51
JS96
7y

//
// devRant unofficial UWP update
//

Hi to all Windows 10 users of my app (if you're not, it's never too late to improve yourself).

I really appreciate all your feedbacks on Microsoft Store and via email!
Thanks!

I'm working really hard on v2 to release it as soon as possible.
Since I'm alone and I have a lot of other commitments (university, sleeping, holidays), I would like to release a closed BETA for all users who want to test the new version and send feedbacks, bugs reports.

All you need to do to join the BETA is filling this form (https://jakubsteplowski.com/en/...) by September 15th.

I'm planning to release 3 BETA builds (this could change):

- v2 BETA 1: September
- v2 BETA 2: October
- v2 BETA 3: November
- v2 Stable: November/December

During the BETA phase you will receive the BETA builds as normal updates from the Microsoft Store, after the BETA you will start to receive the stable builds as all users.
Of course you can resign to be a BETA tester at anytime by contacting me.

Anyone who will join the BETA will be added to the "Special thanks" section in about.

Thanks in advance for your help! 😊

Comments
  • 4
    First of all you have an amazing website and a great app you did there, love the black theme.

    Secondly, I'd like to ask you something, does having a website like you have for your services and work help in getting freelance work? Or usually they just care about cost?
  • 4
    @JS96 Applied already, I can't wait for the beta to roll out!

    The link on the rant points to your main site and not on the application form on https://jakubsteplowski.com/en/...

    Maybe the parentheses messed up somehow the link?
  • 4
    @Qaldim thanks! I fixed the link.

    @gitpush: I just received a few job offerts. I don't know.
  • 2
    You are really working great on devRant UWP app.! *Thumbs up*👍👍👍👍
  • 1
    @JS96 is there a wpf equivalent? If not, would you be interested in me building a wpf option for us Windows 7 users?
  • 5
    @monr0e there isn't but @tahnik and other users are working on "devRantron", a cross-platform client.
    I don't think three client would be necessary on Windows.
    If you want you can contribute to their project: https://github.com/tahnik/... ;)
  • 2
    @js96 does the app work in Devices before anniv update?
  • 1
    @monr0e there is one created by @billgates and created based in wpf if i remember correctly
  • 4
    @CozyPlanes yep!
    It's compatible with all Windows 10 versions (from 10240 to 15063 and newer).

    Of course for the best experience is better to use the latest version of Windows 10.

    Because some interesting and nice UI proprieties are available with the latest versions.

    Ex.
    - Native GIFs (better performance) - Anniversary Update & newer.
    - Fluent Design - Creators Update.

    So the app will work on every device, but the UI will look slightly different on different OS versions.
  • 1
    @JS96 i have never received anniv update from lg
  • 3
    @CozyPlanes what device do you have?
  • 1
  • 5
    @CozyPlanes what?
    Desktops doesn't receive updates from the manufacture but directly from Microsoft...
    Use the Update Assistant to download the latest version: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...
  • 1
    Other commitments like sleeping? This isn't a necessity 😉
  • 1
    @CozyPlanes yea but mostly for myself. Devrantron seems the replacement when it comes out.

    Honestly I just use the Android app these days. Only use desktop if I want to upload a screenshot.
  • 1
    @js96 is there a git repo? I want to help if possible.
  • 3
    @Codex404 sorry, it's not open source for now, maybe it will be in future.
    One of the reasons is that I am not authorized to share the devRant API.
  • 1
    @monr0e upgrade to Windows 10! No reason to not to I think.
  • 1
    @MCCshreyas can't resolve the whole data collection stuff tbh, I think its a very worrying state of affairs and I'm not prepared to support it. Once Windows 7 is no longer a viable option I'll be moving to xfce on some distro. PlayonLinux is getting pretty good so I'm hopeful.
  • 3
    @monr0e If you keep your machine up to date, Microsoft introduced telemetry and data gathering to Windows 7 same as that of Windows 10. You can disable it (if you haven't done that already), but it's a bit of a bother.
  • 0
    @monr0e why do you hate yourself that much?
  • 4
    Hey, I am a UWP dev too, as u say u're alone, i think we can collaborate ?
  • 4
    @Prk123 thanks for the proposal. :)
    I'll think about it, but for now it's ok.

