I've been a long time lurker and first time poster to DiabloFans. I'm not sure if I'm breaking any forum rules regarding advertisement, but I just wanted to get the word out on a community based free Diablo 3 app we've been working very hard on. Hopefully this is not a violation of the forum's posting policies as we are not advertising a commercial product.
The App
The app is called "D3 Handbook" and can be downloaded from Google Play. It contains various information that should come in handy as you play. Please send us your feedbacks to let us know what you like/dislike about the app so we can continue to improve it.
And now that the game has been out for a few weeks, we're busy pouring over the forum to figure out some fun/powerful builds that we can add to D3 Handbook. If you have a build that you like to see added, email it to us at d3handbook@abeavers.com. Thanks DiabloFans!
Screenshots
Thanks and we look forward to hearing your feedbacks!
Kevin
Whoa, I've missed that one. Tried to download it but turns it wasn't listed in the US store. iTunes (hate that damn program) said it wasn't available in the Swedish store but in the US store and when I switched, well, like I said - wasn't there.
Wait a few more weeks. We'll try our best to get the iOS version of D3 Handbook released before mid January.
more choice will get more interesting experience Will be more wonderful
As far as I know, Diablo 3 Armory is for iOS devices only. It also doesn't seem to have an items section, which is a major part of the game.
And users shouldn't complain about having more choices right? Try out different apps and see which one they like the most?
v0.7 Update:
- updated Overview data for Barbarian, Demon Hunter, Monk, Witch Doctor, and Wizard
- optimized Overview screen load time
- Added the Followers Tab, which includes Overview, Skills, and Skill Calculator for each follower
If you guys aren't aware already, me and Sixen had to take down the armory app a while ago. That's why there's no updates, that's why you can't find it on the store, that's why there's no items section. Activision asked us to take it down (and Apple would have if we didn't ourselves). Maybe it was too good or they wanted the name, but they wouldn't say exactly why. They were nice about it though, so yeah... we are not sure if we will re-upload or what we will/can do.
Enjoy the app if you already have it. MONTHS of work were put into it...
Wish you best of luck GloryTheWiz... Blizz might shut down your iOS operations.
Edit: By the way guys, as a future note, please appreciate the work that Glory has done and will do. If you aren't a programmer, you have no idea what it takes to make something of quality with all of the Diablo info.
If you guys aren't aware already, me and Sixen had to take down the armory app a while ago. That's why there's no updates, that's why you can't find it on the store, that's why there's no items section. Activision asked us to take it down (and Apple would have if we didn't ourselves). Maybe it was too good or they wanted the name, but they wouldn't say exactly why. They were nice about it though, so yeah... we are not sure if we will re-upload or what we will/can do.
Enjoy the app if you already have it. MONTHS of work were put into it...
Wish you best of luck GloryTheWiz... Blizz might shut down your iOS operations.
Edit: By the way guys, as a future note, please appreciate the work that Glory has done and will do. If you aren't a programmer, you have no idea what it takes to make something of quality with all of the Diablo info.
Thanks for the encouraging words OneTwoSC, really appreciate them.
I'm a little hesitant about investing fully into the iOS version seeing how Blizzard took down Diablo 3 Armory. I'm just confused on why they haven't made a move to go after the Android apps as well. Why single out Diablo 3 Armory for iOS?
Thanks for the encouraging words OneTwoSC, really appreciate them.
I'm a little hesitant about investing fully into the iOS version seeing how Blizzard took down Diablo 3 Armory. I'm just confused on why they haven't made a move to go after the Android apps as well. Why single out Diablo 3 Armory for iOS?
It could be because the iOS store has less diablo apps maybe? Could be the name, or maybe it resembled their art too much; maybe they just saw it period and said 'this ain't gonna fly!'. Our armory app came up first on searches and even when searching for 'blizzard', it came up... the traction it had gained might have given it more attention than other apps?
Who knows... but yeah I'd caution you at this point until we know what we're allowed to do. They're going to be giving us an API too in the future, and imo an app = a fan site, so it seems like we *should* be allowed.
If you guys aren't aware already, me and Sixen had to take down the armory app a while ago. That's why there's no updates, that's why you can't find it on the store, that's why there's no items section. Activision asked us to take it down (and Apple would have if we didn't ourselves). Maybe it was too good or they wanted the name, but they wouldn't say exactly why. They were nice about it though, so yeah... we are not sure if we will re-upload or what we will/can do.
Enjoy the app if you already have it. MONTHS of work were put into it...
Wish you best of luck GloryTheWiz... Blizz might shut down your iOS operations.
Edit: By the way guys, as a future note, please appreciate the work that Glory has done and will do. If you aren't a programmer, you have no idea what it takes to make something of quality with all of the Diablo info.
Thanks for the encouraging words OneTwoSC, really appreciate them.
I'm a little hesitant about investing fully into the iOS version seeing how Blizzard took down Diablo 3 Armory. I'm just confused on why they haven't made a move to go after the Android apps as well. Why single out Diablo 3 Armory for iOS?
