Proposal/Vorschlag: Continuum Support

Currently in public beta: Windows Phone version

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Stonie
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Proposal/Vorschlag: Continuum Support

Post by *Stonie »

Hi,

I am running Total Commander on my Windows 10 Mobile and it works like a charm. As there is seemingly no in-app purchase or anything like it to thank the developer, I bought the desktop version and am happy with that one too.

There is one proposal I would like to add without knowing if it is as simple to accomplish as Microsoft states: It would be perfect if Total Commander on my phone would support Continuum and enable me to use it "on the big screen". I would be happy to help with testing.

--- --- ---

Ich benutze Total Commander auf meinem Windows 10 Mobile Phone und bin bestens zufrieden. Da es scheinbar keine Möglichkeit gibt, etwas zu spenden oder sonstwie dem Entwickler zu danken, habe ich die Desktop Version gekauft ... eine sehr gute Entscheidung!

Einen Verbesserungsvorschlag hätte ich in diesem Zusammenhang für die App, ohne zu wissen, ob das wirklich so einfach geht wie von MS behauptet: Die Unterstützung von Continuum wäre phantastisch, um auch auf dem großen Bildschirm arbeiten zu können. Ich stehe auch gerne als Beta-Tester bereit.

Beste Grüße
Stonie
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Post by *ghisler(Author) »

What is this "Continuum"? I made a quick Google search, and found this:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/getstarted-continuum-mobile

Is that what you mean?
Unfortunately my Lumia 640 doesn't seem to support this mode, so I cannot test it.

Can you tell me what happens when you try to start TC in Continuum mode? Does it display at all? If yes, what parts work and what parts don't?
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Post by *Stonie »

Hi,

thanks for your reply. Sorry that I took the knowledge of Continuum for granted. It is quite a nice feature that allows extending your phone apps to the big screen as shown in the video on the page you found/linked. Very few geeks even.

Unfortunately, for using Continuum, the App has to be released as a "Universal App" so I cannot just simply start it. From what I heard from other developers is that this is a simple task. However, the GUI needs to be adjusted, otherwise it will just be scaled and become unusable. I could imagine having both Total Commander Panes on one screen but without testing possibilities, it is not really an option. Currently only Lumias 950 (XL) support Continuum but more devices are coming.

I would have liked to post some links but I am not allowed due to restrictions for new users.

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Stonie
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Post by *ghisler(Author) »

Well, Total Commander IS a Universal app, but for Windows Phone 8.1. It is compatible with Windows 10 Mobile, though. What do I need to change? Do I need to upload also the app for Windows Store (e.g. the original Surface with ATM processor)? I have compiled that, but never released it because it's too limited compared to the Desktop version.
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Post by *Stonie »

First of all, please don't misunderstand my question wrong. I am absolutely not criticizing a great app that you provide free of charge. I really thank you for all your effort making Windows a better place.
ghisler(Author) wrote:What do I need to change?
I have to admit I am not too deep into developing myself. I wanted to provide a link earlier but I was not allowed due to restrictions for new users here.

Let's try again: Last month there was a decent blogpost at microsoft. I think, it holds all the information you are looking for. The pictures in that post also give you a nice impression what Continuum actually is and how it works out.

For example, Total Commander could show both panes simultaneously on the external screen which would be great , but - again - please don't put too much time and effort here. Especially if you do not have a possibility to test (although I would be happy to become beta tester).

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Markus
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Post by *ghisler(Author) »

I'm still confused by this article. It says:
Target the right device family

If you build a UWP app that can run on a Windows mobile device, your app will run on Continuum by default.
Total commander does exactly that (universal app targeting Windows mobile), so it should already appear on Continuum (although with its mobile UI).

Is this the case?

Further down in the blog article, it says:
Opting out of the connected display

If your mobile app isn’t ready for Continuum right away, no worries. Simply add the following lines to your manifest to block your app on the connected display.
There is no opt out in my code. So if TC doesn't appear at all in Continuum, what am I doing wrong?
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Post by *Stonie »

ghisler(Author) wrote:(...) it should already appear on Continuum (although with its mobile UI).

