Hi

I sure DJ will be here soon.

We are up to Version 2020.09.08.00  now

EzAng

The ARC software only gets updated on the stable channel when there’s either significant bug fixes, new features/technologies that enhance user experience, or when third party technologies require updates.

It’s generally a monthly suggested update and 3 month mandatory update. The mandatory updates are to ensure forward compatibility with third party technologies. Sadly, Synthiam isn’t solely responsible for the requirement of updates for feature compatibility. Because the ARC software combined technologies of hundreds of companies, we’re at the mercy of their updates.

In short, it’s only mandatory for an expired update if something very incompatible happens that’s out of our control - albeit, we take the blunt of the force :)

it’s a bit of effort to maintain updates - but incredibly worth it when the new technologies are used

oh thats unfortunate that the updates end up being mandatory. I understand the need to keep them updated for compatability, but it isnt feasible to update software in a school every few months. Are there any details for unattended installs of ARC at all? We normally roll out applications via Microsoft System Center, which I could deploy to happen overnight and try to update the package every quarter, but manually installing it in the lab during school term is just not going to happen easily

thanks for the reply

I’ll look into that for you. Stay tuned

Looks like "ARC Installer.exe" /quiet does an unattended install, and will perform a silent upgrade so this might be enough for me to deploy it to the classroom.

Is there a RSS feed or something that could notify of new releases? I guess an email list or something simple would be enough but something I could automate to create a ticket in our helpdesk system would be great for our team to know when a new release is able to be deployed?

I was thinking of an auto update service but that would require admin privileges and be a mess in school environments.

Perhaps an email is best? The software will notify of an update before the software expires. IF that feature hasn’t been disabled and there’s an internet connection.

so maybe email is a good idea?

Yeah autoupdate would be fine, but as you say it would need local admin privileges which the students dont have.

The software prompting for an update again is fine, but the chances of that message getting from a student who probably just clicks messages away through the teacher back to the IT Department is slim unfortunately

Happy to sign up to a mailing list or similar if an email could come out when updates are available, maybe if it mentioned what was new, or fixed, any known issues or if a certain version has become expired This would allow us to monitor the version control as well, as we don't normally install the updated software etc as it happens in a lab environment incase there are any issues. We could then know which versions become depreciated and make sure we update before then.

thanks

Okay - email it is. Every release includes release notes with a list of major changes/fixed/features. I’ll have that included in the email

Hi DJ,

Was this release notes email a list I can sign up to somewhere? I notice there is a new version due to the subscription model changes, and would like to be able to sign up to a mailing list when new releases are out if possible.

thanks Scott

Hey ScottR - If you install the Teams or Free version of ARC, the expire is supported for 4 months. That gives us plenty of time to develop an email list system in the website to allow notifying of an update. We've also added the ability for the software to notify you of pending updates and expiry well ahead of time. So you won't be bugged to expire for 4 months at least as of this recent update

Awesome, thanks mate. Didn't realise it wasnt developed yet!  No need to rush, thanks for the feedback!

Anytime - questions are always good because i'd rather have you ask then keep you up at night wondering :D

Hi DJ, any movement on some form of notification list when new software is released at all?

We have part of our school where children with disabilites learn with the JD robots. They actually have a great program here full of robots from Pepper and NAO from Softbank to help with social and emotional cues, A PARO therapeutic robot from AIST, and now about 15 JD Humanoid robots that each student has access to.

Lessons with the JD robots are not all throughout the year, the teachers will use them when the students are ready for them, so it can be at limited notice.

We are still finding that when they go to use the set of robots, all the ARC software is expired and then needs to be updated and cuts into the time allocated to the lessons.

Is there anyway of having some form of notification to alert (out of the software - email, rss etc) when there are updates to the Teams version of the software? Popups within the software are fine, but usually get closed if its within the learning time, and then forgotten about between the classroom and coming back to the IT department.

I'd like to be able to run these updates over their bank of laptops out of class hours, but apart from me manually checking your site - which is really time consuming, otherwise they get locked out when they need to use it.

Also with the new version I just installed today, the upgrade to Pro version nag screen is really in your face, and inquisitive students really like to click big buttons etc. Is it possible to have a non-advert version strictly for education users?

One last gripe, I tried to log these as a feature request, but I couldnt, as the account I signed up for making the support question hasnt used the ARC program before. Our teachers sign in to use the application, but it wouldnt let me request a feature because i havnt used the program with my account. I guess it makes sense but there are some legitimate edge cases and this seemed rather blunt.

thanks Scott

Great news, the software has a "Do not check again" delay option for up to six months. You'll find more information here: https://synthiam.com/Support/Install/Updating%20ARC

However, if you delay for six months, there's a chance the software might break entirely if the update is dependent on a third-party resource that is out of our control. Please note that there might be other factors when you select the delay option. Otherwise, the software will no longer work due to dependencies beyond our control. The only time we update Teams is for a mandatorily required update. Amy

Yes I understand all that and updates are all good, its the notification of when updates are available that would be helpful.

You state above - The only time we update Teams is for a mandatorily required update. We are running the teams version, so when there is an update, it is mandatory. The skip update would be pointless?

Hi ScottR,

To be clear, the option is for "delaying," not "skipping" an update. The release notes for the February 14th update mention the previous version will be deprecated on March 14th. Pressing the delay option will give your school 30 days (1 month) to safely apply the update.  Amy

and thats where it would be good to have a notification outside of the software to know we have 1 month before the teachers will be impacted in their classroom, to give us time to update their fleet of laptops. Email list, subscribe to an rss feed etc so administrators who dont use the software can still be notified of releases and give them time to install it before its ciritical

I'll bring this up at our next meeting. We appreciate the feedback; thank you.

awesome, thanks

Hey guys, jumping in - I saw this and wanted to add some information. What would be best is an option when creating an account or signing into ARC to receive an early update notification. That way, we don't have to send 100,000+ emails before every update - specifically, since Early Access and Runtime get updated every few weeks, and that's what most people use (for a good reason)... new features. :D

We can implement a sign-up for the update notification on the website first, then roll it out into the software later.