I am here since 2011 now and build up a good running business with the help of Buzztouch and even the personal help of the funder David Book himself. I am posting this because I am worried that Buzztouch is going in the wrong direction. There are some major issues that don't seem to get any attention for over a year now. Started getting worse some short time after BT 3.0 was released. Some examples that are: - Live Design Mode is not working anymore - No driving directions for the map plugin - BT Core fixes that are known but not implemented - BTU never extended and many many more important things. I believe this happened and is happening because David Book has new/other priorities. This is ok for me but at least we all deserve to know if this will change in the future or not? Don't we? Once in a while I read some posts that say something big is coming up soon, but at the end nothing happens. Yes I see that more an more plugins are available which is nice, but without administrating this site and improving/fixing the things that are already here, it is going in the wrong direction. I respect all Buzztouch team members, but there is no real Administrator here that can give us status on important things like the above. Many words, hope they make sense and are not understood wrongly, as the bottom line just shouts: I want David Book and regular updates back! Regards Leon

Hi Leon, Your post makes perfect sense. And, it's not taken critically. Not at all. Your concerns are shared among many, me included. I'll address each of them to the best of my ability: "I am posting this because I am worried that Buzztouch is going in the wrong direction." OK. Maybe there is a direction you see us headed in that we do not? In our minds our direction and focus is the same. We're providing a place for folks to a) get into the app making process. b) find opportunities to advance themselves in the mobile development arena personally and professionally. c) provide this for free, or as close to free as possible. Naturally this is very difficult. What was once adequate no longer is. Moving along with the idustry is much more difficult than most people realize. I'de like to think we started this sort-of-site and service and approach to app making. Today, there are literally thousands of knock off's, alternatives, and other approaches that were not even a thought just a few short years ago. With this comes new resposibilities, new priorities, new requirements, new demands and of course major change. We are doing the best we can to balance "our past" with "our future" because without a balance we'll end up in the dead pool - and so will lots and lots of folks that have come to rely on BT. If we continue to do more of the same, or, worse yet, what we "used to do" we'll surely end up going away. This isn't good for anyone. The list of "things that don't seem to get any attention for over a year now." Lots of things get our attention daily. Lots of things do not. It's impossible to list what we HAVE done this year to keep this going. The fact is, there will always be technical issues with doing what we are doing. If we had a simple "app builder" (again, this was once enough) this would'nt be the case. It is today. Like you mentioned, 3.0 created a VERY LONG LIST of unintended consequences. 3.0 was necessary just like 4.0 is necessary. I wish more than anyone that everything worked exactly as designed and that everyone got exactly what they wanted from BT. Not everything does. Not everybody does. This is painful but true. "I believe this happened and is happening because David Book has new/other priorities. This is ok for me but at least we all deserve to know if this will change in the future or not? Don't we? Once in a while I read some posts that say something big is coming up soon, but at the end nothing happens." David doesn't have new priorities. But, David does have other priorities. It's called making a living. If David doesn't make a living BT struggles. Or, at minimum, BT will need a different leadership approach. This is exactly the reason I solicited help more than a year ago. This help manifested into the BT leadership team. Without help, David does BT only. BT can't support David. BT isn't David's living. One day it may be, today it's not. As you all know, I enjoy nothing more than hanging out in the forum for countless hours on end. Helping, answering questions, staying connected to literally every single post. Like I used to do. But, as most of you can imagine, this wasn't and still isn't a sustainable approach. I wish it were. Unfortunately the forum, questions, involvment directly with day to day "app making problems" from lots and lots of people is a model that wouldn't work long term. I spend MORE time today on BT than I ever did. It may not be easy to see this. I guess you'll just have to trust me. My time and results may not be visible but if I did "something else" I can assure you that this would come to a grinding hault, real fast. "but at the end nothing happens." Not sure how to respond to this. "nothing happens" is an insult. I understand where it's coming from and I'm not taking it personally. But, "nothing happens" should have been left out :-) "I respect all Buzztouch team members, but there is no real Administrator here that can give us status on important things like the above." We've talked about a "status update" screen / page process for literally years now. But, like anything else, the more we do the more that needs to be done. It's obvious that I could do a better job at communicating this sort of stuff. And I should be. Back to the full circle thing...the more communicating I do, the more communicating that's expected. Literally every post I make triggers countless emails that turn into countless lengthy conversations which of course always end up focussing on one particular users business, apps, clients, etc. I'm not trying to sound like a complainer here, but rather just trying to help people understand why this is so tough for ME. I, more than anyone, wish it could be "like it used to be." Simple, manageable, affordable, etc. It's a large beast now and with that comes new necessary priorities for me and others. The team and I are trying to focus on what's coming while also balancing what we already do. Like I already mentioned, this is a delicate balance. I'm doing the best I can. The team is doing the best they can. BuzzCon is past us. CodeCamp is past us. Products and features announced in Vegas are coming soon. Hopefully these ideas are not considered "empty promises" but ultimately it's up to you, and anyone else for that matter to continue to support us or not. Either way is OK and of course we totally understand your perspective. But, we think BT is the best approach. Like it once way. Leon, thanks again for the long time support, the thoughtful and helpful remarks and the genuine wish that we succeed. None of this would be worth it without it. Cheers from Monterey... David

