109 Comments

1. kevinxu76 on December 5, 2016 at 9:26 pm

   Sorry, but I am confused with the reason of the smartbar. For me nothing was hidden in PI4 : search, quick entry, settings were all one click away. Calendar views need 2 clicks if I want to change to a different format, othwewise also just one click.

   • Alex Kac on December 5, 2016 at 11:11 pm

     For some long time users some of those features were second nature – sure. But for many new users and for many long time users – they never knew about those things. Even people who had beta tested PI for years didn’t know about quick entry.

     In Pi4 you could two finger drag down a view to reveal the Quick Entry screen. How is that intuitive? And it was difficult.

   • Gennaro on December 6, 2016 at 3:37 am

     You’re going down the same way as Microsoft, which introduced the hideous ribbon so that “hidden” features would surface and everybody knew they were there. Result? Beginners were actually happier (I suppose) while power users had their productivity severely dampened. Surely there must have been a way other than a revolution in the user interface to let people know that they could scroll the bottom tab bar? Little arrows at the edges come to mind! As for Quick Entry, this is one of the instances where documentation helps (I knew about it, but admittedly I discovered by chance it was there only while reading the forums). Not that PI5 is all intuitive (see email integration). I am firmly convinced, though, that if you want a feature and customisation heavy software you need to go through compromises, and users must pay the price to go through a learning curve (led by documentation) if they want a software rich in advanced features. That said, the simpler the better, of course.

   • albertw.fredericm on December 6, 2016 at 6:37 am

     I also prefer the UI from PI4, more efficient.
     Isn’t it better to tell the users how to use the UI in PI4 than do it like you in PI5??? Steps backwards……clean view in PI4/ugly point in PI5…..one click in PI4 to change the view/always double click in PI5…..costumable bar in PI4 only scroll for things using less/always all and again ugly points in PI5. And it seems PI4 is a little bit faster in changing the views than PI5 (Iphone 6s, iPad Mini4, iPad Pro)
     And i wonder: you/we can read many feedback and tipps from us users, many to think about to make the PI5 not bader than PI4. You tell us of many many positive feedback from users they never tell it…..not in Facebook….not in the Appstore….not in your blog…….only to you…..interesting.
     Sorry again for my ‘english’, i know it’snot the best 😉

     Regards Albert
     who want to be a lucky PI5 user…..but in the moment i prefer PI4

   • kevinxu76 on December 6, 2016 at 10:16 am

     It sounds like your intention of change is to attract new users. But your price strategy is not. I am pretty only long term loyal experienced customers will pay you $30 per year to support your developers. New users do not care your company and your developers; they had no connection with you. They see PI just as one of dozens of calendar apps, and most of them are free.

   • kevinxu76 on December 6, 2016 at 10:39 am

     I would like to make clear that I am OK with subscription model. Currently I subscribe evernote, toodledo, MS office, and a couple of others. I am on the support side.

2. Gennaro on December 6, 2016 at 3:25 am

   I think that in some ways you are hiding your head in the sand. I’ve seen the positive reviews (especially on Facebook), but there are very many negative reactions, with VERY detailed explanations of what is going wrong, especially from people who have been using Informant for a long time. I’m sure Scott Crossman loves the dark mode, but for every Scott there are another 20 which hate it and miss the customization they had before (personally I won’t use dark but I don’t mind it, and I never personalized my colour scheme). As for the issues you list above:
   (1) Pricing: I’m fine with paying for a subscription for syncing, in the end of the day this is not so different from paying for Informant Sync on PI4. I just think your pricing is too high, to accomodate features I don’t want. What you say about “owning the app” is a bit of a gimmick, I wouldn’t know what to do with PI without syncing between devices. I have the bitter feeling you have set the subscription so high to make up for the loss of customers the subscription pricing will cause, in this way punishing those who decide to stay with you. I’ll fill your survey
   (2) Two Taps: it’s true, even before you needed to taps to swap between calendar views, but you needed only one to switch between calendar and tasks (and others), and the first tap on the calendar showed you a little neat menu on top of your current view, not a full different screen. So it’s not just about the two taps. You tap first, your current view disappears and you see an animation, you need to find the icon for the view you need, you tap again, the screen you see changes again and finally you go to the view you wanted after a little delay for populating it. WHEN YOU SWITCH BETWEEN VIEWS SEVERALT TIMES THIS BECOMES EXTREMELY DISTRACTING AND ANNOYING. Please notice that “one tap between views” which I introduced in your survey, is one of the feature requests which got more votes in your survey.
   (2b) I don’t mind the “home screen – although it can be improved, currently I just see today’s time and weather (which I don’t want) and some times ETA to next appointment – I just don’t want to see it EVERY TIME I CHANGE VIEW! As it is now, I need to go through the hassle of two screen changes and get little or no info out of that
   (2c) With PI4 I always knew where to tap to go, say to task view, now I need to wait for the smartbar to appear and then see where the button for task view is. If I need another calendar view I have to reach up to half of the screen if my iPad. This makes no sense! I also get confused between all the icons for the different calendar views, I need to focus for a moment to understand where I need to go, whereas before the little menu with icons+text was really perfect and needed no improvement. I will get accustomed in the end, but IN NO WAY the smartbar is more productive than the tab bar (+scroll).
   (3a) Bugs: these are annoying, but do not concern me, I’m sure you’ll solve them quickly enough. I will use PI4 for quite a while and wait for PI5 to become more bug free before using it (or choosing some other app).
   (3b) There is a bug in Filter Events by Tag: for a tag with no color, I cannot select “view this tag only” for a tag with no colour. This bug has been around for a LONG time. Maybe if I repeat it’s there enough times you’ll decide to go and try to solve it. This is where I feel that development time dedicated to creating new features of no utility could be dedicated to solving existing bugs instead.
   (4) AND/OR filters: I would really really like AND/OR filters! I understand from your point of view this falls in the “why don’t you ever listen to my great ideas?” category, but for me it’s a further indicator of what I think it’s very important for a calendar/task app: improve in every way you can your core features (calendar and taks) and put behind the development of new features (like weather integration). I get it, many people like weather, notes and suchlike, but you must know that your implementation of such features is much more basic than the implementation done by dedicated apps, and will never ever match it. Yours is a calendat/tasks software, and this is what I want from you, I love my wheather app (Weather Pro), but if the developers decided to implement a very basic calendar feature in their app, and charge me twice so that I can have it, I would be furious. I have PI for that!!!! The weather app has introduced several new features over the years. I like some, I don’t care about other, but THEY WERE ALL WEATHER RELATED!!!

   • albertw.fredericm on December 6, 2016 at 6:43 am

     I agree!

   • chrismc on December 6, 2016 at 10:36 am

     Hey Gennaro

     Trust me, our head isn’t in the sand. We’ve been hearing it *all* – the good and the bad. We’ve had a lot of conversations internally since the release and we’re processing all the feedback. But also note that 5.0 has barely been out for a week, so we’re still in collection/processing mode.

     I appreciate your detailed feedback. I don’t know that I can address every detail here, but at a high level:

     -I totally hear you on the issue of two taps + the “heaviness” of going through the home screen for each view switch. We’re talking a lot about it and have some ideas that we can implement in the short term to solve some of that…but who knows – maybe we go back to the drawing board on view navigation. The SmartBar solves a few problems we had in PI4, but it undoubtedly has created a few new ones. A lot of times design comes down to managing tradeoffs and I’ll admit – every so often, we don’t always get the right balance….but we’ll keep trying 😉

     -Forgive me – this is the first I’m hearing about the “tag with no color” bug. I see what you’re talking about…easily reproducible – and you’re right, that issue would have been around since day 1…I’d say it’s fairly uncommon to remove tag color (the vast majority of people use tag colors intentionally to color events/tasks), so that probably explains why it hasn’t bubbled up to me yet…but I’ve filed the bug…it’s not a terribly difficult fix – I should be able to knock it out in the next release or two.

     -AND/OR filters. We’ve intermittently talked about it over the years. Those discussions led to a more broad feature request that I think would be pretty great (it would solve your use case…and so many more in a fairly elegant way). I don’t have a definitive timeline on that for you – but just know it is rattling around in our heads.

     -Documentation – this topic has bubbled up a lot in the past week. We need to get better here. I’m not necessarily convinced a traditional “user manual” is the most efficient/useful solution – but there is definitely a need here that we must address.

     -Date Picker – agreed…we have some short term improvements to make and some longer term ideas for it as well.

   • kevinxu76 on December 6, 2016 at 10:57 am

     Exactly, it is not just 2 taps, the attention cost is huge to search for where to click plus the animation that also force your attention switch. Good UI engineer should learn some cognitive psychology 101.

   • Keith on December 6, 2016 at 11:45 am

     kevinxu76,

     I appreciate the reference to cognitive psychology101. I’ll look into it & share it with folks internally.

     On a personal note (meaning this is my own thoughts & may or may not be Chris’ or Alex’s opinion) …
     I have noticed a lot of people (myself included) who are from the Oldschool (calling myself oldschool, not anyone else) opinion that everything in the u/i should be in as few clicks as possible. From this perspective, I totally understand why someone would be frustrated with moving or changing something that was 1 click and is now 2 clicks. (P.S. This is why I like to have a bunch of windows open on my computer, papers on my desk and stacks of stuff everywhere… because “I know” right were it is…visual would be interesting her)

     I think this is valid and makes sense to me….

