July 2010 Guide database update
The MTG Guide database has been updated with the July 2010 Magic Comprehensive Rules changes (Emblems galore!) and also to add the Oracle text for Vanguard cards and online avatars. We’re still waiting for Wizards to update Gatherer with the corresponding Oracle changes they announced the week before last, so it doesn’t include those changes.
2010-07-31 – Update: Oracle text update has now also been released as 1.2.2.1.1.
(Sorry about strange version numbers. They work around a bug in Guide 1.2.)
Get the 1.2.2.1.1 database update by clicking the “Update” button in the app, or by following the instructions in this post if you don’t see that button appear. Enjoy!
Updating the Guide database
When you first install the MTG Guide 1.2 update, you will need to download a database update from within the app to add the M11 card text and rulings. Due to some quirks with the way settings work on the iPhone, if you don’t see the “Update” button then you may need to visit the system preferences page for MTG Guide so the app sees its new settings. Specifically, follow these steps:
- Close the MTG Guide app (only required if you have iOS 4 and an iPhone that support multitasking).
- Open the System Preferences app and visit the MTG Guide settings.
- Make sure the “Check for updates” setting is set to YES (the default).
- Open MTG Guide app and after loading you should see an “Update” button appear on the top left of the navigation bar. Click this to download and apply the database update.
- You can check it has worked because you should be able to search for M11 cards, and the System Preferences will show the app’s database version as 1.2.2 (now 1.2.2.1.1).
Please contact me via email or twitter if you have any difficulties.
My apologies for this issue. I have a fix for it, but it will be close to a week before that update gets through the app store review process and out to you guys.
MTG Guide 1.2 available soon
I’ve figured out that (at least right now, i.e. soon after a major iOS update) the iTunes Store review process is too slow to rely on for providing timely database updates for things like Magic prereleases, where having access to the FAQs, new card text and rules changes are doubly important. For this reason, MTG Guide v1.2 includes the ability to update its internal database over the internet as a small download. So while I can’t get this past the iTunes review process in time for the M11 prerelease, you’ll have it for the release and future prereleases.
Version 1.2 is currently in review, and the update should be available shortly. It contains the following improvements:
â— Download database updates for new sets from within the app.
â— Ability to search full oracle text and rulings text for cards (as requested by several users). Note, this is slightly slower than title search.
â— Several minor fixes and cosmetic improvements.
And the database updates are:
â— Add card text for M11 cards.
â— Add M11 card-specific FAQ entries.
â— Fix missing loyalty values for some Planeswalkers.
MTG Guide 1.0 now available
MTG Guide 1.0 is now available from the iTunes App Store:
http://itunes.apple.com/app/mtg-guide/id378754271?mt=8
Version 1.1 is in review and will appear on the App Store shortly.
It includes the following fixes/improvements:
â— The halves of split cards are now combined entries in the card list, e.g. “First Half / Second Half”, rather than being individual entries.
â— Flip cards are now displayed as similarly combined entries in the card list.
â— Redundant and repeated FAQ/rulings entries have been removed.
â— Fixed a crash that could occur in low-memory situations on iOS 4.
â— Several other improvements for behaviour under iOS 4.
Planes App permanently removed
After further discussion with Wizard of the Coast’s lawyers, it seems that the Planes App violates the Wizards website Terms of Use, by connecting to and downloading Plane images and card text from the site. While there are many commercial and free third party sites using Magic card images and text for both commercial and free purposes, all I can say is that Wizards were definitely not happy about the Planes App doing it. I speculate that they perhaps saw it as a threat to sales of the Planechase product. Anyway, I will be honouring their wishes and therefore won’t be returning the App to sale.
This result is a little sad given the amount of time and effort I put into designing and developing the App. On the other hand, I have received nothing but good feedback from those that tried or have seen the App. And hey, maybe Wizards will one-day develop their own App and we might see Planechase on the iPhone again!
Planes App removed from sale
This morning I received a copyright/trademark infringement notice from WotC.
While I had taken care for the Planes App itself not to include any Wizards property, they took issue with the app store description mentioning “Planechase” and of the use of the Plane images in the screenshots section of the App Store. Additionally, my icon for the App was using the “pentagon of colours” which I failed to realise was a Wizards trademark (though should have known as it’s printed in the small print on every pack!)
I’ve temporarily removed the app from sale while I comply with their requests.
MTG Planes 1.0 now available
MTG Planes 1.0 is now available from the iTunes App Store:
http://itunes.apple.com/app/mtg-planes/id366746482?mt=8
MTG Planes app interaction video
Here is a video showing what the Planes app looks like and how you interact with it: