Re: Re: Datebk6 and NEED ON THE iPHONE!

Matt Agajanian <[email protected]>
Newsgroups gmane.comp.handhelds.palm.datebk
Message-ID <[email protected]>
Hi there.

Klaus brings up a good point.  Although I maintain that DateBk6 is  
the better product, just how equivalent is the Apple App Store's  
Pocket Informant to DateBk6?  Secondly, as I still want to use  
PalmDesktop as my datebook (don't get me started but, I do not feel  
that GoogleCalendar is reliable, safe and private), can Pocket  
Informant for iPhone interact with PalmDesktop?

Matt
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On 23/08/2010, at 9:55 AM, Marcia Clever wrote:

> Klaus,
>
> I looked at Pocket Informant. Liked what I saw BUT unlike Palm/ 
> DateBk they do not give the user an option to choose 20 min  
> scheduling increments. I even emailed the developer to be sure. I  
> am a physician and schedule every 20 min appts. Anyone know  
> differently for PI? Until that feature is available, PI is a no go  
> for me.
>
> Marcia
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Aug 23, 2010, at 1:54, "Klaus P. Fechner" <[email protected]>  
> wrote:
>
>> Larry, I really appreciate your insightful comments and helpful  
>> advice in this group. However, I think you need to update your  
>> list of arguments why CESD will not want or be able to write a  
>> version of Pimlical for the iPhone.
>>
>> On 10:29 -0400 18.8.10, Larry Finch wrote:
>>>
>>
>> ...
>>
>>> Hi, Marcia;
>>>
>>> I'm not Pimlico Software, I'm just a member of the group (and a
>>> volunteer moderator).
>>>
>>> But I do know why Pimlico will not create an iphone version. First,
>>> Apple does not allow apps to access the iPhone calendar.
>>
>> Not true as of iOS 4.x AFAIK. The next version of Pocket Informant  
>> will use the built-in calendar database, so their current work- 
>> around using their own database and syncing via Google calendar  
>> will no longer be necessary.
>>
>>> So the only
>>> way to do it would be to maintain an entirely separate calendar.  
>>> Next,
>>> Apple does not allow apps to use the built-in alarm manager. So  
>>> there
>>> would be no way to implement alarms, except through Notifications,
>>> which would mean that Pimlico would have to create a web service and
>>> track everyone's alarms to send notifications to the phone when an
>>> alarm was due. Which raises your privacy issue.
>>
>> Not true. The current version of Pocket Informant creates local  
>> alarms.
>>
>>> The calendar would have to sync to SOMETHING. There is no record  
>>> level
>>> sync mechanism in the iPhone or iTunes, only replacing a file on the
>>> phone, so the only practical sync mechanism would be a cloud-based
>>> calendar such as Google Calendar or a similar alternate. It can't  
>>> sync
>>> with iCal or Outlook because of the lack of record level syncing.
>>
>> Irrelevant. See the item above.
>>
>>> Then there's the question of programming language. DateBk6 is  
>>> written
>>> in C to the Palm API (Application Programming Interface). The iPhone
>>> does not support the Palm API, so it would be a complete rewrite.
>>> Pimlical is written in Java, which IS portable, to just about
>>> everything in the world - EXCEPT the iPhone. Apple will not allow  
>>> apps
>>> written in Java on the iPhone.
>>
>> That is correct, and is the only reason that I currently see why  
>> your main contention remains accurate - no Pimlical for the iPhone.
>>
>>> And finally, Apple does not approve apps that duplicate built-in
>>> functionality. But they don't decide if your app violates this rule
>>> until you submit it. So Pimlico could spend 6 months developing
>>> Pimlical or DateBk6 for the iPhone, only to be told that Apple has
>>> rejected it. That's something like a $50,000 gamble.
>>
>> Well, Pocket Informant for the iPhone has been out since 18 Mar  
>> 2009 according to Appshopper.com. I have been using it since  
>> January 2010. And it very well duplicates lots of the functions  
>> built into the iPhone by Apple, and bests lots of its  
>> functionality. So you are clearly wrong with this argument. I know  
>> that Apple has stated something similar in the past, but they  
>> haven't been rigid about it. For example, there are lots of web  
>> browsers for the iPhone with different features than Safari.
>>
>>> To see the extent of the problem, there are NO calendar apps  
>>> available
>>> for the iPhone that are significantly better than the built-in
>>> calendar with the possible exception of Pocket Informant, and it  
>>> syncs
>>> only with Google Calendar. With 225,000 apps and no good calendars,
>>> there's a message there.
>>
>> No good calendars? Let me make my position clear: I loved DateBk  
>> for the Palm, and used it from versions 3.x through the last 6.x  
>> on my obsolete Treo 680. I will be the first one to say that it  
>> was the most remarkable piece of software ever written for a  
>> mobile device, and probably the best calendar software ever. When  
>> I switched to the iPhone I felt terribly limited by its calendar  
>> app and the poor implementation of Todos.
>>
>> When I found Pocket Informant (version 1.2 at the time) I felt  
>> that it would have the potential to grow and be an adequate  
>> replacement. I told one of the developers at Macworld '10 that  
>> their goal should be to aim for the overall functionality of  
>> DateBk. I have asked for features to be added. I have voted for  
>> features in their support forum. And I have not been disappointed.  
>> They are now at version 1.52, and are putting the final touches on  
>> the version that will use the internal iOS calendar database. They  
>> also have a respectable implementation on the iPad.
>>
>> Except for the two-column display of events in different time  
>> zones, it now has all the features that I had been using in  
>> DateBk. So much for the "no good calendar".
>>
>> I realize that I sound like a marketing person for WebIS, but I am  
>> only a satisfied customer of their software. Mostly for nostalgic  
>> reasons I like to stay informed about DateBk and Pimlical, and  
>> have been following the groups. But I am getting tired of reading  
>> incorrect and/or dated explanations for why there won't be  
>> Pimlical on the iPhone.
>>
>> The *only* reason at this time is that CESD decided to use Java as  
>> his exclusive development platform (which is probably a good  
>> choice given his one man operation, that I BTW truly admire!).  
>> Apple's position that they want control over the development tools  
>> for their mobile platform plays into that scenario, but others  
>> such as WebIS have been able to produce similar products for  
>> multiple platforms (in their case PI is available for Blackberry  
>> and Win Mobile, and under development for Android. ) Again, not to  
>> tout WebIS, but to make the case that supporting different  
>> platforms including iOS can be done, provided the developer is  
>> motivated to do it.
>>
>> Bottom line:
>>
>> Larry is correct, there won't be a Pimlical for iPhone/iOS.
>>
>> Larry is mostly wrong and unnecessarily argumentative about why  
>> this is so. CESD would have to port Pimlical to Objective-C, which  
>> he is extremely unlikely to do. End of story.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> -- 
>> Klaus P. Fechner, Los Altos, CA, USA
>>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
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> For information about Pimlical, the desktop calendar: http:// 
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> To discuss Pimlical, please join the Pimlical group:
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>
> DateBk4 FAQ: http://www.PimlicoSoftware.com/datebk4faq.htm
> DateBk5 FAQ: http://www.pimlicosoftware.com/datebk5faq.htm
> DateBk Cookbook: http://how.to/datebk-cookbook
> DateBk Wiki: http://oldgods.net/cgi-bin/datebk_wiki
>
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For information about Pimlical, the desktop calendar: http://www.pimlicosoftware.com/pimlicalpreview.htm
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DateBk4 FAQ: http://www.PimlicoSoftware.com/datebk4faq.htm
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DateBk Cookbook: http://how.to/datebk-cookbook
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