jueves, 28 de noviembre de 2013

Month Calendar Widget 1.5.5 and MCW Lockscreen Extension 1.0.0 are out

Version 1.5.5 of Month Calendar Widget is on Google Play now, and this time it's accompanied by a new app: MCW Lockscreen Extension 1.0.0, the first extension to the widget. The idea of an extension is to provide new features as an option, without bloating the main widget. More on this in a separate blog post, I promise!

MCW version 1.5.5 brings these new features:
  • Compatibility with Android 4.4 KitKat and Google Experience Launcher: The widget was tested and works perfectly under the latest Android version, 4.4 a.k.a. KitKat. For those users that have the new Nexus 5 smartphone which comes with the new Google Experience Launcher (or for those of you that have downloaded GEL separately), MCW works without problems with it too. Take into account that this new Google launcher simplifies the widget installation a bit, and now it works more in the line of versions up to Gingerbread. You start by pressing and holding in an empty space on home. See How to put Month Calendar Widget on your Home screen
  • Extensions support: MCW now has an extensible architecture that allows to download separate apps from Google Play that work together with the main widget, and complement it with new features. The first one is MCW Lockscreen Extension, more will come in the future. Most probably next extension will deal with the long awaited Google Calendar connection
  • Download extensions directly from Settings: From the Settings screen you can now see which extensions you have installed, and if one of them it's not, you can download it from there by just tapping on the name listed
  • Resizing for all launchers: The widget is resizable natively with this version, that means it works with all launchers, provided you are using Android 3.x or later. Please note that this feature works only when the Stretch widget option is activated. If you don't show it stretched, resizing will "lie": the widget will occupy more space in the screen but will look the same. Another note: if you resize the widget too big, dates will probably look too small. A future version will make font sizes adjustable while resizing happens.
MCW Lockscreen Extension version 1.0.0 as I said is the first extension that complements Month Calendar Widget, and once installed it simply allows putting the widget in your lockscreen (Android 4.2 or greater is required). In the Google Play app description you will find how to use MCW in the lockscreen.

By the way, this extension app is the first paid app I'm releasing, hope that it will sell well ;). Future extensions most probably will be paid too.

EDIT Nov 29 - Just one final clarification: the introduction of extensions doesn't mean the basic widget, that is the Android widget that you are using for free, won't be updated anymore. It will. This will be explained more extensively in the blog post I mentioned at the beginning.

As always, I welcome any feedback you may have. Please feel free to leave a comment or send me an email.