Oh they've been working on something alright. Those at Buzzcon 2014 saw it. It's freakin amazing. Stunning in its simplicity, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap... Anyway, it's cool. It's forward progress in so many ways, I wish I could show it to you, Leon. Maybe someone else could? Hint. Nudge.

Hey David, pretty quick response for someone I thought wasn't "in town" anymore ;-) I appreciate you posting here and happy to hear that you are not working for Google and not taking care of Buzztouch anymore :-) I understand everything you say and do not want to go in detail what was "promised" to be fixed and not, but would like to break all of it down to 1 question you could maybe answer: I see the Live/Design Mode as one of the most important things and as far as I know it is a simple fix in the BT Core (chris1), so when will this be implemented for both IOS and Android? Thx again for your reply, looking forward to new stuff and repaired items in the near future. PS: If it was for me, make a membership 300 Dollars a year!

Tzz @WolfTimj, that is pretty unfair ;-)

I'd pay it too.

BT is the best way and is going from strength to strength. The future is so bright Leon, as Wolf touches on this year will be the best BT has seen since it's inception. Ps Don't ever think David is out of town, the most switched on guy I have ever met.

Very eloquently put Leon. I think you have articulated something many people may be thinking and I congratulate you for saying it better than I believe I could have. I have had the feeling that since the release of BT 3.0, something has changed. I felt it was a very heavy thing to get off the ground and a deserved break took place. David, it's great to see you respond. I had this romantic notion that Buzztouch was making you a living and that this is what you do exclusively. Of course we can't know how big Buzztouch is and if membership sustains the core team. I guess I thought it did and maybe I was wrong. I share Leon's feeling that there is a lack of communication to the wider audience and I do think something has changed; I associated this with organisational growing pains. I've been here for just over two years and I shared the concern that the lack of your presence in the forums is a worry. When I started, you were one of the most prolific in the forums, something I associated with your leadership of Buzztouch and I follow you because you allways say something worth reading. I thought perhaps for a while you were keeping your head down for a while to get on with something specific; I can count the number of posts this year on one hand (OK. maybe two) and I for one miss them. I am guessing others as well as I were equating this with something negative, don't know what, as I don't have facts and I try not to speculate. And lastly, for those of us that were not there, can anyone point me to where I can read about the products and features announced in Vegas? And is there place to see the status of core bugs and things? Anyway, always good to hear from you David! Alan

"Products and features announced in Vegas are coming soon." "And lastly, for those of us that were not there, can anyone point me to where I can read about the products and features announced in Vegas? And is there place to see the status of core bugs and things? " I too would love to see what the roadmap is, gives us something to look forward too, though I realize the 'when will it be ready' or 'you said' issues arise, it's great to see what's planned.

