Any new developments regarding SIA and maybe a new Windows wallet? The old one could use an update, maybe more simple?
A UI overhaul is currently being worked on. Most probably it will be ready in the 1.3.1 update (December)
Does one need to close and reopen the SIA app after adding coins to the wallet ? Or does the APP update by itself ?
No, the balance will update automatically. If you made a transfer and it is not on your balance yet it could be due to delays on the side of the exchange (if that is the case) or because your client is not yet synchronized with the network. Let us know if you have problems.
This SIA app needs a lot of work . Ive downloaded it added some SIA , I bought some storage and now how the hell do I upload files? I get a message saying "you need to buy storage or wait for contracts to form". How is anyone supposed to understand this cryptic message . This non-user friendliness is whats a painful about using SIA .
How are normal users supposed to figure this usage out ? C'mon SIA at least add a Help section in the App ...or a YouTube link ,anything ..
not everyone wants to spend hours trawling the web for answers on what these cryptic messages mean.
You need first to make an allowance (click on the "make allowance" button of the UI) and then wait until your client makes contracts with 50 hosts (it will take one hour or less). If you need more details about using the UI for renting, check out this article of the Wiki:
https://siawiki.tech/renter/using_the_ui_for_renting . The wiki is actually linked on the website, as well as an official guide (shorter than the Wiki one)on the FAQ. More clarity on the process is part of the UI overhaul I mentioned before.
Take in mind "normal" users are not expected to use the client in the endgame of Sia. While final users could use the Sia client, Sia is meant to be an enterprise-level solution. Enterprises have IT departments that don't even touch a UI for almost any task, just command lines.
Sia is also meant to be used by storage providing services (like Dropbox-like companies) as their storage backend. This means final users will not touch directly the Sia network, but instead use the app of each company, and don't even need to buy Siacoins to purchase storage: they'll pay in fiat and the apps will do everything behind the scenes.