We opened the app screen by screen on a real field phone. Most of the hesitation came down to one question: where am I, and how do I get back?
One tab was called "Plan" and opened a screen titled "Goal". Another was called "History" and opened "Runs". If you had opened the equipment list from the Kennel, tapping the Kennel tab again left you on the equipment list. And above every screen, even a sub-screen, a row of small pills mixed three unrelated things: your subscription, switching to the trail, and feedback.
What changes for you
Each tab carries the name of its screen: Today, Dogs, Plan, Runs. The word you tap is the word you read at the top of the screen.
Tapping the tab you are on takes you back to its start. From the equipment list, one tap on "Today" returns you to the home screen.
The top of the screen is clear again. The row of pills is gone.
- "On the trail" is now the first button on the home screen, large and glove-sized.
- If you are also an expert, a second button opens your space.
- Feedback and your subscription move to Settings › My account.
- An active subscription no longer shows all the time, because there is nothing to report. A trial that is ending still shows.
The home screen sorts for you.
- "Needs your attention" only appears when something really needs it. Otherwise, a green line says all the dogs are ready.
- Modules are ordered by how often they are used.
- "Team notes" and "Team messages" each say what they are for.
- A greyed-out "Litters" explains how to open it.
Settings tell the truth.
- Duplicate headings are gone.
- So is the line "editable on the web", which was false on a screen you can edit.
- To restore a backup, you pick the file instead of copying and pasting its contents.
- The subscription screen now has a "Restore purchases" button.
What these changes never show anyone
Other kennel members and the public see none of this: these are display changes on your phone. Your data, roles and subscription stay the same.
What this wave does not do
It does not rewrite the Plan screen itself yet; that comes in the next wave. It does not change how you move from one kennel to another either: that still happens on the start screen, which you can now reach from Settings.
Choices made against the obvious
Hiding the "Member" pill for an active subscriber. It was reassuring, but it said the same thing on every screen, every day. Information that never changes does not need the top of the screen. Your subscription is still one step away, in Settings.
"Today" instead of "Kennel". You already choose "At the kennel" when you open the app, and a "Kennel" tab inside the kennel made people wonder. The first tab says what it shows: your day.