Folks, I just thought I might offer a quick update on where Freda development stands, across Windows Phone 8 (WP8) and Windows 8 (W8). So:
Right now, I am working on debugging some issues with Freda for WP8 (the XNA renderer goes strangely wrong when you launch from a pinned secondary tile, and the DropBox file browser fails on filenames containing some special characters, such as brackets). A bug-fix release for those issues will appear in the next week or so.
So, across WP8 and W8, the development roadmap looks roughly like:
Next week: W8 version 3.2, adding bookmarking/annotating/selecting of text, deleting books and book sources, custom OPDS book sources, pinning of books to start menu, and a bunch of UI improvements ...
Next week or two: WP8 bug-fix version 2.9, for secondary tile and DropBox issues
Within the next month or so: W8 version 3.3, adding all remaining WP features to the W8 program (backup/restore, dictionary lookup, define presets ... )
Some time early 2013 probably: W8 version back-ported to WP8, which will bring both versions onto the same code-line (and, crucially, the same underlying database, SQLite). At this point, the WP8 version will be a real native WP8 app (so it will support all screen resolutions properly, and will allow you to register Freda as the app for opening EPUB and FB2 file types).
Not very long after that: Features for selectively synching across all devices you're using, covering: settings/presets, bookshelf (including last read location), book source details. It will be based on using special SkyDrive files and folders.
Longer term: Features for sharing book lists, annotations etc. ('book club' use cases) - using an Azure cloud solution, if I can figure out a way to pay for it.
As and when I can: Fixing assorted bugs and formatting concerns (line spacing and margin issues, the proper handling of PRE and CODE elements, broken image path logic, clean management of the choice between 'block' and 'indent' paragraph layout ... )
All this, approximate though it is, is subject to some variation, dependent upon the vagaries of the Microsoft certification process, and the competing demands of my day job.
If you have questions or any other suggestions, feel free to contact me at
jim@turnipsoft.co.uk