ProtoPie 3.5, now with a better Sketch Import feature!

Woohoo, time for another update! ProtoPie 3.5 is here.

After ProtoPie 3.4 was released a while ago, we received tons of feedback and requests. “Could you implement this?”, “Could you build this feature?”, “Could you improve this?” and their variations were phrases that my colleagues and I have received in multiples over the last weeks.

Based on what we received from all of you, we could only give priority to some. Hence, we couldn’t honor all of your wishes, unfortunately.

But, trust me! We hear you, loud and clear. If your request hasn’t been implemented this time, it could be that it’s still in the pipeline for future updates.

So, keep them coming. All your requests, wishes, questions and issues, just keep them coming.

Now… it’s really time to discuss the features and improvements we have added for ProtoPie 3.5:

• Resizable preview window.
• Support landscape mode on ProtoPie Player (3.5.0 update from App Store or Google Play).
• Presentation mode for Cloud.
• Improved Sketch import avoiding any distortion for shadow and text layers.
• Revamped user interface of cloud dashboard and upload.
• Z axis for Tilt trigger.
• Multiple shortcuts.

Let’s go over them one by one!

Resizable preview window

I have seen this request coming by many, oh, many times. Finally, here it is. You are able to resize the preview window while your prototype scales accordingly. It makes previewing and testing your prototype in ProtoPie Studio easier for you. Don’t forget, this is ideal for your prototypes meant for tablets or any other devices with larger screens.

Resizable preview window in ProtoPIe Studio.

Landscape mode on ProtoPie Player

Head over to the App Store or Google Play to get the latest update (3.5.0) of ProtoPie Player. This is something that we should’ve implemented before. Now you can just rotate your device to show off your prototype in landscape mode! See below how it looks like.

Landscape mode on an iPad.

Presentation mode for Cloud

We care about how you can showcase your creations with your developers, co-workers, clients and other stakeholders. You should be able to do it any way you see fit. Now, you are able to have all eyes solely focusing on your prototyping by getting rid of the ‘clutter’ using the presentation mode in the Cloud. Just enter the meeting room and impress anyone with your stunning prototypes!

Improved Sketch Import

I know that you go back and forth between Sketch and ProtoPie while prototyping. It is very common to adjust design details in Sketch and then import your tweaked design in ProtoPie. However, Sketch and ProtoPie are integrated much more with various re-import options that we introduce. To the extent you see fit, you could overwrite positions or sizes of layers and regroup layers according to the grouping structure known in Sketch. Moreover, you could remove layers automatically once deleted in Sketch.

The improved Sketch Import feature in ProtoPie 3.5

Cloud dashboard in ProtoPie 3.5

After saving your Pie locally, it would go straight to the Cloud by hitting the upload button without any dialog box popping up. Whenever you’d like to share your creation via the Cloud, just hit the Cloud button for a URL to share or a QR code. This allows you to play around with your prototype on your smart device without pairing your smart device to ProtoPie Studio!

Upload Pies to the Cloud.

Z Axis for Tilt trigger

Considering the fact that today’s smartphone contain an accelerometer that reports X, Y and Z, it’s a logic decision to support the Z-axis as well. To show you how it works, we made you a quick demo using our friend from far, far away in the galaxy, BB-8. Who doesn’t love BB-8? 😉

Multiple shortcuts

Some shortcuts we hadded, you may find below:

• Open and close container: Command + [ , Command+ ]
• Rename layers and interaction pieces: Enter
• Edit text layers on canvas panel: Command + Enter
• Upload to cloud: Command + U

For Windows, just replace Command by Ctrl.

Other features and improvements:

• Enhanced layer select method on the canvas panel.
• Allows QR code pairing to connect Studio and Player automatically.
• Supports shortcuts for collapsing and expanding of Containers/Triggers, renaming and uploading Pies to the cloud.
• Improved user interface and flow for Scene selection.

Enjoy playing around with ProtoPie 3.5, we hope you like it! You may download ProtoPie 3.5 here.

As we operate in a feedback-driven way, we want to know what you would like to see be implemented in ProtoPie, so we can make it happen for you!

Experience ProtoPie yourself 🙂

Thanks for reading! 🙂 If you enjoyed this article, hit that clap button below 👏. Feel free to leave us a comment stating your feedback and/or questions. Or send us an email via [email protected].