    When I work on projects like this I'm not very good to work in a team, but I will consider it when I will need help.
  • 3
    @JS96 Sure ! I wud just love to be part of devRant dev family 😀
  • 0
    Dammit, I'd love to sign-up, but I don't want to register my e-mail in the M$ store .-.
  • 4
    @Krokoklemme do you use Windows 10 without a MS account?
  • 1
    @JS96 yup, I've only created a local account
  • 3
    @Krokoklemme you have about 2 months to create an account if you want to join 😏
  • 1
    @billgates
    Are you allanx2000?

    so the thing in your github is just the csharp wrapper, not the app itself?

    Where is the app repo? And where can i get updates
  • 2
    @JS96 whatever... I dont have disk space to install updates 😂😂
  • 3
  • 1
    @CozyPlanes ??? its an app that wraps around the devRant REST API?

    I don't update it anymore TBH... It was built when devRant didn't have a lot of the features I wanted.... now it does and others have built ones with more features.
  • 1
    @Qaldim I don't just allow any and every update to be installed. I take my security very, very seriously. @RTRMS that's a very asinine statement - why are you so careless with your information?
  • 4
    @monr0e you take your security so seriously that you don't install security updates that block ransomwares?
  • 4
    That reminds me what my professor in Networks said once: "No system is secure in an online world, unless that system is not connected to a network."
  • 3
    @monr0e so what, rather use a slow, unstable insecure operating system, just so that Microsoft cannot get the information that Google, Facebook, Apple, and all the rest already have and probably sell to them anyway. It's 2017, if you so worried about your info, I hear the desert has some nice caves filled with the other tinfoil hat wearers.

    Fuck, even IDE's log anonymous user info these days.
  • 0
    @RTRMS If you're worried about your info, you can use OS's, softwares and services which respect your privacy :). Privacy is a thing that some people take very seriously!
  • 0
    @RTRMS my system can hardly be categorised as slow. It is perfectly adequate for my needs. @JS96 part of the ransomeware issue is user actions. I have a closed network that is firewalled, and I don't have any need to open unknown attachments. Smb isn't a problem because I have no need for it, so the only realistic vector of attack is the compromisation of legitimate software. Since its a rarity that I'm the first to install new software, I usually have a litany of information about it beforehand. If there's a problem, I have plenty of virtual environments in which to test.

    Perhaps one of the biggest issues surrounding security is the actions of users. I take as much precaution as I can reasonably do so, rendering the risk to my equipment as minimal as yours. My approach won't sit well with everyone, but in my opinion it is a concerning state of affairs when metadata collection on such a scale is an acceptable price for stable technology.
  • 0
    @monr0e well, enjoy the past and your underperforming machine. I'll enjoy free speed, better support, and MS can have all they fun they want knowing my porn habits. Hek, maybe I'll introduce them to something interesting.
  • 0
    @linuxxx yes, but not really in the mood for writing my own operating system for both my PC and phone and then on top of that writing all the associated drivers and then applications.

    We live in an online world, without writing everything yourself, your not getting away from someone knowing a lot of something's about you.

    Every browser you use, every site you own, every device connected to any form of network is collecting some form of information about you. Privacy in the Internet age is becoming a myth, and until I start blowing up building or arrested for crimes I am planning on committing, the information they know about me serves nothing more than for them to server better adverts to my adblocker. It's no secret I hate my president, most of my country does. I have pretty standard porn interests, all my games are on steam and all my streaming is through Netflix, video, YouTube and Google music. So far, all the tons of info they have collected has made finding things to watch and listen to, a pleasure.
  • 0
    @RTRMS Privacy on the Internet is rapidly becoming a myth, true. But I'd like to be one of the few people who keeps on fighting for it. Yes, a lot of companies, sites and systems collect information from you but you can limit that by carefully choosing what you use. That's not for everybody but it doesn't void the reasons behind it for the ones who do.
  • 0
    @RTRMS I strongly suggest you read the following post: https://reddit.com/r/changemyview/...

    I also realise I was unnecessarily inflammatory in some of my above comments, please forgive me.
  • 0
    @monr0e oh, never noticed,but isn't inflammatory just smart people having an educated conversation. Lol.
  • 4
    @monr0e I think everyone here lost his privacy when he signed a contract with an ISP.
    They store logs about your activity.
    Do you use a VPN all the time?
    They also could store logs.
    Do you block all cookies on your browser?
    How do you even live?

