Last month we introduced our brand new iPad presentation app for displaying images, videos, lyrics and Powerpoints during your service. We've had a great response so far and are excited to tell you that the first of many substantial updates is available now in the App store!
The biggest news about this update is that it now runs on the iPhone and iPod touch! Projector was primarily intended as an iPad app, but because iPads and iPhones run on the same operating system, all we really had to do was design a smaller interface and everything pretty much just worked! As a reminder, the Projector app can be connected to any physical Projector or TV using an HDMI or VGA adapter and cable. If you have an AppleTV receiver & the iPhone 4S, the iPad 2, or the New iPad, you can choose to wirelessly stream HD video for the maximum portable experience.
Slide Looping
This update also reorganizes the item settings popover and adds support for slide looping with audio playlists. Looping is especially useful to run announcements before your service starts. The easiest way to set this up is to upload a Powerpoint file with all your announcement slides as a new media item on the Planning Center website and then attach that media to an item in your plan. In Projector, you can then go into the settings for that item, enable looping, set how many seconds each slide should loop, and even choose an audio playlist stored on your device that will play independently of the slides. When you're ready for the next item in your service and swipe to continue, the audio playlist fades out, and then the slide advances. The looping feature currently only loops Powerpoints, but we will update this in the future.
Projector Legacy
Projector is a mission critical app that you have to be able to count on for a rock-solid experience, free of crashes. When we add new features to Projector, we test it as thoroughly as possible to make sure it's solid, but when it gets released, there is always a chance that a rogue media file, a specific plan, or some other account specific bug could cause you problems. We don't want our users to be afraid to update, so we've come up with a solution. There are now 2 versions of Projector in the App store, the regular version with all the new features that will hopefully be all you ever need, and a separate app called "Projector Legacy". Projector Legacy will be the previous stable build so that if you do update and happen to have an issue, you can install Projector Legacy to revert to the previous version of the app.
Trial Period Extended
The original plan was to start charging churches for Projector on their June statement, but we realized now that it can be run on so many more devices, there are many people who can try it now who couldn't before. So we're extending the trial period for an extra month! Continue to use Projector for free and try it out on an iPhone or iPod touch and your account won't be charged until your July statement. We're also even letting our free accounts try it out until July 2!
Get Help
Check out the new chapter in our online manual for Projector to learn how the app works, or go directly to the lesson on slide looping here. We're already hard at work adding custom formatting and layouts plus a some other revolutionary features we think you'll be excited about. Stay tuned for more announcements in weeks to come. Want to see Projector first hand? Take a look at the conferences and regional training opportunities we'll be doing this summer here. In the meantime, follow us on Facebook or Twitter @planningcenter to make sure you have all the latest updates and enjoy your summer!