     However… I have noticed (in Informant 5) and also in many other apps a different application of what you might call Cognitive Pyshycology. (disclosure: I’m really not sure if i’m using that term correctly because I’ve only read one blog article on it since you mentioned it) … This (lets call it) “new” thinking seems to come from the perspective that having too many things (buttons, items on your desktop, papers on your desk) is actually a distraction and consumes some mental energy just having it there. I have questioned a few U/I designers on this topic and they have called it “context sensitive” design (maybe?) meaning that the options that you are presented with at any given time are based on your current context or your current situation. This gives the UX designer license to remove some of the “clutter” and clean up the ui design.

     Old School example: Does anyone remember the Palm Pilot & how it had 4 buttons? When the iPhone came out, it just had 1 button…What? How crazy. Where are my contacts? I hate not having one button access to my calendar, tasks, contact, and notes… But, in the end the one button approach won out… Does anyone still use a palm pilot? in that case One button won.

     Another more recent example: Microsoft bombed with windows 8 with their home button, but in windows 10 they seemed to find a way to compromise both approaches. (BTW: I am writing this on a Mac. Have been a mac user for 3 years now, however I spent a few hours of the weekend upgrading my teenage daughters (crappy computer) from windows 8 to windows 10…painful)

     < >

     If the brain says “it’s time to switch to something else”… The SmartBar navigation takes you right to that point of “Switch…” then the buttons take you to the “something else part’.

     As a wise mentor once said, “Perception and reality may not be the same, but in the eye of the customer Perception is the only thing that matters”… With that in mind, let me say that if we screwed up your workflow with the new ui we are indeed sorry.

     In addition to committing to make it right, perhaps you could consider the “extra click” as a simple reminder to “FOCUS” on the task at hand rather than constantly switching between them.

     Warning: I’m sure that some people will take offense to my last comment and say that is garbage, or a distraction from the real issue… but I know from my own vast study of human behavior (which is actually pretty decent), that if you choose to see a certain behavior in a certain way (Psychologists might call that setting a trigger). So, If you choose to see the click to the SmartBar home button as a “pause” and you associate that pause with a small check of “am I staying focused, or am I getting distracted” you might find some good in it.

     P.S. YES. We are really finding ways to make both camps happy and I’m sure we will come up with something… I know Chris is wanting to punch Alex every time someone criticizes the Smartbar….oh…wait… Please don’t think that that last comment means that Chris and Alex are in a fight (they are not in a fight or anything like that, they are kinda-like the old married couple at times though) ….oh… wait…I probably shouldn’t say that. I mean that figuratively and not literally.

     …oh wait… I just realized that some people might think that Chris and Alex fight like an old married couple, and that that means they might actually fight…. That is not the case. The truth is that they compliment each other VERY WELL and have incredible respect for each other. I am obviously (as some of you have pointed out) the outsider here. I sincerely hope that you can have a bit of fun with me through this, as it is my first product launch (with this company). I am as serious as a heart attack about this company and this product. I have nothing but the highest regard for every aspect of it… ESPECIALLY the customers…

     P.P.S In case some of you haven’t noticed… I like to use analogies. Yes, some of them may be in poor taste, some might not translate to other languages well, and some might just be weird… But I do love you and I do mean well. So cut me some slack… (on that note, lets get back to talking about whats wrong with the product again.. can we? )

   • kevinxu76 on December 6, 2016 at 1:47 pm

     I am glad you are also interested in psychology and human behavior. You mentioned “if you choose to see the click to the SmartBar home button as a “pause” and you associate that pause with a small check of “am I staying focused, or am I getting distracted”, I see your point in it. I think when we focus on the “switching view”, it exaggerates it’s weight in frequency and importance. Is switching view really that important? It should depend on the actual workflow of users. To me, I use focus view and task view most frequently and I have 1/10 or less usage of other views. To me focus view and task view are a whole experience and I don’t like any kind of interruption when I switch between them. Can I complete my task in one view ? Maybe, but why not to use 2 views, I have 2 monitors in my office and I am much more productive than using just one monitor because there is no interruptions when switch between watching/referencing information between 2 windows.

     Let’s talk about when we do need to switch view. It still causes pain after it hide my existing view, pop up & load the home page slowly that I have no intention to view, plus the animation of pop out menu, buttons to select (same color / no text is hard for eye to distinguish), I have a fraction of second during which I forgot where I were and where I want to go due to the interruption. It is subtle, but it exists. Some company uses eye ball tracking devices to track user’s attention to enhance UX.

   • Keith on December 6, 2016 at 5:41 pm

     Great points and observation.

   • tab on December 6, 2016 at 9:39 pm

     @chrismc
     That response is a home run. Thank you!
     For the first time since this release someone has responded in the most professional, forthright and honest manner possible. Acknowledged, it’s been rough on you guys. It should be, the customers didn’t create one single bit of this debacle.
     Chris, I for one hope you here more from you. Thanks again.
     p.s. Maybe you should be the marketing arm/voice of PI5

   • Gennaro on December 7, 2016 at 3:10 am

     Chris (chrismc), thank you so much for your EXCELLENT feedback ,now I have quite a few things I’m looking forward to!

     I really hope you manage to find the right balance in the UI soon, as I hope to see the AND/OR filters (or the new feature you mentioned) sooner than later.

     As for the “tag with no color” bug, it’s great to see you’ve filed it! I’m surprised you hadn’t heard of it earlier, I had a discussion with Alex about it on some forum. If I recollect properly, the story is this: I use tags only for filtering, and I like to see events in my calendar view coloured with the colour of the calendar they belong to. At some point you changed colouring priority, tag colour took priority over calendar colour without any option to change that, and the colour of what I was seeing got horribly messed up. As a solution, you introduced “no colour” as an option for tags, I subsequently removed colours from all tags and finally was presented with the bug.

     As for documentation, maybe a few videos will be the best way to present features, and easiest to change and update as Informant changes

   • chrismc on December 8, 2016 at 9:57 pm

     @gennaro – just wanted to follow up really quick to let you know that I fixed the clear-tag-selection bug and it will be part of 5.02.

     Version 5.01 will hit the App Store in the morning and 5.02 should be ready within the next couple weeks.

   • Niklas on December 9, 2016 at 4:32 am

     I absolutely disdain the new menu bar/ribbon. It’s so ineffective and wasteful, and not very pretty to look at. It was the main reason PI5 went into the allegorical “garbage can” on my iOS device, while I’m very happy with the PI4 interface.

     I think a better approach would’ve been to try to *educate* new users about scrolling in the menu (via an interactive and delightful tutorial, perhaps even customizing what you wanted in the menu on the first run and giving easy guidance to changing it later).

     As a iOS PI user since 2009, the tax on “power user productivity” in order for you to make it easier for newcomers is a kick in the teeth. Wrong approach imo. When those new users get over the slight threshold of using PI, do you think they would prefer the more direct approach to accessing functions, or something that is more cumbersome? Tip: your typical customer isn’t people that have 10 tasks like “buy eggs” on their task list. I have over 600+ tasks in mine, and THAT is the type of customer that PI attracts. The other people will go to Wunderlist and whatnot.

   • Gennaro on December 11, 2016 at 2:23 am

     @chrismc: thank you so much for that bug fix!

     There is still a bug in the new date picker: when I choose a calendar attached to a time zone, the time zone shown next to “start” and “end” of an event does NOT change to the time zone of the calendar but remains unchanged at “Local”.

     Anyway, as I just wrote more extensively in reply to the newest blog post, I am keeping fiddle a lot with PI5 but (in addition to all my other issues with the new user interface) the user interface in task view is so cumbersome, unintuitive and annoying that only for that I’m really poised to leave PI. I really don’t want because I it is very hard to find alternative as good as Informant (4!), but I really can’t get mad while using my calendar/task app.

3. Gennaro on December 6, 2016 at 3:27 am

   (5) Documentation: usually I don’t care too much about the lack of documentation, but now that I’m asked to pay a lot to use your software, yes I want proper documentation, especially to understand how to deal with features whose use in not that evident, like trigger and email integration

4. Gennaro on December 6, 2016 at 3:43 am

   (6) Date picker: I don’t dislike the new date picker, but it must be improved (and bugs be solved): (1) all fields (except years) must roll over: after December I want to find January again, after 59 I find 0 again, etc, rather than needing to scroll back and forth like a madman, (2) An options should be added so that I can decide which increment I want by default: 15, 5 or 1 minute.

5. mehill on December 6, 2016 at 5:19 am

   I understand you want to hear positive comments right now, and I’ll add to them. Fanatic has been wonderful over the years, they make a great product which I LOVE and I’m happy to support them as a company.

   However, i hope you see a difference between a comment where someone says “I love the new version” or “it looks great” and a post where someone told you in several paragraphs how this had made then MORE productive because of a, b and c. I don’t recall seeing any of those comments where someone spelled out exactly how this has made then more productive. There have, however, been several comments where people have spelled out how it’s made them less productive. Please don’t ignore their input because you see it as negative. This is after all, a productivity app and it seems like there was a step backwards for people who are more task oriented and a step forward for people who are more event oriented.

   I’m not normally someone who comments and in fact i had to register to start posting. My initial reason was to find out if something was possible, then i commented letting someone know where to find something, then another question on how to do something. It wasn’t until later when reading Keith’s comments that i decided to share my thoughts. I felt like he was discounting people’s concerns and it still kinda feels that way. I get that your aren’t going to change your product because of a blog post, but you can do a better job of explaining that to people without being antagonistic.

