to create a psychic link with it's user and neurally sync would be a major upgrade included in 4.0.0
[/list]
[/list]
So, I guess the net of all this is, more communication is better and that's not meant to discount the responsiveness of the Agile folks in this forum, but I think they often are forced to repeat themselves and often give unsatisfying answers because the above mentioned thought-work has not been done.
Finally, the key to the above suggestion working is everyone's understanding that these quick-release MAS updates are highly constrained to only seriously messed up bugs. Agile will have some work to do in educating what they think falls into that category initially, but I think it's worthwhile work.
It wasn't needed in the web-era of 1P, because releases came fast and furious (my apologies to AG Holder on his craptastic gun running plan), with MAS Agile is being much more deliberative because of the approval process and I think it could benefit from the points raised above...
So ends my 4 cents...
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Thanks for taking the time to write this up, The Doctor! I've been appreciating all your posts (including this one).
We don't have anything to announce about iCloud syncing at this time, but I should point out that [i]all[/i] applications in the Mac App Store will eventually need to be sandboxed regardless of whether they use iCloud or not. Small detail but just FWIW.
We've been [url="http://forum.agilebits.com/index.php?/topic/9334-1password-for-mac-389-released/"]posting release notes[/url] to the [url="http://forum.agilebits.com/index.php?/topic/9335-extension-version-386-is-now-available/"]appropriate threads[/url] when new versions are released, and I think we plan to do the same for the Mac App Store releases.
This is our first foray into the MAS, so we're learning a lot about the process. I can't say with any certainty, but I wouldn't be surprised if future updated were submitted more closely together. We've had a lot of work that needed to be done on the browser extensions, so our focus was more on that for a bit which had the benefit of being useful to not only our MAS customers but to folks using 1Password 3.8 as well.
That said, we are using our experience with the iTunes App Store to also guide us a bit so we are not [i]complete[/i] "noobs" when it comes to Apple's app approval process. <img src='http://forum.agilebits.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' />
I will make sure that Dave and Roustem get moving on the psychic link and neural syncing for 4.0, though. That project isn't as far along as we had been hoping it would be by now. <img src='http://forum.agilebits.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/skype_tongueout.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':-P' />Flag 0
