[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] IMSMS:
IMSMS Startup - I need a vote count

Hi,

I know in BUILD 5400, there is a new process/functionality - it is the caching of the system contacts book. There are a few reasons for this.

By default, when you compose an SMS message in Windows Mobile (smartphone), you would have to select a contact from your systems contact book - now that is ONE AT A TIME - there is no MULTIPLE SELECTION available.

This is fine and dandy for normal SMS. In IMSMS, you have a contacts management functionality that is different from the system's contact book UI. It is a custom UI that loads up the contacts and allows you to manually add/remove contacts to your friends list. The dilemma for me is:

a) I need to be able to manage the contacts efficiently. Everytime you add/remove a contact via the MANAGE FRIENDS menu, you get the loading of the custom contacts page UI that loads all the system contacts so you can choose multiple selected contacts to add to the friends list.

Before 5400 build was released, I have written out a very slick process - that allows you to load up the contacts quickly - basically zero load times. However it will load dynamically when you scroll thru the list. I am working on another process that will allow you to jump to specific contacts based on letter of name (just like the system contact book - press J to jump to (J)ason, (J)ack, etc.). This process did not get finished in time for 5400.

b) I created a caching page - when you first startup IMSMS - it will multi-thread cache your system contacts - it uses more memory but allows you to view your entire contacts page (allowing you to add/remove) on the fly - without slowdowns. The only caveat is that on some smartphones with REALLY LARGE contacts, 1000+, it can take up to a few minutes (this is multi-threaded though).

I know that option A is the best - I need to refine it more. However, with option B in place in build 5400, I think I will put in a temporary solution - to allow you to select "NO CACHING OF SYSTEM CONTACTS" when IMSMS start's up. This will help some of you who have large contacts.

Now note this: You never need to add ANY CONTACTS to your friends list. When you receive an incoming message and for example that sender is already in your system contact book, it will automatically be added to the friends list with their name. If it's a stranger (not listed in your system contact book), it will still get added but without a name. Everything is tracked - logs will be assigned respectively to each sender.

Even if you don't save your friends list, the chat logs don't get erased unless you manually delete them. So the next time you start up IMSMS without any friends and the same sender sends you a message, their chat logs will reappear. Now the only thing is if you would like to converse with someone in your contacts list, you simply can add them (VIA THE QUICK ADD FRIEND) menu under the MANAGE menu. This will allow you to use the system contact book to add each contact to the friends list - ONE BY ONE - the same way the system SMS message composer does. This way, you can bypass the Manage Friends menu option. However, you can imagine if you wanted to add 10 friends at once, it can get tedious with the "QUICK ADD FRIEND" menu option - so using the custom contact (MANAGE FRIENDS) is still the best option.

I will most likely implement option A above and I know for sure all of you will appreciate the extra effort - I just wanted to be a bit long winded to let you all know that I do in fact hear your suggestions and I actually incorporate all of your feedback into the design aspect of IMSMS. I appreciate all of your support - and like always - email me if you have any questions please!

Sincerely,

DSO