Razor Puzzle 1.2 Beta

A beta for version 1.2 now exists and can be tested by going to the device you want to test on and clicking https://testflight.apple.com/join/XSYVAKUf.     

If you are new to Razor Puzzle, you have a choice.  If you want to avoid the possibility that the beta is buggy (it might be for a while), just go to the app store and install 1.1.   This also avoids the need for an ancillary install of Apple's TestFlight app, which is necessary for obtaining betas. 

If you've used the 1.0 or 1.1 releases of Razor Puzzle and are curious about what's new in 1.2, read the description below.   Then you can decide whether it's worth trying.   If you do try it, you might get a message from Apple saying that you already have this app installed and that installing the new version might lose the data you have stored in the original copy.   I have tried this myself and all of my puzzles and images from before the upgrade were still there.   I think it's just Apple being cautious, but I can't be 100% sure there aren't some corner cases where data might be lost.

The 1.2 release of Razor Puzzle requires iOS 12.0 or later (previously the minimum was 10.0).   This may be increased further depending on what happens during the beta.

What's New

1.  When you import something  into Razor Puzzle (by sharing from another app or responding to an air drop), it goes directly to the appropriate destination (images or puzzles).   There is no more "inbox".     There is still a popup explaining that you have something new.

2. The previous change also has the effect of making the image cropper optional (by default, all imported images are used "as is").   The image cropper is still available (see item 4).

3. Images and puzzles now have titles (defaulting to "Untitled") and optional notes.    The title is displayed at the top of the image cropper, puzzle cutter, and puzzle solver views and in the thumbnail captions.  It can be changed by touching it, which makes it editable and reveals a button for reading or changing the notes.

4. The way you interact with thumbnail images in the main view has changed.   There is no longer a distinction between a simple touch and a "long press", and "sharing" is no longer a mode selected at the top of the screen.   Touching a thumbnail opens a small dialog wfffhere you can select puzzle-cutting, cropping, sharing, or deletion (for images) and solving, sharing,  or deletion (for puzzles).

5. The formerly different "piece border" options are simplified.   Now you either have piece borders or not.  If you do, they show up between pieces but are invisible otherwise.  The nature of the border is different (it is now just a thin gap between pieces).   Piece borders are off by default.

6. At end of game, the time spent solving the puzzle is displayed in the status area.   The game timer suspends when the game is in the background and when the partial solution is saved.

7. The handling for puzzles that, when assembled, would be larger than the solver pane, has changed.  Previously, you used one finger to push piece clusters on an imaginary solver surface which was "behind" the pane, and you used two fingers to push that solver surface itself around (called "scrolling" in the help text).   This was confusing and led to weird corner cases.    Now, two-finger scrolling is eliminated.   The solver surface and solver pane are the same.  You can still use a single finger to push piece clusters around, including pushing them almost all the way off the surface.   This seems to suffice for most large puzzles, but, I also attempted to make it easier to change the zoom as an alternative way of dealing (see next).

8. The zoom can now be changed using two-finger pinch or stretch gestures and the current zoom is displayed near the top of the screen.  Touching the zoom display brings up a new, smaller, zoom change dialog that includes single-percent stepping, "fit pane" and (where applicable)  "fit width" and"fit height".    Zoom changing is removed from the primary options menu.

9. The regular "jigs" option for curvatures is substantially improved.    A puzzle with just jigs looks a lot like a real jigsaw puzzle now.   That is now the initial default at install time.    More generally, the option defaults for new users are changed to favor the familiar jigsaw paradigm rather than the "razor" paradigm.   If you are upgrading from an earlier Razor Puzzle version, though, you will keep whatever option settings you have now.   Previously cut puzzles will also not change: the better "jigs" are implemented in the puzzle cutter and only apply to new puzzles.

10. There are now six supplied images instead of three and they use a more varied set of orientations and aspect ratios.    You will only see this in a fresh install.

11. When you start with an Edges tray and it becomes empty it auto-deletes (no prompt).   Other trays that you may create will still prompt when they become empty.

12. The naming of trays is simplified.

13. The size of tray cells adjusts to the size of the pieces of the puzzle you are solving so that very small pieces in the tray are less likely to appear.

14. The snap-together threshold for pieces is liberalized.