What's new in CLZ Music Mobile? (page 2)

A big update for your CLZ Music app!
This time we added a new feature, that will save you lots of time:

New Pre-fill screen that pops up when adding albums

When adding an album to your database using the Add Albums screen, it will now pop-up a new screen called “Pre-fill album details, letting you set various fields right then and there.

Fields available in the Pre-fill screen:

• Location
• Owner
• Purchase Date
• Purchase Store
• Purchase Price
• Quantity
• Tags

No more need to edit your added albums afterwards!

(BTW: of course, using the new Pre-fill screen is optional. If you don’t want to use it, just uncheck the “Show Pre-fill screen” toggle at thet bottom. You can always re-enable it through the app’s Settings screen.)

Also new:

• All Collection Status options are now available under the Add button in the Add Screen.
• New look and layout of Field Defaults screen.

Here it is, version 6.0 of the CLZ Music mobile app!
In this major update, we finally bring you THE most requested feature: being able to Edit Multiple Albums in one go. But there’s more, as we took this opportunity to completely re-design the Edit Album screen and to implement super useful Crop and Rotate tools for album cover images.

Here’s the full list of what’s new in version 6.0:

NEW: Edit Multiple Albums in one go!

Finally make changes to multiple (or all) album entries in one go.
Here’s how:

• Tap and hold on an album in the list to enter Select Mode
• Now tap more albums to select them.
• Tap the menu button on the bottom right and choose “Edit [x] Albums”.
• In the screen tap appears, select which fields you want to edit.
  
  (Tips: use the search box to find fields, tap the heart icons to set Favorite fields)

• Tap Edit at the top right.
• Now set values, or leave fields gray to clear them.
• Tap Done at the top right to save the changes to the selected albums.

Warning: the Edit Multiple feature is a very useful and powerful features, but… remember what Uncle Ben said: With great power comes great responsibility!

IMPROVED: Edit Album screen

A new look for all edit boxes and a more compact layout, making it much easier to edit your album entries, without scrolling through long lists of fields.

• The cover image is now on its own tab, so the main tab starts with the most important edit fields at the top.
• Fields are now laid out side-by-side, making it easier to edit all fields without endless scrolling.
• More compact look and user interface for all text edit fields.
• More compact display and editing of multi-value pick list fields like Authors, Genres, Subjects and Tags.
• Date fields: enter year, month day manually or use calendar icon to use date setter popup.

NEW: Built-in Crop and Rotate tool for cover images

In the Edit Album screen the Cover is now on its own tab, with new Crop and Rotate tools for instant rotating and cropping of self-made cover photos or downloaded images.

IMPROVED: Folder Field selection screen

Yep, another update of this screen, to make it fully consistent with the Select Edit Fields screen.
It now includes a search box at the top for quickly finding the field you want, plus the ability to create your own Favorites (just tap the heart icons).

Here it is, version 6.0 of the CLZ Music mobile app!
In this major update, we finally bring you THE most requested feature: being able to Edit Multiple Albums in one go. But there’s more, as we took this opportunity to completely re-design the Edit Album screen and to implement super useful Crop and Rotate tools for album cover images.

Here’s the full list of what’s new in version 6.0:

NEW: Edit Multiple Albums in one go!

Finally make changes to multiple (or all) album entries in one go.
Here’s how:

• Tap and hold on a album in the list to enter Select Mode
• Now tap more albums to select them.
• Tap the menu button on the bottom right and choose “Edit [x] Albums”.
• In the screen tap appears, select which fields you want to edit.
  
  (Tips: use the search box to find fields, tap the star icons to set Favorite fields)

• Tap Edit at the top right.
• Now set values, or leave fields gray to clear them.
• Tap Done at the top right to save the changes to the selected albums.

Warning: the Edit Multiple feature is a very useful and powerful features, but… remember what Uncle Ben said: With great power comes great responsibility!

IMPROVED: Edit Album screen

A new look for all edit boxes and a more compact layout, making it much easier to edit your album entries, without scrolling through long lists of fields.