Is this the case?
No.
ghisler(Author) wrote:There is no opt out in my code. So if TC doesn't appear at all in Continuum, what am I doing wrong?
I have no idea.

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Stonie
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Post by *ghisler(Author) »

I searched a bit more, and it seems to be impossible with a Windows Phone 8.1 app, see this thread.

So I would have to decide between Windows Phone 8.1 support, and Windows 10 Mobile only with Continuum. For now, I prefer to support Windows Phone 8.1 because many devices haven't received an update to Windows 10.
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Post by *Stonie »

This is completely reasonable.

Thanks a lot for the effort you put into investigation anyway ...

Best
Markus

P.S.: Received my Total Commander Disc last weekend, thanks! I completely forgot that German customs apply and add another 20% to the ordering price. You might want to offer a download only option ...
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Post by *ghisler(Author) »

Maybe I will move to Windows 10 Mobile only when most devices receive the update, but for now it's unfortunately not possible.

RE:Customs: I'm informing about this both on the order homepage and the help. If we offered download only, we would still have to charge this sales tax, and you would receive no manual and no CD...
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Post by *Stonie »

We don't need to discus customs here as it is off-topic. Please don't misunderstand my comment that I am upset about this. I read that German customs apply but forgot it afterwards ... my fault, not yours! I referred to the download only because I do not know what happens if anyone would deny the delivery ...

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Markus
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Post by *KaylaSarahMC »

Dieses Thema ist zwar bereits etwas älter, aber da es mir um den selben Sachverhalt geht wollte ich kein neues dafür erstellen.
Kurz gefragt: Wie sieht es jetzt mit einer Continuumfähigen Windows 10 Version aus?

Offtopic: Ein Lob für die gute Arbeit am Total Commander wollte ich auch gern hier lassen, wir verwenden ihn sowohl für die Firma als auch Privat (mehr als 20 Lizenzen aktuell) und sind sehr zufrieden. Da im nächsten Zug der Umstellung Windows Phones mit Continuum viel Raum einnehmen werden, wäre eine Nutzung des Total Commanders natürlich sehr Vorteilhaft für uns. Daher auch die Anfrage.

liebe Grüße,
Kayla
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Post by *ghisler(Author) »

Wie ich oben geschrieben habe ist es leider unmöglich, Continuum in einer Windows Phone 8.1-App zu unterstützen. Dafür müsste ich eine Windows Phone 10-App erzeugen, doch ist die dann nicht mehr mit älteren Geräten kompatibel. Viele ältere Geräte haben kein Windows Phone 10 erhalten. Beide Varianten unter dem gleichen Namen in den Store zu stellen geht meines Wissens auch nicht.

Wissen Sie vielleicht wie das bei anderen Apps gelöst ist, die bereits Continuum unterstützen?
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Post by *KaylaSarahMC »

Danke für die Antwort.

Über das problem der Kompatibilität bin ich mir bereits im klaren gewesen. Leider wurde das Appdesign nicht abwärzkompatibel gestallet und daher bedeutet es einen Mehraufwand für die Entwickler, das ist schade, aber anders herum auch verständlich, immerhin bekommt Windows 10 8 Jahre gesicherten Support, während die vorgänger dann längst nicht mehr existieren dürften.

Aber zu Ihrer Frage: Entweder sind es komplette Neuentwicklungen die es vor UWP10 nicht gab, oder Überarbeitungen die dann mit einem anderen Namen, z.B.: TotalCommander10 in den Store gestellt werden. Prinzipiell sind alle reinen UWP10 Apps auch Continuum kompatibel so weit mir dies bekannt ist (bisher habe ich auch beim testen selbst noch keine abweichenden Erfahrungen machen müssen)
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Post by *ghisler(Author) »

Danke für die Klarstellung! Ärgerlich, dass man nicht eine 8.1+10-App unter gleichem Namen anbieten kann...
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