   P.S. I also just realized that several of your features aren’t available to me because i have an iPhone 6 and certain features only work on 6+ and newer. That’s something you should be clearer about. I’m new to the Apple world and thought i was doing something wrong.

   Thank you

   • Gennaro on December 6, 2016 at 5:46 am

     I do feel much like mehill, and I have similat feelings about Keith. Even if I have been extremely active these days, I usually do no write much. I’ve commented a lot because I’ve been really happy with PI over the years, I like Alex and Fanatic, I like the good interaction with the developers and I really want to keep going with Informant 5, so I hope my voice is heard and some adjustments made.

   • Keith on December 6, 2016 at 6:32 am

     Gennaro,

     We do appreciate your comments and we are listening. If my comments have been received in an overly optimistic way it is simply because I see the positive things in this new product (there are many as I have elaborated on in many other posts & blogs) and I simply want to re-assure any readers that the reaction to Informant is not “all bad”. (which it most certainly isn’t).

     Yes, there are some things we need to fix. But it is most certainly not beyond repair. It is a software release in a x.0 stage. It is early. The 5.01 will be better, and the 5.02 will be better than that.

     Thank you (sincerely) for your participation in the forums.

   • Keith on December 6, 2016 at 6:28 am

     Mehill,

     I can assure you that we ARE listening to the comments and we are moving furiously behind the scenes on a number of items. For example, we have already submitted a 5.01 version with many bug fixes, we have re-launched our uservoice forum, we are responding to most (if not all) comments on multiple media to show that we do listen and we do care.

     I am certainly not trying to diminish the thoughts or feelings of anyone who is frustrated by the new version, so please don’t view this post to be challenging to those thoughts, I am simply trying to add some reassurance for anyone who might be reading these posts and deciding weather to buy/try the new upgrade. Yes, there are some changes between I4 and I5. However, we did not break your I4. If you really feel more productive in I4 and don’t have the time to dive in to I5, then keep both for a while. Use your I4 as a safety net for a few weeks. If you feel strongly about things like the SmartBar navigation or the date picker, please go vote/comment on them in the uservoice forums.

     P.S. Yes. the force touch features are only in the newer iPhones. (I just realized that yesterday, and updated one of our posts based on that. So thank you for that.)

     If you feel strongly about price, then we have created an outlet for that also. We are a small team, we have the ability to make changes pretty quickly. Could we make changes on price? Sure, anything could happen. Our current position on price is this…We weren’t charging enough before. We needed to increase our prices to stay in business long term and to add the features that many people were asking for. Our predictions are that based on the changing economics of the app store, other developers who don’t make similar changes will be going out of business.

     We ARE listening. We ARE listening. Keep commenting, keep engaging with us…keep responding to our surveys, participating in our forums, etc. Yes, criticism is fine for us to hear. In fact we feel that it is the only way that we will get better.

     But, also, please be aware of how someone (not one of Informant developers) may interpret your comments. If you want Informant to get better (Informant gets better when people download it, and especially when they pay for it), then please also share the good things that you like about it, or how it does make your life more organized and productive. Please also encourage others to try/buy it. That is the think that keeps the engine running.

     Being positive doesn’t mean ignoring the bad stuff, it just means having hope. Hope that things can get better. I am 110% positive that in the coming weeks you will see things that reassure you that your voices are being heard and Informant 5 is getting better. I am also 1000% sure that Informant can add $25 worth of value to you and your life.

     If you are in a situation where $25 is just too much because of lack of income or fixed income, or something else, then please message us or chat with us and make a suggestion. (We are not heartless) When the dust settles on this release or at various points in time in the future we might be able to offer you a coupon or some sort of trade for helping market Informant to others.

   • tab on December 6, 2016 at 8:56 am

     I agree with you about discounting people’s concerns. Maybe the bold print (this is like being flicked in the head by him) has something to do with that impression. Or maybe it’s telling people they’re the only one with a bug (out of thousands?) Or perhaps it’s picking a few positive comments out of hundreds and claiming it’s representative of the whole.

   • Keith on December 6, 2016 at 9:20 am

     Tab,

     I am sorry if you felt like I flicked you in the head.. And Yes. I might actually do something like that if I was sitting next to you… BUT, I am also just as likely to give you a BIG HUG and tell you that it will all be OK.

     – Please consider this message more along the “hug” type, and less like a head flick.

   • mehill on December 6, 2016 at 9:38 am

     On what planet is it ok for the marketing person (the face of the company) to tell a customer you want to flick him in the head? Those are the types of things that you might think, and might say to a co-worker, but should never say to a customer. Even if you think it’s funny and you’re trying to lighten the mood.

     Just as you asked us to consider how potential, future customers might take our negative comments about the app, perhaps you should consider how future, potential customers might take your comments as the face of the company they’re considering giving their money to.

   • Keith on December 6, 2016 at 10:03 am

     mehill,

     I apologize. It is apparent that my tone is not coming across in this text in the jovial manner it was meant.

     I don’t think I ever said I wanted to flick [tab] in the head (or anyone else for that matter). I was simply responding to his remark that he felt like my bold fonts were “like being flicked in the head” [to quote tab].

     For the record, I have been know to use the occasional bold face font to call attention to certain words (in a long blog post) so that you can get the meaning without reading the whole thing..

     Also, for the record, I also said that I would be just as likely to give him [tab] a BIG HUG.

     Maybe in some situations that would be inappropriate also. (as unfortunate as that is…)

     Apparently I do not have a future as a comedian.

   • kevinxu76 on December 6, 2016 at 9:58 am

     Me too. My mouth couldn’t close when I saw a customer seivce compared a customer to a chicken character in a movie. Maybe I am too old to consume this joke.

   • Keith on December 6, 2016 at 10:16 am

     Kevinxu76,

     I’ll take that as constructive criticism and work to make my intentions more clearly stated.

   • Erik on December 7, 2016 at 11:07 am

     Keith:

     Two points. First, when you claim “I am also 1000% sure that Informant can add $25 worth of value to you and your life”, all you have done is say “this is our model and we’re sticking with it, regardless of what people think.” That may be a fact. Fine. Fanatic may modify it. That, too, is fine. My point is simply that your assertion betrays a deep myopia: you have no idea what adds value to the life of your customers, nor how each of those individuals values any incremental or monumental addition. To claim otherwise while simultaneously extolling the very thing that has annoyed (some) people comes across as tone deaf.

     Second, I generally like off-beat humor as, apparently, you do. My sense, from reading these comments, is that your efforts are working against your goals. Straight-forward answers might be more effective. One of the things about Fanatic that is superlative is their apparent commitment to their customer base in these kinds of fora. Their responsiveness over the years has been second to none. Repeated missteps with humor runs the risk, it seems to me, of beggaring that legacy.

   • Alex Kac on December 7, 2016 at 11:48 am

     Hi Erik. Keith is trying to find his fit into how we at Fanatic have been fairly up-front and open about things. I’ve known him for over 6 years and he’s a really really good guy with a constantly running set of ideas to help customers. With Keith coming, there has been more discussion about how things should work in a few weeks than there was in a few years – and Chris and I have spent *hours* discussing things, so its not that it was poor before – but just that its so much more now because we have a bigger team. Much bigger. The two major differences is that because its now a much bigger team, most of that discussion happens in-house instead of in public as Chris and I often did; and a new big team means trying to find a fit. Give him some time to find his voice/tone.

     As for his claim that he was sure that I5 can add $25 worth of value – I have to agree with him. If we didn’t believe that, we wouldn’t be in this business and we wouldn’t be promoting it as such. The value we bring is because we’ve been in this business, serving productivity users for almost 17 years now, listening to feedback, seeing what works and so on – so yeah, I do think we can positively say that we do have very clear ideas of what adds value to the productivity life of our customers. And while I can’t say much more today, Keith has been in the productivity business for about the same length of time. Once we can announce more about Keith, you’ll see he has a very good idea of what brings value to customers in terms of productivity.

     I’m not arguing that we think everyone can get $25 of productivity – my mom would not, for example; but for a majority of our customer-base, I do believe it does. Again, I know not everyone will agree today, but within a few months when Chris brings out 5.01, 5.02, 5.1 – building on the feedback of users, I think it will increase.

   • Keith on December 7, 2016 at 9:31 pm

     Erik,

     Please re-read my original post about being “1000% sure that Informant can add $25 worth of value to you and your life”.

     While I am sticking by my comment, I also stated that … “If you are in a situation where $25 is just too much because of lack of income or fixed income, or something else, then please message us or chat with us and make a suggestion. (We are not heartless) When the dust settles on this release or at various points in time in the future we might be able to offer you a coupon or some sort of trade for helping market Informant to others.”

     To that I will add: If you are a “price sensitive shopper” then please join our newsletter list. If & when we decide to have sales or coupons for Informant this is how we will get them out.

     URL for newsletter list: http://staging.pocketinformant.com/subscribe-to-our-newsletters/

     I do agree with your comment about my humor missing the mark. True. Very true.

     I think I will try being a bit more serious. I can do that too 🙂

   • Erik on December 7, 2016 at 12:27 pm

     Alex:

     Fair enough. As I have noted in other fora here, I am still on the fence, but I have some months yet before I will truly need to make a decision, so I shall wait and see how things shake out.

