Despite its niche, Quick.Link has seen a mini-surge in downloads of late. Now, a lot of that is due to the search ads I've been running, but the fact that people are downlading it is pretty nuts. Unfortunately, some users have had trouble connecting their server to the app, and that's what this update aims to fix. And then some...
The Big Stuff
And I'm not talking features. When I first started working on Quick.Link, it was one of those "for me" projects, and a lot of the connection logic was specific to my server. The app didn't handle protocol information during setup (http/https), nor did it allow slashes. Everything appeared to work fine, but that's because each of my servers, my daily and the App Store Review one, were configured the same. Fortunately, a user emailed me requesting assistance, which is the only reason I discovered the fatal error.
So what was it? Quite simply, the app was expecting a certain response that my server always produced, but would improperly error any other response, even a valid one. Not only that, this error ultimately cancelled out previous API hardening changes completed in Quick.Link 1.5.
To try and remove these errors from happening in the future, this update introduces several changes to server configuration and connection, including normalizing endpoints, allowing protocol and other URL information to be added, better errors/logs, and a more robust health/connection test.
To the user who reported the error, thank you.
Everything else
Before the user-reported issue, I was already hard at work at improving the analytics support within Quick.Link. I originally planned on using an already available plugin, but that relied on a lot of moving parts for users. Instead, I decided to create, and release, the Quick.Link Analytics and Campaigns plugin for YOURLS. When installed, Quick.Link updates to short the enhanced analytics views. If the plugins aren't installed, Quick.Link won't show them, but will provide useful links to the plugin pages. To install, navigate to the YOURLS directory and find '/plugins'. Create a folder (or drag the ones from the repo) into the folder, activate from YOURLS Admin, and you're set. Quick.Link will automatically detect the plugins and update accordingly.
The last major update comes to QR Codes and QR Code generation. Since their introduction, a pesky bug has weasled it's way through every release. Long story short, clicking a link for a QR code didn't always work. That issue is now, finally, fixed and removed. But I decided to take things a step further with QR codes, and I'm quite happy with it. Now, QR codes can be customized, allowing for different colors (light, dark, and glass), as well as icons to be added. A new QR code widget also allows important links to be easily accessible from anywhere.
Available Now (Kinda)
Quick.Link 2.1 is available to download now on the Apple App Store. Currently, these updates are only available on iOS and iPhone, but the macOS app will be updated to include most of these changes, along with some others. The Quick.Link Analytics and Quick.Link Campaigns plugins are also available to download/install by clicking here.
Quick.Link has seen a bit of a surge in downloads lately, so to everyone downloading, thank you! I have some fun plans in store for the app, so keep an eye out for that! Until then, happy linking!
Nick out. *Quick.Link 2.1 for macOS is coming soon.