We should all be very appreciative of everything BT offers. David and the BT team are total rock stars. I feel that BT has taken 10 steps forward in the past 6 months. New ios core new android core, over 50 new plug ins, weekly meetings! I love it ! Thank you.

Hail Hail @feraco

David explained the "new things" at the meeting yesterday...Even if buzztouch didnt progress its still better than any other online app making platform

Feel free to let me know if you would like to join the Developer Team. We meet with David Book a couple times a month. While the group started out as Plugin Developers, it has evolved into a more general group of Buzztouch Developers. Just send me an email at [email protected].

There should be an option for some paid "hands-on" help. People who sell plugins, which do or don't sell, could also apply (sell) some of their knowledge to the real projects some of the rest of us are working on - without us first getting to that level of knowledge and experience ourselves. The "Brains" of my App works great... The appearance of the screens is awful. The back button isn't there. The launch or loading screen isn't. There's nothing but black at the top. My .html doc is awful tiny looking. It's only text. I tried H3 and <font size=15>, to get it more readable! Instead of telling people to read the manual, which is long out of date, or giving vague references, just sell us an hour or half-hour of consulting time, and let us get over some humps, and get on with it. Manuals are dictionaries. I need some specifics. Seems to me whoever can't keep up with updating the docs here, maybe: 1) Could help us hands-on, 2) For money (we're all poor, but we can afford some), and 3) Maybe in helping people, could then focus on which updates need to be made to the docs, and which things are too specific and should be left to paid help. If we were able to do this all on our own, we probably wouldn't be here! But then, on the other hand... Every time I download a new config, I have to go in Xcode and sign it, and fiddle with the Architecture (delete armv6 leaving only armv7, armv7s). There is no .pdf in the download. I'm hacking in the dark. Some consulting time, besides getting us over bumps, could then help us appreciate how some other Plugins could add value to our Apps. Mine is a Map with Pins... it's awesome. And it works! I'd like to encourage users to upload pictures taken at the Pin location. I'd like users to let me know if the business is no longer at the Pin location. I'd like users to be able to let me know if they are standing in front of a building that I should add a Pin for, (and capture the GPS)! I think I saw one or more of those ideas in the PlugIn list - but then how would I add any one or all of those to David's Map Plug-in!?! Maybe an idea I have, could spawn a PlugIn idea for the market. I want to talk to someone!

@Nicks Apps - Feel free to talk to me if you ever have questions! I, and people like @Smug, @MacApple, @Angry Nija, @Niraj, and TONS of others have helped out thousands! Both paid and for free! Mark

Hi Mark - First, could you check your YouTube video about Eclipse for Mac? It was uploaded in Feb 2013. OSX Mavericks came out in October, and Eclipse 5.1.1 around then or after. I'd feel better if I was on the same page!

Second, my iOS menu Screens look awful ugly. The Map itself looks awesome! Which of you would be the best for going over why my screens look so awful?

@Nicks App, how do they look ugly? What type of menus are you using? Screenshot it.

I'll start a new thread.

I've been thinking about updating the install videos...I might do it for Mac this weekend. But it should be more or less the same...just make sure you include the Google Play Services and Android 4.0 when you get your updates from the Android SDK Manager. Mark

Now that I have my Xcode working better, I'll revisit Eclipse. But the 5 attempts I did last week, were frustrated by the differences in the screen captures in the help files. Your video and a UNIX guy's video were better, but I paused it to revert to Xcode. I just got a little shell shocked on 5 tries.

@Nicks App I understand you have problems installing this and that, but there is plenty of help available both on this forum and elsewhere. Please do not hijack this thread any more and open new threads with specific questions, that is how it works here.

David, if you find the time would you please have a look at your splash screen plugin and maybe update it, i see many peoples are having issues, including me.

@Nicks App. I know the BuzzTouch U Learning path is a bit dated, but going through them will give you a really good understanding of how this platform works.

