GVNotifier moving forward
Thanks to an update on Lifehacker, GVNotifier has been installed 3,000 times in the past few days. I’ve been flooded with emails and IMs–I apologize if I didn’t respond to you. I generally try to respond to everything, but with working full-time, I wasn’t around and many messages were missed. Thanks to those who have donated, and also those that left kind words! I appreciate the feedback, good and bad.
As I have indicated in some email exchanges, I’m working full-time for the summer and and don’t have much spare time for development. I’ll be picking back up at the end of August, but things are pretty stable right now. The rest of this posts contains my thoughts on moving forward, as well as documentation of known issues and other reasoning.
Known Issues & Bugs
- GVNotifier does not work outside of the USA: This is a long-standing issue, Google allows connections to google.com/voice from a non-US IP address, but the authentication process is different. I’ve built a new Silverlight library for Windows Phone 7 that uses ClientLogin, so I will likely switch over to this system. (Milestone 1.5)
- Search Crash: Some people experience an occasional crash when searching contacts. I have a fix planned. The good news is that this is the only known crash. (Milestone 1.5)
- Bandwidth Usage: A couple people have reported that the bandwidth usage is heavy. This is true if you’re using metered internet. I have an idea of how I can reduce usage, but this is not a priority right now. (Milestone 1.6-1.7)
- Contacts Sync: Updating a contact that already has a window open doesn’t always work. If you must sync contacts completely, a restart is required. (Milestone 1.5)
- Area code 406 numbers are hidden: Since there actually are people with Google Voice in Montana, I’ll bring back a setting for this. (Milestone 1.5)
FAQ
- Can I change the polling rate? Yes. Edit %localappdata%\GVNotifierWPF\settings.xml. Look for UpdateFreq, which is in seconds. Using a zero-value will disable updating completely.
- Can I invoke a manual check? Yes. Call GVNotifier.net.exe /check. (Other arguments include: /signout, /quit and /update_contacts)
- Can I change the notification sound? Yes. Edit %localappdata%\GVNotifierWPF\new.wav
- Can I dial a number that isn’t in my contacts? Yes. Type the number into contacts search.
- My contacts aren’t all showing, why? GVNotifier will show contacts only if they have one or more phone numbers that are NOT within the 406 area code.
- GVNotifier is doing something weird, what can I do? Check out the log file at %localappdata%\GVNotifierWPF\log.txt.
- Is my personal data safe? As of 1.4.1, passwords are encrypted. Your Google Voice login information is sent only to Google.com, and only via SSL. Contacts information is stored in plain text, along with other settings. The password encryption is not impossibly strong, but if you are worried, use full disk encryption (like BitLocker or TrueCrypt).
- Where is %localappdata%? Windows Vista/7: C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Local. Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<UserName>\Local Settings\Application Data.
- Can I disable SMS for a certain contact? Yes – include the text nosms in their Google Contact information. The input box will be disabled for this contact.
New Features
- Dial pad: I’ll probably add this, even though there is a way to insert new numbers–I neglected how valuable a Dial pad would be with a touch computer. (Milestone 1.5)
- SMS History: I’d like to sync history in the message window, along with some other enhancements (contact photo, other contact info). I’m considering adding an SMS History tab, but I’m not crazy about this. (Milestone 1.6)
- Mass-messaging: I’d like to integrate groups from Google Contacts, and on-demand group messaging. (Milestone 1.7)
- Let me know if you don’t see something you want here. I consider any requests that aren’t ridiculous.
Things that are not being considered
- Please don’t ask me to “compile this is without the .NET framework,” or “compile with .NET 2.0 because it is better.” GVNotifier requires .NET 3.5sp1 and utilizes the Windows Presentation Foundation. There is certainly a performance hit, but you’re welcome to not use this software. I’ll be upgrading to .NET 4.0 in the future.
- Open Source. I’m not open-sourcing this project unless someone is willing to dedicate a large amount of time to adding new–and reliable–features.
- “Making the UI more compact.” I’m mostly happy with the interface, I will not be doing any NCA drawing (at the very top of the window; like Firefox4, Chrome, Opera, et al). Getting this working perfectly is a waste of effort that is better spent fixing bugs and adding useful functionality.
GVAutoResponder 1.1 is out, tons of new features!
GVAutoResponder 1.1 is out, tons more flexible than 1.0. Below is a copy of the product page. Everyone who bought a copy of 1.0 was sent a free upgrade via email.
Have you ever wanted to own your own SMS service? Directing customers to send “MSG” to 123-456-789 for more information, or set up a whole menu of options. Easily deliver customers with coupons, games, jokes or whatever else with GVAutoResponder!
GVAutoResponder turns your Google Voice account into a full-fledged business service. Easily respond to customers with automated messages, even have a default option for users that don’t already know the commands. Send mass-messages to all your customers, or just a subset that have opted into a service.
Overview
- Highly configurable and flexible rule system for generating responses
- Respond to SMS, Missed Calls and Voicemail
- Export users and messages
- Easily send messages to one, some, or all users!
- Cost-effective solution for managing one or more business Google Voice accounts
- Works alongside GVNotifier
Get GVAutoResponder
| GVAutoResponder v1.1.0.9 | Windows XP/Vista/7 | Download | Documentation (PDF) | Released May 26, 2010 |
GVAutoResponder will auto-update to the latest version if you already have it installed.
