AppUnwrapper

I debated whether or not to post this. I don’t usually like to advertise on here the stuff that goes on behind the scenes. I prefer to just do my work and share it with the world. But a major tool that I’ve been using since day one of this site’s existence has changed so dramatically that I don’t know what to do. So I figured I should at least let everyone know what’s going on so if you see weird things happening, you’ll know it’s not on purpose.

As you might know by now, I’m not a fan of sitting at a PC. Since I got an iPhone and iPad, I only use my PC when absolutely necessary, usually for a few minutes at a time. I can go full days without even touching it because I’ve found tools that allow me to do so. The addition of iOS 11 screen recording has made that even more possible. It has its issues that need to be ironed out, as a game’s audio sometimes cuts out from a video and I don’t know it until I’m done recording. I’ve found ways around it that help mitigate the risk, though.

The other major tool is the WordPress iOS app. My site is built using WordPress because I have very limited programming knowledge and it allows me to manage my site with plugins that others made instead of having to teach myself how to program. The problem is, the WordPress dashboard on a iPad or iPhone browser is a mess. It’s simply not designed around a touchscreen and if I had to work on there or from a PC, my site likely wouldn’t have made it one month, much less six years. The only reason I’ve stuck with it this long is because of the WordPress iOS app.

The WordPress iOS app has never been perfect. But it’s designed to be comfortable to use on an iPhone. I can post an entire article, including photos and videos, using just the app. I can also easily go back to any post and edit it. This is especially important when my site is primarily walkthroughs, and I need to update them whenever new content is added to a game. Or simply just writing my walkthrough in real time for you so you don’t have to wait until it’s done to get help. Again, it was never perfect, but I found ways around any shortcomings and made it work for me.

A while back, they added a visual editor. I had been using the text editor all this time and thought a visual editor would be great. I could see how the photos look right where I’m typing. So I tried it out for a while and realizing it wasn’t just showing me my work, but it was adding messy, unnecessary code that messed with links. So I went back to the text editor and still have some old posts that I never cleaned up from that mess.

I’ve been using the text editor ever since. And again, it’s not perfect, but at least I know what to expect from it and I can add code without worrying about it changing on its own. Until the latest update. They decided to remove the text editor completely. Now, opening any post in the app will change the code to what the visual editor wants it to be. It seemed at first these were small changes that maybe I could still make work, since I’ve always been compromising on something with this app.

But then I realized that I can’t add my Apple badges to the post. Those are the little black boxes that say “Download on the App Store” that take you to the App Store. Even if I shut off the visual editor for a post and add the code in, when I next open the app, it will have turned the visual editor back on and removed that code. The only way to place that code in there and keep it there is by using a browser. you can see what I mean in this video I made:

This is not a sustainable solution for me and I’m really not sure what’s going to happen. For the moment, I will do what I can, though everything will take me much longer to do. It’s a waste of time and energy, but I don’t have any other options.

I’m hoping that this was a temporary mis-step and they’ll reverse it. But with the App Store freeze over the holidays, that would still leave me with several weeks working like this. It means I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get my Game of the Year list out before January. I hope that’s the worst that comes of this and I can get back to work as usual soon. If not, I guess I’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

But this is how you can help. Search “WordPress” in the App Store. It’s a free app. Please download it and leave a review, letting them know how important that text editor is. I’m not sure how else to get their attention. And my entire site depends on this. I am not exaggerating here. If you care about the work I do, please help.

If you’re a developer and can help somehow, maybe by making an app for me that would do what the old WordPress app did, please get in touch. If you run a WordPress blog yourself and do all your work from your iPhone and iPad, I’d love to hear how you’re making it work. I’m out of ideas right now and I just want to get back to creating content for my readers instead of battling this nonsense.

If you got this far, thanks for reading and have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. And thank you for being understanding about posts taking abnormally long to get written or photos looking worse than before, or links missing. I hope this is a temporary situation, but support from my readers will help make it bearable while I figure things out.

Thanks for understanding and for any help.