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ExLibris
Ex Libris Knowledge Center

September 2019

Developments

iOS Webview Upgrade

We upgraded to WKWebView, the latest version of WebView, that enhances the end user experience and stability of the app generally.

Given the scope of this change and the impact that the migration to this new enhanced class may have, we have extended the preview of this change for the August 2019 release preview. Please take time to review the impact that this change may have on your content.

Why Did We Upgrade to WKWebView?

Apple has officially deprecated UIWebView since iOS 12. This means that it is not the recommend tool to show Web content within an app. Given the depreciated nature of the view, Apple could remove it completely from their SDKS without warning, which would make it difficult to create apps with the latest build tools. Migrating to the new WKWebView removed this risk and at the same time provides better performance and compliance with the latest Web standards.

What Did We Change in the App?

The current app UX relies heavily on Web content that is dependent on UIWebView. We are upgrading all UIWebViews used within the app to the new WKWebView over the coming two releases. As part of the June release, the following are the main areas that have been upgraded:
  • SSO login page
  • CMauth login page
  • campusM Homescreen
  • AEK screens
While every effort has been made to test the impact of the changes and ensure the migration is painless, customers are asked to pay particular attention to the areas above (if applicable) during their Preview testing and to report through Salesforce any issues or unexpected behaviors.

Portal View

With an increasing number of customers using campusM as their primary student portal for both mobile and on the Web (desktop, laptops, etc.), we have redeveloped the Web app homescreen to provide a more traditional portal-like view, with left-hand side navigation, bread crumbing, and full-page display.

We have executed this in a way that merges the management of this experience into the existing App Builder, giving you one interface to manage the experience across both the Web and native apps.
Once enabled, either at the App Config level or the Profile Config level, each menu option has both a Tile and Sidebar Config. A range of properties within the Sidebar configuration area enables you to modify properties such as:
  • Text format and alignment
  • Text Size and Weight
  • Menu color and spacing
  • Icons and their placement
portal_view.png
Portal View
In addition, the Menu Options in the sidebar can be reordered by dragging and dropping up and down the list, right in the app builder interface.
For screens being opened in full screen mode, you have the ability to modify the guttering applied (using the ‘Right Side Gutter % of Screen’ property) to enhance the look and feel of an opened menu option. The image below on the right shows a 25% gutter added to a menu option:
Gutter.png
Right Side Gutter
For a detailed explanation of the functionality, see Configuring Portal View.

Notification Center Enhancements

We have made a number of enhancements to our new Notification Center:

Notification Preview

If you hover over the notification title, a preview of the message title and body appears to make it easier to check the notification content in the Notification Center:

Notification Preview.png
Notification Preview

Notification Edit and Resend

If you click on the underlined Notification title, you can now view and edit the notification that was sent and resend it. You can select to resend this to all recipients, to those that read the original message, or to these that did not read the original message:
Notification Edit and Resend.png
Notification Edit and Resend

Scheduled Notification Delete

If you have scheduled a notification to be sent in the future, you can now delete that message and stop it from going out. To do this, click on the underlined Notification title for the future notification you want to delete. You are asked if you want to delete it. Click OK to remove the notification from the list and stop it from being sent:
Scheduled Notification Delete.png
Scheduled Notification Delete

Notification Expiry Date

Notifications now have an expiry date This removes the notification from the user's device/Alerts inbox on that date, which can be useful for timetable changes, etc. To modify the expiry date, click the date field next to Expire On and select a date:
Notification Expiry Date.png
Notification Expiry Date

campusM Native Timetable Display Enhancements

To improve the way long, descriptive text displays in the native timetable on iOS and Android devices, we have enhanced the way the screen can be expanded to show more text. If the timetable details (start and end time, description, etc.) exceed 15 lines, the descriptive text is hidden until the user clicks Show More where upon the interfaces expands the detail shown on the mobile screen. This provides an improved experience for end-users.
timetable detail expansion.png
campusM Native Timetable Display Enhancements

Accessibility Enhancements

As part of the preparation for the campusM WCAG AA 2.1 reaccreditation, we have made a number of enhancements to the labeling of interface elements to improve the experience when using screen readers or other accessibility technologies on the native apps and the Web app.

iOS 13 Developer Beta Crash Fixes

September 2019

As part of our preparation for the coming release of iOS13, we are testing the Developer Beta versions that have been made available by Apple.

We identified and resolved several issues with the current version of the campusM app and resolved these in this release. This was also patched to the August release. Customers were advised that we are releasing the August update for iOS and Android for all customers unless requested otherwise.

To find out more about preparing for the coming iOS update, see Preparing for ios Updates.

Resolved Issues

  • September 2019 iOS SF: 00708446
    Resolved an issue on iOS where the AEK Native Microphone access was not working in the new WKWebView Web View.
  • September 2019 iOS SF: 00692234 00693062 00694848 00695748
    Resolved an issue that prevented thecampusM App from opening external whitelisted apps on the user’s device when using the campusM URL Schema.
  • September 2019 Web App SF: 00671092
    Resolved an issue where the ‘Received Alerts’ option disappears from the settings drop-down upon a page refresh.
  • September 2019 App Manager SF: 00644846
    Resolved an issue in Creative Studio where semantic headings H1 – H3 were not available to be selected.
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