After a while baking in the oven the new Synced is almost ready to serve.

artwork by DALL-E

What’s in the new Synced?

There’s a few big changes, along with lots of little changes, that together will elevate your exploring experience.

• Dashboards - You will be able to create dashboards to follow regions of interest. Dashboards gather marks that you and others leave in the region along with other regional updates.

• Geo-bounties - Want specific kinds of information on your dashboards? You will be able to issue geo-bounties to other Synced users for collecting data of interest. And you’ll be able to earn paid-bounties for gathering information others would like.

• A new interface - Our new interface is based on your feedback and you’ll find it significantly easier to use.

• Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) - Web technology has moved on the point where we found we could implement the above as well with web apps as we could with native mobile apps. You can also now install apps directly from the web with PWA technology. And from our end we can deploy bugfixes and updates instantly. So we’ve jumped on board the PWA train, and you’ll find the next version of Synced installable via our website.

When will the upgrade happen?

We expect it’ll happen around early to mid October 2023 (Update, we now expect it’ll be in May 2024).
We’ll announce the exact date & time closer to the moment on the Synced blog and on our X (formerly Twitter).

How do existing app users upgrade?

Following the upgrade, the existing Synced apps will cease to function. We will also unpublish the apps from the app stores - since the new Synced will be installable via the web itself. Upgrading will involve the following:

• Uninstall your existing Synced app.
• Visit the Synced homepage in your mobile browser.
• On Android (Chrome), go to the menu and select “Add to Home Screen”.
• On iOS (Safari), tap the “Share” icon, and select “Add to Home Screen”.
• Click on the icon to open the app, login and you’ll find all your existing marks nestled in a shiny new user interface.

Watch this space!

- Tejas