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Mike MacGregor

Run Draft Buddy on your iPad

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Okay folks, there are a lot of questions about whether we can use Draft Buddy on an iPad. It seems we might have a half-decent answer to this question. While Draft Buddy still needs Excel to run (and Excel does not run directly on an iPad), there is a service we've become aware of called OnLive Desktop that lets you run Excel files "in a cloud" (meaning over the Internet) which you can access and modify on your iPad... and I think Android tablet as well.

I tried the service and it worked well for a short test. I'm going to continue to test it out, but I wanted to post instructions here for those interested in trying it themselves.

1. Go to the App Store and install OnLive Desktop on your iPad. This is a free app.

Note for the Canucks in the crowd, and perhaps other non-U.S. residents, it wasn't available in the Canadian iTunes Store. I had to backdoor myself into the U.S. iTunes Store to get the app.

2. Go to their website at http://desktop.onlive.com and sign up for a free account. They have some pay subscription services, starting at $4.99/month, cancel anytime, but I've just gone with the free version so far.

3. Once you are registered, login and upload a copy of Draft Buddy to your OnLive account. They give you lots of room, so size won't be a problem.

4. Start the app on your iPad, login and you'll see a virtual desktop. Click on "Documents" in the upper-right and you'll see the Draft Buddy file you uploaded. Click the file once and Excel will start, opening Draft Buddy. Use your finger as the mouse and go to work.

Check my next post for experiences and early suggestions.

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EXPERIENCES / SUGGESTIONS:

 

* The first few days I tried this, OnLive kept telling me my Internet connection or network connection was not good enough. I would often get to the point of loading Draft Buddy on the iPad, but then a network error occurred, the app would test my connection and kick me out. I use Netflix quite a bit, download big files, etc. with no problem, but this still didn't come as a huge surprise since I've felt for some time my modem/router is old and should be updated. The OnLive documentation does say you need a steady, stable and fast connection.

 

* I contacted my ISP and swapped out my old modem/router (which I rent - probably stupid, but I do) for a new one. Now I have with the same level of Internet service, a connection over twice as fast. Should have done that sooner! Tried OnLive last night and didn't get the network error. To check your connection speed, try http://www.speedtest.net

 

* From what I can tell, you're still going to want to do all of your league settings and set up your cheatsheets on a laptop or desktop. Then upload the file to do the drafting. I think it might be too onerous to input the settings and scoring on the iPad. Also, I didn't try "Compiling Cheatsheets" or "Update Projections" on the iPad. In theory, you could use Draft Buddy even if you don't have Excel, doing everything on the iPad through OnLive, but I would be skeptical it would work at this time.

 

* Someone suggested to me trying a stylus on the iPad, because if you get to the "point" of trying to touch drop-down boxes with your finger, it can be tricky, depending how fat-fingered you are.

 

* The file you are using is the one uploaded to OnLive, so it does not connect to your home computer and modify that file. You can save the changes to the OnLive version and download it later by accessing your account on the website. You can also save multiple versions with different names. In fact, it seems to automatically save versions for you online as you are using it, which is pretty handy.

 

* You're still going to want to really test this thing a lot before trusting it for your draft. If your draft is not at your house, you need to somehow test the internet connection where you are going to be drafting from. We've always told people you don't need an internet connection to use Draft Buddy at your draft. This idea would clearly change that answer. You need one, and a good one.

 

* No telling how reliable the OnLive service is, and particularly the free subscription version. Again, test it, test it, test it if you are serious about using this.

 

* I have an original iPad. My battery length is pretty good, but say I'm at a 3.5.-4 hour draft of straight use... hmm... not sure. I've probably never used the thing for that long consecutively. I'd bring a charger and sit next to a plug.

 

* The sound effects don't work, well, because the sound files aren't there. I'm not sure if that would change if I upload them. I'll try it later.

 

* You can get rid of the green-triangles that indicate error checking (and we know there are no errors in the formulas), by clicking Formulas > Error Checking > Options, and then unchecking all of the Error Checking Rules in the bottom section of the window that pops up. I would uncheck all of them except the first one.

