Testing the next release of MIT App Inventor (nb187)

[ewpatton]

This is a components release, which means that a new companion app is required to leverage some of the new functionality. The companion version for ai2-test is 2.60t1u and can be installed by scanning the QR code presented under the Help > Companion Information dialog on ai2-test.appinventor.mit.edu. This release contains the following changes:

• Features
  • Add a copyright overlay to the Map component
  • Add a read-only flag for the gallery
  • Load block translations in parallel to improve load time performance
  • Make the designer reflect the status of ShowStatusBar (thanks @Himani)
  • Add HTTP PATCH support to the Web component (thanks @Blueknight10001)
  • Implement Android App Bundles (thanks @Diego)
  • Add dropdown blocks to the blocks editor (thanks @BeksOmega)
• Bug Fixes
  • Fix WebViewer crash on old Android versions
  • "Move to Trash" becomes "Delete from Trash" when in the trash view (thanks @beinganonymous)
  • Fix the "set key path" dictionary block in typeblocking (thanks @semicolon3253)
  • Reserve some Scheme keywords to prevent invalid projects (thanks @Conor)
  • Fix CSV parsing issues in the presence of a trailing comma
  • Fix typing of InstantInTime in the blocks editor (thanks @BeksOmega)
• Internal Changes
  • Update the library list for proguarding extensions (thanks @mishra-kunal)
  • Add the ability to include license files in extensions (thanks @vishwas)

Note that this is a subset of functionality going into this release. Over the coming weeks we will be updating the test version further. Please use this as an opportunity to give us early feedback on new features.

Cheers,
Evan W. Patton, Ph.D.
Lead Software Engineer, MIT App Inventor
On behalf of the MIT App Inventor Team

[Point]

Well done! It's great to see new updates!
By the way, when will it be possible to implement .aar libraries in the extension?

[ewpatton]

I'm hoping to get that merged into this release as well. We are aiming to merge everything that is marked with the nb187 milestone.

[MohamedTamer]

That's really an amazing update!

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@ewpatton

Note that this is a subset of functionality going into this release. Over the coming weeks we will be updating the test version further. Please use this as an opportunity to give us early feedback on new features.

But where has the built-in contains text block gone? it isn't visible for me in the text category any more :

And thereby if I opened any old project on the test server which contains the contains text it seems broken:

Also, the connect to companion dialog's having strange undefined text :

Same for the do-it results:

P.S: sorry if I'm reporting bugs in the wrong place, I actually didn't figure out a place to report bugs in the Google document, that the testing feedback button redirects to

[Taifun]

@ewpatton

Add dropdown blocks to the blocks editor

thank you... this is a great release! I especially like the new dropdowns by @BeksOmega ...

I was just looking at the new Permission dropdown... don't we need only the dangerous permissions, which are used by App Inventor components? See a list of all dangerous permissions here https://stackoverflow.com/a/36937109/1545993

Here is a comparison of the permissions...
The permissions marked with a red cross are not dangerous, i.e. also not required to list in the dropdown?

These 8 dangerous permissions are available in the dropdown list:

available dangerous permissions

ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION
ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION
READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
CAMERA
RECORD_AUDIO
GET_ACCOUNTS
READ_CONTACTS

These dangerous permissions are missing (but probably are not used by App Inventor components, except phone call and texting components?):

missing dangerous permissions

READ_CALENDAR
WRITE_CALENDAR
WRITE_CONTACTS
READ_PHONE_STATE
READ_PHONE_NUMBERS
CALL_PHONE
ANSWER_PHONE_CALLS
READ_CALL_LOG
WRITE_CALL_LOG
ADD_VOICEMAIL
USE_SIP
PROCESS_OUTGOING_CALLS
BODY_SENSORS
SEND_SMS
RECEIVE_SMS
READ_SMS
RECEIVE_WAP_PUSH
RECEIVE_MMS
ACCESS_MEDIA_LOCATION
ACCEPT_HANDOVER
ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION
ACTIVITY_RECOGNITION

Also let me suggest to keep the permission names as they are currently... for example the permission name in Android is ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION, in the list I find CoarseLocation... if we want to use CamelCase notation, then AccessCoarseLocation would be the correct permission name...

Taifun

[ewpatton]

Thanks for the reports. We also changed how translations are loaded so my guess is that there is an interaction here that is resulting in some strings not being defined at the right times. We'll look into it.

[ewpatton]

I think we can eliminate any non-dangerous permissions. However, I disagree with reverting the names to their Android constants, for two reasons. 1) One intent of the dropdown blocks is to make the contents internationalizable so that the content can be presented in any language supported by App Inventor. 2) Provide a more platform-agnostic presentation for iOS support.

[Anke]

This no longer works:

[Anke]

Not even with Companion.

[ewpatton]

@Anke

grafik805×553 94.2 KB

I think this is due to the translations issue.

@Anke

grafik414×830 52 KB

Did you update to the test version of the companion, 2.60t1u?

[Anke]

@ewpatton

Did you update to the test version of the companion, 2.60t1u?

Yes, and as I said, it doesn't work with APK & Companion.

[ewpatton]

Alright. I'm looking into it.

[TIMAI2]

@ewpatton

Add HTTP PATCH support to the Web component (thanks @Blueknight10001)

Just for completeness (as I have posted about this elsewhere)

Tested with Firebase realtime database from an app, HTTP PATCH works in all contexts expected of it.
Thank you.

[SteveJG]

@ewpatton

Add a copyright overlay to the Map component

This works

I have been using the wording Map data © OpenStreetMap on my apps. That wording might be more appropriate as only the map data is copyrighted.

Thanks,
-- Steve

[TIMAI2]

Is this close to making it into the release ? (component name block)

https://community.appinventor.mit.edu/t/feature-request-return-name-value-of-button-when-clicked/16619/5

[ewpatton]

We've updated ai2-test today with some additional items:

• Fix an issue with compiled apps and dropdown blocks
• Different preview styles when in "Device Default" theme (@Himani's GSOC project)
• Fix a logical bug in the Ev3Gyro sensor (@BeksOmega)
• Open all help items in new tabs (@pavi2410)

Regards,
Evan

[Patryk_F]

I found a small bug in the designer.
When we set the theme "Device default" the appearance of the switch component is correct.

When we set the "Classic" theme then the switch component looks like a checkbox.