Category: Viewers

2019 viewer release summaries week #20

Posted on by Inara Pey
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation

Updates for the week ending Sunday, May 19th

This summary is generally published every Monday, and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:

  • It is based on my Current Viewer Releases Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware), and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy. This page includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog.
  • By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.
  • Note that for purposes of length, TPV test viewers, preview / beta viewers / nightly builds are generally not recorded in these summaries.

Official LL Viewers

  • Current Release version 6.2.0.526190, formerly the Estate Access Management RC viewer, dated April 12, promoted April 17 – see my EAM overview for more information.
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • EPP RC viewer updated to version 6.2.3.527250 on May 16th.
    • Teranino RC viewer, version 6.2.2.527221, re-issued on May 15th.
    • Love Me Render RC viewer updated to version 6.2.2.527021 on May 13th.
  • Project viewers:
    • No updates.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V5/V6-style

V1-style

Mobile / Other Clients

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

Advertisements

New SL viewer release notes pages: an overview

Posted on by Inara Pey

Update, May 21st: The Alternate Viewers wiki page has been retired and replaced by a new Alternate Viewer page, which follows the same broad format as the Release Notes page (making the two slightly confusing, as they both reference recent RC viewers. However, this new page also draws a distinction between RC and project viewers, thus overcoming some of the concerns voiced in the second half of this article.

As noted in my week #20 SL Content Creation summary, Linden Lab have unveiled their new viewer release notes pages.

At the time of writing, the new pages are focused on the release candidate (RC) viewers that are in development and currently available as download cohorts in place of the de facto release viewer. It is not currently clear if project viewers will be included in the new format or not.

As Steven Linden from the viewer team notes in a Tools and Technology blog post on the subject, these new pages are part of a new website for viewer release information. This website comprises a dedicated home page with an introduction to viewer release notes. together with links on the left side to:

  • “Recent viewer releases”: a clickable list of the most recent RC viewer updates, provided as viewer version numbers. These are provided in release date order, with the most recent updates at the top.
  • Additional links to viewer-related support information:
The new Release Notes home page – access specific viewer release notes via the version numbers outlined in red on the left

Individual viewer release notes can be accessed by clicking one of the the listed version numbers, which will open a page specific to that viewer. These pages comprise:

  • Icon links to the available OS versions (Windows 32/64-bit, Mac OS).
  • The general release notes (description, etc.).
  • A list of resolved issues.

A significant change in these pages is that, where relevant, Jira links in the Resolved Issues section now, wherever possible, reference “public” bug reports (e.g. BUG-XXXXXX), rather than the Lab’s internally cloned versions of such bugs (e.g. MAIT-XXXXXX).

Currently, the new pages can also be accessed from the existing Alternate Viewers wiki page, (click the Release Notes link for an RC viewer on that page). However, whether this page will remain relevant if the release notes for project viewers are also converted to the new format, remains to be seen.

An example of the revised release notes for a viewer (in this case the Teranino Maintenance RC) – note the use of “public” Jira numbers where relevant, in the known issues list

The new pages are a lot easier on the eye, although I have a number of reservations at this time.

  • While I understand understand why version numbers are used to reference individual viewers (they are URLs and so can be dropped into the pages without necessarily requiring human intervention), they are less user friendly to those wishing to quickly look-up the specifics on a viewer.
  • The “recent Viewer Releases” lists can include links to multiple versions of a given viewer (at the time of writing, two versions of the EEP and Teranino RC viewers are listed, for example). This might cause a degree of confusion for some users, who may mist he “most recent at the top” arrangement of the list.
  • If project viewers are to be added to these pages, I would hope there will be some form of clearer distinction between them and any listed RC viewers, other than just a top-down list of version numbers, again for ease of user reference.

Related Links

2019 viewer release summaries week #19

Posted on by Inara Pey
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation

Updates for the week ending Sunday, May 12th

This summary is generally published every Monday, and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:

  • It is based on my Current Viewer Releases Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware), and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy. This page includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog.
  • By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.
  • Note that for purposes of length, TPV test viewers, preview / beta viewers / nightly builds are generally not recorded in these summaries.