 

That is all I have for now. If anyone else tries it, please chime in with your experiences. Even with all of the caveats, this is a very exciting development.

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The way this appears, you don't have to have Excel on your home computer because you are not accessing your pc from our iPad, you are accessing Excel from a cloud server. Is this correct?

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That is correct. That is why I'm saying that in theory, you could run everything on the iPad and you don't need to have Excel. Excel is provided by your OnLive Desktop account. Of course that would mean doing all the settings and scoring and such on the iPad, making sure Compile Cheatsheets and Update Projections work, etc.

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Definitely agree. I would have to do a lot of testing before feeling comfortable. And figure for a 3+ hour draft, not sure I'd ever be 100% confident. Gives me hope we will get there sooner than later though.

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Has anyone tried this with the paid version? I have only tried with the free version and it freezes up every time.

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Haven't tried it with the paid version yet. Maybe I should give it a go... when I have time! :unsure:

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Another alternative to utilizing the iPad would be to convert the worksheets from Draft Buddy to pdf and then get an app called pdfpen from the app store which allows you to mark up PDFs highlight etc..

. I'm thinking of using another app for drafting and use draft buddy as my cheatsheet. I love the tiers and can't live without them.

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I used my ipad last year for my auction draft and it worked great. Here are the steps I used to make it work. I used 2 apps, Dropbox and CloudOn, both were free last year and I think they still are. First I setup the draft buddy the way I wanted to make it easier to navigate around during the draft. I change the zoom on some of the screens to make it a little bigger and easier to see, and switched the screen tabs order around on the bottom with the tabs I switch between to make them next to each other. After I had the buddy all setup I saved it to drop box, now I can access it through CloudOn on my ipad. Start the CloudOn app open the buddy spreadsheet from dropbox and you are good to go. You do still need to be connected to the internet so the spreadsheet can continue to update to CloudOn, but I did not have any bandwidth problems during the draft. One other thing I did use was a bluetooth keyboard. Using the keyboard keeps the onscreen keyboard from popping up, letting you see the whole screen, plus it was easier to enter the auction values during the draft. I am going to give it another shot this year, hopefully it will work as well.

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I used my ipad last year for my auction draft and it worked great. Here are the steps I used to make it work. I used 2 apps, Dropbox and CloudOn, both were free last year and I think they still are. First I setup the draft buddy the way I wanted to make it easier to navigate around during the draft. I change the zoom on some of the screens to make it a little bigger and easier to see, and switched the screen tabs order around on the bottom with the tabs I switch between to make them next to each other. After I had the buddy all setup I saved it to drop box, now I can access it through CloudOn on my ipad. Start the CloudOn app open the buddy spreadsheet from dropbox and you are good to go. You do still need to be connected to the internet so the spreadsheet can continue to update to CloudOn, but I did not have any bandwidth problems during the draft. One other thing I did use was a bluetooth keyboard. Using the keyboard keeps the onscreen keyboard from popping up, letting you see the whole screen, plus it was easier to enter the auction values during the draft. I am going to give it another shot this year, hopefully it will work as well.

 

:thumbsup: Great info tinmac. Thank you!

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Also with OnLive, does Refresh Live Draft work? It doesn't seem to want to do that with me.

 

Edit: The pay version of OnLive will let you connect through the web and therefore do Live Draft Updates

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Thanks for checking in, TR. How much is the pay version of OnLive?

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I just tried to do some mocking with CloudOn and it worked fine. I do make sure I have everything setup and the latest updates done before the draft and save it from my PC to dropbox. Then I can open the updated file from the ipad at the actual draft. I am able to enter auction selections, value drafted for, winning bid team, etc .... all data seems update throughout buddy. Summary, Offense, Rosters all show the data entered through the auction report. Not sure what else you need buddy to do on draft day, but it seems to work for me.

