Having seen that the SOS Android app is planned for release in 2013 can I ask 1) will it be structured similarly to the rather spiffy iPad version and 2) any idea when (so I can manage my paper mag sub)?

Merry Xmas to all

A.

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Andi, www.thedustbowl.net Mixing, Mastering, Audio Editing at The Dustbowl Audio

1. yes -- the android app is generated by the same software and from the same source files.

2. No idea, but I'm told it is imminent and only requires some minor back-office administration to be completed.

H

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

Thanks Hugh & merry Christmas!

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Andi, www.thedustbowl.net Mixing, Mastering, Audio Editing at The Dustbowl Audio

Hi,

Kinda crap that there is no android version already. My subs is about to expire but I think I will wait and see what happens here before renewal.

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Brian Gardiner

Just thought I'd give this a little buff and bump whilst I'm logged-on, just in case anyone's looking and thinking "what shall I finish tomorrow?" .

A.

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Andi, www.thedustbowl.net Mixing, Mastering, Audio Editing at The Dustbowl Audio

I'm told the android version of the iPad magazine is hoped to be launched within three months...

H

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

Woo Hoo, though suddenly I'm missing the idea of the paper copy

Alongside SOS my other consistent read is Tape Op which has just ceased paper subs in the UK, but has made issues available online. It's good because it's portable and available, but I miss the Saturday morning (I always save both mags for the weekend) Coffee, Toast, headphones in the living room and ink on paper. Is it possible to actually BECOME a Luddite do you think? Anyway, I'm off to have a comforting rummage through my valve drawer.



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Andi, www.thedustbowl.net Mixing, Mastering, Audio Editing at The Dustbowl Audio

I've not yet taken up reading Tape Op on a tablet, and my own experience of most magazines on tablets has mostly been both hugely disappointing and immensely frustrating. Most publishers, it seems, think that exporting the printed page as a pdf (or similar) file is all that is needed....

However, this is far from the case, and results in endless pinch-zooming in and out, and dragging the page portion all over the tablet screen to read the text. Hideous!

In contrast the SOS team has worked very hard to creat a bespoke app which completely optimises the magazine content for the tablet screen. There is no zooming in and out, or dragging the text around. Everything is reformated to work perfectly on the screen.

Two columns of text instead of three.

A sensible typeface size that is easily readable at normal tablet-viewing distances.

The different pages in long articles are reached by a simple vertical flip from one page to the next. The rest of the magazine (including all the ads) are thumbed through by horizontal flicks.

Detailed images can be zoomed in where appropriate. Front and back panels can be scrolled side to side to examine in closeup.

Audio and video clips are embedded and instantly available.

The 'added value content' that we can't squeeze into the fixed page-count paper mag, and which has to go online instead, is properly included as an integral part of the tablet magazine (because there are no page count restrictions). So, in the case of any of my reviews, the test plots are all integrated with the article, instead of tucked away on a distant webpage.

Everything is downloaded to the tablet, so you don't need to be online to read the mag... but if you are online, all webslinks in articles amd adverts are active

It's all very intuitive, straightforward and - actually -- very enjoyable and pleasing to use. And I now actually prefer reading the iPad edition to the traditional paper version!

The Android version should work in pretty much the same way as the iPad version... and judging from my own experience with a relaxing weekend cuppa-joe on a saturday morning, it works just as well, if not better, that the paper version!

hugh


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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

I'll second that - I've looked at a few mag subs and given-up in disgust. A friend with an IPad downloaded the SOS sample issue and I was really impressed with the format - it just works so well. One of the better other mags out there is Premier Guitar which is a free esub or trivially cheap tablet sub. Each issue downloads as and E Copy with all the ads and pages that need to be zoomed and slid, and also as a reformatted version of each article as a very clean single column - not dissimilar to what Pocket does for saved webpages.

Personally I'd rather wait and have it done well.

Thanks Hugh.

A.

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Andi, www.thedustbowl.net Mixing, Mastering, Audio Editing at The Dustbowl Audio

Quote Hugh Robjohns:

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I'm told the android version of the iPad magazine is hoped to be launched within three months...

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CC

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Put the fun back into dysfunctional.
Mr Punch's Studio

That's 3 of us on this forum alone supporting Android - no wonder Apple's worrying!

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Andi, www.thedustbowl.net Mixing, Mastering, Audio Editing at The Dustbowl Audio

4...

Wonder why Apple OS got precedence(?) Though SOS aren't the only business to have developed for iOS first then Android. Just wondering what the rationale for this was when obviously the market share is dominated by Android. Or was it a case of diving in at the deep end?

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I'm All Ears.

I'm waiting for Android version, though a Kindle version would be cross platform and surely save a lot of SOS man hours maintaining.

Quote ken long:

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Just wondering what the rationale for this was when obviously the market share is dominated by Android.

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There's probably a number of reasons - this article from Dec 2012 lists a few, like the difficulties of developing for an increasingly fragmented market, and lack of uptake.

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/12/30/no-more-tnw-magazin...

Quote:

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To give you some insight in how little uptake we saw on Android here are some statistics: for every Android user that downloads an Android magazine we have 80 iOS downloads.

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Just because there are more Android devices than iOS devices, that doesn't mean there's more demand for SOS on that platform.

But have you seen how rubbish most Android mags are? I buy the occasional Guitar Techniques mag, IOS gets embedded video, live tab and audio links; Android doesn't even get the cover disc audio content and the tab doesn't scale. Ditto Classic Rock. It's self fulfilling; I don't buy the Android copy because it's lazily produced rubbish. I'd cancel my paper mags tonight for Android subs that were close to the quality of the SOS BIOS app.


I'll very happily beta the imminent SOS app by the way.

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Andi, www.thedustbowl.net Mixing, Mastering, Audio Editing at The Dustbowl Audio

Quote Hugh Robjohns:

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I'm told the android version of the iPad magazine is hoped to be launched within three months...

H

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I'm starting to get all tingly in case anyone wants to know.

Um, hang-on a mo; I hope that doesn't mean that SOS will be launching an Android magazine about iPads

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Andi, www.thedustbowl.net Mixing, Mastering, Audio Editing at The Dustbowl Audio

I think they call that over share, don't they? Keep your tingling to yourself!

Android beta testing is currently in progress...

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

Looking forward to it; I actually came close to buying an iPad Mini last week simply because it's the platform that supports a thousand toys that I don't need to play with and publications I don't need to read, but I'm sure that the world will catch-on eventually. Hopefully now that Sonoma appears to have proven that low-latency is possible on Android the floodgates will open and.........................ah well

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Andi, www.thedustbowl.net Mixing, Mastering, Audio Editing at The Dustbowl Audio

Quote Hugh Robjohns:

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Android beta testing is currently in progress...

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Well all I can say is it had beta be good!



CC

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Put the fun back into dysfunctional.
Mr Punch's Studio

Beta be beta than good! And yes, it's going to be a long weekend.

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Andi, www.thedustbowl.net Mixing, Mastering, Audio Editing at The Dustbowl Audio

Big News, here at SOS we are looking for help in beta testing our Android App! Head over here for all the details.

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Assistant Web Editor, Sound On Sound

...and I was just about to bump this to hint that Friday PM might be a nice time for an update - my details sent.

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Andi, www.thedustbowl.net Mixing, Mastering, Audio Editing at The Dustbowl Audio