What's new in CLZ Comics Mobile? 2023
We’re closing in on the end of the year, so it is time for the
CLZ Comics Wrap-Up 2023!
We have done some queries on our Core online comic database to gather popularity stats, based on usage of the CLZ comic database app and sofware. Using the results of those queries, CLZ Justin created this nice infographic with top 10 lists.
Enjoy!
This it, the very last New Comic Book Day of 2023! This “between X-Mas and New Year” week, we only have half of the CLZ Team at the office, so we were quite happy to see that today was one of the smallest NCBDs of the year, with only 460 new releases. That is, when counting all variants. Without counting variants, the total comes to 181 actual new issues.
Rowdy and Justin did all the work this week and just an hour ago, they finished adding all 460 new releases to our Core online comic database. All entries have been made as complete as possible, with the actual cover art, variant descriptions, creator information (with correct Cover Artists listed for all variants), etc.. etc…
Phew, finally a “slower week”, with “only” 547 new releases. For a total of 273 actual new issues.
All of them have just been added to our Core online comic database by the CLZ Content Team (Rowdy, Justin and Taco). They have made the entries as complete as possible, with the actual cover art, variant descriptions, creator information (with correct Cover Artists listed for all variants), etc.. etc…
CLZ Comics 9 Feature Hilite: two new tools for quickly finding an issue
Here it is, the 3rd and final “v9 feature hilite” email. Today’s email is about two new tools we added for quickly finding a specific issue in your database:
- Issue Search: use the search box top right to search for a specific issue, e.g. “amazing 362”
- Jump to Issue button (aka, the “sniper” button”): tap, enter issue number, bam you’re there.
BTW: if you missed them, you can still read the first two v9 feature hilite emails on our CLZ blog:
- The new Check Value screen for quick checking a CovrPrice value, without having to add the comic to your app.
- The new Collections Tab Bar, for easily switching between collections using tabs at the bottom of your screen.
Over 600 (!!) new releases on this week’s New Comic Book Day! To be precise, 601 total variants, for 296 actual new issues.
The CLZ Content Team (Rowdy, Justin and Taco) just finished adding them all to our Core online comic database, as complete as possible, with the actual cover art, variant descriptions, creator information (with correct Cover Artists listed for all variants), etc.. etc…
Here’s my second “v9 feature hilite” email, about the next big feature of last week’s CLZ Comics v9 release.
(tip: if you missed feature hilite #1, you can read it here)
Today, we are going to discuss the new collections tab-bar.
It’s New Comic Book Day! 480 new variants this week, for a total of 214 actual new issues.
All these new comic books are now available in the CLZ Core database, complete with cover art, variant descriptions, creator info, etc… Just open the Add Comics screen and use the Pull List tab to browse the new releases.
What’s New:
- New “Delete CLZ Account” option in Settings
Last week, we released version 9.0 of the CLZ Comics mobile app, our biggest update ever! So big in fact, that you may not even have checked out all the new features.
To help you get started with all new stuff, I am going to do three “v9 feature hilite” emails, each one highlighting one of the three big features of this update.
Today, we’re gonna take a look at the CovrPrice related improvements, for getting comic values in your CLZ App.
New:
- Updated Values report now also has the CovrPrice Content bar with latest blogposts from the CovrPrice website
Fixed:
- Value totals were missing in card view and cover view
New:
- Updated Values report now also has the CovrPrice Content bar with latest blogposts from the CovrPrice website
- Tablet: Value Lookup screen now has a full width CovrPrice Content bar
Fixed:
- Value Lookup screen: panel sizes weren’t remembered between sessions
It is live, a major v9.0 upgrade for our CLZ Comics app. Looking at our history of app updates, I can safely say that this is our biggest update ever! Lots of new features and improvements, all in one go.
There is something for everyone: a big new tool for CovrPrice subscribers, new features for users with multiple collections and finally, something that all users will love and use every day: two new ways to quickly find a specific issue in your app.
Here’s what new in v9:
- New comic value features for CovrPrice subscribers:
- New Check Value screen: look up a CovrPrice value for a comic, without having to add it to your app!
- Value totals at the top of each issue list: see values per Series, or per Storage Box, per Publisher, etc…
- New features for users with multiple collections:
- Collection tabs: easily switch between collections using tabs at the bottom of the screen
- Improved Manage Collections screen
- Two new tools for quickly finding a specific issue:
- Issue Search: use the search box top right to search for a specific issue, e.g. “amazing 362”
- Jump to Issue button (aka, the “sniper” button”): tap, enter issue number, bam you’re there.
- Other:
- Improved main app menu (no more collection entries)
- Maintenance menu: new “Remove all unused pick list entries”
It’s New Comic Book Day! 510 new variants this week, for a total of 210 actual new issues.