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I just tried to do some mocking with CloudOn and it worked fine. I do make sure I have everything setup and the latest updates done before the draft and save it from my PC to dropbox. Then I can open the updated file from the ipad at the actual draft. I am able to enter auction selections, value drafted for, winning bid team, etc .... all data seems update throughout buddy. Summary, Offense, Rosters all show the data entered through the auction report. Not sure what else you need buddy to do on draft day, but it seems to work for me.

How did you do this with macros disabled on CloudOn? Did you update the app recently?

http://site.cloudon.com/help/knowledgebase/articles/186424-why-aren-t-excel-macros-supported-

http://android.appstorm.net/reviews/productivity-reviews/cloudon-a-full-microsoft-office-suite-on-android/

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Hi,

 

I don't do any of the updates using CloudOn via my ipad. I do all the updates and setup with my PC and then save the file to dropbox. Once everything is ready for the draft, I then use my ipad at the draft. It worked last year and seemed to work fine when I tested it this year. Everything updated on the buddy that I entered it on the ipad.

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Hey guys. Do you not use the Draft Player buttons when you do the draft though, tinmac? Those are macros too. However if you use the drop-down lists right on the draft report tab, there aren't any macros involved.

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That must be it. Since this is an auction I am mostly on the draft report tab using the drop-downs to select the player nominated and then the values populate for me from that. I can then enter the winning bid value and use the drop-down for the winning team. I haven't tried On-Live, does it work better with the buddy?

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OnLive can use macros, but no internet access, so MFL live draft integration is a goner... It does move pretty quick though. Can't hurt to try!

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Anyone try it on Skydrive? Microsofts MSN Cloud service.

 

I dont have a macro'd spreadsheet to test it out.

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No go on Excel for iPad. It does not support macros.

 

Hey Tony, did you try it again this year with OnLive?

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Update: I just tried OnLive Desktop again for 2014 Draft Buddy and had good success. All I had to do was login to my free OnLive account and upload a 2014 Draft Buddy file. Then, open the OnLive app on my iPad. I'm using an old original iPad with iOS 5.1. I don't think it will let me update beyond that.

 

Anyway, the only thing the I couldn't do through OnLive was any macro involving a web query. That means Update Projections and MFL Integration are out.

 

Everything else worked well though. I could Compile Cheatsheets, draft a player, use drop-downs and browse from tab to tab easily. I could scroll around, pinch and pull screen views to get to where I needed to be.

 

I'd like to pull together a video demo but I've got two issues - how to record what I'm seeing on the iPad (since the one I have is so old), or getting the OnLive Desktop app on a newer iPad I have sitting here from my wife's work. It seems the OnLive app is not available in the Canadian iTunes store. I've sent a tweet to OnLive and we'll see what they say, but all-in-all, this seems to work pretty well.

 

I still think you need a good internet connection to do this. OnLive will time you out for non-activity, but in a live draft I wouldn't think there would be very much inactivity where you are either making your pick, putting in picks from other owners, or browsing Buddy to figure out your next pick.

 

Anyone else give this a try this year?

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Am thinking about getting DB for the first time. I'll be working off an iPad, and have printed sheets for backup (unless I'm really confident that it will work). Drafting live in 2 different leagues with different settings on the same day (morning, then afternoon). Will check out OnLive, disappointed that CloudOn won't get the job done.

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Thanks BigBBlue. I am working up a video to show using OnLive Desktop. Maybe I'll try this CloudOn service when I have some time as I've never used it myself.

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Having good success using OnLive Desktop this year. No issues at all every time I've connected. I found some software that allowed me to put together a video showing me using the OnLive service, opening and using Draft Buddy on my iPad:

 

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Hi Mike.

 

Sorry if this is off topic, it's in the same ball park though.

 

Has Draft Buddy been tested with the Windows Surface RT tablet?

 

It's the only thigh have with Excel on it.

 

Cheers JTF

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Got my copy of DB early this year. Thought I'd get ahead of the non-laptop curve this summer.

 

When going to to OnLive Desktop, I got the error message below

 

Your connection is not private

Attackers might be trying to steal your information from desktop.onlive.com (for example, passwords, messages, or credit cards).

