iAgrams

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is iAgrams free? Wouldn't it be better to charge for it and donate the money to charity, for example bell restoration funds?

• In my professional life as an academic computer scientist, I have benefited enormously from software that is completely free. I like the idea of providing, in turn, free software for the ringing community.
• The fact that some other ringing software is being sold to raise money for charity is admirable, and I have bought some of it myself.
• Selling an app in the App Store is administratively more complex than distributing it for free, and I prefer to spend my time on software development, which is more interesting.
• If using iAgrams inspires you to make a donation to your favourite charity, then please do so.

I have installed iAgrams on my iPhone 1 or old iPod touch and it is slow. In particular, it takes a long time to show the list of Surprise Major methods.

• The older devices are slower than the more recent ones, and this is particularly evident when processing large amounts of data from the method databases. Surprise Major is the largest database, so this is where you see the longest delay. In a future version I will add an option to change the default method database that is loaded when you go into the Method Finder - at the moment it always starts with Surprise Major, meaning that you suffer the delay even if you want to change to a different method list.

I am using iAgrams on an iPad, and either I get a small display in the centre of the screen, or I use the "2x" button but then the display is jagged. Why?

• This is just what happens on an iPad with an iPhone app that doesn't have a special iPad version. At some point in the future I hope to produce a proper iPad version of iAgrams.

Is there a version of iAgrams for Blackberry or Windows devices?

• Not at the moment.

Does iAgrams contain a copy of the Central Council method libraries, or does it obtain methods from the internet?

• iAgrams contains a copy of the Central Council method libraries.

How do I add a new collection?

• Go into the screen titled "Collections" by selecting "Other collections" from the main screen. Press "Edit". At the bottom of the list of collection names, there will be a blank row with a green '+' symbol next to it. Press '+' and you will be prompted for the name of your new collection.

How do I delete a collection?

• Go into the screen titled "Collections" by selecting "Other collections" from the main screen. Press "Edit". A red '-' symbol will appear next to each collection name. Press '-' and a red "Delete" button will appear. Pressing "Delete" will delete the collection.
• Alternatively, do a right-swipe along the name of a collection, and the red "Delete" button will appear.

How do I change the order of the list of collections?

• Go into the screen titled "Collections" by selecting "Other collections" from the main screen. Press "Edit". At the right of each row you will see a symbol that looks like three horizontal lines in a stack. Press and hold this symbol, while dragging the row to the desired position.

How do I add a method to a collection?

• View the collection by selecting it from the "Collections" screen. Press "Edit". At the bottom of the list of method names, there will be a blank row with a green '+' symbol next to it. Press '+' and you will be taken to a method library to select the method you want.
• Alternatively, choose "Select a method" from the main screen, and find the method you want in the method libraries. When you select the method, it will be displayed with a "Save" button in the top right corner of the screen. Press "Save", and you will see a list of collections; select the one that you want to put the method into.
• Alternatively again, when you view a method in the "Recent Methods" collection, it is displayed with the "Save" button, and you can proceed as above.

How do I delete a method from a collection?

• View the collection by selecting it from the "Collections" screen. Press "Edit". A red '-' symbol will appear next to each method name. Press '-' and a red "Delete" button will appear. Pressing "Delete" will delete the method.
• Alternatively, do a right-swipe along the name of a method, and the red "Delete" button will appear.

How do I change the order of the methods in a collection?

• View the collection by selecting it from the "Collections" screen. Press "Edit". At the right of each row you will see a symbol that looks like three horizontal lines in a stack. Press and hold this symbol, while dragging the row to the desired position.

Can a method appear in more than one collection?

• Yes.

The pinch gestures for zooming in and out don't seem to work for some methods. Why not?

• A method is always displayed with a whole number of leads per column, in line or rows view. Zooming in or out changes the number of leads per column. However, there is a minimum zoom level, corresponding to a minimum font size in rows view, and for some methods the default zoom level is already the minimum; therefore you can't zoom out. This is the case for Surprise Maximus, for example. It seems that the minimum zoom level needs to be adjusted, and this will be corrected in a future version of iAgrams.

Why doesn't iAgrams show bobs and singles?

• One reason is that iAgrams was designed to have features that I would find useful, and displaying bobs and singles isn't one of them.
• A technical reason is that bobs and singles are not included in the definition of a method, so there is no database from which to obtain them. This means that including them in a software application requires all of the conventions about standard bobs and singles, and various special cases, to be encoded in a series of rules. Of course this is all possible, and of course it is wrong to blame technical reasons for the absence of a feature that users want, but I just haven't spent the time necessary to do this yet.
• I will try to include bobs and singles in a future version of iAgrams before too long.

Is it possible to print from iAgrams?

• Sorry, no. A good way to print method diagrams is from Martin Bright's web site.

How do I install iAgrams on an Android device?

• If you do not already have a file manager app (your device might come with an app called something like "My Files"), install one; for example Solid Explorer.
• In your device settings, tick the box for "Allow installation from unknown sources" or equivalent. This might be in a Security sub-heading.
• In the web browser on your device, go to www.iagrams.co.uk and download iagrams.apk.
• Start your file manager app and find iagrams.apk in the Downloads folder.
• Tap the iagrams.apk file and follow any further instructions to install it.
• For security, go back to your device settings and untick "Allow installation from unknown sources" again.