Expose /account/sideload to accounts without devices (IIF they've added a simulator)

SDK Feature Requests
#1

Quick suggestion, currently play.date/account/sideload is hidden from anyone who has not registered a device to their account. It is a sane thing to hide the sideload tab from regular users awaiting arrival of their playdate devices (because they have nothing to sideload onto).

My request is this: show the sideload tab to all users who have registered a device OR a simulator. This way developers who do not have hardware can test and troubleshoot the sideloading process.

P.S. Since I have hardware I can't see if this has already been fixed or if you can access play.date/account/sideload it directly via url and the tab hiding is just cosmetic.

#2

I'm not exactly sure if this is what you're asking, but currently for someone without hardware registered there's still a tab that looks like this:

Screen Shot 2022-05-15 at 17.35.10
Screen Shot 2022-05-15 at 17.35.101788×1094 97.6 KB

#3

So I have an account with a registered playdate device. This means I can sideload onto my device, but it also allows me to sideload onto my registered simulators as well. A developer who does not have a registered device cannot test the sideloading process via simulator. Yes, they can load apps via USB, but it does not let them test/document what the process will look like for those using the wireless sideloading.

Sideloading wirelessly is only available if you have a Playdate device registered on your account. Otherwise there's no device to, well, sideload to.

This statement is half true -- you can absolutely sideload "wirelessly" to a registered Simulator even without a Playdate device. My request is that the sideload tab becomes available if you have any registered target for sideloading added to your account -- even if that's only a Simulator.

It'a minor switch, but improves it ensures feature parity between developers with hardware and those without.

#4

I'm not sure I understand, because this is exactly how it's working now.

I don't have a physical Playdate registered, but I do have one simulator registered, and I see the "Sideload" tab. And I'm not sure what you mean that developers can directly sideload to a simulator? I haven't seen where or how that would be done.

#5

I don't have a physical Playdate registered, but I do have one simulator registered, and I see the "Sideload" tab. And I'm not sure what you mean that developers can directly sideload to a simulator?

This is exactly my point, you didn't realize functionality is being hidden from you. I created a new account and registered a simulator just to confirm the behavior. On my primary account (with a real device and simulators) I can sideload onto either real devices or simulators. On my new account (with only simulators) I cannot sideload and get the message you screenshotted above. Here's a screenshot of my sideload page showing how I can sideload to simulators.

Screen Shot 2022-05-17 at 15.20.02
Screen Shot 2022-05-17 at 15.20.021628×1290 148 KB

It works just like on a normal device, on the simulator you access "Settings->Games from the menu and can install/update/delete from there.

My request is that Panic make the check to enable that page more permissive. Hide it from normal users, but expose the functionality when you have a simulator or device registered, not only if you have a device registered.

P.S. Perhaps instead of "show the sideload tab" in my original message I could've said "enable the sideload tab functionality" to be more clear. IIRC back in early march the tab was hidden altogether for me.

#6

Yes, this makes a lot of sense to me !

I had the experience of registering my simulator and then thinking "Hmm... so what does that allow me to do now?" And the answer to that is nothing, actually. Unless you also have a physical device registered too, apparently.

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