Web King Presenter

This version most importantly fixes a bug with the in-App upgrade that could occur if you pressed purchase too quickly.

The gory details are that it was possible to hit the purchase button before the details of the upgrade were downloaded from the App Store, which would trigger the error.

Now, the purchase button is disabled until the upgrade detail has been downloaded.

Additionally, we fixed an issue in the error reporting in how the errors are logged.

There is also a change in the user-agent string that Web King uses so it’s the same as the one used by Safari.

A customer reported having an issue with a .NET aspx application that incorrectly identified the browser and said that it didn’t support cookies.

Unfortunately, ASP.NET 4.0 has the user agents hard coded in it’s configuration.

Bonjour, Guten Tag, Ciào, Hola!

Recently we have added French, German, Italian and Spanish versions to Web King Presenter on the App Store!

With the exception of 4 years of high school French,  I had to heavily rely on Google Translate for the other languages.

Screen Caption of French Version of Web King Presenter

We would appreciate any grammatical or other corrections in any of the screens or messages from any native speakers!

We looked at where most of the downloads were coming from to help determine what languages to target first.

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Version 1.6 of Web King Presenter was just approved by Apple and should start showing up in the App store.

I expect that the free version will be approved shortly as well.

This version has substantial under the hood changes, but does not include any additional functionality at this time.  (Although there are new features in the works that this sets the stage for – more on that later).

The changes in this version are to provide support for both the iPhone 5, as well as iOS 6. The minimum iOS supported is now 5.1.

I just had an email question from a user questioning why they would need this app over the native support for mirroring that’s offered on the iPad 2 and the new iPad.

That’s a fair question.

Here’s what I told him:

The app was really designed for doing presentations to an audience.  There are several features that are designed specifically for that purpose that you can’t do natively:

• You can set the desired resolution directly.  There is no way to do that otherwise.
• You can adjust vertical and horizontal offset.
• You can pause the display.  Useful so the audience doesn’t see you fumbling.
• It only mirrors the web view.  The audience doesn’t see the address bar or icons.
• You can use a simulated laser pointer to highlite specific content.
• On the original iPad it’s the only way to show content on an external screen as it doesn’t have the ability.

Additionally, there is a “light” version of the app available on the AppStore that is free which allows people to try out the app before purchase.

But, for only $.99 I hope it provides a true value for people.

A bug fix was posted on March 5th in the App Store that fixed the issue previously reported with the free version of Web King Presenter.

The program could crash on startup if the in-App purchase to the full version had been made.

An embarrassing bug has been discovered in the free version of Web King Presenter.

The even worse part is that the problem only occurs after you have decided that you like the program enough to do the in-app purchase to upgrade the program to the free version.

The bug causes the program to crash on subsequent launches if it’s been upgraded in the past.  It also doesn’t seem to happen to everyone, but once it starts occurring it will continue.

I have submitted the fix to Apple for approval.  Based upon past experience it will take 5-7 days until it’s approved and in the App store.

I have a limited number of promo codes for the full version (that doesn’t have the problem) that I can furnish to people in the meantime.

Hopefully the fix will get posted quickly!

The free version of Web King Presenter is now available.

This version will allow you to try out the program free of charge and that it works with your projector, Apple TV, television or other device.

You can upgrade the program at any time to the full version by doing an in App purchase.

All of the advanced features of the full version such as the laser pointer are enabled immediately when you purchase the upgrade.

If you are lucky enough to have an Apple TV and an iPad 2 (or iPhone 4s), then you have a feature that you may not even be aware of!

You can mirror your iPad to your TV wirelessly!  WebKing Presenter will automatically recognize this as an external screen, so all of the features such as the laser pointer, pausing the screen, and hiding the address bar will work the same as if you plugged in an HDMI cable.

To enable this feature do the following:

1. Double click the “Home” button.   This will display the list of running programs on the bottom row.
2. Swipe from left to right until you see the player controls and the airplay icon. (See screen capture below).
3. Tap the airplay icon, and then select Apple TV and turn on the mirroring option.

Screen capture of enabling screen mirroring on iPad with Apple TV and Airplay

Your iPad screen should now be mirrored on your TV.

Web King Presenter will use the TV as an external screen, making better use of it for presentation purposes.

Please let us know if you’ve already figured this out on your own, or if you’ve found this a useful feature.

Several new features coming in the next release!

1. On iPhone, the address field expands out on entry so there is more room to type.
2. Added mechanisms to accept invalid or self signed SSL certificates.
3. Added capability to clear cookies and cache (available from the settings screen).
4. Changed the settings panel to allow scrolling.  Specifically fixes an issue of entering the settings panel on an iPhone in landscape mode.

The biggest improvement is item 2.  Web King will soon have the capability of allowing you to accept an invalid secure certificate.

So – what does that mean and why would you want to do it?   Secure certificates are used as part of the HTTPS protocol to ensure that you are connecting to who you think you are.

The data is encrypted and the servers identity is verified by a trusted source.

That covers the what, now for the why.   A valid secure certificate can be expensive and you have to jump through some hoops to get them.   In a development environment, or for internal servers, it’s generally not worth the trouble or expense to obtain a real certificate.

I have had several requests from customers for this feature, which somewhat surprised me!  The built-in Safari browser has this feature so it seemed like a reasonable request.

As Uncle Ben once said, “With great power comes great responsibility”.  If you choose to use this feature make sure you know what you are doing!

Web King Presenter will be FREE on the App store through November 30th.

Thank you to all of the teachers out there!   I hope that you find this application useful.