• The cover image is now on its own tab, so the main tab starts with the most important edit fields at the top.
• Fields are now laid out side-by-side, making it easier to edit all fields without endless scrolling.
• More compact look and user interface for all text edit fields.
• More compact display and editing of multi-value pick list fields like Authors, Genres, Subjects and Tags.
• Date fields: enter year, month day manually or use calendar icon to use date setter popup.

NEW: Built-in Crop and Rotate tool for cover images

In the Edit Album screen the Cover is now on its own tab, with new Crop and Rotate tools for instant rotating and cropping of self-made cover photos or downloaded images.

IMPROVED: Folder Field selection screen

Yep, another update of this screen, to make it fully consistent with the Select Edit Fields screen.
It now includes a search box at the top for quickly finding the field you want, plus the ability to create your own Favorites (just tap the star icons).

Version 6.0 is coming up for all five CLZ mobile apps:
CLZ Books, CLZ Music, CLZ Movies, CLZ Comics and CLZ Games (probably in that order).

For “Vee Six” we decided to finally implement THE most commonly requested feature:

Editing Multiple entries in one go! (aka: Batch Editing)

At the same time, v6 will come with completely re-designed Edit screens. Check out some sneak preview screenshot below. More information about app-specific v6 features and improvements will follow later!

Finally: Edit Multiple entries in one go!

This has been the most common feature request for many years: How can I edit (or clear) the Grade/Location/Owner/etc… for many of my database entries in one go?

And in v6, it will finally be possible:

• Just select the entries you want to edit (using tap and hold), and choose Edit from the menu.
• Then select which fields you want to edit (or clear).
• Finally, set the values you want to set and click Done.

Some screenshots:

(These screenshots have been taken from the iOS edition of CLZ Comics, but the other 9 apps will look very similar):

Edit screen re-design

Also new in v6: completely re-designed Edit screens, to make them clearer, more compact and nicer looking.
No more long lists of fields, one per row. In the new screen, fields are placed side by side where possible, with the Cover on a separate tab. Resulting in a more compact screen, requiring less scrolling. Especially on tablet devices!

Some sneak preview screenshots:

(These screenshots have been taken from the iOS editions of CLZ Books and CLZ Music, but the other 8 apps will look very similar):

One of the most common complaints about the CLZ Music app has always been the lack of support for multi-disc albums. So we finally sat down and designed a good user interface to fix these problems once and for all.

The solution we implemented has two parts:

Add Albums screen: Add as Multi-Disc Album

This lets you add your new multi-disc albums the right way, straight from the Add Albums screen. Just select multiple 1-disc results and add them combined into a multi-disc album.

Merge existing albums into a Multi-Disc Album

This is for existing entries in our app, where the discs of a multi-disc album may be listed as separate albums. You can now combine/merge these into one album with multiple discs. Just tap and hold to select the albums, then select MERGE from the menu button.

Redesigned Select Folder Field screen

Through the years, the number of available folder fields has grown enormously, making the Select Folder Field screen a bit “unwieldy”. We decided to come up with a better solution.

This update includes a re-designed Select Folder Field screen, with all folder options nicely grouped under sensible headers, and the most popular options (Artist, Genre, Format) instantly accessible at the top.

Fixed:

• In the Add from Core screen, when adding an album that is already in your app as ‘On Wish List’ or ‘On Order’, the app will now offer to change its status to ‘In Collection’
• When scanning barcodes the “beep” sound would only sound on the first scan
• Search on own collection could be forgotten during scrolling/browsing your collection
• Field defaults screen could cause a crash

One of the most common complaints about the CLZ Music app has always been the lack of support for multi-disc albums. So we finally sat down and designed a good user interface to fix these problems once and for all.

The solution we implemented has two parts:

Add Albums screen: Add as Multi-Disc Album

This lets you add your new multi-disc albums the right way, straight from the Add Albums screen. Just select multiple 1-disc results and add them combined into a multi-disc album.

Merge existing albums into a Multi-Disc Album

This is for existing entries in our app, where the discs of a multi-disc album may be listed as separate albums. You can now combine/merge these into one album with multiple discs. Just tap and hold to select the albums, then select MERGE from the menu button.

