[ANNOUNCE] desktop-photoapplet for Fremantle

[jaeezzy]

Hi,
This is my first ever application for maemo. Its a desktop photoapplet which shows the slide-show of all the images in the selected directory and touching the interface brings up the osso image-viewer with that particular image being displayed. Of course, it is yet very far away from complete, I've made the basic functionality working and posting here to know what you guys think about it and any suggestions about how it can be made better.
Basic functionality includes:

slideshow of course and one touch to open image in the image-viewer


directory selection


option to scan sub directories


choose different time intervals with the maximum 16 seconds.


choose from 4 transitions or mixture of all as "Random" or without any as "None" to install in the slide show.


TO DO:

Apply various image effects in the slide-show [Done. More effects in the future updates]


Add control buttons to go forward, back and show (I'm thinking of implementing this with the controls like in media player with the buttons visible on top of the video)[Accomplished..]


Customizable background


Below are the screenshots of the application and will soon attach the .deb file as well.(Sorry for this list is not updated)
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2554/4156737255_d3e0e1ed89_o.png
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2744/4156737487_6bb44e6230_o.png
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2803/4157498380_1520ae8038_o.png

**You can install it directory in the scratchbox/n900 from extras-devel repository. (sorry not extras-testing yet. However, I'll soon promote it to extras-testing as soon as I get chance)

UPDATE: 0.2-1 is updated to 0.2-2
UPDATE FIXES: Crashing of application when invalid image is encountered in the slideshow or when the selected directory doesn't contain any image file.

EDITED: NOV 24, 09:
UPDATE: 0.2-2 is updated to 0.2-3
UPDATE FIXES:
*crashing when exiting applet in edit mode
*unstable writing of configuration file
*image skipping when navigating back and forward with control buttons

UPDATE: 0.2-4 is updated to 0.2-5 (This version is now in the extras-testing repository. ( Just uploaded ;) ))
*Additional options in the settings dialog for selecting transition time and few transitions also support extra settings like direction.
*Disabling slideshow when the device's display is off(As I don't have the real device I couldn't test. I have only tested the function in n810 but not the whole application. So, testers required to help me out on this. Anyone willing to test this plz let me know of any bug.)
*Auto-completion while entering directory name in the settings dialog. It supports only obvious directories like "/home/user", "/home/user/MyDocs/.images", "/media", "/media/mmc1" & "/media/mmc2".
*Updating image list when the image(s) from the selected directory is/are altered is faster.
*Background image is changed to be more distinct in any device backgrounds.

[sk299]

thanks for putting work into this it is something on my whish list.

Is it possable to add an option for changing the size?
I would ask for it to be bigger but i fear thats just what i want and that other users may wish for more screen for other widgets.
Also would there be a way of alowing customiseable/changeable frames maybe an old skool polaroid and perhaps some other designs to make it more personal. Or maybe im asking too much.

[mannakiosk]

Nice to see this useful widget becoming available. Keep up the good work!

Is there any reason to limit the time to a maximum of only 8 seconds?

[jaeezzy]

thanks for putting work into this it is something on my whish list.

Is it possable to add an option for changing the size?
I would ask for it to be bigger but i fear thats just what i want and that other users may wish for more screen for other widgets.
Also would there be a way of alowing customiseable/changeable frames maybe an old skool polaroid and perhaps some other designs to make it more personal. Or maybe im asking too much.

I'll add these in the TO DOs. However, I'm afraid, resizeable desktop widget isn't recommended. Anyways, widgets size itself can be increased a bit. I'm completely unaware how it will look in real n900.


Is there any reason to limit the time to a maximum of only 8 seconds?


I would say my bit of laziness ;) as I was reading from files as char and putting 10+ intervals had me to deal with two chars etc etc and just limit that to 8 but it can easily be extended, no problem.

Anyways, thanks for the replies. This is all I need to keep going.

