Last year, I wrote a blog entry called "2022 will be our biggest year yet", and then, for most of the year, you probably didn't notice anything.

Awkward.

Although we were a little light on updates over the year, 2022 was still a huge year for us: we spent most of it re-building the whole application from the ground up, adding a backend (so that users can log in and save projects in the cloud), and then trialing this with some of our trusty users. It's true we had intended to launch this new version publicly last year, but we decided to take a little extra time on it to make sure everything was up to scratch. Now, a full year later, we have something we're happy we can share with you all.

The new version of statscloud is live and kicking right now. You can start a new project in it by clicking here, or try out our snazzy new dashboard here.

Why the new version?

So, why create a new version at all? What was wrong with the old one?

With statscloud, we've invested heavily in new technology; in particular, the technology offered by Progressive Web Apps. It's abundantly clear now that this is the way software development is going, and we want to make sure we're at the forefront of it.

Progressive Web Apps, in case you didn't know, are web applications you can install and run on any device (desktops, laptops, Chromebooks, phones, tablets). They can be installed with a single click/tap and, once they have, function just like any other piece of software. They can be added to your taskbar or homescreen, associate themselves with files saved on your device, connect to the internet when they need to, update themselves automatically, and, crucially, function completely offline.

Progressive Web Apps can also store lots of data on your device offline, can make use of multi-threading, and can run complex code in a range of programming languages. All of those things are tremendously useful when you're building a statistics app. So, with the new version of statscloud, we've capitalised on all these features to create a powerful new statistics app that can work with bigger datasets, perform more sophisticated analyses, and do all of this as a standalone app without being bound by the limits of a web server.

The result is a powerful new statistics app that mirrors the functionality of a desktop app, but can run on any device. It also means the app is free and always available for everyone.

New features

While we were rebuilding the app, we added in a few more features along the way. The first is the ability to split your data set using our new, improved 'Data Split' tool. Now, when you split your data, you can view the data set in separate tabs and run separate analyses based on these splits. When you create charts and analyses, these will now update automatically in response to data changes or active filters (though you can toggle automatic updating on and off at your leisure).

We've also made some improvements for mobile users. Not only is the app now more intuitive to navigate, we've added some more features to the 'data form' view, and made chart editing much easier. We've also added the option to force 'dark' mode, and have started to roll out support for other languages. A full list of the new features of available here.

Just in case you're feeling a bit underwhelmed by those new features, its worth mentioning that the most exciting aspect of the new version is what it allows us to next. We've now laid the foundations to add in some new features that we'll be unrolling in the new year, such as the ability for CORE users to save a project, potentially unlimited sized data sets, and a system that allows you to extend the function of the app through your own custom analyses. You can expect some updates on these throughout the year.

New products and self-hosting

We're now in a position where we can be more open about all the products we have on offer. Firstly, we can now offer PRO memberships. PRO memberships allow you to log in and save your projects to a cloud account so you can access them from multiple devices. We know there is high demand for these but, for now, we're rolling them out on an invitation-only basis. In the future, we'll make these available for anyone to sign up to.

In the meantime, there's another way you can get your hands on a PRO account, and that's by hosting your very own instance of statscloud. That's right, we're allowing educational and business organisations the option to host your own version of statscloud on-premises. This has been a very popular development as it means that you can customise the app to your own needs (by toggling certain features on and off), manage your own (PRO) users, and ensure all data is contained on-premises. You can find more information on this on our new Products page, and contact us to get set up.

Summary

This new version allows us to take a huge step towards our ultimate goal; to offer the most complete solution for teaching statistics in social sciences. By making statscloud a full Progressive Web App, it is currently the only statistics package that is free and always available on any device. This is just one of the reasons statscloud is establishing itself as the new standard in statistics software, and why more and more universities are turning towards statscloud for their teaching.

As always, thank you very much for your support, and keep watching this space for more exciting developments.

Daniel