6. mehill on December 6, 2016 at 7:41 am

   Thanks for your response Keith, but please note that I said nothing about price. Instead i said I’m happy to support the company. That’s the main reason i feel like you’re not listening. YOU keep bringing up the price when people are commenting on the useability.

   I’ll say it again. I LOVE THIS PRODUCT. But I doubt people considering a purchase are checking out your blog comments. They are most likely reading app store comments only and I’ve said nothing negative in the app store.

   Rest assured, I do tell anyone who i think would benefit from Informant that they should buy it NOW. In fact, I’m an admin for a 30 person branch of a Fortune 500 company. We have a company website that reaches employees all over the world and I’ve shared several times over the years my love for the product and how it helps my juggle my many daily and monthly tasks. Keep your customers happy and they will sing your praises from the rooftops.

   • mehill on December 6, 2016 at 8:17 am

     Also, I forgot to thank you for the survey and suggestions page. I’ve made my comments known in both and based on my past experience with the company I’m confident they will listen and the app will only get better.

     And in the spirit of something positive, I do appreciate that they’ve redesigned the app from the back end, I don’t know anything about developing an app, but I do understand why this was necessary and that it was a ton of work. And while Triggers are currently taking more time than my templates did, I’m 100% confident that in future releases these will be a huge time saver for us task oriented people and I look forward to them.

   • Keith on December 6, 2016 at 8:45 am

     mehill,

     Thank you for your comments, and especially for your praise and continued recommendation even in light of what you pointed out as a few steps backwards in a few places. We appreciate your support and are indeed grateful for your support of the pricing and the product in general. I also assure you that we are listening and the comments thus far generated have been pondered and discussed at great lengths by all of us here. If we did make something less useful, we will make it right. That’s how we do it. Many of you (customers) have been with Informant longer than I have (Keith), I realize that. In fact, I think that is probably why I feel a bit more defensive than Chris & Alex do thus far. Believe me… these guys [Informant Developers] are very hard on themselves and expect perfection. I have been brought in as a “marketer” an so I am a bit more sensitive to the perception that people have in reading the communications. I simply hope that people understand that while there might be a few things wrong (and I’m not trying to discount any of it), that the app does offer a TON of value and it should be considered by anyone in the market.

     I sincerely appreciate your last comment: Quoting: ” Rest assured, I do tell anyone who i think would benefit from Informant that they should buy it NOW. In fact, I’m an admin for a 30 person branch of a Fortune 500 company. We have a company website that reaches employees all over the world and I’ve shared several times over the years my love for the product and how it helps my juggle my many daily and monthly tasks. Keep your customers happy and they will sing your praises from the rooftops.” I do think that your criticism is actually much more valid than someone who might just post a negative review because they work for a competitor or something weird like that…

     Thank you,

   • kevinxu76 on December 6, 2016 at 11:53 am

     When you say “someone who might just post a negative review because they work for a competitor or something weird like that…” you need to be very specific of who and why do you think so, otherwise you are offending whoever seeing it but mehill.

   • Keith on December 6, 2016 at 11:54 am

     Good point… Sometimes my fingers move faster than my brian…. I mean brain.

7. sarz on December 6, 2016 at 10:18 am

   Keith, I’m going to quote what you wrote to mehill

   “I do think that your criticism is actually much more valid than someone who might just post a negative review because they work for a competitor or something weird like that…”

   1. I highly doubt that the competitors see informant as a threat due to its high cost and poor customer feedback on the app store. In the UK app store I have never seen informant in the top 100 in the productivity category.

   2. Informant 5 is getting negative feedback because it’s not up to the standards we expect from the company. Many of the negative feedback is due to price, bugs and UI changes. I don’t think that’s weird do you!

   • Keith on December 6, 2016 at 11:03 am

     Sarz,

     First off, thank you for reading the blog & participating.

     I did say that the criticism was valid.

     My point was that I was telling mehill that I do appreciate their explanation as a user in addition to the critical comments. It makes their comments sound more “real” as opposed to less real.

     If you think our customer service is poor, please give me a chance to address your issue. Was there a problem that you had that was not answered? If so, I’m sure we can make it right….

     P.S. I’m not sure where Informant is listed in the UK store. In the US it is one of the first apps that people see. What (in your opinion) would Informant need to do/become to be top100 in UK store?

   • sarz on December 6, 2016 at 11:44 am

     Keith, I never said your customer service is poor.

     As far as how to improve informant’s popularity, it’s all about marketing and getting positive reviews from the major iOS and Mac blog and YouTube reviewers

     You’re a marketing guy, you know how it work 🙂

   • Keith on December 6, 2016 at 12:02 pm

     So true… So true…

     Here is our plan… We have release the app to the general public 6 days ago. We are working rapidly behind the scenes to get a 5.01 and a 5.02 to address any of the issues that we didn’t catch in our beta.

     I’m doing my best to gather as much critical feedback from users (that part has been super easy…) and also looking to gather GOOD feedback, user stories (things like “here is who I am and how I use Informant”), and great customer quotes that we can use in a press kit so we can get the app out more.

     So, for those of you that are long time loyal supporters and WANT to see Informant succeed, (Which I would suggest is also in your own best interests as well)….

     Please give me some details about your situation, how you use informant, why you like it, how often you refer it, etc, etc. In addition to all the things that you want to see fixed/changed etc.

8. Stephen on December 6, 2016 at 10:19 am

   I’m sorry this is a little long-winded and is rather general. I have posted to various other blog posts but wanted to add my more general perspective on Informant 5 here. Forgive me for starting with some background.

   I have used Informant for very many years, having first used it on a Compaq iPaq in 2001 and then using it continuously since on first an Android phone and then on various iterations of iPhone and iPad. I have also used, and licensed, Desktop Informant on my MacBook Pro since DI first became available.

   What I have never previously done is used any subscription software. I have managed to avoid it to date when offered by Adobe (Lightroom), Microsoft (Office 2016 for Mac), Smile Software (TextExpander) and AgileBits (1Password). In each case I have either purchased a standalone licence or moved to a different product which offers a standalone licence.

   I am retired and have fairly basic needs of a calendar app (no more office appointments filtered from home ones, for example) and a simple task reminder system. However, I’ve always appreciated Informant and guess I have a degree of loyalty to the product. Until Informant 5 was released I assiduously copied every appointment or task from my Mac to my iPad and iPhone (manually!), avoiding subscribing to Informant Sync. Informant 5 is the first time I have ever bitten the subscription bullet and I’m appreciating sync—even if still feeling uncomfortable with the level of the subscription (and, yes, I have completed the pricing survey and voted on the UserVoice forum).

   Informant 5 currently has its frustrations but one reason I’m loyal to Informant is that I know the company does listen and does respond. I’m confident many issues will be addressed quite soon and look forward to the time when Informant 5 might be as instinctive to use as were previous versions. I, for one, do love the dark mode (which looks very good on the screen of an iPhone 7 Plus)—although at present the fact that colours appear to sync to Desktop Informant, which doesn’t currently provide an in-app dark mode, leads to rather a lot of fiddling around to try to set colours that look acceptable in both modes.

   Summarising this ramble (sorry!)… I like the look of Informant 5. If the promised fixes appear and the most voted items on the UserVoice Forum produce results I suspect I’ll feel a lot more comfortable with it. If we get a user manual I’m sure I’ll feel more comfortable with it! For my basic requirements the subscription still leaves me a little uneasy. Maybe that feeling will ease with time.

   Stephen

   • Keith on December 6, 2016 at 5:48 pm

     Stephen,

     Thank you for that post.

     Very insightful and says a lot about your relationship and trust with Informant.

9. Robert on December 6, 2016 at 2:27 pm

   Keith, I have submitted several bug reports through the in-app support, but there has been no response. I have no idea if my bug reports have even been received. Should I expect a response…some sort of support ticket or other email acknowledging the issues that I have encountered?

   Thanks,
   Bob

   • Keith on December 6, 2016 at 5:15 pm

     Robert, I just looked up your email address in our case history. Here is what I se

     Case submitted on November-30-2016 04:29 AM: ” Excellent job on PI 5! I see tons of potential in this new app… + question about date picker”
     Tabetha Replied: November-30-2016 07:22 AM

     Case submitted: December-4-2016 05:28 AM : Looks like this included 4 bug reports…
     Wesley Replied: December-5-2016 11:36 AM :

     Based on this I see 2 cases, and 2 replies. Perhaps we are going to your spam?

     Please let me know. If that is not it, then we may have a bigger issue.

     Thanks for bringing this to our attention, we will listen to see if anyone else is having the same problem.

10. robertopitz80 on December 6, 2016 at 4:24 pm

    Something about the interface complaints seems obvious to me as an iPad-centric user: many complaints are problems that are especially noticeable on the iPad, but Keith keeps answering them all with how good Informant 5 is on the iPhone.

    Ipad view: your answer to Q6 was 100% WRONG! In 4.94, no buttons were hidden–they were ALL available at a single tap. Including Search. Including Sync. (Okay, Quick Entry was weird. So you’re only 90% wrong.) Yes, switching calendar views was clumsy, iPad or iPhone. Fanatic’s response: “Let’s make everything clumsy, then have Keith try to convince everyone it all balances out.” No. On the iPad, the new interface is slower and clumsier.