Redesigned Select Folder Field screen

Through the years, the number of available folder fields has grown enormously, making the Select Folder Field screen a bit “unwieldy”. We decided to come up with a better solution.

This update includes a re-designed Select Folder Field screen, with all folder options nicely grouped under sensible headers, and the most popular options (Artist, Genre, Format) instantly accessible at the top.

Fixed:

• Details view didn’t show multiple artists for single tracks
• Edit Screen: disc button could change colors when it shouldn’t

Faster CLZ Cloud syncing!

We have made several structural changes to the CLZ Cloud syncing, making it much much faster than before, especially when syncing large amounts of entries up to the CLZ Cloud or down from the CLZ Cloud.

To enjoy the faster syncing, you need to use the actual Sync with CLZ Cloud screen.

(The Auto-Syncing in the background is also slightly faster now, but if you need to sync many entries up or down, please use the Sync with CLZ Cloud screen.)

New design for Sync with CLZ Cloud screen

While we were at it, we decided to do a quick make-over for the Sync screen, with a new look and layout and a direct link to your CLZ Cloud page online.

Fixed:

• Manually added albums could get an empty RPM

Faster CLZ Cloud syncing!

We have made several structural changes to the CLZ Cloud syncing, making it much much faster than before, especially when syncing large amounts of entries up to the CLZ Cloud or down from the CLZ Cloud.

To enjoy the faster syncing, you need to use the actual Sync with CLZ Cloud screen.

(The Auto-Syncing in the background is also slightly faster now, but if you need to sync many entries up or down, please use the Sync with CLZ Cloud screen.)

New design for Sync with CLZ Cloud screen

While we were at it, we decided to do a quick make-over for the Sync screen, with a new look and layout and a direct link to your CLZ Cloud page online.

Fixed:

• Made the touch area for scrollbars a bit bigger (useful for quick scrolling)

A small update for your CLZ Music app today: When adding albums by Artist/Title, you can now filter the search results to only show a specific format.

After searching for artist/title, tap the new “All Formats” button at the top right and switch it to “Vinyl” to see vinyl results only, or set to “CD” to list CDs only.

In this update we introduce a new quick-search for your folders, sorting your folders by the counters, and more stable cloud syncing through our brand-new dedicated Sync-server.

Quick-search your folders

Grouping in folders is a powerful way to browse and filter your collection. Just group by Artist, or Label, etc… tap a folder and the list will give you all albums for the selected Artist or Label.

However, if your collection spans thousands of albums, that “tap a folder” part is sometimes easier said than done. It may require lots of scrolling in the folder list.

But not anymore! This version introduces a new search box right above the folder list, that lets you instantly search/filter the folder list as you type! Just typing a few letters is often enough to bring the folder you are looking for into view:

Sort folders by count

By default, the folders are sorted alphabetically. But as of today, there is another option: sort your folders by the counter, that is by the number of albums contained.

Sorting by the counters is a nice way to find the most popular Artists, Labels, Genres, etc..

Switch between the Alphabetical and By Count sorting using the sort toggle at the top:

Improved barcode scanning

We have improved the scan engine and gave it a larger “scan area”. This should help scan barcodes faster and easier.

Now uses our brand-new CLZ Cloud Sync-server

Previously one big server was handling the Connect website, the CLZ Cloud website AND the CLZ Cloud syncing from the desktop programs and the mobile apps.
But this week we have set up a brand-new dedicated Sync-server to handle just the CLZ Cloud syncing.

In today’s update, CLZ Music has been updated to sync through this new server, which should result in faster syncing and a more stable syncing experience during high load times (weekends).

In this update we introduce a new quick-search for your folders, sorting your folders by the counters, and more stable cloud syncing through our brand-new dedicated Sync-server.

Quick-search your folders

Grouping in folders is a powerful way to browse and filter your collection. Just group by Artist, or Label, etc… tap a folder and the list will give you all albums for the selected Artist or Label.

However, if your collection spans thousands of albums, that “tap a folder” part is sometimes easier said than done. It may require lots of scrolling in the folder list.

But not anymore! This version introduces a new search box right above the folder list, that lets you instantly search/filter the folder list as you type! Just typing a few letters is often enough to bring the folder you are looking for into view:

Sort folders by count

By default, the folders are sorted alphabetically. But as of today, there is another option: sort your folders by the counter, that is by the number of albums contained.