[jaeezzy]

Here's the package to try. Please let me know how it works. I had no problems installing and uninstalling in my scratchbox and I hope this won't happen but let me know if it does. Thanks

EDIT: Please find the package in the first post.

[romanianusa]

Nice. Can you add special effects or transitions to the slide show.

[jaeezzy]

Nice. Can you add special effects or transitions to the slide show.

That's in my TO DO list..

[jaeezzy]

Desktop PhotoApplet now supports transitions/effects in the slide-show and the interval is no more restricted to just 8 seconds. However, the maximum is 16 seconds and I think its enough. Also I will upload the .deb package in my first post and I'm sorry about one thing, it can't be installed in the device yet coz armel version I can't try. I guess it will be just scratchbox version for time being and hence it can mature. So, please, anyone willing to try give me some feedback. Below are the screen shots of the new settings dialog:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3494/4081996069_bf8b8c3a5f_o.png

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3498/4082756068_60b76f4647_o.png

There is also option to choose not to have transition in the slide show. All the thanks to Tadej from GTK Forums.

[drm]

Desktop PhotoApplet now supports transitions/effects in the slide-show and the interval is no more restricted to just 8 seconds. However, the maximum is 16 seconds and I think its enough. Also I will upload the .deb package in my first post and I'm sorry about one thing, it can't be installed in the device yet coz armel version I can't try. I guess it will be just scratchbox version for time being and hence it can mature. So, please, anyone willing to try give me some feedback.

There is also option to choose not to have transition in the slide show.

I really like this app and these improvements are great. I would love to send some feedback but I’m still waiting for mine n900 :)

[jaeezzy]

I really like this app and these improvements are great. I would love to send some feedback but I’m still waiting for mine n900 :)

It's not ready for installation in the real device either coz I have the feeling still there are lot of bugs that can be problematic to the device. You can try this in scratchbox if you are using one and let me know of any bugs. Thanks

[chritto]

App looking great! Can't wait to install this on my N900 once they're shipped.

Very nice to see the Sydney Harbour Bridge featured in the screenshot ;).

[jaeezzy]

App looking great! Can't wait to install this on my N900 once they're shipped.

Very nice to see the Sydney Harbour Bridge featured in the screenshot ;).

cheers!!!!! :)

[tissot]

Looks great. Nice work.

[jaeezzy]

I have just updated the latest version(0.2) and screenshot in my #1 post. It now has touch activated controls for navigating back and forward and for viewing the currently displayed image in the image-viewer and other minor changes. The controls are highlighted when touched to show feedback to the users.

[lardman]

This Clutter/3D photo-viewer example looks pretty cool: http://www.openismus.com/documents/clutter_tutorial/0.8/docs/tutorial/html/sec-full-example.html

I wonder if you could use some of the transitions, etc. The only problem is that the photos would be pretty small if you used the ellipse-style viewing arrangement, but it would be cool ;)

[jaeezzy]

This Clutter/3D photo-viewer example looks pretty cool: http://www.openismus.com/documents/clutter_tutorial/0.8/docs/tutorial/html/sec-full-example.html

I wonder if you could use some of the transitions, etc. The only problem is that the photos would be pretty small if you used the ellipse-style viewing arrangement, but it would be cool ;)

Ya that would be cooool but I guess the applet will be too small to implement this kinda effect. However, if this is implemented in the image gallery application then it would be HOT!! coz I found the default one quite out dated and not utilizing the inbuilt 3d capabilities and this is beyond me.

[jaeezzy]

It can be now installed from extras-devel repository for testing in scratchbox and in the device itself.

[Tomaszd]

If I may suggest something, it's obviously i18n support (http://wiki.maemo.org/Documentation/Maemo_5_Developer_Guide/Application_Development/Maemo_Localization), preferably with use of Transifex.net (http://www.transifex.net) infrastructure for easy maintenance.