The main issue, from what I've seen of android vs iOS is that Apple is very, very strict with what they put on there App Store has to follow very strict guidelines and all that jazz, whereas Google is a lot more open with what is allowed on their Android Market.
Additionally, you can get Android apps from the internet or from other android stores.
In addition, if Google. does take off this guy's work, he can still release it on the internet or one of the many other android app stores. It may not get as many downloads, but it certainly will still be available. (This just isn't feasible with a non-jailbroken iphone/ipod touch.)
v0.72 Update:
- updated app for Beta Patch 8
- active skills now show the number of skills for that type
- sped up item load times
Really hope to get some more comments/feedbacks from DiabloFans. Tell us what you like/dislike about the app so we can further improve it. Also, start sending in your builds so we can add them to the Builds section.
I haven't tried it yet, but judging by the new update that's patch 8 compatible I'm guessing that this app is offline and uses data that the creators provide. Meaning - when there's even a slight change on the website users of this app have to wait for a new app version to see the changes.
Haven't you thought of/tried to make this app get its data from the website? I'm not familiar with how the data is stored on the website, but I guess writing a parser would be possible.
I want to chime in on this myself. While working on my D3 armory app, I entered it all manually the first time so it was perfect/error-free. But, soon I indeed realized that they change their info a lot. However, I still wanted the app to work offline. The trade-off that I ended up doing was a parser for myself that would output blizz's data into something readable for my app. Just had to run it every time Blizz made changes, and then re-submit the app to Apple.
The problem became that Blizz's formatting on tooltips (of which I extracted info from, like cost and description) wasn't always consistent... so I had to go through every ability, rune, and passive to make sure things didn't get cut-off or incorrectly parsed. As well, had to re-DL every spell icon to make sure I had any new/changed ones. Well, with some more work (had the app not been taken down) it probably could have been improved.
But anyway, I think I posted with how I grabbed their data on another thread... forget where now lol.
I haven't tried it yet, but judging by the new update that's patch 8 compatible I'm guessing that this app is offline and uses data that the creators provide. Meaning - when there's even a slight change on the website users of this app have to wait for a new app version to see the changes.
Haven't you thought of/tried to make this app get its data from the website? I'm not familiar with how the data is stored on the website, but I guess writing a parser would be possible.
Thanks for your suggestion Krecik. This was a design decision I had to make regarding how to grab data from Blizzard. It was a tradeoff between having the latest data online and having to re-download the data when the app opened, or having the data offline and risk having it out of date by a few hours/days.
Ultimately, I decided to go with the offline approach for the following reasons:
1. I wanted to save the user on data usage. By having to fetch the data from Blizzard during program runs, the user will use up a lot more data. Then there's the problem of dealing with stale caches and figuring out what to fetch and not to fetch.
2. Speed. Even if you have a LTE phone, it is still much much faster to fetch and display data from your SD card than establishing a connection, downloading the data, parsing it, and then finally displaying it on the screen.
3. Reliance on a data connection. Based on my observations, people tend to use their smart phones the most when they commute. A lot of people commute using subways or other modes where a data connection is not always available or stable. If the app is reliant on a live connection, then it's usefulness will be greatly undermined. We can always let the app load the last downloaded set of data and have an "Update" button to get the latest data, but this leads to the next problem:
4. Accuracy. Although one can argue that it's more "accurate" to always be fetching online data from Blizzard, I tend to disagree. As OneTwoSC pointed out, the data you get from Blizzard is often inconsistent. Whatever automated in app parsing code you have will bound to encounter some badly formated data that will cause display problems. In the end, I much rather trust myself carefully going over every piece of data to make sure it's accurate and properly formatted than rely on Blizzard's often poorly formated online data.
So in my opinion, the user will have a much better app experience by storing the data offline within the app. It'll be faster, much less data intensive, has no reliance on a network connection, and far less chance of having poorly formated data. As for keeping the app up to date, well...you'll just have to trust me that I'll keep the app up to date for the community.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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The App
The app is called "D3 Handbook" and can be downloaded from Google Play. It contains various information that should come in handy as you play. Please send us your feedbacks to let us know what you like/dislike about the app so we can continue to improve it.
And now that the game has been out for a few weeks, we're busy pouring over the forum to figure out some fun/powerful builds that we can add to D3 Handbook. If you have a build that you like to see added, email it to us at d3handbook@abeavers.com. Thanks DiabloFans!
Screenshots
Thanks and we look forward to hearing your feedbacks!
Kevin
http://www.diablofans.com/news/920-unofficial-diablo-iii-armory/
As far as I know, Diablo 3 Armory is for iOS devices only. It also doesn't seem to have an items section, which is a major part of the game.
And users shouldn't complain about having more choices right? Try out different apps and see which one they like the most?
Wait a few more weeks. We'll try our best to get the iOS version of D3 Handbook released before mid January.
- updated Overview data for Barbarian, Demon Hunter, Monk, Witch Doctor, and Wizard
- optimized Overview screen load time
- Added the Followers Tab, which includes Overview, Skills, and Skill Calculator for each follower
And there are a lot of us that have Andriod phones - so this is most welcome news...
