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Forum Spy for Early Use

Time of post still off. If it's supposed to be UTC (only thing I can think of), it must be shown in 24hr format. Currently, it shows 11:43, which, I'm going to guess, is the current UTC of 23:43.

Usually, a date would be shown with UTC for context, but I suppose Spy can live without it, since one can assume its posts are always within a few hours of current time.

Keep up the good work! Thanks.

(Also anxiously awaiting forum filtering.)
 
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I've noticed that the Spy now loads the last several posts, instead of starting from zero posts. Instead of them animate in same as the actual new posts do, could we have a loading message and then just show all the initial posts instead of them animating in One. At. A. Time. Even with a mouse, it's pretty hard to click on a link when they're rapid firing. Not to mention the pain of watching/waiting for these posts to load.

Oh, can we also just get rid of the animation, or at least make it quicker, keeping the cadence the same (which means the posts stay still for longer while I coordinate my finger/cursor). Generally, you'd wait until they stop moving to click on them, but they stay still for about 0.3s.

EDIT: okay, here it is. I took matters into my own hands.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/modding-the-new-mr-spy.1892149/
 
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Just occurred to me the potential for spoilers making their way into the snippet on the Spy. Maybe it should be an option to hide the snippet? (personally, though, I like the snippets).

I have noticed that the post count is also missing from the Spy, now.
 
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arn said:
It says "New Thread" in the left column if it's a first post. It says "New Post" if it's a reply to an existing thread.
Click to expand...

In Spy, all such occurrences of the word New are superfluous. That's additional noise – repetitively – within a feature that is inherently noisy.

SandboxGeneral said:
… after I made a post and go over to the spy the post I just made does not appear in the list,
Click to expand...

That's probably not by design but if it is – if the spy was open before one's post was made in a separate tab or window – the design is good.

however, other times it does appear so that is another intermittent problem
Click to expand...
 
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sammich said:
… I took matters into my own hands.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/modding-the-new-mr-spy.1892149/
Click to expand...

Reading both topics, I find the emphasis and order of things peculiar:

author – time – category – subject – snippet​

When my immediate interest is in a mixture of posts (little or no interest in posters), I want the snippet of the post first. Not last.

When my interest is in a mixture of posts by an author, I'll use something other than the spy.

sammich said:
… the potential for spoilers … Spy. …
Click to expand...

A true spy does not shield his or her ears, or eyes, from information within a focus area.

Visualise: Sean Connery as James Bond, eyes shut, hands clasped over his ears shouting "La! La! La! I can't hear you!" :)

Joking aside, I do understand the wish to avoid spoilers. With an assumption that spoilers are less likely to appear in the title of a topic than in its post, I experimented:
– neither had the desired effect.
 
grahamperrin said:
Reading both topics, I find the emphasis and order of things peculiar:

author – time – category – subject – snippet​

When my immediate interest is in a mixture of posts (little or no interest in posters), I want the snippet of the post first. Not last.

When my interest is in a mixture of posts by an author, I'll use something other than the spy.
Click to expand...
See the attachment - is that what you're thinking of?

A true spy does not shield his or her ears, or eyes, from information within a focus area.
Click to expand...

To be a little facetious, the Spy isn't me, it's the ticker tape of posts. I'd like the agent to filter before it gets to me. I want to know the codes to the satellite control room, not who's been flirting with who in the bunker.

Visualise: Sean Connery as James Bond, eyes shut, hands clasped over his ears shouting "La! La! La! I can't hear you!" :)
Click to expand...

Sorry, I grew up during the Brosnan-era.

Joking aside, I do understand the wish to avoid spoilers. With an assumption that spoilers are less likely to appear in the title of a topic than in its post, I experimented:
– neither had the desired effect.
Click to expand...

The utility of the snippet outweighs the rare chance that a spoiler will appear and also be read by me. I'll take my chances.
 