    I sent a long, very detailed note to Support yesterday of why iPhone users got love (maybe) but iPad users got sand kicked in our faces (definitely). Besides the major interface problem above I see:
    –The Home screen, forced on us every view-switch, gives no added value–the info is already available on the iPad Focus View;
    –The left-hand panels in Task and Note Views are now auto-hide in search of “focus”, despite the fact that the iPad easily lets me see (correction–DID let me see in 4.94) both details AND big picture on the same screen;
    –The circle thingy is hard to activate on the iPad (and probably non-force-touch iPhones). My most used functions WERE available with a slide–now I have to slide WAAAAY over, tap the “More” button, and then do what I need to do;
    –The circle thingy is almost unreadable on my iPad Air 2 (for tasks, I can’t distinguish the Start and Due buttons), despite being abundantly clear on my iPhone 6s.

    I also see a couple of issues on all devices:
    –Triggers are missing important template functionality (alarms being paramount) and the Trigger editing screen is more than confusing (but maybe these are already in your plans to improve);
    –Removing all themes except two that are both low contrast (between data and headings) is unhelpful to my aging eyes.
    –I also did say some positive things, including about pricing.

    I think Keith needs to use Informant–both 5 and 4.94–on an iPad for a while, and then reread some of the complaints. Maybe he’ll see what everyone is talking about.

    As for the suggestion that we consider the Home screen a time to reflect, please. When I plan, I look for tasks that need doing, calendar items to be aware of, notes I made. I need to jump back and forth A LOT and I don’t need a hurdle every time. Once I’m all planned, I do get a glimpse of how 1) staying in a single view, and 2) strictly on the iPhone, Informant 5 can be useful. But that’s only a fraction of what I need to do.

    • Keith on December 6, 2016 at 5:25 pm

      Robert,

      Thanks for calling me out on that “time to reflect” comment… I figured someone would see through that pretty quickly…

      Your iPad feedback is very keen. I do spend more time on the Mac Desktop & iPhone vs. Ipad.

      I’ll make sure Chris and Alex see this post. (I think they are reading all of them but may not reply to all specifically)…

      Many more bug fixes are coming soon. Chris showed me a list of 6 that are already to be included in 5.02. I’ll need a bit more time on a reply to dig through each of your issues, and respond individually. Can I assume that your list is prioritized? Meaning that ” –The Home screen, forced on us every view-switch, gives no added value–the info is already available on the iPad Focus View;” is the one that you see as the highest priority?

11. kevinxu76 on December 6, 2016 at 4:55 pm

    Why did you change the icon ? Personally I like the PI4 icon more.

    • Keith on December 6, 2016 at 5:35 pm

      New App -> New Icon (That is the short answer..)

      …the long answer is…Its a different app, therefore different Icon
      It is important to point out that Informant 5 is a NEW app. Meaning that it is not just some iteration on an old app. Think 4.94 to 4.95 it is not the same thing.

      If you keep that in mind, some of these other things might make more sense… Such as: why did we break / change things that used to work a certain way in the past.

      That is not a justification for anything because it really wasn’t our intention (in most cases) to leave functionality behind, but in some cases we changed things in hopes that they would be better (ie; navigation, date picker) and it is starting to look like we may have been wrong… (No Pile on required…We are hearing you…)

      Point is… This is an app that is re-built from the ground up. From that perspective, one could say why doesn’t it look more like Informant 1 or Informant for Mac, or Native calendar.

      (take a breath Keith….Ahhhh)

      Kevin, sorry for the complex answer to a really simple question. I hope the new Icon grows on you.

    • kevinxu76 on December 6, 2016 at 6:01 pm

      Got you. It is interesting that my first impression of the new icon is a robot face with eyes and mouth, then I figured out it is a tick on top of a calendar.

    • Keith on December 6, 2016 at 6:08 pm

      Haha… I just started laughing out loud… that is pretty funny… I hadn’t thought of that. I guess in a way it could be that….

      Maybe a robot with a crooked smile…

      Too bad informant 5 doesn’t actually complete your work “for” you… It might make the robot thing be more appropriate.

    • Michiel on December 9, 2016 at 7:01 am

      Sure it is too late but I don’t get this as well, the new icon. It is about never changing a winning team and to me the PI4 app icon was much more recognisable too. Also look at the other platform app icons. It was your heritage..

      That said I definitely deleted PI5 from my iOS devices. I installed it 3 times but this shopping cart icon continuous staring at me …

      I hope the dev team also looks at the reviews of countries like France, Germany The UK and Canada and draw their conclusions before PI5 becomes the next Textexpander 4: once a great app but due to the subscription model now completely ignored (by its former users)

12. Reggie on December 7, 2016 at 3:04 am

    I am a long-time user, having purchased every upgrade/Informan Sync/macOS version for years. I have found myself trying other options to compare which gives me a redundant system, but lets me compare the efficiency of usage of both systems. Currently, I am using Todoist/Fantastical 2 to help coordinate a Windows work environment (Google calendars and Toodledo). I know it sounds complicated, but I WANT to use PI5. The biggest problem I have is how to make syncing work when you have Windows at work and Apple at home and on your phone.
    Having bored everyone with that, I have committed to PI5 until the end of the year and would encourage everyone else to do the same. I see the promise and having used it for years trust that the developers will listen and get it fixed. There are many, many, many advantages it has, though a couple of them have taken a step backwards for whatever reason. As a medical informattion officer for a large outpatient hospital system, I know that most major upgrades take a while to sort out bugs not just in the software, but more commonly in the end-users workflow. I trust this will be improved ove the next couple of months.
    I have read most of the comments and don’t want to beat a dead horse, so my suggestions/recommendations are limited to those not highlighted elsewhere. (1) It would nice is adding a Star to a task moved the item to the top of the focues list and removed it from its spot in the sort. Now, when you add a star, there is a duplicate task in a starred task list, but it stays in the list below. (2) One of the features setting PI4 apart was Templates. During the conversion to PI5, my Templates were deleted, and really should have simply been replaced with triggers. Now, I have to reenter all of those tasks as triggers. (3) Allow users to set their default home screen, i.e. to Focus/tasks/agenda, etc. (4) Also, those of us with older iPads and newer iPhones have to use PI4 on the iPads and PI5 on the phones. Reminders sync doesn’t allow this.
    I know this are trivial issues. I have used my votes to prioritize more pressing ones. I hope everyone holds on to see what happens with the fixes. In the end, the performance of the app will set the price. If it works and adds value, the subscription cost will set itself. If it doesn’t, the cost will go down…a lot.

    • Alex Kac on December 7, 2016 at 11:11 am

      Hi Reggie. Always good comments, but I am confused on a couple things you mentioned:
      1. Focus View is based on sections, and each section is sorted a specific way. I get what you’re asking for – and perhaps a Smart Filter might be the way to go for you?
      2. PI5 should’ve imported the templates from PI4 – not deleted them. Chris has fixed several trigger related issues in 5.01 that’s currently awaiting review by Apple, so you may need to wait for 5.01, then have 5.01 re-import your PI4 database. I’d probably talk to support about that first, so you don’t lose data.
      3. I’ve had this feedback for a long time…but the problem has always been what does default mean? When is it used? That’s a really hard question to answer. Is “default” enabled every time you bring PI to the foreground? So if you are looking at a specific day in Month View, but Focus view is your default, and you quickly go to Mail and then come back – do we switch you? Or maybe its after 5 minutes or 10? I don’t know. We could probably figure this out – but I’ve yet to get enough more detailed feedback to have a direction on what “default” means. If you mean at startup – that’s not doable/usable on iOS because startup vs de-hibernation may be the same things depending on memory pressure.
      4. Why doesn’t Reminders sync allow that?

13. chrisgreen83 on December 7, 2016 at 10:36 am

    It would be good if there is an option to say yes or no to a renewal, rather than buying and getting an automatic ongoing renewal, the onus on the user to remember to cancel. Also it would be good if there were more colour options in calendar – there seems to be less customisation than in the previous versions. Also would be good to have an option to bold entries in calendar.

    • Alex Kac on December 7, 2016 at 11:05 am

      Hi Chris. Good feedback.

      The subscription UI and process is handled by Apple – we can’t really do anything about how that works. As for colour options – in general it should be about the same as PI4. The main things we removed was themes – and we did tighten up a few things that simply didn’t even work in PI4.

14. Jim on December 7, 2016 at 12:18 pm

    OK, so I bit as a long term customer. I can deal with new interfaces. Subscription pricing is not something that will deter me from purchasing, but it does make me evaluate what the value is. But, I’m concerned and disappointed that the watch was not supported from release. It was in the last version. Keith (and Alex) have made it clear that they want to be “all in” for iOS UI conformity. OK. But, I’m paying full price for a year and only getting some of the functionality. The watch app, which is important to me, is not finished. Yet, it’s not like went with $20 for the app now and another $5 for the watch. Now I have to trust that you’ll deliver “sometime in 2017”. Yeah, I noticed how it’s not more pinned down than that. I’ll also point out that it could be delivered in late December of 2017, still meet your stated goal, and I’d have to already pay for another year’s service just waiting for the functionality I want (and presumably paid for in 2016). So, I’m not whining about any direction you went. But, I’m very disappointed to be paying for functionality that hasn’t been delivered yet (and with an extremely vague date, to boot).

    • Keith on December 7, 2016 at 9:38 pm

      Jim,

      Fair comments. Truth is, we are disappointed that were weren’t able to get everything in the release that we wanted as well.

      As a developer it is always hard to commit to hard dates because you just never know what problems are going to come up and what other challenges we will face. It is definitely in the que and it will be getting some attention sometime after Informant 5.01 (done), 5.02(working), Mac Informant 0.9, and Informant Android 5.0. We might actually get some work on it done consecutive with Android 5.0 because only part of the inputs required there are shared resources.