@Glorythewiz - THANK YOU!!! I can't wait to download and check it out!
Monkalicious: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/OptimusPrime-12194/hero/79139477
I know I do!
Battle.net Profile / Diablo Progress Profile
Enjoy the app if you already have it. MONTHS of work were put into it...
Wish you best of luck GloryTheWiz... Blizz might shut down your iOS operations.
Edit: By the way guys, as a future note, please appreciate the work that Glory has done and will do. If you aren't a programmer, you have no idea what it takes to make something of quality with all of the Diablo info.
D3 Channel: OnetwoD3
Gotta go back to my cave and try to play the beta in my stone computer.
Thanks for the encouraging words OneTwoSC, really appreciate them.
I'm a little hesitant about investing fully into the iOS version seeing how Blizzard took down Diablo 3 Armory. I'm just confused on why they haven't made a move to go after the Android apps as well. Why single out Diablo 3 Armory for iOS?
It could be because the iOS store has less diablo apps maybe? Could be the name, or maybe it resembled their art too much; maybe they just saw it period and said 'this ain't gonna fly!'. Our armory app came up first on searches and even when searching for 'blizzard', it came up... the traction it had gained might have given it more attention than other apps?
Who knows... but yeah I'd caution you at this point until we know what we're allowed to do. They're going to be giving us an API too in the future, and imo an app = a fan site, so it seems like we *should* be allowed.
D3 Channel: OnetwoD3
There are a number of WoW apps though. And many are nicer then the Blizzard one.
The main issue, from what I've seen of android vs iOS is that Apple is very, very strict with what they put on there App Store has to follow very strict guidelines and all that jazz, whereas Google is a lot more open with what is allowed on their Android Market.
Additionally, you can get Android apps from the internet or from other android stores.
In addition, if Google. does take off this guy's work, he can still release it on the internet or one of the many other android app stores. It may not get as many downloads, but it certainly will still be available. (This just isn't feasible with a non-jailbroken iphone/ipod touch.)
Ha. Bagstone.
- updated app for Beta Patch 8
- active skills now show the number of skills for that type
- sped up item load times
Really hope to get some more comments/feedbacks from DiabloFans. Tell us what you like/dislike about the app so we can further improve it. Also, start sending in your builds so we can add them to the Builds section.
Thanks for the encouragement overneathe. It's comments like these that keeps us motivated! Please rate the app as well to show your support.
I want to chime in on this myself. While working on my D3 armory app, I entered it all manually the first time so it was perfect/error-free. But, soon I indeed realized that they change their info a lot. However, I still wanted the app to work offline. The trade-off that I ended up doing was a parser for myself that would output blizz's data into something readable for my app. Just had to run it every time Blizz made changes, and then re-submit the app to Apple.
The problem became that Blizz's formatting on tooltips (of which I extracted info from, like cost and description) wasn't always consistent... so I had to go through every ability, rune, and passive to make sure things didn't get cut-off or incorrectly parsed. As well, had to re-DL every spell icon to make sure I had any new/changed ones. Well, with some more work (had the app not been taken down) it probably could have been improved.
But anyway, I think I posted with how I grabbed their data on another thread... forget where now lol.
D3 Channel: OnetwoD3
Thanks for your suggestion Krecik. This was a design decision I had to make regarding how to grab data from Blizzard. It was a tradeoff between having the latest data online and having to re-download the data when the app opened, or having the data offline and risk having it out of date by a few hours/days.
Ultimately, I decided to go with the offline approach for the following reasons:
1. I wanted to save the user on data usage. By having to fetch the data from Blizzard during program runs, the user will use up a lot more data. Then there's the problem of dealing with stale caches and figuring out what to fetch and not to fetch.
2. Speed. Even if you have a LTE phone, it is still much much faster to fetch and display data from your SD card than establishing a connection, downloading the data, parsing it, and then finally displaying it on the screen.
3. Reliance on a data connection. Based on my observations, people tend to use their smart phones the most when they commute. A lot of people commute using subways or other modes where a data connection is not always available or stable. If the app is reliant on a live connection, then it's usefulness will be greatly undermined. We can always let the app load the last downloaded set of data and have an "Update" button to get the latest data, but this leads to the next problem:
4. Accuracy. Although one can argue that it's more "accurate" to always be fetching online data from Blizzard, I tend to disagree. As OneTwoSC pointed out, the data you get from Blizzard is often inconsistent. Whatever automated in app parsing code you have will bound to encounter some badly formated data that will cause display problems. In the end, I much rather trust myself carefully going over every piece of data to make sure it's accurate and properly formatted than rely on Blizzard's often poorly formated online data.
So in my opinion, the user will have a much better app experience by storing the data offline within the app. It'll be faster, much less data intensive, has no reliance on a network connection, and far less chance of having poorly formated data. As for keeping the app up to date, well...you'll just have to trust me that I'll keep the app up to date for the community.