[jaeezzy]

If I may suggest something, it's obviously i18n support (http://wiki.maemo.org/Documentation/Maemo_5_Developer_Guide/Application_Development/Maemo_Localization), preferably with use of Transifex.net (http://www.transifex.net) infrastructure for easy maintenance.

please feel free to suggest anything that makes sense. I'll be happy. The source code isn't packaged yet for the distribution however I'll work on making the application localizable.

[Ads]

Hi,
Firstly, Well done! This sounds really great, and definitely something I would like on the device. I'm currently not able to see your pictures on my work internet connection - but I'll look forward to having a gander when I'm home. If I can, I'll even try the app in scratchbox - if my low skills are up to it.

One thing I was wondering when reading this, is - does the application run continuously? I assume the battery usage etc would be tiny, but I did think that maybe it would be useful to potentially stop/pause the slideshow when the phone is locked (if this doesn't happen already). That way, you don't miss any pictures, and it potentially saves on some processing power/battery.

Again, that might be a very negligible saving - and it might be included already. If so, I apologise and I'll try and look more closely at it later.

Thanks for the app anyway - I can see it being a very nice addition!

[joppu]

Care to post the background image? It seems a little blurry, I might be able to improve it.

[jaeezzy]

One thing I was wondering when reading this, is - does the application run continuously? I assume the battery usage etc would be tiny, but I did think that maybe it would be useful to potentially stop/pause the slideshow when the phone is locked (if this doesn't happen already). That way, you don't miss any pictures, and it potentially saves on some processing power/battery.

The slideshow is only active when it's visible(the desktop it is on). But I'm not sure about when it's locked coz I couldn't try this in scratchbox. However, as it only listens to "notify" signal of "is-on-current-desktop" property I doubt it. Anyone who can help me on this would be much appreciated.. Thanks

Care to post the background image? It seems a little blurry, I might be able to improve it.

I would very much love to coz I've just taken pictures from anywhere I can and all I was doing was scaling and that's the obvious outcome. Also, if you could design similar size images and allow me to use them then I would be very grateful coz then I could make the background changeable. Below's the image file:

[jaeezzy]

version 0.2-2 should now be available for update. It fixes crashing of application when invalid image is encountered in the slideshow and when directory without any image file is selected in the settings dialog.

[jaeezzy]

Latest update is 0.2-3 with lot of fixes mentioned in #1 post. Can be directly updated from Application Manager. Cheers.

[jaeezzy]

Hi,
I've just uploaded the latest version 0.2-5 of desktop-photoapplet to (NOW IN) extras-testing repository. So, plz test it out and specially to check the application when the device display is ON/OFF coz I couldn't do that myself due to the lack of device. My n810 was responding to the display state of the device but not sure about n900 and I haven't tried the whole application in n810 either just the code for the display state. I've uploaded the updated functionalities and screenshots in the #1 post.

NOTE: If you have already installed the previous version then plz rm ~/.desktop-photoapplet.ini before installing it. cheers!!

[jaeezzy]

Just to inform that the new version 0.3.2 is in extras-testing so plz test it and help it through to extras :(.. thanks

Changelog: hidden files/folders are recognised and not listed. Improved USB support.

EDIT: to make thing easy you can visit the page here (http://maemo.org/packages/package_instance/view/fremantle_extras-testing_non-free_armel/desktop-photoapplet/0.3.2/)

[iscio]

sorry, could you implement random search in folders? because every time I reboot my phone the slideshow restart from the first photo

[NightShift79]

I just found the desktop-photoapplet.
That thread is kind of old, but is the dev still around? Anyone willing to keep on working on this one?

- It would be great to have an option to scale the frame
- I would second the random search

[Estel]

The developer was on forum today, so I think he may be lurking somewhere around. Although, I have no idea if he is interested in developing this further. Anyway, it's Open, so anyone knowledgeable enough can participate, no matter if developer is active or not.

[NightShift79]

I'm not skilled enough. too bad... but I'm still focused on learning coding.
maybe jaeezzy is willing to do something.

I would donate a beer.