All these new comic books are now available in the CLZ Core database, complete with cover art, variant descriptions, creator info, etc… Just open the Add Comics screen and use the Pull List tab to browse the new releases.
Join CLZ Comics on Facebook or Discord
Our “CLZ Comics” group on Facebook (over 22,000 members) and our new Discord server (169 members already!) are great communities for talking about the CLZ Comics app, about the Core online comic database or about comics in general.
Click here to join:
There we go again, our busiest day of the week: New Comic Book Day. 515 new variants this week, for a total of 247 actual new issues.
All these new comic books are now available in the CLZ Core database, complete with cover art, variant descriptions, creator info, etc… Just open the Add Comics screen and use the Pull List tab to browse the new releases.
NEW: CLZ Comics is now on Discord!
Our “CLZ Comics” group on Facebook is a huge success (over 22,000 members now) and a great place to talk about the app or about comics in general.
But of course, not everyone is on Facebook… So today we have started a CLZ Comics server on Discord!
»» Click here to join us on Discord! ««
It’s Wednesday, so… new comic books! Today brings us 470 new releases, counting all variants (224 actual new issues).
All these new comic books are now available in the CLZ Core database, complete with cover art, variant descriptions, creator info, etc… Just open the Add Comics screen and use the Pull List tab to browse the new releases.
TIP: join our “CLZ Comics” group on Facebook
(21,800 members!)
The “CLZ Comics” group on Facebook is THE best place to ask questions about the CLZ Comics app and the Comic Connect web-based software. You will get quick answers from other users OR from the CLZ crew.
To find the group, just do a Facebook search for “CLZ Comics” or use this direct link. After visiting the group page, click the “Join” button to join.
It’s our busiest day of the week again, the day our content team is preparing all of this week’s new comic book releases. Today’s NCBD we added 473 new releases for you (230 unique new issues).
TIP: use the Pull List feature to discover all this week’s new releases
- tap the + icon on the bottom right to open the Add Comics screen
- go to the Pull List tab (top right)
- within the Pull List tab, set the week selector (top left) to “This week”
- and go to the sub-tab called “Discover”
This will give you all NCDB releases, grouped by series. Or, tap the “All Releases” entry at the top to scroll them all in one big list!
Fixed:
- Problematic scroll behaviour in Add Comics screen, Series tab.
Changed:
- For new users: no more Demo Mode
Fixed on iOS:
- Edit screen: Picking something from a pick list: The search could mess up your choice
- The sync button could show on details view
- Custom Label foldering was broken
Yes another nice update for CLZ Comics app, version 8.10 already (time to start thinking about calling it version 9!).
In this update:
- Add Comics / Series : better “In Collection” indicators when using Hide Variants mode
- Two improvements to the Search box in main screen
- Lots of fixes for big and small problems that were reported by users
A relatively “slow” New Comic Book Day, with “only” 432 new releases (175 unique new issues).
All 432 new releases can now be found and added through the Add Comics screen, by series, by issue or by barcode. Alternatively, use the Pull List tab to browse all of this week’s releases in one list, and just add from there.
It is getting crazier and crazier: 677 new releases on this week’s New Comic Book Day!
Without counting variants, there are 290 unique new issues.
The CLZ content team has been working hard the past few days to make them all available in the CLZ Core, with cover images, variant descriptions and cover artist info. Enjoy!
If you have been active in our CLZ Comics group on Facebook, you are probably aware that many questions in the group can be answered with:
“Just use Manage Pick Lists”
Renaming Storage Boxes, Merging duplicate Series, fixing series sort problems, fixing typos in creator names, etc… it is all done in the Manage Pick Lists screen. An important and powerful screen, but… not so easy to find if you don’t know where to look or don’t even know what to look for.
With this update, we are trying to fix all that. We have made the screen much more accessible / discoverable AND we have made several improvements to the MPL screen itself.
We just back got from NYCC (check out some photos here) and are already at the office, completing all of today’s NCDB release in our Core online comic database.
It’s a long list today, with 580 new comics, counting variants. Without counting variants, there are 277 unique new issues.
All of them are now ready for you in Core, with cover images, variant descriptions and cover artist info.
TIP: use the Pull List feature to discover all this week’s new releases
- tap the + icon on the bottom right to open the Add Comics screen
- go to the Pull List tab (top right)
- within the Pull List tab, set the week selector (top left) to “This week”
- and go to the sub-tab called “Discover”
This will give you all NCDB releases, grouped by series. Or, tap the “All Releases” entry at the top to scroll them all in one big list!