      I will also say this… The Apple Watch is sitting at #3 in the uservoice forum. Please make sure you go vote for it.
      http://feedback.webis.net/forums/562453-pocket-informant-5-for-ios/suggestions/17157365-apple-watch-complication
      The more votes it gets, the more quickly it will get done.

      (Relative to other things…)

    • Jim on December 9, 2016 at 9:35 am

      Keith,
      Interesting. So, it’s #3 on the user request list, but behind 4 things things (#5) on the list you showed. While users are telling you #3, you are putting it behind Android and Mac. Not sure if this is truly reflecting what the user’s want. Just tells me that it’s going to be a while (months to most of the year) before the watch will see the light of day. As a developer, I get it, but it still means I’m paying full price for a product that is NOT fully functional.

    • Keith on December 9, 2016 at 10:06 am

      Jim,

      I think we are talking about the Watch app right? If so, the Uservoice forum is only related to iOS (which we would consider the watch app part of). So the comparison to Android and Mac Informant are a bit different. Each of those will probably have their own forum in Uservoice.

      Second, While we are taking votes from the UserVoice, Alex likes to remind me that this is not a perfect Democracy. What he means by that is that we absolutely DO listen to and take direction from the uservoice forum, there are other factors at play as well. For example, Alex is writing parts of the watch app and then Chris will be writing the sync code from the watch app. So each of those things have dependancies, and it might make sense for an item that is #5(just a random example in this case) to get done before #3 because it aligns with something that is currently #1. (Those numbers were just of the sake of this example and don’t relate to the actual que)

      Ahh, I hope that makes sense. I’m not trying to be obscure, but just trying to add some logic to things that may seem weird from the outside.

      P.S. Alex said he “thinks” the watch app will be done Q1-2017.

      All the best,

15. boydston01 on December 7, 2016 at 2:04 pm

    Yeah, that was a big decision to tie the app with the sync service as “one” product. I’ve been using PI for 12 years now and it is absurd how little money I have paid over all those years! Though, now, it really is a different product. It’s a service—at $25/year, I have to decide if I want the syncing. Just for the sake of discussion: Over the years, I would have—in a heartbeat—paid $5 every year for PI upgrades. Probably even $10.

16. Reggie on December 7, 2016 at 2:27 pm

    Alex- As always, thanks for your response and efforts to make this work. I know it has been a rough week, but the more I use PI5, the better I like it. I think you’ll work through the bugs (if you can keep your sanity, assuming you had any to begin with ;)).
    1- I was able to play around with some filtering and got what I wanted with the starred tasks (similar to the Toodledo handling). 2- I’ll wait for the upgrades and see if my templates can be brought over. I just checked again and they are still on PI4, but not PI5 on the same device. 3- I guess I shouldn’t use the word “Default” when what I really would like would be a Home screen that does not show travel time and map to next appointment, but is customizable. Using multiple Google calendars, the Home screen driving directions seem to be random and associated with either my daughter’s calendar for West Virginia locations, y son’s for Kentucky, or mine from Indiana. The screen therefore becoes useless, creating more steps and confusion getting what I need in front of me. 4- Once PI5 was loaded, in Accounts Sync of PI4 the access bar says Privacy:Denied. This carries across to my iPads, making Reminders sync unusable on those devices.
    Again, I know you have a lot going on now and want to help make it a better product. Keep up the good work!

17. sarahjohnston328 on December 7, 2016 at 3:10 pm

    Is there a setting somewhere I am not seeing to change the 15 minute event time interval? I need to add events with a precise time ie: 4:50….not 4:45. Is this possible? Thanks!

    • sarahjohnston328 on December 7, 2016 at 3:11 pm

      true to form, the second i post this i figure it out…… 😐

18. Andy on December 7, 2016 at 11:53 pm

    @srahjohnston328 How do I do this? I’ve been trying ever since the new release.

    • Andy on December 8, 2016 at 12:00 am

      Ah, like Sarah I’ve now sussed it out. In case anyone else is wondering, I went into Settings / View Settings / Calendar View / New Event Duration and then set for 5 minutes. Now when you enter a new event in the calendar, the end event options on the date and time picker are every 5 minutes.

19. Robert on December 8, 2016 at 3:01 am

    Keith, I have checked my Spam folder (and all other folders in Gmail for that matter), and there is no sign of a response from Wesley on Dec. 5th. I did receive a response from Tabetha on Dec. 4th but I had sent this feedback on Dec. 4th through email directly (not through PI in-app support). So, at least for me, there is an issue receiving a response to bug reports that I have submitted through ip-app support. Is there an alternate/acceptable way for me to submit bug reports until this issue is fixed? Also, is there any way that Wesley’s response to me from Dec. 5th could be emailed to me?

    Thanks very much,
    Robert

    Keith wrote on December 6, 2016 at 5:15 pm
    Robert, I just looked up your email address in our case history. Here is what I se
    Case submitted on November-30-2016 04:29 AM: ” Excellent job on PI 5! I see tons of potential in this new app… + question about date picker”
    Tabetha Replied: November-30-2016 07:22 AM
    Case submitted: December-4-2016 05:28 AM : Looks like this included 4 bug reports…
    Wesley Replied: December-5-2016 11:36 AM :
    Based on this I see 2 cases, and 2 replies. Perhaps we are going to your spam?
    Please let me know. If that is not it, then we may have a bigger issue.
    Thanks for bringing this to our attention, we will listen to see if anyone else is having the same problem.

20. albertw.fredericm on December 8, 2016 at 7:45 am

    Hello Alex/Keith,

    please explain me the changes of handling/design from the week view and the pickers, i can’t understand the reason and the new functionality. It’s my favorite view for planning/overview and the beginning of the week is MONDAY.
    The week view in PI4 is very clear and all is in a right place. In PI5 we have two lines with dates. The first line with underlined 5th Dec, marks the beginning of the week??? The first moment it looks like the real date. The second line is the real date, ok. The blue picker is also the right date…..since in PI4 but downside.
    Now i scroll two weeks in the future and after this i want to go back. In PI4 i press the blue date picker and i’m back in the correct week view……in PI5 i also press the blue date picker…..and wondering. I’m back but the first day of the week isn’t monday, it is in this example thursday*, the correct date but another view. My eyes have to search where is the day. To get the normal week view, i have to tap the smartbar button and then week view……how logical.

    Why the first line??? To change the weeks i can scroll week-wise……want to go to another month i have to tap the calendar picker downside…..or scroll and scroll and scroll the first line??? I can’t see the real function…….but i’m sure many of longtime users asked for the second line🤔
    *I would like to post screenshots, but it’s impossible.

    One thing i wish: let us see the week number in the week view, this would be more functional as all the changes…..

    Many users like the UI from PI4, give us back this clean, logical and successful interface and tell the few people which didn’t know how to work with this, the right way. Some short videos on youtube for example.

    Off the topic: One of you likes BMW (i see it in a screenshot)….you remember some years ago they changed the UI from the 7-series radical. The result: many drivers changed to Mercedes S-Class. It costs many time and a lot of money to get this drivers back after they make a redisign to the old UI. Why is Porsche 911 so successful? The always changed a little bit to the version before…….think about.

    Best regards
    Albert

    • James on December 8, 2016 at 8:36 am

      Hi Albert,

      Hope you don’t mind if I answer this for Keith/Alex, Week View is my favorite calendar view also, and I’m pretty sure I know what you’re looking for:

      Go to Settings –> View Settings –> Calendar View

      1. Set the “ISO Week Numbers” option toggle to on (ISO Week Numbers is the 2nd item in the list).
      2. Scroll down to a section titled “FIRST DAY OF WEEK” and find the option titled “Week View”. The default setting is “Current Day” (which is why Week View kept reverting to Thursday). Click on the the Week View row and you will be given a menu to Change the Week View option from “Current Day” to “Monday” (or any other day of the week.)

      The ISO Week Numbers will appear in parentheses after the “M” on that 2nd line that shows the date. (i.e.: for this week it shows: “M (49) Dec 5, 2016” and if I swipe left to advance to next week that 2nd line now shows: “M (50) Dec 12, 2016”).

      I think that will set up week view to the way you it sounds like you like it. That’s my preferred settings, too.

      As for the 1st line (top line) that shows the date underlined in blue: Alex/Keith may prefer to weigh in, but I believe it was added to all calendar views (except month and year) as a navigation aid that could be consistent between all the different views.

    • Keith on December 8, 2016 at 9:55 am

      Thanks James

    • albertw.fredericm on December 8, 2016 at 11:03 am

      @James/Keith
      I want to sent a screenshot but it’s impossible. I have the settings with ISO and first day a week since the beginning. I mean the view ‘week in row’, check it out and tell it to me. Than you understand what i mean. No ISO is shown and the view jumps back not with Monday at first…..
      I have screenshots PI4 versus PI5, there you can see the difference.

      Kind regards

    • Keith on December 8, 2016 at 1:22 pm

      Albert,

      I might suggest that you put a ticket in the in-app help on this one.

    • James on December 8, 2016 at 11:17 am

      I apologize Albert, I thought for sure I knew what you were looking for and I was wrong. Sorry about that…

21. sarz on December 8, 2016 at 8:26 am

    I was reading the webpage for informant 5 and the reason the dark mode was introduced according to the page is because “it’s just cool”

    I don’t see anything cool about it and for me it doesn’t add any functionality to the app.
    I wonder how many hours were spent implementing this (useless) function!

