• Bell 0.16.0: Reply without waiting
  • Reply
  • Opening Bell
  • Less text, more icons
  • Developer logging
  • Get it

§Bell 0.16.0: Reply without waiting

Tapping Reply in Bell could take several seconds before the composer showed which account was sending and let you type. Bell 0.16.0 is about removing that wait and the others like it.

§Reply

The composer used to wait for profiles and the saved draft to load before it filled in the sending account and accepted text. Bell now passes the chosen sender to the composer when you tap Reply and keeps drafts in memory, so the composer shows the account and accepts typing as soon as it appears. Profile pictures and names fill in afterwards.

§Opening Bell

Startup work such as restoring unfinished actions and starting notifications used to run before the first screen. It now runs alongside it, so the activity list from your device shows straight away when you open Bell from the launcher.

Tapping a notification now opens its conversation once the first profiles have loaded, and the rest load in the background. Looking up the account that should answer is handled ahead of background work, so it is not stuck behind a sync.

§Less text, more icons

Messages like Loading and Loading your activity have been replaced by small spinners. When there is nothing new, Bell shows All caught up with an icon, and an empty list shows No activity yet with the Bell icon. Earlier activity is behind an expand icon.

§Developer logging

The Developer logging toggle in Settings now records much more: which screen is open, how long the first frame took, composer and notification steps, settings changes and database work that runs slowly. Post text and signing data are still left out. These logs make it easier to find out where Bell spends its time when something feels slow.

§Get it

Bell 0.16.0 is available from Bell on Zapstore. The source code is in Bell’s ngit repository.