So, I'm fast approaching a beta release of the LSDJ Patchbook for Android and I'm at the point now where I want some feedback.
The current features (those you'll see in the beta release) are as follows:
*Edit and save instrument data (duh).
*Edit and save tables and assign them to one or more instrument.
*Edit and save waveforms - each waveform is made up of 16 "frames", just like LSDJ - and assign them to instruments.
*Import and Export a csv file of any given instrument as well as any waveform or tables attached to it (this is basically just a text file that makes it easy to trade instruments).
Features I plan on adding before the Android market release:
*Form sanitization and validation of data. This is important because of...
*Server sync - this feature will allow you to submit patches to a server for the world to view. Users may submit patches anonymously or using a unique username (more web features likely).
I need your help:
I have already begun using the program myself and find it to be useful already but my real hope is that it will inspire more sharing of patches, which is why I've added a back-end that supports lots of easy sharing methods. The beta will have only a simple import/export but I hope to add some serious 'social' features via the web server (more on that at the end of this post).
I have lots of ideas for usability tweaks and features but I'd love to get some ideas and feedback from users of LSDJ and perhaps even people who manage their patches in various ways. I also have some general questions for users:
Would you want this app to come with some preprogrammed patches?
Will you be heartbroken if I skip the "synth" screen and just used the wavetables?
Do you want to be able to store groove tables?
If you have any thoughts on those questions or any other feedback I'd love to hear it!
Ideas for the future:
One of the key features I've had in mind has always been usability and speed. I want this program to make patch saving as quick and painless as possible. It's the reason that I've many many elements 'tap friendly' as you can see in the demo.
To that end, one thing I'll be adding relatively soon after the beta release (it's probably first on my list of post-beta features) is a custom input method for all the hexadecimal values. Most android keyboards aren't optimal when going back and forth between numeric and alpha characters. I want to pop up a custom entry that includes exclusively 0-F and allows you to easily select your two nibbles (don't we all just love the word nibble!?).
Another key feature I've designed this app around is sharing. The back-end supports pretty robust data handling and since the "on device" storage is just SQLite it'll be easy to add support for an external SQL web server.
Initially the web server will be pretty simple, there will be a website with just search and view functionality and a csv upload/save type deal, but it won't take much to release an HTML5 front-end to allow editing of patches from your computer or iOS device.
After that all works, I might just add an .lsdsng instrument import, who knows.
