Multiple User Support

New Features:

• Added multiple user support. Now you can control a bunch of Foursquare accounts simply from one app. Hit your menu button from the main screen to change or add accounts.***
• Added option to hide the ongoing notification.

 Bug Fixes:

• Fixed the broken default visibility setting.
• Fixed the broken reminders issue.
• Generally improved loading times and stability. All caching is now done via local database instead of in memory.  This is better for almost every user.

 Other changes:

• Temporarily removed the venue prediction on main screen.

***The foursquare mobile login page doesn't play nicely with multiple accounts.  I'm working with them to get this simplified.  You may have to hit the log out button and exit the app to get this to work.  If you have trouble drop me an email and I'll help you with it.  support@checkinassistant.com

Download it now:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.thepoofy.cia

http://twitter.com/checkinasst

Support for Celebrities and Bug Fixes

Not much more to say than that.  I got a lot of great feedback very quickly after 2.0.3 and wanted to fix stuff quickly. You should see reminders work much better and those celebrity users can now share with followers.

So get the app here but leave your thoughts in the comments or on twitter.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.thepoofy.cia

http://twitter.com/checkinasst

Version 2.0.3 is now live in the Android Market

This might be primarily a bug fix release with a few changes users have been asking for.  I'm really hoping (fingers crossed) this handles the background crashing issue some users have been dealing with.  Please let me know in the comments if you have issues with this version.

Bug fixes:

• App closing silently when running in the background
• App not starting with the phone
• App crashing on first load.

New feature:

• Ongoing notification to tell you the app is still alive and how often it's updating.
• Is being more stable a feature?

Upcoming (halfway done stuff):

• Changing the distance to feet / yards instead of metric
• Better account management 
• Better sharing for "Celebrity" accounts

Check in Assistant is now live on the Android Market

Download Check in Assistant in the Android Market:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.thepoofy.cia

Leave feedback for me here or on twitter.com/checkinasst


Thanks to everyone who helped in the design, development and testing.

• Rob Vanderhoef - Little brother and Designer of Logos and Icons - http://robvanderhoef.com
• Josh Ross - Development and the nudge to get me working on it.  http://twitter.com/joshuanross
• Brian Diva Cox - Testing... seriously he gave me feedback on nearly every beta version!  http://twitter.com/MagicsWebpage

Now available: Beta 7

This release is a bunch of bug fixes to common issues.

Changes Made:
  - Reminder Notification will now take you to the Edit Venue Settings page
  - Check box to toggle background service is located toward top of Main page.
  - List for "Your next check-in" now has 3 venues listed.


http://williamvanderhoef.com/checkinassistant/Beta7/CheckinAssistant.apk

Feedback is appreciated.  I'd really like to know how accurate the "Your Next Check-in" is for you.  tweet me at http://twitter.com/checkinasst 

Beta 6 - Now Predicting your Check-Ins

Only change - Added up to 2 venues to your main activity tab that you are most likely to be checking in to.

The algorithm for this was built overnight so I apologize if this version is buggier than the previous version.

If you don't want to set the predicted location as a favorite you can use the options menu on the edit settings page to directly check-in to that spot.

Get Beta 6 here:
http://williamvanderhoef.com/checkinassistant/Beta6/CheckinAssistant.apk

And please post feedback in the comments or on twitter to @checkinasst


Thanks!

Beta 5 - I use this more than the real Foursquare app

Right where you would expect to find it: http://williamvanderhoef.com/checkinassistant/Beta5/CheckinAssistant.apk

Major Changes:
 Added Default Global Settings for distance to venue, time between check-in, and visibility


 Added Dynamic Location Update Timer.  This reduces power usage and improves location updates for devices without wifi or gps.
  Added ability to Directly Check-In from Venue Settings Activity.  Just click your options button from there to do a quick check-in.  This is great after you click on your nearby notification.

Minor Changes:
  Added image icons for all menus.
  Menu items to update location and refresh data separately.

Next Scheduled Changes:
  Josh will be building a few ways to Check-In without entering venue settings.
  The first secret feature!

Please follow me on twitter @checkinasst.  I follow all followers and answer dm's asap.

Beta 4! Already?

Yes, I am continuing my work at breakneck pace.  Beta 4 is available at the same spot: http://williamvanderhoef.com/checkinassistant/Beta4/CheckinAssistant.apk.

Major Changes:
  Added logic to keep track of the last automated checkin and notification.
  Fixed the check-in time (that's been bugging me).