Mark - I hope you will update the Eclipse install video. It's going on a year and a half, and major and subtle things have changed. From OSX Mavericks to iOS7. The video doesn't have to be long, and the narration doesn't have to be verbose. It's about getting to the important points of the install process, and getting those current images of the software to match the video- same for other help files on here. As with other videos here, many could be cut to half as long as they currently are. A lot of rambling and ruminating gets wearying. And for subtle changes: older users maybe able to translate subtle changes to older terms, but as David typed earlier, it seems the older members themselves aren't paying his bills. When I make an "explainer video," I actually script it! That may take 20 extra minutes, but if a video os going to be watched hundreds, or thousands, or tens of thousands of times on YouTube, an extra 20 minutes is but a blink of the eye. I've made several in iMovie, which is free. QuickTime to screen capture, iMovie to assemble (and cut out the waits), then QuickTime again to record the narration while watching iMovie playing back. You can use Freeze Frame in iMovie if there's an important point for which you didn't leave enough video during the screen capture. Your Eclipse video was quite good - overlooking the obviously dated desktop background. I found one other, made a UNIX guy, that was technically good, but had some comedic interludes which cheapened it.

What happened to the two future versions of BuzzTouch? @Susan, I believe you can recall of what I'm talking about from the webinar many months ago. I just wanted to find out the status with that.

@Susan, will you be posting the recording of May 27th webinar on the forum? I missed it and would like to watch if that's possible.

I will get it up on the Webinar's page soon. I am glad you enjoy them.

With a bow of the sincerest respect to David Book, it's my observation that the Buzzcon 2014 participants have each made a personal decision to remain quiet about the details on the next generation of BuzzTouch. My personal ethics say that the contents and the timing of that "press release" belongs only to David. As Tim indicated earlier, we await the revelation! BuzzTouch v3 has taught many of us to be patient, to solve problems and to be self-sufficient as individuals and as a supporting community. Certainly, pain points still exist -- nothing is perfect. With all good things, BuzzTouch must absolutely continue to evolve. Has the journey been worth it? Each has our own answer to that question. I say the answer is "yes!" because we are still here and we are expressing a desire for even more! :-) Keep on trucking -- Niraj

The points made by newcomer Nicks Apps are very important to acknowledge. The learning content is indeed getting woefully dated. The experienced folks can easily ignore the nuances that quickly trip up the new users of BuzzTouch. This is a consequence of being supported by a caring volunteer community. Can the learning content be improved? Yes! How? Perhaps that can be a future topic of discussion at a webinar? Keep on trucking -- Niraj

I fully agree with Niraj. I would love to share the few things I know about the next generation of Buzztouch, but David Book and the leadership team deserve to wow us when it is time. I have seen the future and it is good. Yes, the "how to's" and other learning tools do need updating, but doing so this close to a new release would be wasteful of time. If you are struggling with something; ask. If you don't get a timely response from the community; ask again. (99.9% of us have day jobs ;-) -- Barry

You see now you made things worst, for people like me, that had no idea of a totally new version, now i'm curious, and scared, will i have to relearn everything? i like changes in better, but at least could you give as a time of more or less when this is coming out? should i continue learning or wait?

Not a case of relearning anything buddy. Worry not.

@benedettoapp - Every new generation has been a build on the previous. So, no starting over.

I remember when the BT 2.0 to BT 3.0 posts were flying around the forums, so I can fully understand why nobody is saying anything, because it took much longer than anticipated, everyone got revved up and stressed all at the same time and I'm sure it just served to put the core team under pressure. What I would appreciate is a recognition of the things that are a bit broken in BT 3.0, the understanding that not everyone can code their way round them and a nod in our direction to say what will/won't be fixed. I feel a list coming on...

They are revolutionizing app development even more than before.

I can't know the maths of what it would take to make BT provide an income for at least David but it's worth thinking about higher fees. I would guess a lot of people would happily pay more if that meant a BT download really was plug and play, so to speak, without spending weeks finding fixes to things which were expected to just work. Of course people may say no, they can't afford more or they feel it wouldn't be good value anymore or whatever. But why not ask?