This update is all about the Pre-fill screen, you know, the screen that appears when adding items and lets you pre-fill fields while adding, like Raw/Slabbed, Grade, Grading Company, Purchase Date/Store/Price, etc…
This Pre-fill screen was introduced in Jan 2021, with a fixed set of fields. Then a year later, in Jan 2022, it was made completely user configurable, so that *you* could choose which fields appeared on the screen.
This screen turned out to be a popular tool, but we’ve seen one problem with it:
Sometimes, users pre-fill a field for a specific comic (e.g. Purchase Price or Quantity), then forget to CLEAR it for the next comics they add. Causing lots of comics to be added with that same field set incorrectly.
So today, we are making another tweak to the Pre-fill screen:
- The Pre-fill screen now highlights filled fields in orange, so that they stand out more.
- Also, we added a “Clear” button, to quickly clear all Pre-fill fields.
Fixed
- iOS: iPad: Year folders: the wrong year folder could be selected sometimes.
It’s NCBD today and not only that, it’s NYCC week too. (Four members of the CLZ team will be present at the NYCC!)
This week, we added 538 new releases for you. That is, if we count all variants. If we do not take variants into account, we arrive at 241 unique new issues.
All of them are now available in Core, with cover art, variant descriptions and cover artists.
TIP: use the Pull List feature to discover all this week’s new releases
- tap the + icon on the bottom right to open the Add Comics screen
- go to the Pull List tab (top right)
- within the Pull List tab, set the week selector (top left) to “This week”
- and go to the sub-tab called “Discover”
This will give you all NCDB releases, grouped by series. Or, tap the “All Releases” entry at the top to scroll them all in one big list!
Again, a big NCDB this week, with 543 new releases, counting variants and a total of 229 unique new issues.
All of them are now available in Core, with cover art, variant descriptions and cover artists.
TIP: to discover all this week’s new releases from your CLZ Comics app:
- tap the + icon on the bottom right to open the Add Comics screen
- go to the Pull List tab (top right)
- within the Pull List tab, set the week selector (top left) to “This week”
- and go to the sub-tab called “Discover”
This will give you all NCDB releases, grouped by series. Or, tap the “All Releases” entry at the top to scroll them all in one big list!
It’s Wednesday, so…. New Comic Book Day!
A big week again, with 581 new comic books released today. That is 581 releases, including variants. If we don’t count variants, there are 255 actual new issues!
The CLZ content guys have been working to add and finalize all these entries in our Core online database. Ready for you to find them by series, by issue, by barcode, OR using the cool Pull List tab that lets you browse all new releases per week.
Most of the new comics and their variants now come complete with cover art, variant descriptions and cover artists.
It’s New Comic Book Day! This week, NCDB brings 602 new comic releases. Of course, that number includes many variants, but still, there are 276 actual new issues!
Our CLZ Content Team (Rowdy, Justin and Taco) have prepared nice entries for all these new releases in our Core central online comic database, complete with cover art, variant descriptions and creator lists with the specific cover artists listed for all variants.
When you return home with your weekly purchases, everything will be ready for you. Easily add your new books By Barcode or By Issue. Or, browse all new releases using the Pull List tab of the Add Comics screen!
New:
- Added in-app getting started tips for new users (tap “dismiss” to dismiss)
New:
- Added in-app getting started tips for new users (tap “dismiss” to dismiss)
Fixed:
- Fixed: adding items did not work for users that were not logged in
In this update, we try to tackle a problem that we often see in our support system:
Users changing phones without updating their CLZ Cloud first. Or even worse, without even having a CLZ Account yet.
Which of course cause data loss (and a lot of sadness).
So in this version, we are trying to create more awareness of:
- The importance of creating a CLZ Account, so that you can Sync with CLZ Cloud.
- The importance of keeping your CLZ Cloud up-to-date by actually Syncing with CLZ Cloud.
New Sync button in main screen
When not in sync with CLZ Cloud, a new Sync button will appear on the main screen, above the Add button. This way you will always know if there are still items to sync up to CLZ Cloud or down from CLZ Cloud (even when you use auto-sync).
(Don’t like this button? In the Settings screen, switch OFF the setting that says “Show on-screen sync button”)
New “Sync with Cloud!” bar when not logged in
When using the app while not logged in to a CLZ Account, a new bar will appear at the bottom of the main screen that says “Sync to CLZ Cloud for an online backup”.
Hopefully that will help prevent future data loss.
(Don’t like this bar? In the Settings screen, switch OFF the setting that says “Show backup suggestion bar”)
New 5-comic “Demo Mode” for new users
For new users who just downloaded the app, we introduced a new “Demo Mode” that lets you add 5 comics before committing to the actual 7-day free trial subscription.
Fixed on iOS:
- When adding comics and you were prompted to change the collection status of an existing item, pre-fill data was ignored.