Minor Changes:
  Huge memory reduction in background tasks.
  Made the checkin history a little cleaner (text spacing)
  Removed the logo from the global settings page.

Next Scheduled Changes:
  Updating the global settings page.

Then testing for other devices!

Beta 3 of version 2.0 is now live.

The first fully functional build has been released to http://williamvanderhoef.com/checkinassistant/CheckinAssistant.apk.

Please uninstall any previous Beta Versions prior to installing Beta 3.

Major Changes:
  Added Automated Check-In functionality
  Allow for nearby notification or check-in for any favorite place
  Improved UI on the Venue Settings page (Thanks Josh! - @joshuanross)


Minor Changes:
  Added menu to main screen
  Fixed some bugs in the activity flow
  Smaller application size (200k less)


Next Scheduled Changes:
  Updates to the Global Settings screen including default settings
  Ability to check in by clicking on a location

Version 2.0 Beta 2

Another update has been published to http://williamvanderhoef.com/checkinassistant/CheckinAssistant.apk. 

Major Changes:
  Improved background service

Minor Changes:
  Improved Venue Settings

This update fixed the background service issues.  The application will now show a notification for the most recent location you've been close enough to check-in to.  We did improve the look of the Venue Settings page so you'll see real facebook/twitter icons instead of checkboxes.  Big thanks to my friend Josh Ross who has started contributing to the project with his Venue Settings update.

Next Scheduled Change:
  Adding Automatic Checkins

The application does not do automatic checkins, but I want to test that myself before ruining your foursquare experience. 

Checkin Assistant 2.0 Beta 1

Whew.... that only took 6 months. 

Beta 1 is stable but will not actually perform any check-ins.  This version will put an alert in your status bar to tell you that you are very near a place that is in your favorites.

Obviously, this is because I plan on giving the user the ability to either check-in or remind them that they should check-in. 

Here it is:  http://williamvanderhoef.com/checkinassistant/CheckinAssistant.apk

If you see any issues that the application is running in the background when it shouldn't or that GPS isn't working on your phone please let me know.  Include the version of Android, which phone you have and any other details you can figure out for me.  Send it to info@checkinassistant.com

Thanks!

PS: Beta 2 will include the reminder and check-in abilities, but first things first.

Foursquare V2 API

Tonight I completed a first functional use of a JSON to Java deserialization of the User object returned by the Foursquare V2 API. 

In laymen terms I can now automatically translate from the original data format to an Android friendly format really fast!  I first did this with the Mayorships widget found on http://williamvanderhoef.com and feel really good about it. 

It might seem like nothing, maybe not even worth the post here, but I am still very committed to bringing a ton of new features in the coming weeks.  The roadmap starts with OAuth 2.0 logins, includes a full location engine rewrite and a few surprise goodies from another very useful service. This will definitely end up being called Checkin Assistant 2.0.

There's a big snow storm bearing down on NYC overnight and I'm hoping to get snowed in to keep working on this.

v1.2.5 - The Connection Bug Fix and Landscape Login Screen

Just finished publishing the new versions (free and premium) and I can absolutely confirm that users experiencing the "Cannot Connect to Foursquare" will no longer have this issue.  Some other minor bugs were fixed. 

This version adds updated images and a landscape layout for the Login screen.

Let me know what you think!

A free version of Checkin Assistant? Yup!

I call this an experiment in business models.  Currently both the Free and $0.99 versions are IDENTICAL.  You might say, "That's not smart why would I pay a dollar for something I can get for free?" 

I'm not a published economist so I shall refer you to a collection of articles from people that are experts:  http://www.techdirt.com/index.php?edition=entrepreneurs

Simply put, if you like the app and want the newest features spend the dollar and you'll get updates sooner and more often.  I'd anticipate releases for the paid version will come every other week but the free version may be monthly or less.

Thanks and happy foursquaring!
Let me know what you think on http://twitter.com/checkinasst or here in the comments.

Will

Release Notes for v1.2.3 and v1.2.2

First, the changes to v1.2.3!
This version is a very minor update that ensures the app will not crash if no location providers are enabled. 
As a reminder... Checkin Assistant cannot perform automated check-ins if GPS and Network locations are turned off. 

Next: v1.2.2
This update was relatively minor and contained two quick changes.
A link to this blog was added to the log-in page in version 1.2.1 but on some devices (but not the emulator) the link was displayed directly on top of the log-in button!  As you can imagine that's really frustrating.  That's been fixed.