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On iOS, where I can't run my mods, the spy posts loading is INCESSANT! Seriously - 25 posts sliding in at one second intervals? If I want to view a post near the beginning, I have to ninja tap it in the 300ms gap between slide animation. This was marginally bearable when it was just 10 posts but now. Surely someone owns an iPhone and cares about UX on the staff.

EDIT: thanks for putting it back down to 10. Apologies for the harshness of the post above.
 
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sammich said:
On iOS, where I can't run my mods, the spy posts loading is INCESSANT! Seriously - 25 posts sliding in at one second intervals? If I want to view a post near the beginning, I have to ninja tap it in the 300ms gap between slide animation. This was marginally bearable when it was just 10 posts but now. Surely someone owns an iPhone and cares about UX on the staff.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's frantic now, isn't it? :)

My workaround. Don't use spy. Use "New Posts" in the top left hand corner.

( BTW, "Ninja tap" made me smile. Perfect description)
 
We are still aware of the spy issues. Stiil on deck. Just trying to fix some other issues first
 
Bug that's probably known but just in case it isn't: extremely long links aren't wrapped or truncated. Instead they cause the size of the page to shrink down so it can show the entire link. This is extremely annoying on mobile. Workaround is to pinch to zoom in.
 

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If memory serves, the old Spy would filter out ignored users along with ignored forums. I think that would be a nice feature to have back some day.

A.
 
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Not a problem with Spy, but this reduces the pleasure … a few months ago someone (or a few people) observed that some/much of what's posted by MacRumors to the mixed main area would be better in either:
– words to that effect.

Regardless of whether a thing is newsworthy or blog-worthy: if it's iOS-specific or heavily iOS-oriented, it should have its place in the iOS area.

The mixture in the main area is not bad when things are free from over-excitement. However sometimes – and this may be more frequent with iOS-oriented topics than with Mac topics – the noise around things of no interest is a PITA to the Spy.

Considerate location of items will allow ignore forums to more effectively filter out unwanted content.
 
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Agreed, 3rd-party app or accessory news for iOS, tvOS, or watchOS devices belongs in the iOS Blog. 3rd-party app or accessory news for MacOS devices belongs in the Mac Blog. It seems like common sense but MacRumors struggles with this.

I can understand slow news days where there isn't any real Apple news or leaks but that doesn't mean the front page should be filled with these clutter posts that aren't Apple or important tech industry news items.
grahamperrin said:
Not a problem with Spy, but this reduces the pleasure … a few months ago someone (or a few people) observed that some/much of what's posted by MacRumors to the mixed main area would be better in either:
– words to that effect.

Regardless of whether a thing is newsworthy or blog-worthy: if it's iOS-specific or heavily iOS-oriented, it should have its place in the iOS area.

The mixture in the main area is not bad when things are free from over-excitement. However sometimes – and this may be more frequent with iOS-oriented topics than with Mac topics – the noise around things of no interest is a PITA to the Spy.

Considerate location of items will allow ignore forums to more effectively filter out unwanted content.
Click to expand...
 
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redheeler said:
3rd-party app or accessory news for iOS, tvOS, or watchOS devices belongs in the iOS Blog.
Click to expand...

Currently dominating the Spy, cruft in the main area (missing from the iOS area):
  • Apple Watch 2 With GPS for Improved Navigation, Fitness Tracking Coming This Fall
  • iOS and Android Combined for Record 99% of Smartphone Sales Last Quarter
  • iPhone 7 Camera Module Confirms Optical Image Stabilization for 4.7-Inch Model
  • 256GB Storage Rumor Gaining Steam as iPhone 7 Launch Approaches
Also appearing:
  • Jony Ive's Design Team Nixed Apple Watch Band With Sensors
 
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Hey @arn, any news on spy? I'm still experiencing formatting issues when I browse it in portrait on my 6S Plus. Switching to landscape makes the page format correctly.

Thanks for all the hard work!
 
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