    Talking about "MS spys us",
    The data they collect aren't secret (you can find a complete list on internet), and the service which does it is called DiagTrack, you can find its PID to analyze its activity.
    They store:
    - Info about your HW (CPU, installed memory, storage).
    - Uptime & sleep details
    - Number of crashes and hangs
    - List of installed apps and drivers
    - And other info about the stability and security

    Which of these informations are going agnaist your privacy?
    The list of apps? Surely they give a fuck about what software do you use.

    I'm not saying that privacy isn't important, but believing that the companies and governament organizations that want to know everything about us don't know it yet is absurd. And MS isn't part of them.
  • 3
    @JS96 that's why I say, privacy is becoming an illusion, and really most of the data companies collect is mundane and benefits us as much as it does them, while they making money through advertising and what not,we benefit through our lives being made easier.

    And to be honest, much of what they collect is not through effective spying, but through what we willingly post on social media.

    We still years away from them being able to use the data in ways more meaningful than marketing. Look at Spotify piss poor attempt at using your listening habits to determine your personality.
  • 0
    @JS96 I'm not saying I implicitly trust them, but my ISP has vowed never to maintain a log of their subscribers. Prior to this, it wasn't something I directly had to worry about, as I merely used a PAYG 4g sim.

    A log of my hardware info isn't directly concerning, as this information isn't unique enough to identify me by. Millions of people have i5 systems with 32GB memory and a meh-grade GPU. My concern is with usage data, not data about hardware.

    As for my error logs or information about what applications I have installed, this is unlikely on the system I maintain. Any such comprehensive list would be quite sizeable, as this information changes several times a day, often by several orders of magnitude.

    I'm not foolish enough to believe that no data is being collected about my equipment or what resides on my equipment, but I take steps to minimise this information and make it as non-unique as possible. Where it comes to mobile devices, I accept that this isn't as easy to do.
  • 0
    @JS96 I do, however, still make an effort. I run a slimmed-down OS, the account I use is not connected to a name, and I do not attach payment information to it. Other steps are taken to provide disguised information where I deem it necessary. In fact, although this takes several hours of preparation, there are some interesting benefits to it - my battery life rivals that of early brick phones, and my handset is incredibly quick and responsive.

    Yes - I'm an absolute privacy nut - but the idea that information about parts of my life that I would not share with friends being available to strangers is abhorrent to me, and makes my skin crawl.
  • 3
    @monr0e Nothing against you and I don't mean to offend you, but it looks like a phobia...

    And the most strange thing about what you say, is that it seems that you care more about the informations that MS can store from your activity on a PC, than about the informations some company can store from your activity on your mobile phone, where they also can know exactly where you are and when. Google and others know where live, where you work and spend a lot of time.

    Windows 10 is used by more than 400 milion people. And it seems, for me, more plausible to believe that they want to collect a lot of information about the causes of crashes and hangs to improve the software without spend money on QA and to show you some recommended apps from the store, than believe that they want to know what you exactly do (what info you put) on apps, etc.

    It's multiple times easier to know who you are and what you do by collecting info from social networks and smartphones than OSs.
    But it's just my opinion.
  • 1
    @JS96 could you add hover/press effects on buttons? I dont get any feedback
  • 3
    @Codex404 they will be present. :)
    What do you mean by "I don't get any feedback?"
  • 1
    @JS96 well i dont get feedback when hovering over the menu or other buttons on PC. On phone its even worde since sometimes I press twice since its not giving me feedback I pressed it.

    Also might want to color the ++/- symbols afyer being clicked and turn them of when the request fails. The amount of times I toggle them 4 times in a row is immense.
  • 4
    @Codex404 ok, I got it now. :)

    In v2 a hover and press effect will be present on buttons.
    And the ++ reaction will be instant (in case of fail you will receive an alert, but the color will change instantly). :)
  • 0
    @JS96 its a very key moral principle, not a phobia.

    Microsoft have primarily a financial interest, yes. Its not this that I'm concerned about, its the principle and the precedent that it sets. Very little of this would have been acceptable twenty years, or even ten years, ago, and the rapid changes that have come about to make it acceptable terrify me.

    Phones have always been a security problem - whether it be the old Motorola bricks that had wiretapping functionality for LEAs to use, or the ability to triangulate a phone's position to within around ten square metres. That hasn't really changed, it has only become easier to do from a distance.

    Nevertheless, when it comes to our computers, what we consider acceptable is become very broad and very inclusive, in a very short space of time.
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