NET::ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID
Back to safetyHide advanced

This server could not prove that it is desktop.onlive.com; its security certificate is from*.gridserver.com. This may be caused by a misconfiguration or an attacker intercepting your connection.

Proceed to desktop.onlive.com (unsafe)

 

 

When I followed the unsafe link, it was clearly not OLD.

 

CloudOn seems to be a part of dropbox now.

 

 

Is there a plan for iPads?

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Hey TripleB. Glad to have you back again this year. Don't know why I didn't notice your post earlier today. I'm supposed to get an email from the forums for every new post. Anyway, I haven't tried OnLive myself this year yet (don't really need it personally, being a slave to my computer). This looks like a very odd message. What is "safetyHide"? Are you using some service or software to warn you if it feels you are going to an unsafe website?

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Thank Mike!

 

I should have been on board years ago, lurked, checked, hemmed and hawed. I'm really glad I jumped in last year (1st/12, 2nd/10, 9th/10 when I didn't use PPR settings for a PPR league). Looking to repeat, revenge and redeem myself this year.

 

Plenty of time to get questions answered. I got on board late late year, paid extra and scrambled to figure out the settings I liked best.

 

 

Try going to the website and let me know what you find. I'm surfing from my desktop (Windows, Chrome browser, Avast Anti-virus). I think Chrome is issuing the warning. Back to Safety is a clickable box, bringing me back to google. Hide Advanced shows after I click 'advanced' to see the 'advanced info', as if I were an advanced user ;)

 

 

Just checking with Firefox browser... no warnings, but this message on the bottom of the webpage.

 

 

After five years of uninterrupted service, the OnLive Game Service comes to an end.

 

 

The "Assets Available" isn't leading me to think they are still functional ;(

 

 

 

Assets Available

From furniture to source code, we have a number of assets for sale.

OnLive is in the process of liquidating its remaining assets, including trademarks, source code, trade secrets, office furniture and office supplies, among many other things.

 

Inquiries regarding the purchase of our various assets can be directed to the following individuals:

 

 

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Cool avatar! Do you know who the artist is? Kind of looks Liefeld but his X-Men stuff is so old, and the image is small, hard to tell. Looks a little too detailed for him.

 

In terms of the rest of your message, well thats not good. Might have to jettison this post. Now I've got some sleep I'm going to go investigate.

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Thanks. I usually go with a NY logo, but found this from a league I a buddy and I were crushing. It's Juggernaut (x-men).

 

I remain hopefull that we can get DB to function on the iPad, but perhaps I can dig up a chromebook or old laptop.

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Mike,

 

I was unable to use Excel on my iPad, or Chromebook to take advantage of the spreadsheets 'features'.

 

Still ISO non-laptop solutions.

 

At least I can do things on my desktop, and print the sheets to bring. Would much rather be using DB live though.

 

BB

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What is a Chromebook BB that it won't work on that? Can't install Office on it?

 

Unfortunately I think we need to unpin this topic since it does appear the OnLive service is no use to us any more. I did some searching for a similar service and came up empty.

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I admit, I was a little sad to see it unstickied... without a replacement, not good news ;(

 

A chromebook is a generally inexpensive device that uses Google Chrome as a browser for the internet. There are apps that you can install, but they aren't IOS (iPad) or Android. No hard drive, everything on the cloud. I can run Office programs, but they are Office 365 online versions, without full functionality.

 

At work, we were issued chromebooks as a workaround to bringing our own devices (Education). They are excellent for work, but not a full substitute for a laptop or desktop.

 

Dell and Acer I think are the more popular brands. If you are interested, a google search will give you better information than I can off the top of my head.

 

I have a friend with a Microsoft Surface, and that might have full Excel functions. It's going in for service, maybe I can check it out before that happens.

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Thanks for the info. Too many devices these days! :wacko:

 

You've reminded me however that I also know someone with a Surface. I'm going to try to connect with them and see what they can tell me about it for running Office.

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