iChristmas 2.0 submitted Dec 2nd, 2009
Version 2.0 is done and submitted. I'm actually already started on 2.1 which will add some more polish to the newer features. I had to get the new features out as soon as possible because they really take the app to a new level... and I am running out of time to get it approved before Christmas 2009 (my last approval was 3 weeks).
So, version 2.0 will now search your iPod library and play music from your own library. Right now we are basically doing the simplest thing and just looking for track name matches. If you have more than one match we will play them in random order. This really makes the app more personalized and gets around some of the copyright issues we had with including this music in the original app. We have also added the ability to pull the lyrics from your track as well. So, for "White Christmas" or "Frosty the Snowman" or any of the other great carols from the last 80 years or so, which are still protected by copyright, we can now get the lyrics directly from *your* track. Again, this is your purchased music, so there is no problem with copyright. This functionality is a little more "flakey" than I would like at the moment. I struggled with getting the lyric functionality to work because sometimes the iPod library just won't return the lyrics in the track. I finally found an obscure blog post where the poster discovered that if you first play the track in your iPod, the lyrics magically appear. And, as cumbersome as this workaround is, it does seem to do the trick. I'll be looking into this more for 2.1 to see what can be improved.
Oh, and if your iPod track title doesn't quite match up, we have provided a button where you can go find the right track in your library. For instance, Faith Hill's track "Little Drummer Boy" will not be a match for our track "The Little Drummer Boy". I will definitely have a solution to this in 2.1, but in the meantime you can point the app to the correct track in your library. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to save this information right now, so you will have to do it each time you use the app. Again, this will be better in 2.1.
