Private Internet Access App Versions Number Needs To Be Listed
Nowhere on the download page is there any version number. This is highly unorthodox and inconvenient for the user.
I downloaded the Private Internet Access app DMG with the installer on my Mac and even the DMG is lacking the version number. So I have no idea if I need to update or not.
Please start listing the version numbers on your download page so we know when to update. I also request that an optional updater within the app itself be implemented at some point where one can optionally check for updates, etc.
Comments
1. It seems as if changes are listed in individual threads on this forum. Although it may not be of widespread interest, could a complete change-log across all versions be posted to the PIA website?
2. For windows, instead of always naming the app 'installer_win.exe', could the installer name be versioned and be more specific, like 'pia_installer_win_1.2.3.exe'? This would be helpful in tying the application in with the change-log or at least letting users know whether they have already downloaded a particular update or not.
Thanks.
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1. A NORMAL WINDOWS SCREEN:
The version number only shows when you press "Advanced", and then it is very faint. Also, there is no way to close the programme except by right-clicking on the system tray icon.
More generally, PIA looks really drab and tacky and undeveloped alongside other Windows programmes. What is needed is a proper Windows screen with the traditional tab setup across the top, where each tab opens a menu:
FILE:
— "Licence Validation"
— "Connect VPN"
— "Disconnect VPN"
— "Minimise to system tray"
— "Close programme"
SETTINGS:
— "Choose region"
— "Start application at logon" (checkbox, default ON)
— "Auto-connect when app is started" (checkbox, default ON)
— "Start minimised" (checkbox, default ON)
— "Keep this window on top" (checkbox, default OFF, One does not normally want a screen to remain on top and conflict with other running programmes.)
ADVANCED:
— "Connection" (opening the present options)
— "Encryption" (opening the present options)
— "Export settings"
— "Import settings"
HELP:
— "Help" (bringing up a manual)
— "PIA Website Home" (with clickable URL)
— "PIA Forum" (with clickable URL)
— "PIA Support" (with clickable URL)
— "Update check" (with clickable PIA downloads URL displayed in the screen that comes up)
— "Send slow speed complaint"
— "About Private Internet Access" (Version number, Username, date when this version was installed, date of next payment to PIA)
The titlebar at the top of the window should say "Private Internet Access V53"
The screen below the tabs should display the current selected region, and the information displayed on PIA's "What's-My-ip" webpage, with appropriate blanks if the VPN is not operating. If this text is on a transparent background, the map can also be displayed behind the text.
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2. THE COMMANDS:
There is also no way to open the present "Settings" screen using a keyboard command — you have to reach for the mouse, the right-click the icon, then select "Settings".
The normal Windows screen suggested above should be accessible by a command. we need one command to start PIA in the system tray, and a different command to bring up the PIA window (which can also be used to control PIA). This would probably be done using switches added to the command:
"C:\Program Files\Pia_manager\PIA_manager.exe"
but the two corresponding items should be in the Start Menu Folder because most people would not be able to use switches to create accessible commands.
There could well be other switches,
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3. THE WEBSITE:
* The links on the home page https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/ do not contain any link to the Forum, unless I am curious enough to click on "Why & Navigation" and then scroll down. Most people won't ever find it.
* "Downloads" is not on the home page either — it's called "Client Support"! The version number is too faint to read easily, and there is no date, so unless you have a really good memory for version numbers, a quick visit to the screen will not tell you if you need an update.
* There is no search on the website, except in the Forum and Support sections.
* It does look as if the advertisers have hijacked the website and make it difficult to use — on many pages the advertising often gets in the way of the explanation and leads to an impression that PIA is untrustworthy.
* The "new version" announcements in the Forum can be difficult to read. It's OK to have them as stickies at the top, but unlike the other posts, they need to stay in the order in which they were originally posted. When they are in the order of the last posting, it is difficult to read quickly whether there has been an update or not.
* A better long-term solution would be to divide the posts in the Forum into topics, with the updates as a separate topic. Perhaps first into three groups "Windows", "Mac", "Linux", then each group could have its announcements first (ordered by first posting date) and its discussion next (ordered by last posting date). Or maybe just "Announcements" and "Discussion".
* The website has much informative material, and the support tickets work very well. But what is needed is a downloadable manual. That manual should, as with many other windows programmes, be updated with each update, and be downloaded along with the installer. Then "Help - - > Help" in my suggested Windows screen should bring this manual up. If that doesn't work, the user can go to the website. Take a look at https://support.privateinternetaccess.com/ and see how confusing it is to make a decision.
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4. THE UPDATER EXE FILE:
We know that version numbers annoy network managers because they want the same name every time. But could the installer file be named PIA_Installer_Win.exe and not just installer_win.exe, so that we know, other than from the icon, what programme is going to be installed, and so that we can find the file again.
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Please, these are not grizzles, but suggestions as to how an excellent piece of software can be provided with a better and more acceptable presentation to the computer-using public.
Still, I think it would be a better option for the installer to come with a version number by default. And I too hope PIA decides to take up the practice.
Quite frankly, PIA, I find it very troubling that a company that is doing as well as you are, with as many customers as you have, can completely ignore such obvious and simple requests like this. Any application developer knows to do these things, and if there were such amateurish oversights as these they would have been terribly embarrassed by it and fixed it months ago.
"It isn't obvious" is spot on. There's nothing obvious when it comes to PIA informing its customers about anything related to version numbers. It's almost as if PIA is attempting to conceal version numbers. I can't figure out what version number I have installed using standard OSX procedures. I can't read it from within the PIA app because it's tiny gray text on a gray background. It requires perfect vision to even see it, which I don't have, and I therefore have to hold up a magnifying glass to my screen. If someone hadn't informed me where to look for it I wouldn't have even known it was there.
This is all too absurd, and it's made all the more absurd by the fact that numerous PIA customers have been complaining about these issues for months and nothing has been done about it.
It takes forever to have PIA to even consider improving changing anything in the app. The ideas and suggestions get passed on to the developers but they are obviously being ignored since the app is in the state it's in.
The app looks like and functions like an aol proggie from 1995. It's a problem, there is no reason for it too look so unprofessional.
Here I "fixed" the version number in the get info screen, took less then a minute, really less then a minute, no exaggeration.
Comparing the appearance of the OSX PIA app to 1990's era AOL is spot on. The first time I saw the PIA app it reminded me of the way apps looked under Mac Classic (OS9), and that's what we were running on the Mac up until 2001. The PIA app is the most ugly, primitive, and non-Macintosh looking app I have on my Mac. PIA should be ashamed of themselves.
I'm confident that PIA is capable of doing much better, i.e. doing the bare minimum of what should be expected of an app developer. If their staff dev(s) are truly this incompetent and/or lazy then PIA should contract it out. Making a Mac app for something this basic -- an app that actually looks like and functions like a Mac app -- is child's play.
I bet there are 1000,000's of users out there who are not on the current version and they do not even know they are out-of date and have potential security issues.
For a security compnay you would of though security would be paramount to make sure ALL customers are operating securly and safely via their service.