Releases should become a reality for all platforms shortly. Please see the Release roadmap at the new https://www.jwcontacts.com/Pages/Downloads.html. Major pre-requisite concerns have been:
- Form a LLC (Limited Liability Company) as the responsible party for the web site and software. Done. David Pressman LLC is now a registered South Carolina LLC.
- Obtain a universally-recognized code signing certificate for those user installations that require the developer furnish one. (Not required by the Google and Microsoft App Stores, but required for most everything else.) Applied for today. I would have preferred obtaining the Extended Validation variety (the install proceeds without the user ever needing to acknowledge trust), but just could not afford it yet (3-year validity about $800). So some users will be asked to “trust” the software.
A free utility Windows 10 Desktop program, JwContactsSpreadsheet (JwcS), is nearly ready, needing just the above certificate and one promised fix from a Controls supplier. JwcS is for those users who need to work with Excel-based JwC files (such as while creating initial setup data), but lack access to a Microsoft Excel program or equivalent. To avoid competition with commercial programs like Microsoft’s Excel, JwcS has been restricted to just existing known JwC files, cannot create new ones, and cannot alter many workbook aspects not required to enter or edit actual data. When ready it will appear also at https://www.jwcontacts.com/Pages/Downloads.html.
Meeting a few App Store requirements has resulted in a few changes:
- The initial page has been altered such that (as before) signing-in requires checking the Acceptance checkbox beside the JwC icon, which now produces a new Privacy Dialog, acceptance of which allows the sign-in to proceed.
- The web Privacy Page (https://www.jwcontacts.com/Pages/Privacy.html) has been greatly extended with language purchased from a legal documents preparation web site.
- I had to remove JwC’s very useful BackgroundSMS function (allows a chosen text, without further user action, be sent multiple recipients as a series of discrete messages, rather than as a single group message). Available anyway only with Android devices, Google App Store has recently decided to restrict such use to a very narrow range of app types. Perhaps this function had been abused by some apps.
- Gmail and Google Drive use are temporarily disabled on all platforms until Google approves JwC use after examining early Android JwC releases. JwC code works fine; all that is needed is Google’s approval. Google has usage restrictions beyond those of its own Play Store, so Google uses an early Play Store release to verify app needs.