    • Erik on December 8, 2016 at 9:28 am

      I, too, was initially unimpressed by the dark mode (even though I will agree that it is pretty cool), but the more I work with it, the more I realize just how vibrant the colors of my tagged events and tasks are. This is particularly useful when I have several events that are tagged with similar colors together. Is it enough to justify the price, etc. I do not know, but it is noticeably different (in a positive way) from PI 4.9x.

    • Keith on December 8, 2016 at 9:57 am

      Sarz,
      That is a bit of a “cheeky” comment and may need to be updated. Truth is, the Dark mode can be very useful if you need to look at your Informant while you are in the movie theater (…None of us would actually do that though, right?)… The other time it might be handy is if you are sitting in bed with your spouse planning your day, or looking at your Informant and you are trying not to light up the whole room.

      Of course, you can toggle Dark MOde off in Settings>>Color & Appearance. We turned it on by default so you would be sure to see it.

      No feelings hurt if you prefer light mode most of the time.

22. James on December 8, 2016 at 9:26 am

    Hi Alex, Keith,

    I know this topic is controversial and you may not want to provide me an answer (you may not even have an answer to provide at this point), but I was wondering if you have any info you’re willing to divulge about your discussions on the date/time picker issue. Specifically:

    1. Is this date/time picker here to say and you’re just going to try some cosmetic changes? (Like changing the background color to make the horizontal scroll bars stand out more which has a Planned status on your feedback page.) It’s obvious that that is the short term plan at the very least, I’m just trying to get a definitive answer if this is the date/time picker going forward and we either have to set our minds on getting used to it or find another calendaring/task solution. My feeling from reading feedback by Alex/Chris/Keith is that this new date/time picker is THE date/time picker going forward, you just don’t want to say that because you’re hoping that we will stick around and keep using it and that we will finally get used to using it.

    2. Are there any discussions/consideration at all about making the old date/time picker a settings option? (Which means you would then be supporting 3 different date/time pickers: (new) Informant Event Editor, (old) Informant Event Editor, Apple Event Editor. That sounds like way too much effort to me, I wouldn’t be surprised if you said no, but for my sake I’m holding out hope that this may be being discussed.)

    3. If you are sticking with this new date/time picker, can/will you divulge any info about the discussions that, from your response to people posting about their dislike of the new date/time picker, are apparently going on among your team members. Especially any ideas your team have regarding making the date/time picker more functional for those of us that see this latest iteration as a window to a chaotic mind?

    4. I can’t help but notice that there are currently 129 votes to NOT stick with this new date/time picker, more than any other request on your feedback page. Can/will you provide any insight into your thoughts on that? What you think it means? What, if anything, you would have done differently, knowing now what you didn’t know leading up to Informant 5 release?

    Again, I know this is a controversial issue and you may not want to answer.

    Thanks,

    • Keith on December 8, 2016 at 12:56 pm

      James,

      We are happy to comment. I spoke with the Chris specifically yesterday about this very thing… He basically said he wants to share some ideas with y’all and get some feedback on some changes that he is “thinking” of making. He is formulating his thoughts in a blog post and will be sharing it soon.

      That means:
      a) We ARE considering it. I think it is nearly certain that “some” changes will be made. The uservoice formum is pretty obvious that something needs to be done.
      b) Watch for a blog post from Chris about it in the next couple days and please be prepared to give some feeback on the ideas he shares.

      Thanks for participating

23. sterrell106 on December 8, 2016 at 10:26 am

    Thank you all for the hard work that obviously went into designing Informant 5. It is my go-to calendar app – and has been for several years. Love the dark mode…and agree that it is just plain cool. It is also less likely to wake my wife – when I wake up in wee hours of the morning to get ready for work – when I check to see what is on my calendar for the day. In PI4 I actually manipulated my calendar properties so that my focus view was mostly dark. I don’t tend to be very critical in the area of new flow options (ex: removal of the menu at the bottom in favor of the single button into the menu). For the most part, if bugs are present, they have not bothered me. I did struggle to set up Informant Sync without documentation to 1) tell me what options were available and 2) what the impact of selecting one option over another might be. (Ask Tabetha or Wes; we had extensive email conversations to get me through it)

    I have never used Informant Sync before PI5 but, like some others, am very loyal to Informant and wanted to give it a try. I purchased an annual subscription so that gives me a year to figure out if there is enough value to me to keep subscribing. Like someone else pointed out, I would have paid $5 or even $10 for significant upgrades to the app in the past. However, the $25 price tag is a tough sell for me. I love the app and am absolutely looking for a reason to keep using it after my 1-year subscription of Informant Sync. I might suggest adding a mid-level price-to-own (maybe $10 or $15) for those who really have no interest in the Informant Sync option. Since I am on Exchange for all my work related events – which account for most of my entries – I have to also purchase a $20 standalone app (gsyncit) for my computer before I can take advantage enough to fully integrate my second Apple device (iPad mini for home use). I know I can get stuck in my “old ways” of doing things and fail to see the better “new way” without seeing what others are doing. I would love to understand how others are using PI4/PI5 with Informant Sync to improve their lives, work flow, etc.

    Also from the perspective of someone whose primary use of PI is for the calendar/events/basic tasks features it is a little disappointing to see that paying $25 to “own” the app doesn’t give me some access to future improvements. Again, I understand the need to charge more (it is definitely worth more than you were charging through PI4) but the jump to $25 is huuuuuge, especially if one doesn’t need Informant Sync and if one will not get any updates. Feel free to fix my understanding if I am wrong on any of that.

    Finally, I have seen references to a “pricing survey” in other posts. I am not sure what it takes to qualify for such a survey but would love to contribute if I can find it.

    Many thanks for the hard work!!
    Steve

    • Keith on December 8, 2016 at 1:21 pm

      Steve,

      Thank you for leading with the praise of the Dark Mode feature. That is one that has been a bit of a sore subject for some people. It’s nice to hear that some people are finding it useful. (Alex will smile at that as it was his baby so to speak)…

      Sync setup documentation: Yes, we do need some of that. I asked a few questions myself on that one yesterday for clarity. I’m hoping to have a video created that addresses some general setup topics. Stay tuned for that. I’ll probably post a link to it on the facebook page when it’s ready.

      Pricing comments: You are not alone in your thoughts, and they are valid. It is something we are constantly discussing. Here is the link to the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/655XRKY

      I agree, it would be nice to get some comments from others about how they are using Inf. sync. (It would make my marketing job easier to give people more examples)

      Best advice I can give for anyone super concerned about the price is to make sure you are on our email newsletter list and following us on Facebook. If/ when we do discounts, they will likely be posted there.

      Newsletter: http://staging.pocketinformant.com/subscribe-to-our-newsletters/

      Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pocketinformant/

      It probably bears repeating, but this price change is NOT designed to gouge customers. It is really just the best way we think we can deal with the changing dynamics of apps and app purchases.

      Thanks again for your participation. This community would just not be the same without contributions like yours.

24. m_g58 on December 8, 2016 at 11:47 am

    In an interview broadcast on NPR this morning, the outgoing CEO of Starbucks.discussed plans to market a $14 cup of gourmet coffee. His justification was that users would pay that amount “for the experience” not for the cup of coffee. However he did not announce any plans to do away with the $1.89 fresh brewed coffee or the $3.99 cappuccino. Starbucks will survive even if coffee aficionados reject the $14 cuppa. What remains to be seen is if Fanatic with its subscription pricing strategy will remain competitive in the iOS calendar/task organizer platform.

25. Karsten Jensen on December 8, 2016 at 12:15 pm

    I have to say, that me and my wife are very pleased with the dark mode. It is nice to the eyes. And it matters when your age is 60x, and the eyes are not what they used to be 🙂 We to are long time users of Pocket Informant. I am sure that PI 5, as the bugs get fixed alonge the way, wil be a great experience, and already is in many ways. Keep up the good work!.

    • Keith on December 8, 2016 at 12:45 pm

      Thanks Karsten. I’ve been hearing a few more positive comments on Dark Mode today. I think that some changes might take a few minutes/days to get used to.

      I’m glad you find it pleasing. And… Yes, bug fixes are on the way. We hope Apple approves 5.01 today it was submitted 2 days ago.

26. Niklas on December 9, 2016 at 5:04 am

    I wrote a comment on a previous blog entry, that Fanatic doesn’t seem to be getting the message. The blog post above, and Keith’s remarks, are exactly why I feel that way.

    First off, pricing complaints are an element in the whole debacle. But I’d say that an equal and even deeper worry is the UX and productivity loss that it is incurring, because it makes the product proposition itself very shaky.

    But the feedback we’re getting in blog posts like this, seems to focus in on the pricing model solely – which you already knew was controversial – and sticking the head in the sand on the design blunders. Because perhaps you weren’t expecting a backlash on design. I’ve previously said that I think that the path taken on UX bears an evidence of group-think, and the remarks I’m seeing from Fanatic is just that. The PR tactics of calling the user critique as coming from a “small vocal minority” is a way to delude yourselves, because I can assure you that if a product launch is successful on balance, then the cumulative feedback would look very different, and the criticism would be hard to discern.

    On the positive side, I know that Fanatic is a quite responsive and customer-oriented company, when push comes to shove. So I am hopeful that you will iron out these issues, even though I must say that I am worried based on your response thus far.