Official LL Viewers

  • Current Release version 6.2.0.526190, formerly the Estate Access Management RC viewer, dated April 12, promoted April 17 – see my EAM overview for more information (the Teranino Maintenance RC viewer (version 6.2.1.526845) promoted May 7th, has been pulled).
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • No updates.
  • Project viewers:
    • No updates.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V5/V6-style

  • No updates.

V1-style

Mobile / Other Clients

  • Lumiya is currently unavailable through Google Play – see my article and update here. However, it remains available to new users (or can be re-purchased if urgent) via SlideMe.
  • MetaChat lists version 1.2.9104 (April 18th) as released; currently only version1.2.9103 is available via iTunes.

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

2019 viewer release summaries week #18

Posted on by Inara Pey
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation

Updates for the week ending Sunday, May 5th

This summary is generally published every Monday, and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:

  • It is based on my Current Viewer Releases Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware), and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy. This page includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog.
  • By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.
  • Note that for purposes of length, TPV test viewers, preview / beta viewers / nightly builds are generally not recorded in these summaries.

Official LL Viewers

  • Current Release version 6.2.0.526190, formerly the Estate Access Management RC viewer, dated April 12, promoted April 17 No change. – see my EAM overview for more information
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • Teranino Maintenance RC viewer updated to version 6.2.1.526845 on May 3rd.
  • Project viewers:
    • No updates.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V5/V6-style

  • No updates.

V1-style

  • No Updates.

Mobile / Other Clients

  • Lumiya is currently unavailable through Google Play – see my article and update here. However, it remains available to new users (or can be re-purchased if urgent) via SlideMe.
  • MetaChat lists version 1.2.9104 (April 18th) as released; currently only version1.2.9103 is available via iTunes.

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

Lumiya client: availability (updated May 3rd)

Posted on by Inara Pey

Update, May 3rd: it appears Lumiya may have been caught by recent changes to changing Google Play policies and Google’s updated developer terms (which apparently require the agreement of all app developers).

The changes to the Google Play policies actually caused some companies  – such as HTC – to temporarily remove their apps from Google Play until they could issue updates in compliance with the new policies, with HTC commenting:

In order to comply with the latest Google Play policy, we have temporarily removed a number of HTC applications from the Google Play Store. Applications will be republished over the coming weeks as we deploy new updates.

Sources have suggested that, subject to compliance with the the new policies, smaller developers have either removed their apps or may have had their apps suspended by Google Play pending their formal agreement to the new policies.

I’ve not heard back from Alina on the subject, but Lumiya Support Manager, Kaleaon, indicated that the above may well be reason for Lumiya’s (hopefully temporary) disappearance from Google Play, saying:

I know Alina’s been busy, so she may not yet have had the time to provide her approval.

I’ll provide further updates should I obtain more news.

====

I was going to hold-off blogging on this until I’d heard back from Alina Lyvette, but as there is already some discussion on the matter, as well as some blog posts, I thought I’d add some notes.

Lumiya is currently unavailable from the Google Play website.

However:

  • The viewer is still available via SlideMe, which is listed on the Lumiya website as the “official” alternative means of obtaining the client – see http://slideme.org/application/lumiya.
  • Similarly, the Lumiya plug-ins, the cloud storage option and the voice option are still available via Google Play.
  • At the time of writing, the client still works on suitable Android devices, and log-ins work just fine.

It is not at all clear why Lumiya has vanished from Google Play at this point in time. It might be a problem at Google Play’s end, or it might be something else.

I have been attempting to contact Alina (the client’s creator) on the matter (her time in-world appears limited nowadays, so hoping e-mail works), and have also pinged the support folk as well.

I’ll update this piece when / if I get any feedback from Alina and / or Kaleaon about the matter.

Additional Links

Aptoide link removed as a result of questions concerning lack of payment option.

2019 viewer release summaries week #17

Posted on by Inara Pey
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation

Updates for the week ending Sunday, April 28th

This summary is generally published every Monday, and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:

  • It is based on my Current Viewer Releases Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware), and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy. This page includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog.
  • By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.
  • Note that for purposes of length, TPV test viewers, preview / beta viewers / nightly builds are generally not recorded in these summaries.

Official LL Viewers

  • Current Release version 6.2.0.526190, formerly the Estate Access Management RC viewer, dated April 12, promoted April 17 No change. – see my EAM overview for more information
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • No updates.
  • Project viewers:
    • No updates.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V5/V6-style

V1-style

Mobile / Other Clients

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links