Sorting by the counters is a nice way to find the most popular Artists, Labels, Genres, etc..

Switch between the Alphabetical and By Count sorting using the sort toggle at the top:

Filter search results on format

When searching by Artist/Title you can now filter the results to only show a specific format. After searching for artist/title, tap the new “All Formats” button to switch the results to “Vinyl” to see all vinyl results!

Improved barcode scanning

We have improved the scan engine and gave it a larger “scan area”. This should help scan barcodes faster and easier.

Now uses our brand-new CLZ Cloud Sync-server

Previously one big server was handling the Connect website, the CLZ Cloud website AND the CLZ Cloud syncing from the desktop programs and the mobile apps.
But this week we have set up a brand-new dedicated Sync-server to handle just the CLZ Cloud syncing.

In today’s update, CLZ Music has been updated to sync through this new server, which should result in faster syncing and a more stable syncing experience during high load times (weekends).

Fixed:

• Field Defaults: It wasn’t possible to set the rating field back to zero.
• Manage Pick Lists: Merging list items caused too many sync changes.

A big update for the CLZ Music app, introducing a new Statistics screen, a cool “infographic” style screen, showing totals and statistics about your music collection.
To open it, just choose “Statistics” from the menu.

In this new screen, you can find:

• The number of albums in your collection, and how many artists.
• How many tracks, and the total runtime.
• A top 5 list of your most recent additions.
• A nice pie chart showing the distribution of your albums over formats (CD, Vinyl, etc.)
• A bar chart of your albums by artist.
• A bar chart of your albums by genre.

A big update for the CLZ Music app, introducing a new Statistics screen, a cool “infographic” style screen, showing totals and statistics about your music collection.
To open it, just choose “Statistics” from the menu.

In this new screen, you can find:

• The number of albums in your collection, and how many artists.
• How many tracks, and the total runtime.
• A top 5 list of your most recent additions.
• A nice pie chart showing the distribution of your albums over formats (CD, Vinyl, etc.)
• A bar chart of your albums by artist.
• A bar chart of your albums by genre.

A big step forward for the CLZ Music app today, in which we add more new editable fields:

• Recording Date
• Studios
• Live (yes/no)
• Extras
• Conductors
• Orchestras

Of course, all the new fields sync to/from the CLZ Cloud too.

A big step forward for the CLZ Music app today, in which we add more new editable fields:

• Recording Date
• Studios
• Live (yes/no)
• Extras
• Conductors
• Orchestras

Of course, all the new fields sync to/from the CLZ Cloud too.

Instead of working on new features, we decided to take a few weeks to look at existing screens and functionality and see where things could be improved, of course all based on your feedback.

Today’s update brings you the first batch of user interface improvements that we implemented (more coming up!), plus it bring the app fully up-to-date with the new iOS 13 “sheet-style” popup screens!

Read more

Instead of working on new features, we decided to take a few weeks to look at existing screens and functionality and see where things could be improved, of course all based on your feedback.

Today’s update brings you the first user interface improvements we implemented (more coming up!):

Easier to find Edit and Remove buttons on album details screen (phone only)

Easier editing of pick list fields, especially multi-value fields

• Selected/checked values are now always at the top
• For multi-value fields (like Genre), check/uncheck multiple values in one go!
• Easier to find big button at the top for adding NEW values..

Complete Re-design of Manage Pick List screen

• Easier to find big button at the top for adding NEW values.
• Remove Unused and Merge action have now been moved to action (…) button top right.
• Easier to use Merge mode.

Add by barcode: New Clear Queue button and new “Scanning tips” popup

Fixed:

• Re-introduced a “sync changes pending” icon to the “Sync with CLZ Cloud” menu item

It’s finally here: CLZ Music 5.0 for Android! With support for multiple collections, automatic syncing of your own images, plus a re-designed top bar and menu.

On top of that, (and the main reason why it took so long):

* Starting with v5, CLZ Music is now a subscription app!

Read on below to find out how that affects you (hint: it doesn’t!).

