Category: Release Notes

Update Release Notes

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Version 2.1.3 Released

Version 2.1.3 is now available.

  • Updated example conjugation options. You can now use tildes (~), spaces, and new lines to separate possible conjugation forms and you can add an optional particle in parentheses. This will help in conjugating examples for grammatical phrases that are similar, for example: 〜た上(で) for verbs and の上(の) for nouns.

You can also conjugate examples that might have random phrases within the grammatical form such as 大して〜ない.

  • Added lesson markers to indicate if a study session has been completed today (green circle) or is in progress (yellow triangle) for each document on the Lesson List.

  • Added a complete Japanese character set; the app will now properly determine if imported text is Japanese even if it starts with a number or punctuation.

This means that you’ll now need to be more careful when importing; if you select “imiwa? Entries” when you actually have an imiwa? List on the clipboard, it will recognize the Japanese entries and import but you’ll also get some unwanted labeling.

  • Added the ability to search Apple’s Dictionary from the Study view popup menu and action sheet.

The first time you try this you’ll likely get “No definition found.” You’ll need to tap “Manage” and then download the Japanese dictionaries.

The next time you try it you’ll actually get some results. The two different dictionaries actually offer a fairly good amount of information for most entries:


IMPORTANT – This currently seems to be bugged and you might have to turn on the Japanese dictionaries every time you want to use the feature after relaunching the app. You won’t have to actually re-download the dictionaries; just tap to turn them on again. Setting your device’s language to Japanese might fix this problem. If this bothers you, you can submit feedback to Apple about it. The more people complain, the more likely it is to be fixed.

  • Added the ability to do a Google image search (explicit filter enabled) from the Study view action sheet.

  • Fixed sorting cards by creation date for study sessions.
  • Tweaked card sorting by difficulty.
  • Tweaked study date normalizing.

I think these are self-explanatory enough and not really so apparent to the average user but they should make things a bit better for those that use these features.

  • Added a slight margin to the Example view text views.
  • Added a check to prevent accidentally deleting translation examples if you hit done or back before inputting a Japanese entry.

If you accidentally leave the Example view before entering a Japanese entry the English entry will just get copied and still be saved.

The next update will coincide with iOS 8 and might include a new basic UI. I’m not really sure how much I’ll have time to do but I’ll have a better idea once I’m able to get into the new APIs and see how much work it will take. I’ll keep you posted on how things are going. Until next time…

Happy studies!

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Version 2.1.2 Released

Version 2.1.2 is now available.

  • Implemented a share feature that allows users to share cards via URLs

You can now share cards on Facebook, Twitter, Message, etc. via a short URL:

Tapping on said short URL on your iOS device with kanji Flow installed will open the app and give you the option to import it. Try it yourself:

kanji Flow Word of the Day: http://is.gd/uX97tJ
花より団子 [はなよりだんご]
dumplings rather than flowers, interest in the practical over aesthetics

I’ll try to share some topically relevant words every once in a while.

  • Updated to support imiwa? 4.0

I’ll make separate post regarding updates for imiwa? 4 once it’s available.

  • Increased iCloud syncing stability

Hopefully, you won’t get document errors after reinstalling or updating anymore.

  • On iPad, the Card Details popover will always appear near the bottom of the Edit view which should prevent strange keyboard behavior and crashes

I think that’s pretty clear.

  • Other minor bug fixes and performance improvements

And still more to come. The next major feature should be Anki importing and exporting. Be sure to rate the app on the App Store if you like the new version.

Happy studies!

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Version 2.1.1 Released – iCloud

Version 2.1.1 is now available

  • This version supports iCloud file syncing.

I hope you’ll read through this if you intend to use iCloud. If you do not have multiple devices or if you don’t need to sync your files across your devices, you should select ‘No’ when prompted after upgrading:

If you accidentally turn it on, you can find an option to turn it back off at the top of the Settings app:

If you do decide to use it, your files will sync into the cloud and will reappear once they are ready for use:

You’ll only see the “Syncing with iCloud” message the first time you turn it on (or if you turn it off and then back on again). After that, the only indication you’ll get of iCloud activity is the small Network Activity indicator on the Status Bar.

It takes a bit of time to sync up the data when you start up the app on another device, so give it a few seconds to do so. If you don’t, you’ll end up with conflicts.

If you’re an experienced iPhone or iPad user, you know that iCloud usually works pretty well but, like all cloud services, has some quirks. The most important thing to remember is that iCloud only works as fast as your network connection will allow.

If your connection is bad or slow, file syncing and opening will be slow as well. Even if your connection seems good (But I got six bars!?) or fast (YouTube’s working!?) there could still be a problem with the iCloud server that you’re currently connected to or you could just be hitting a bad router somewhere on the internet that’s dropping all your data packets.

