With the launch of DeviceAtlas 2.0 users are now able to provide feedback on device profiles!
There are 2 ways for you to provide feedback, via TA-DA or the new web interface.
Every time you provide a value, DeviceAtlas stores it along with some extra information, such as the device and your user id.
We've built our new interfaces with the knowledge that an active community will be able to improve the overall quality of the database every single day with new contributions and refinements, but we understand that when you provide us with data, you are convinced that that value is the correct value, regardless of what we (or anyone else) think.
What does this mean? Well, if you contribute a value for a given property for a given device you will want it back in your JSON file. After all, if you believe that the iPhone has a screen width of 100px, who are we to disagree?!
This is, without a doubt, an important feature and for this reason we have created "My DeviceAtlas", which is, in short, a personalised JSON file that has all the values that DeviceAtlas has stored plus any values you have provided overlayed on top. Anything you say will be reproduced in your own JSON file no matter what the rest of the industry or the community think about it!
Depending on the licence type, you will get your own data in different time frames.
So for example, if you hold a Basic licence, any values you provide today won't be available to you in your JSON file until your next update window, which in the worst case, means one whole month away. Upgrading to a Standard licence will allow you to cut this waiting-period down to one week, or just one day if you move to a Premium licence.
Of course, holders of a Developer licence will get updates after just one day, which makes it great for testing and making sure that the changes applied are working as expected. (Just remember that developer licences cannot be used on production sites!)
We understand that each user may have different licences and for this reason we have decided to change the name of the file in the compressed file we deliver.
The default DeviceAtlas JSON file will be named something like 20081001.json (YYYYMMDD.json), but if you hold more than one licence, these files might get mixed up!
To get around this problem, if you have provided any data to DeviceAtlas, your files in the future will be 123_20081001.json (LID_YYYYMMDD.json) where "123" (LID) is the licence id. Licence ids are tied to the licence key used for downloading, so each user is able to get that number easily from one of two locations: the "Licences" tab, in your user dashboard, or from the licence file we sent via e-mail after your purchase.
We understand this might cause issues for automated JSON download systems, but we think it was important to make sure the correct files are always used. Also remember that each personalised download will come with its own md5 checksum, so you can verify the new files against it.
Providing data to DeviceAtlas not only allows you to have complete control over your JSON file, but it also improves the quality of the data for everyone else! All you need to do is pick up a phone and visit http://ta-da.mobi, or simply browse through the devices listed on our devices page, and start righting some wrongs.
This is a GREAT way to update data in DeviceAtlas and get it back (almost) immediately, so get out there and start contributing!