We have been hard at work on the next planned update to the SWTOR Skill Calculator app and wanted to take just a moment to let our current plans be known.
We have come to the realization a couple of updates ago that the App Store approval process takes too long to go through for us to be able to keep data as current as everyone including ourselves would like it. For that reason we have been working behind the scenes to put a framework together that will allow us to push data updates out without releasing a new version of the app. A very small check will happen in the background when the SWTOR Skill Calculator app starts up and pop up a notification if there are updated data files available. This check will use minimal bandwidth and give the option to download the files so that there is control over whether to use the bandwidth to grab the updated data files or not. We will compress the files for the transfer to make sure data usage remains as low as possible.
In addition, we will be bundling the most current version of the data files with each update once this framework is in place. These changes should allow us to keep on top of updates in a much more efficient way without being at the mercy of the app store review process. It also will set up part of the foundation for some features we have had planned that will be announced at a later time.
We have one other big change we would like to fit into the next update but it will be largely dependent on time. The new methods we are using for the data files will allow us to implement a full skill list for the classes in the near future. We will be doing our best to get this functionality into the next update but the data files being current is more critical than added functionality at this time so will be pushing this back if it takes too long to get implemented.
As always, we are committed to providing you with the most accurate skill calculator app with the best functionality available. If you have any suggestions or find any bugs don't be afraid to send us a message either here or in the app.