Features
GVAutoResponder runs on Windows XP/Vista/7 and monitors Google Voice for new messages. If they match the criteria you select, they’ll get a response. Using the rule editor, responses and triggers can be configured any way you like.
Send a message to one, some, or all of your users quickly with the mass-messaging features.
Export users and messages as CSV for use in excel or other applications.
Download the trial version now! A signature will be appended to each message in the trial version, but otherwise the software is the same.
Order GVAutoResponder online now!
GVAutoResponder 1.1 may be purchased for a fee of $25 (for use with one Google Voice account) or $30 (for use with multiple accounts)
| Single Account ($25) | Unlimited Accounts ($30) |
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Send me an email, or contact me using the widget to the right if you would like a more customized solution. Please leave your email address so I can get back in touch with you!
GVNotifier 1.4 – an oveview
GVNotifier 1.4 is out – tons of great new features, just to name a few…
- Contacts sync: No more waiting for your contact list to load up each time you fire up GVNotifier! Contacts and photos are stored on disk and synchronized after login, or each time you select the option on the notification area menu, or jumplist.
- Windows 7 taskbar integration: Common tasks and pinned contacts are available on the GVNotifier jumplist, just right-click on the taskbar icon. Contacts sync progress is shown on the taskbar button as well.
- Call History: Call history is now a tab on the main window, 4 pages of calls from Missed, Placed and Received are loaded each time you start GVNotifier, an new events are updated in realtime.
- Voicemil transcriptions & playback: Click the voicemail tab on the main window to view or listen to voicemail.
- Message Spellchecking
GVNotifier 1.4 was built using the Windows Presentation Foundation subsystem. WPF is very flexible and building beautiful user interfaces has never been easier. Inspiration came from Office 2010 and Windows 7.
With the upgrade to WPF, I took the time to rebuild my Google Voice connectivity library, removing the dependency on MSHTML, a component that was causing 50% or 100% CPU usage for some users. This new library is more reliable than ever.
Check out the screenshots over at the product page.
Thanks to everyone over at the beta group, and Jared Kastriner for testing and reporting bugs throughout the process! Special thanks also to everyone who has donated!
GVNotifier 1.3.132 resolves login issues – adds new features
Thanks to everyone who participated in the beta – I’ve pushed GVNotifier 1.3. This build incorporates the login fixes, as well as a few new features:
- Ctrl+N will clear the messages from the current window.
- Ctrl+R (on the message window) to instantly check for new messages.
- Configurable fonts – set any size and style you’d like for the Contact List and Message windows.
- Connectivity test – GVNotifier won’t fail if your internet connection isn’t present.
GVNotifier login issues
It appears that Google has made some changes to the login system for Google Voice during the past couple of days. Not everyone is seeing login problems, but some users are reporting it.
I’ve posted a beta version over at the GVNotifier Beta Group. You can download it now, but I’ll likely be pushing it out to all users later today, or tomorrow. If the beta version has fixed your login problem, please let me know!
AeroAlert – Change the DWM Aero accent color.
AeroAlert is a quick project that I put together this weekend. The intent is to have the ability to signal that a condition has occurred, without using FlashWindow(Ex). I’ve included some sample batch files and a demo video of what is possible. Using the -k switch, one could use AeroAlert to change the DWM Aero color persistently.
To change the color based on weather, check out AeroWeather!
ThumbPreview – Movable taskbar thumbnails
I’ve had this project hanging around for a long time – it’s not quite complete but it does a nice job of letting you preview a window like the windows 7 taskbar, but in a more persistent and flexible way.
It’s easy, just tap Win+Z to create a movable thumbnail window for the window you have in focus.
Check out the application page and download.
Video
Screenshots
BTProximity: Lock and Unlock PC when Bluetooth phone is in range
BTProximity is an application for Windows Vista and Windows 7 that can detect when your bluetooth-enabled phone has come into range, and unlock your computer. When the device moves out of range, the computer is automatically locked. This isn’t a fake lock window, the computer is locked using Windows Security.
BTProximity is donationware, if you like it, please donate!
Download (Windows Vista/7 only – x86 and x64)
BTProximity (ClickOnce Installer)
Notes
- The device needs to be paired with Windows first, then it will show up in the devices list. If you don’t pair the device, secure mode will need to be disabled in order for the device to appear.
- Be sure to install the unlock component if you’d like to automatically unlock.
- Be sure to set the credentials to unlock.
- Setting the check interval too high may lead to poor battery life.
- “Faster Unlock” will unlock as soon as the device has been seen, without an additional check.
- Notification area icon colors:
Gray: Host device is not compatible or not found.
Red: Device is not connected (out of range)
Green: Device is connected (in range)
Download old GVNotifier (1.1)
For historical/compatibility purposes, I’m making GVNotifier 1.1 available as a zip download. Please use the latest version if possible, but if you’re having a problem that didn’t exist before, feel free to roll back to the old version until everything gets worked out.
GVNotifier tutorial video
Here’s a great video that gives an overview of GVNotifier’s features.
If you can’t see the video, try here.