What’s new in CLZ Music 5.0 ?

CLZ Music is now a subscription app, costing $1.49/month

To allow us to keep delivering our CLZ online services (CLZ Cloud and CLZ Core) and our continuous updates to the app, the app has now become a subscription app. For new users, this subscription gives them access to the CLZ online services:

• CLZ Core: for adding albums by artist/title, barcode or cat. no.
• CLZ Cloud: for online backups and syncing between devices.

IMPORTANT: Of course, since you have purchased the app earlier, you have automatically received a life-time “Basic”-level subscription, which gives you access to your existing CLZ Core and CLZ Cloud services. You do not need to pay for a subscription!
In other words, the app now being a subscription app has no effect on you whatsoever!
If you still see any “unlock” problems with your app, please CONTACT US here and we’ll get it resolved ASAP.

Please note: We may introduce new “premium” CLZ services to the CLZ Music app later, which are not part of your free life-time “Basic” subscription. At that time, if you want to use the new services, you will be able to optionally upgrade to a “Premium” subscription.

Now supports and syncs multiple collections !

It is now possible to manage multiple “collections” within your app. The collections you create will be listed in the main menu, so you can easily switch between them.
Use the menu to add new collections, edit their names, change the order, etc…

Multiple collections now also sync through the CLZ Cloud, e.g. to/from the Music Connect cloud-based software or the Music Collector desktop software. So if you have created multiple collections on the desktop side, these will now finally be separated on the mobile app too!

Already have multiple collections in the CLZ Cloud?

If you already have multiple collections in the CLZ Cloud, here’s what to do to get your existing entries split up into multiple collections on your mobile app too:

1. Tap the menu top left
2. Tap “Sync with CLZ Cloud” and make sure you’re in sync.
3. Tap the menu top left again and tap “Maintenance”
4. Tap “Update all from CLZ Cloud”
5. Now use “Sync with CLZ Cloud” from the menu again.

Automatic cloud-syncing of your own “custom” images

Before v5, if you replaced the automatic Core front cover with your own image (e.g. from Camera Roll), it would not automatically sync to the CLZ Cloud. You had to “force” the upload by using Upload to CLZ Cloud in the Edit screen.

For version 5 we made this more automatic. We introduced a new toggle “Custom Image” in the Edit screen. This toggle will be automatically set when you replace the Core image. Once the Custom Image toggle is set, that cover will automatically sync to and from the CLZ Cloud.

Re-designed top-bar

• The menu icon now includes the “CLZ Music” mark (bigger tap area)
• The “Collection Status” filter button has been moved to the right

Re-designed main menu

• The menu now clearly shows your Account and Subscription Status at the top. Tap either of those to manage them.
• New “Maintenance” screen that now contains:
  • the “Clear Database” option
  • the “old Import from Music Collector” option
  • the new “Update from CLZ Cloud” option (only use when instructed by support staff)

How to update your CLZ Music app to version 5:

• On your device, open the Play Store app.
• Tap the menu button on the top left, then tap “My apps & games”.
• Find the CLZ Music entry and tap “UPDATE” on the right.

It’s finally here: CLZ Music 5.0 for iOS! With support for multiple collections, automatic syncing of your own images, plus a re-designed top bar and menu.

On top of that, (and the main reason why it took so long):

* Starting with v5, CLZ Music is now a subscription app!

Read on below to find out how that affects you (hint: it doesn’t!).

What’s new in CLZ Music 5.0 ?

CLZ Music is now a subscription app, costing $1.49/month

To allow us to keep delivering our CLZ online services (CLZ Cloud and CLZ Core) and our continuous updates to the app, the app has now become a subscription app. For new users, this subscription gives them access to the CLZ online services:

• CLZ Core: for adding albums by artist/title, barcode or cat. no.
• CLZ Cloud: for online backups and syncing between devices.

IMPORTANT: Of course, since you have purchased the app earlier, you have automatically received a life-time “Basic”-level subscription, which gives you access to your existing CLZ Core and CLZ Cloud services. You do not need to pay for a subscription!
In other words, the app now being a subscription app has no effect on you whatsoever!
If you still see any “unlock” problems with your app, please CONTACT US here and we’ll get it resolved ASAP.