    Power users are visibly worried with the path taken, because UX blunders make THEIR job harder and more uncertain. A few days ago, I thought I had access to the best task & calendar management application on the market, and I’ve recommended it to friends and colleagues many times over the years. But now I’m not so certain. This is a source of concern for me.

    So, given that you really appreciate the conundrum we’re all in, assuming that concern-mitigating blog posts like these (which has a fair amount of issue-diversion as well), I don’t think it’s helpful with Keith’s remarks. I understand that they’re supposed to neutralize customer worries with a bit of playful and humorous touch, to remind ourselves that we are all humans working together (transactionally, as consumers and producers). Keith has the “funny guy who lives down the road, so we gave him a job”-quality. But I find his antics misplaced given the current circumstances. The messaging deepens the impression that Fanatic is deeply under the spell of group-think. I think Keith’s comments being disseminated here are bloated, self-serving, and ineffacious.

27. Andy on December 9, 2016 at 5:36 am

    Further to the comment by @albert.fredericom above, I have an issue which may or may not be the same. I too like to have the week view as my main view, with Monday top left of the screen, Tuesday immediately to the right, Wednesday underneath Monday and so on, until the weekend of Saturday and Sunday are “half size” sections to the bottom right of the screen.

    So far so good.

    However, if I select a future date (say 13th April 2017 – my birthday!). I then find this falls on a Thursday, however now this Thursday is not where I expect it to be on my screen but instead it appears top left as the first day of the week.

    How can I make Monday ALWAYS appear top left, no matter which future date I select>

    • albertw.fredericm on December 9, 2016 at 8:41 am

      You’ve seen the answer from James.

      Go to Settings –> View Settings –> Calendar View
      Scroll down to a section titled “FIRST DAY OF WEEK” and find the option titled “Week View”. The default setting is “Current Day” (which is why Week View kept reverting to Thursday). Click on the the Week View row and you will be given a menu to Change the Week View option from “Current Day” to “Monday” (or any other day of the week.)

    • tab on December 9, 2016 at 1:47 pm

      After doing so Monday is the only ‘big’ day and it put me on today’s date year 4000…🤔

28. sarz on December 9, 2016 at 5:44 am

    I assume that Keith is the new owner of Fanatic software and it’s in his best interest that informant 5 is a success

    I’m sure he wants to do what’s best for the company and its users.
    Rather than having a go at his personality just keep giving him feedback and I’m sure he’s willing to listen – He’s the boss 🙂

    • Bob on December 9, 2016 at 3:56 pm

      As I understand it, Keith is not the boss but is leading the Marketing effort for Fanatic Software. Alec is still the boss.

    • sarz on December 9, 2016 at 4:34 pm

      Go to https://who.is/whois/fanaticsoftware.com

      Fanatic software is owned by Keith Norris

      I could be wrong about this

    • Alex Kac on February 1, 2017 at 10:58 am

      No, that would be incorrect. Fanatic Software is an independent division of Complete XRM, Inc. – of which Keith Norris is CEO, but not owner.

    • sarz on December 10, 2016 at 5:03 am

      Keith, why all the secrecy. If you’re the new owner of Fanatic software don’t be shy and give us a proper introduction

    • tab on December 10, 2016 at 8:35 am

      … And now comments, posts and questions are being removed… Suspicious or curious?

29. Andy on December 9, 2016 at 11:23 am

    Thanks @albertw.fredericm , however your reply and James’ earlier reply does not specifically address my problem.

    I do have Settings/View Settings/Calendar View/First Day of the Week/Week View set with Monday. If I look at a different view and then come back to Wekk View, there it is with Monday where it should be.

    The problem occurs when I want to look at a another date in the past or the future, still within Week View, If I do this, the day I have selected (whether it be a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or whatever) will then always appear first, no matter what I have chosen as first day of the week in the settings.

    I’ve raised a ticket and will report back in due course

    • albertw.fredericm on December 9, 2016 at 1:20 pm

      Ok, i understand…….the same problem as with me…..

30. tab on December 9, 2016 at 7:12 pm

    For those who haven’t noticed 5.01 is available in the app store.

31. Lee on December 10, 2016 at 7:41 pm

    I’ve used PI for a long time. I don’t think there’s a comparably useful app on the iOS platform that does so many things so well. The core value of the app is the integration of tasks and calendar events in a way that’s very flexible. $25 is a lot to pay for an app annually, but PI really is an exceptional product. I think a lot of the problem is that the app was already very good and could be used to do virtually everything that Informant 5 does already – at a lower cost. The app may have simply been underpriced in the past.

    My advice is to focus on making the app even better, so that users enjoy it so much that they can more easily justify the cost. $25 a year really isn’t that much money – it’s just a lot to pay for an app these days. But anyone who has an iPhone is paying many times that amount annually for cellular service. And without an app on my phone that does all the things that Informant does, my phone would seem far less valuable to me. Here are some suggestions for improving Informant 5:

    1. Make the dark and light themes customizable. Two saved sets of color preferences that can be specified by the user. Give the option for it to automatically switch between the two themes at a certain time of day or based on sunset times, or ambient light levels, etc. Provide several stock light and dark themes for users who don’t want to fiddle with it much. Solarized light and dark themes would be a *fantastic* addition. PI 4 let you pick from several colors so the current theme arrangement feels like a downgrade rather than an upgrade. It’s too rigid.

    2. You should be able to zoom in on the month view and scroll around viewing your calendar just like you view a photo. It would be awesome if when you zoomed in beyond a certain point, (when the size of a single day approached the size of the screen) you would get a little haptic feedback and it would pop into day view. Even better, if you zoomed in with a vertical gesture, it would pop to day view, and with a horizontal gesture, it would pop to week view. Or allow users to choose which views these gestures take you to. Zooming out from the monthly view could take you to the year view – or even to the task view. Zooming out from day view should take you back to wherever you got there from. All of that could be user defined and would make Informant seem really slick. A lot of people have complained about the new menu bar. If you could use pinch gestures to switch from the month view to, say, the focus view, you could skip the menu altogether in many cases. I think users would really like this feature. Cool stuff like this would make Informant 5 seem more like an upgrade and not just a facelift.

    • Graeme on December 30, 2016 at 2:01 pm

      Seems to me sub models like this are becoming standard for the best apps, as it’s the only way for them to continue to deliver at that level. I still smile when I hear people talk about high prices on sub models when I think of what desktop software used to (and still does largely) cost. I’ve spent so much trying different apps out only to be disappointed or for them to disappear. I’ll gladly pay less than the cost of a coffee each month for such a quality app which is core to my productivity. Money and time saved for me.

    • Graeme on December 30, 2016 at 2:01 pm

      Great feedback by the way 🙂

32. tombuur on December 11, 2016 at 3:45 am

    Just tried installing PI5 on my iPhone. Another Darth Vader app with poor functionality. I have deleted it again. Too bad after 8-10 years with Pocket informant it has come to this. The best version was on my HP Pocket PC, whatever it was called. There I could do simple copy-paste of my recurring events during a month schedule. This was the quickest way to enter event. Templates was second best and are now gone too. So it is goodbye from me. I have found another solution, albeit not as good looking as PI4.

33. sarz on December 11, 2016 at 5:39 am

    I’ve come to the conclusion that v4 is made for speed and reliability and v5 is made to look cool 🙁

    • m_g58 on December 11, 2016 at 9:50 am

      I agree. All I can now hope is that either Alex or Keith, whoever the owner of Fanatic Software is, will continue to support PI4 until it ceases to be compatible with the current iOS version.
      I paid $14.99 for the “Premium Pack”. I have used the App since its introduction to the iOS platform & having invested in it, my hope is that it will continue to be supported. I do not expect enhancements to the App, but bug fixes should continue.

    • sarz on December 11, 2016 at 12:38 pm

      Since PI4 is still being sold on the App Store it should be supported at least until when iOS 11 comes out

    • m_g58 on December 11, 2016 at 2:49 pm

      “Should” is the critical word. I can only hope that the developer/owner does not stop supporting PI4 in an attempt to “force” conversion to I5.

    • Graeme on December 30, 2016 at 1:55 pm

      Nothing in PI’s history has ever shown that to be their motivation. There’s always bumps in the road when change happens. These are some of the most dedicated and professional dev’s around and what they offer is a downright bargain.

34. Graeme on December 30, 2016 at 1:49 pm

    Kudos for moving forward guys. I support the subscription based model because I’m fed up with buying apps that stop receiving attention. Seems like I’m not the only one given how well this model has taken off over the last 12 months. People would rather pay extra and have quality. As for long time customers saying you should have focused on core features – surely if they’ve been with you so long they know your commitment to these things. That you’ve chosen to go with the sub model after a UI revamp makes sense. You’ve changed the foundation of the app as a preparation for the future. Why would you work on deepening the feature set before working on UI? That would make the existing UI more engrained. Plus, maybe you need to eat!

    People don’t like change. And they get used to getting an awful lot for very little. The only problem I can see with what you’ve done is that the payment options were difficult to understand. It looked to me like you couldn’t trial the full thing without a year’s sub, but then I read about the ‘month’s sub and cancellation after a week’ option. Hope you weather the storm guys – I’m with you for one.

    • Keith on December 30, 2016 at 2:27 pm

      Graeme,

      Thank you for the supportive comments. The subscription billing thing is new to us, and new with apple as well. There are a number of complexities that we want to try to improve on. The Free Trial of full version is one of them.