Second was a message to notify users that they have no active internet connection.  Several users have complained of a "Cannot connect to Foursquare." message and there may be several reasons behind this and I wanted the app to do a better job of explaining why. 

The long awaited 1.2.1 is now live!

In addition to all the goodies I was talking about in the previous post there will be a few unannounced features in this release.

New Feature #1:  Facebook and Twitter
     As mentioned yesterday you may now share your check-ins on Twitter and Facebook.  Both of these are disabled by default on any new favorite just like the "Share with Friends" option.  I don't want any stories of spoiled surprise parties being my application's fault.

New Feature #2:  SSL Encryption
     Not much more to say about that.  Foursquare takes privacy seriously and @naveen is my hero so what he says goes.  I'll add OAuth in a future release but this is much more secure than before.

New Feature #3:  High Resolution Images
     The images are now much larger and clearer than before.  Yay!

New Feature #4:  It doesn't have any issues connecting to Foursquare
     Not really a feature but if you'd like to rethink that 1 star rating I'd be a very happy code monkey.

1.2.1 is now being tested for a release!

There are three changes being made in this release and two of them are user requested.  Please give me one more day to test this release just to be safe!

Change #1: Foursquare API Rewrite (from users)
   Several users have emailed me that Checkin Assistant has issues and a "Cannot connect to Foursquare." message is displayed despite having no connection issues outside the app. 

I said: "That's crazy, I never saw that... oh....[expletive deleted]!"

So I did some homework and found a robust connection system that someone else already built! 

Change #2:  Facebook and Twitter
   This is something I've wanted to add for a while.  I figured if I'm going to do so much testing I should probably throw in the Twitter and Facebook integration. 

Change #3:  The "It never checks me in!" issue (from users)
    Several users have complained that they haven't seen a single check-in done by their Checkin Assistant. This is most likely because the calculation of your location by network triangulation is considered inaccurate by 100 to 400 meters.  This release will relax this restriction from 100 meters to 400 meters. 
If you aren't being checked in often enough, turn on GPS and then disable and enable the Checkin Assistant in settings.  I would rather this app err on the side of caution.


Clarification of issue: "It checked me in too quickly."
    Well I know 2 users that would love to have that problem but one user has emailed me to say that he was checked in 6 times in 20 minutes which exceeds the Foursquare check-in limit of 3 every 15 minutes even though he set the app to check-in once every 20 minutes. 

I might make a change in the future to limit the check-ins to 3 in 15, but I want to keep the fine grain control in the hands of the user.  If you set a Checkin Radius that is too large or your location signal isn't accurate enough this will happen. Look at the "Distance(m)" while you're at that venue and make sure the checkin radius you set won't include your other favorites. 

If you're in doubt and don't want to be checked in automatically... don't set that location as a favorite!

FYI: If you're accidentally checked in you can always delete the check-in on http://foursquare.com/history.  

So much testing. So many improvements.

Where to begin.  Version 1.1.2 was kind of embarrassing.  I've learned that unless you've thoroughly tested it yourself, then it shouldn't be considered ready for the world to see.

I spent nearly 12 hours of wandering around my hometown of Hoboken, NJ using the Checkin Assistant and have set it up to do about a dozen real world check-ins for me and it is working quite well.  If you're having a problem with it on your device please email support@checkinassistant.com.

So what has been changed?

• Added Notifications for all check-ins
• Added tab to Search for venues
• Moved Settings to a menu
• Decrease database usage
• Improved location handling

Notice the big red star in the notification bar, this indicates a check-in was done for you.  These photos show the result of me searching for a pizza place.  (Yes I'm still working on my Pizzaiolo badge.)

Bugs fixed! Get 1.1.2 now!

As promised the login bugs have been squashed.  Thanks for all your emails and support.  I'm trying my hardest to make this the best automatic checkin system on Android.

Let me know what I can do to make this a better app at support@checkinassistant.com

Bug found in 1.1.1 - Thanks J. Lloyd

An update will be made available on Sunday evening!!!

A new user (J. Lloyd) was kind enough to point out via email that 1.1.1 has a bug with the login that is preventing some users from logging in to the Checkin Assistant.

This is not the fault of your network provider or Foursquare.  I've rewritten the login and will be doing some testing between now and Sunday night when I make the update available.

If you have any issues at all please email support@checkinassistant.com

Thanks,
Will