So, if you seem to be getting stuck when you tap on a file to open it or when you try to start a study session, restart the app (double tap the home button and swipe up and away), try again later, or just turn iCloud off.

If you get keep getting errors when you try to open your files, there could be a problem with your iCloud metadata. The best way to fix that is with a device restart: Hold down the home button and the power button on top of your device until you see the Apple logo appear.

As long as your connection is stable, you really shouldn’t have any problems. Just try to avoid doing things such as renaming a file that’s already open on another device. If you do something like that, you’ll probably get a conflict warning. Go back to your Lesson List to resolve the issue.

As always, please let me know if you experience any trouble; especially any crashes.

  • A new sorting option is available as well:

New cards (cards that haven’t been tested yet) will always appear at the top of the Edit view. Tested cards will appear in order of creation, oldest first, by default. Use this option to reverse that.

  • Tapping the Edit tab while on the Edit view will to auto-scroll to the bottom of the table.

You can also auto-scroll to the top by tapping the Status Bar (this works in pretty much every iOS app).

Happy Studies!

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Version 2.1.0 Released

Version 2.1.0 is available now. When you load up the new version, you’ll notice that your old files are in a section called Local Files:

Tapping on a file will copy and convert it to the new document format and place it in My Documents:

You’ll have the option to Delete or Keep the original file. You’ll probably just want to delete it unless you want to keep it around for testing or to back it up from iTunes later. Just keep tapping on all of your files to convert them:

The only other difference you might notice is the slight delay after tapping on a document to select it for studying:

This is just the time it takes for the document to open. This slight delay will ensure that your data is safe and stable once you (optionally) start using iCloud in the next version. After that, everything is the same as it’s always been:

Be sure to let me know what you think of the new version; especially if you notice any problems. The next update with iCloud enabled should also be available soon.

Happy Studies!

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Version 2.0.1 Released

Apple helped me out with an expedited review to fix the New Lesson bug in the last version. You can now create new lessons. I really appreciate everyone that got back to me quickly to let me know about the problem so I could get it fixed asap.

I also added in new card shuffling as requested by Mugen89k. You’ll get an alert when you open the new version to turn on the option if you so desire. The default behavior is to leave it off and I recommend that most users do leave it off so that you can edit your new cards in order during study sessions. You can change the option at any time via the Settings app.

I also tweaked card sorting so that cards always appear in order of creation on the Edit view. I think it was kind of silly and annoying for them to be shuffled there. Memorized cards will continue to be shuffled during study sessions unless you choose a different sorting option yourself.

As always, please let me know if you notice anything strange or would like me to add something to the next version of the app.

Happy Studies!

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Version 2.0.0 Released

It is out. Please update and try it. Be sure to let me know if there are any issues; especially for iPad users. I’m keenly interested in knowing if performance is okay on retina iPads; that’s the only device that I wasn’t able to test on myself.

I also got a new App Store review recently. Thanks Mugen89k. You mentioned that the cards aren’t shuffled and appear in the order you added them. Actually, only new cards are presented in order. Tested cards are shuffled by default but there’s a setting that allows you to have them sorted by creation date if you so desire. I never thought that someone might also want new cards to be randomized. I’ll add an option for that and release an update as soon as possible. Expect it by next week, perhaps. Just for you Mugen89k.

That’s right. If you want something in the app, all you have to do is ask and I’ll probably add it for you. As long as it’s sensible. New card shuffling, yes. Unicorns…probably not.

Happy Studies!

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Version 1.1.2 Released

Version 1.1.2 is available now. Actually, this update was mostly just for me. I cleaned up a lot of the code and tweaked how the font cache is managed a bit. However, I did want to add something that users would actually notice so I put in an option to automatically synchronize your card study dates when you tap the Study tab. You’ll have the option to turn this on or off the first time you launch the new version and you can change it later in the Settings app.

I guess I’m gonna start working on artwork for an iPad native retina version. It’ll probably take a while to finish up but hopefully I’ll have it done sometime this summer. Please let me know if you’d like to see any changes or additions to the app during the meantime.

Happy Studies!

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Version 1.1.1 Released

Version 1.1.1 was released today. It’s just a small update mostly to fix a bug but I did also add one small feature. I fixed a crash that would occur if you attempted to delete cards that had examples. I also added the ability to toggle an example’s hint (translation) from the Study Session long-press pop up menu. Tapping the left arrow on the menu will allow you to switch to the hint. This will allow you to have speech synthesis speak the hint just in case you’d like to do that for any reason.

Version 1.1.2 is also ready and currently waiting for review. This version adds an auto-sync option when starting study sessions. I’ll update again next week once it’s ready.

Happy Studies!