What's New

Hi folks, this is an update on the stability work since our last post on September 25. The first Thunderdome submission window opens today, so most of this work went into making photo uploads and contest submissions reliable.

On September 29, an issue with our photo service stopped many photos from loading for about 14 hours. No photos were lost. You can read the incident timeline here. I'm sorry for the disruption, especially during the registration period.

Please close and reopen the app to get the latest version!

v18.9.0 - October 1

• Photo pickers show your item's leather instead of "Unknown Material." Thanks itsyaboisqueak for the report!

• Uploading several photos to one item no longer fails with "Photo upload service is unavailable." Thanks jessika.blain for the report!

• If your Stitchdown Premium account is already linked to a different Patina Project account, the app now tells you so instead of failing with no explanation.

• On Android, the celebration after a contest submission now appears about 2 seconds after the upload. Before, it took about 13 seconds.

• The Album shows the correct day count right after you submit contest photos.

v18.8.0 - September 29

• A contest photo month for an unworn pair shows "Not yet worn" instead of a blank title.

• Tapping the Home tab after contest registration takes you to the feed.

v18.7.1 - September 28

• The app shows an "Update available" prompt when a new version is ready. App Store and Play Store users never saw this prompt before.

• Tap an item on Select item to go straight to Register item. The radio buttons and the Continue step are gone.

• RAW photos, such as .dng files, now show a "File type not supported" message. Before, they failed without saying why.

• The sign-in screens have a Help button in the lower-right corner that opens the Help Center without signing in.

• After you delete an item, Back no longer takes you to the deleted item.

• The item screen no longer crashes when it shows an award from a contest you can't open.

Still working on

• Registration for the Open Dome can still fail for some people.

• A pair from an earlier Thunderdome can be registered in an unworn Dome.

• Tapping Submit Sizing during registration can do nothing.

• Restore Purchases doesn't always unlock Supporter features.

• TIFF files greater than 50 MB fail to load.

Internally, we now run automated tests for the feed, photos, reviews, reactions, items, settings, and contest flows. Those tests catch problems before we ship a new update, and we're adding more.

If something isn't working right, the best way to let us know is to create a new bug report.

See you in the races!

-Ted

Identified · Sep 29, 16:15 UTC
Since 02:45 UTC, an issue with our photo service has stopped many photos from loading. Your photos are safe, and nothing is lost. We found the cause and are working on a fix.

Monitoring · Sep 29, 15:56 UTC
We've put a fix in place, and we're rolling it out across all photos now. Photos load again as the fix reaches them. We're watching the results.

Resolved · Sep 29, 17:09 UTC UTC
This incident is resolved. All photos are loading again.

I’m deeply sorry to everyone who ran into recent problems registering for the Thunderdome. The registration flow did not work reliably for many users, the help center was difficult to access, and replies to our support emails were not reaching us.

If you replied to a support email and didn't hear back, check your inbox for a reply.

We have now fixed the main issues that affected registration:

• We fixed many issues causing registration to fail at the last step.

• Open, Work, and Leather Goods Dome entries are correctly shown as "Not yet worn."

• We fixed an email routing problem that prevented us from receiving replies to our support emails.

• We fixed several sign-in, Stitchdown Premium membership, photo upload, and contest display issues.

• Stitchdown Premium membership status now stays up-to-date with renewals correctly.

• The help center is accessible without signing in.

Please close and reopen the app to upgrade to the latest version.

We are aware of the following issues and are continuing to work on fixes:

• Some profile photos still fail to load.

• Email verification can time out and block account creation.

• Email sign-in links can open the app-download page instead of the installed app.

• Registration can fail from a temporary database connectivity issue.

We are working nonstop to get the app to a level of stability we are proud of. Over the next one to two months, we will focus on proper guardrails and release checks so future updates do not cause problems like these. After that, we will return our attention to the new features and improvements we have planned. We will be sharing a roadmap soon.

If something isn't working right, the best way to let us know is to create a new bug report.

v18.6

Improved

• Every Thunderdome contest screen has a Support button that opens the Thunderdome section of the Help Center.

Fixed

• Link Stitchdown Premium account step no longer incorrectly lets a user through, only to be denied at the end of the registration form.

• Link Stitchdown Premium account step now tells a more specific reason if there was a problem linking the account.

• Stitchdown Premium members who just renewed no longer show incorrectly as expired.

• Unworn contest pairs no longer show wear times like "Less than a day" in their answers.

• Pre-Worn Dome registration asks for your first worn date, and worn pairs respect it instead of showing "Not yet worn."

• The Help Center opens without signing in, and the sign-in, email confirmation, and expired link screens link to it.

• Replies to emails from help.patinaproject.com now reach our inbox.

• Photos you upload together stay in one post in the feed instead of splitting into several.

• If you turned off camera or photo access, the app now offers to open Settings so you can turn it back on and upload. Limited photo access works too.

• Long-pressing a reaction on a photo or review shows who reacted again.

Thank you for sticking with us while sort everything out. And thank you to everyone who reported bugs!

-Ted