Fixed on Android:
- Edit Comic: When you’ve edited something, and you tapped “Next”, it would skip an item.
First, what is Core?
CLZ Core is our central online comic database, that is the database that you search when adding comics by barcode or title, the database that provides you with automatic issue details like variant, variant description, release dates, cover art, creator lists, character lists, etc…
(Not to be confused with CLZ Cloud, which is your database, stored in the cloud. Cloud is what you sync with, to make online backups of your data and to sync your data between devices.)
After the CLZ Comics 8.5 release, we have seen some common questions, by email and in this group. So let me answer the most common ones here:
Q: Will my changes to creators/characters automatically affect Core?
A: No, they will not. Just like with any other change or correction you make: if you want to change it in Core too, you need to use the Submit to Core command.
In version 8.5 of the app, the Submit to Core feature has been expanded to also upload your custom creator/character list to the Core submit form.
Fixed:
- When using Update from Core it would keep coming back with updates (even though there weren’t any further updates)
Fixed:
- When tapping “Edit” the app could crash
I know it was a long wait, but here it finally is: CLZ Comics 8.5, with the long awaited editing tools for your creator and character lists!
The entire CLZ development team has been working on this major feature for several months. A huge project that we have been postponing for many years, because of the complexity and the enormous amount of work. But today we can finally go public with it, resulting in a major 8.5 update for the CLZ Comics mobile app:
As of today, it is finally possible to modify the CREATORS and CHARACTERS lists of your comic entries! And of course, to sync your customized lists to and from the CLZ Cloud.
Coming up soon: the ability to add and edit the creators and characters lists, in both the CLZ Comic mobile app and the Comic Connect web-based software. And of course, the syncing of these custom lists between the desktop, web-based and mobile editions.
Read more
Fixed:
- When adding an issue for a new series, the series sort name was not downloaded from Core
- Updated the link to the online manual in the app menu
- The search filter in multilevel folders wasn’t always remembered when navigating back out of a folder
Fixed:
- Adding: the app could crash while adding a comic
Fixed:
- When using multi-level folders, the folder panel search text would sometimes copy over to the next folder (and not be remembered when going back)
- After syncing, the main screen did not always refresh
- A crash could occur when entering Selection Mode in Card View if no cards were available
- A crash could occur when selecting folders
- When switching between collection statuses while in multi-level folders, the app could show a wrong selection of items
- The app crashed on devices with iOS13
- iPad: The folder panel search did not have an “X” to clear the search
- iPad: Cover Flow: A crash could occur when using the Select Random Item button.
Fixed:
- Shake to Shuffle could cause a crash in some cases
- Opening an item, swiping to the next, then edit “in-details-panel” would reset the details to the first item
- Add Screen: Scanning a barcode: When the device was rotated, the barcode scanner could stop working
- Add Screen: Tapping between results could end up showing a different result
- Multi-level folders: When using the “Show sort names” feature, the breadcrumb at the top could show strange sort names for certain folders
Fixed:
- Fixed a possible Crash on startup
Fixed:
- Main screen: Tapping a Series from the search suggestions would not show the Series.
A huge update for your CLZ Comics mobile app today, which introduces a powerful feature for browsing and filtering your comic collection: using nested folders.
Previously, it was only possible to use one level, so either Series folders OR Tag folders OR Series Group OR Storage Box folders, etc… But starting with this version, you can use nested folders, so for instance, use Series Group folders, then within each series group folder have Series folders.
v8.3.2: Fixes for downloading values, sorting by values and slab label colors
Fixed:
- Sorting by value didn’t work for raw comics without a grade set
- Adding or Updating values for comics without grade didn’t fetch a value
- Fixed colors for generated slab label of Qualified Grade, Signature Series Restored, Signature Series Conserved
Version 8.3 is here, a big update that is all about slabbed comics!
More and more CLZ Comics users are using the app to catalog slabbed comics (CGC, CBCS, PGX, etc..). So let’s take our slab support to the next level!
Here’s what’s new in CLZ Comics 8.3:
- A cool new look for your slabs in Card View and the comic details page.
- Three new slab-related fields: Label Type, Page Quality and Custom Label.
- Four new options for the Grade field: NG, PG, CVR and ART.
- A new setting “For raw comics, show Grade as letters”
Introduced in November 2021, the Update Key Info tool is one the biggest and most popular features of the CLZ Comics app. It automatically gives you crucial information about your collection, that is, which of your comics are major keys, which ones are minor keys. Of course, it also tells you why, for example: first appearances of characters, deaths, cameo appearances, first team appearances, origins, iconic cover art, etc…
However, since we introduced this feature, one of the most requested improvements has become:
“After updating my key info, I would like to see WHICH comics were updated and WHAT has changed.”