Blog → What's New
Board Games Being Removed from Sofa
Update on Sep 14, 2023
Sofa 3.4.12 is out now! This update is an important one for people who have board games saved in Sofa.
As of Oct 1, 2023, the provider Sofa uses for board game data will be shutting down. This release will migrate all of your board game data and save it locally to your device. This is to ensure you have access to all board game information after Oct 1, 2023.
Going forward, Sofa will now save all item meta data locally to your device. This will improve the speed of the app, make your data more resilient, and save on your data usage.
Update on Sep 2, 2023
I was able to get in touch with the data provider for board games and get an extension to Oct 1, 2023. I’ve since released an update (version 3.4.11) that fixes the issue of board games not loading correctly. I’m currently working on another update that will store all of your board game data locally to your device so you still have access to it after Oct 1, 2023. I expect to get this update out to everyone by the middle of September.
As of version 3.4.11, board games have unfortunately been removed from Sofa. The provider I was using (Board Game Atlas) for board game information has sadly gone out of business.
Any board games you’ve added to Sofa are still saved, but they will only include the title and Sticky Notes for the game. Any meta data or details won’t be loaded because the provider’s data is no longer available.
Why did this happen?
I’m still trying to get an answer to this question. I’ve reached out to Board Game Atlas for clarification and details, but I haven’t heard back yet.
Why isn’t all data saved locally in Sofa?
Designing and building software is all about tradeoffs. To reduce the amount of storage Sofa uses on people’s devices, the data that is saved locally is kept to a minimum. This keeps Sofa light-weight, but comes with the downside we are experiencing right now.
Going forward, I’m going to be making changes to save more data locally to your device so this problem doesn’t happen again.
What is being done to mitigate this problem in the future?
There are a few features I’m actively working on, even before the news about boards games going away, that will help remove this problem in the future.
- Custom buckets - this will allow you to add anything to Sofa
- Saving more data locally to your device
I’ll share more details as I’m building and making progress. I suggest following me on YouTube to get the latest and greatest info.
Are the other data sources in Sofa at risk of going away?
The providers I use for other data within Sofa are larger companies than Board Game Atlas was, so I think the risk of those sources disappearing over night is pretty low.
If you’re curious, here are the providers I use in Sofa for different data:
- The Movie Database - movies and tv shows
- iTunes Search API - apps, audiobooks, books, music albums, and podcasts
- IGDB (owned by Twitch) - video games
- Odesli - for music album links
Please know, I’m extremely sorry and upset that this has happened, and that it happened so abruptly.
If you have any questions, feedback, or issues, don’t hesitate to reach out.