Please note: We may introduce new “premium” CLZ services to the CLZ Music app later, which are not part of your free life-time “Basic” subscription. At that time, if you want to use the new services, you will be able to optionally upgrade to a “Premium” subscription.

Now supports and syncs multiple collections !

It is now possible to manage multiple “collections” within your app. The collections you create will be listed in the main menu, so you can easily switch between them.
Use the menu to add new collections, edit their names, change the order, etc…

Multiple collections now also sync through the CLZ Cloud, e.g. to/from the Music Connect cloud-based software or the Music Collector desktop software. So if you have created multiple collections on the desktop side, these will now finally be separated on the mobile app too!

Already have multiple collections in the CLZ Cloud?

If you already have multiple collections in the CLZ Cloud, here’s what to do to get your existing entries split up into multiple collections on your mobile app too:

1. Tap the menu top left
2. Tap “Sync with CLZ Cloud” and make sure you’re in sync.
3. Tap the menu top left again and tap “Maintenance”
4. Tap “Update all from CLZ Cloud”
5. Now use “Sync with CLZ Cloud” from the menu again.

Automatic cloud-syncing of your own “custom” images

Before v5, if you replaced the automatic Core front cover with your own image (e.g. from Camera Roll), it would not automatically sync to the CLZ Cloud. You had to “force” the upload by using Upload to CLZ Cloud in the Edit screen.

For version 5 we made this more automatic. We introduced a new toggle “Custom Image” in the Edit screen. This toggle will be automatically set when you replace the Core image. Once the Custom Image toggle is set, that cover will automatically sync to and from the CLZ Cloud.

Re-designed top-bar

• The menu icon now includes the “CLZ Music” mark (bigger tap area)
• The “Collection Status” filter button has been moved to the right

Re-designed main menu

• The menu now clearly shows your Account and Subscription Status at the top. Tap either of those to manage them.
• New “Maintenance” screen that now contains:
  • the “Clear Database” option
  • the “old Import from Music Collector” option
  • the new “Update from CLZ Cloud” option (only use when instructed by support staff)

How to update your CLZ Music app to version 5:

• On your device, open the App Store app.
• On the bottom, switch to the Updates tab.
• Find the CLZ Music entry and tap “UPDATE” on the right.
  TIP: if you don’t see the CLZ Music update yet, pull down to refresh!

New:

• The resizable panels in the add screen now have the same design as the ones in the main screen.

Fixed:

• iPad: Wrong initial panel layout in the main screen when the app is started in landscape mode.
• Clear templates: Track artists did not display when the album artist wasn’t set

A useful update of your app today, that is, if you are using the app on an iPad:

All panels in the main screen (folders, list and details) are now resizable using draggable separators between the panels, so that you can customize the layout to your own liking.

• All panels in the main screen (folders, list and details) are now resizable using draggable separators between the panels, so that you can customize the layout to your own liking.
• The resizable panels in the Add screen have been updated to use the nicer look of the draggable separators.

New: Redesigned app icon

We designed new icons that give new users a better indication of what the app actually does (as opposed to just a different color CLZ logo), but still obviously belong together, when shown together.

Fixed:

• List did not scroll to top when the status bar was tapped

By popular demand we’ve now added 2 new sort options for you:

• Artist, then Original Release Year (asc.)
• Artist, then Original Release Year (desc.)

Both can be set to artist ascending and descending too!

Changed:

• The buttons to switch folders, sorting and view options have been moved to more logical places to make them more accessible.
• The skins and templates options are now only available from the settings screen.
• The selection mode button has been removed, just tap and hold on an item to start selecting items.

Some changes in 4.11.4 for you:

• The buttons to switch folders, sorting and view options have been moved to more logical places to make them more accessible.
• The skins and templates options have been moved to the settings screen.
• The selection mode button has been removed, just tap and hold on an item to start selecting items.

Fixed:

• Add Albums: Release Date wasn’t downloaded.
• Edit Screen: The Disc Title box had a white background on dark skin.
• Templates: If no Disc Title has been filled in “Disc #1” etc. will now show.