Version 2.2.1 Released

This was actually out yesterday but I was a bit behind and didn’t have time to do the notes, sorry. Anyway:

  • Example sentences from Tatoeba.org

You can now access a database of example sentences right on the Examples view. Move them into your examples list with a single-tap if you want to view them on-card during study sessions. I only chose to import the smaller database with examples for common words to keep the size down. Also, this won’t show word examples for individual kanji. That would actually require a dictionary database which would probably be way too big so you’ll still need to go to imiwa? for words.

  • Easier importing with automatic duplicate checking

You no longer have to choose the type of import and dupe checking will occur immediately giving you the option to import everything or just the new stuff.

  • Tweaked imports from imiwa?’s Open In… feature
  • Tweaked new card sorting
  • Tweaked card resetting

The tweaks probably won’t be noticeable to most but they should make things a bit better.

  • Fixed Edit view searching
  • Fixed CSV exporting via e-mail
  • Fixed a bug that would sometimes cause examples to show the wrong translation

Searching and CSV exporting were basically totally broken; they work now. The translation hint bug was only a bit annoying but shouldn’t be a problem anymore.

In the next version I’m going to see if I can get those examples from the database I added to optionally show up automatically if you haven’t added any of your own yet.

I’m also planning to try release some updated Youtube videos about how to use kanji Flow, Reviewing the Kanji, and imiwa? most efficiently.

Let me know if there’s anything else you’d like to see or if you notice any problems.

Happy studies!

Version 2.2.0 Released

The new version should be available soon.

  • No more ads

‘Nuff said.

  • Lesson sharing lets you share your cards and download lessons made by other users

This is a totally new feature making use of a totally new API so it’s quite possible that there will be some issues.  I’ll be monitoring this closely and will try to push out a fixes quickly if anything goes wrong.

You’ll need to make an account in order to access this website but it has a lot of very helpful info if you’re using mnemonics to memorize new kanji. And if you’re not using mnemonics, you really should give it a try; I think it’s much easier than the stroke-by-stroke method. You can search the site directly from the Study view pop-up menu and find a good story to copy and import or use them as inspiration to make up your own story.

 

  • Review missed and passed cards when ending Study Sessions early

  • Copy cards’ examples to the clipboard

This works from the Edit view and during study sessions. If you’re planning to re-import these as cards in a different lesson you should select “imiwa entries” from the import menu.

  • Initial iCloud syncing is now even more stable

It might be just a bit slower now but that seems to help fix some of the occasional crashes.

  • Other minor bug fixes and performance enhancements

I’ve already found a few minor issues that I’d like to fix in the next version but please be sure to let me know if you notice anything strange. The next version’s major new feature will be to have an example database available directly within the app and to optionally display a random example automatically if you haven’t added your own examples. I’m probably going to implement this as an In-App Purchase. This is so that users that don’t need it don’t have to worry about the extra space that an example database will take up and Apple now hosts downloadable IAP content meaning I won’t have to worry about serving it myself. I’m not sure if I’m actually going to charge anything for it or not but it’ll probably be free.

Please let me know if you have any other ideas for new features.

Happy studies!

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!

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!

Version 1.07 Released

Version 1.07 was released today. I’m pretty happy with the stability and functionality of the app at this point so I think I’m going to try and market it a bit more. I’ve made some social networking pages for the app and I’ve added links to the About screen as well as a direct link to rate or write a review for the app on the App Store. If you like the app be sure to like/follow/rate or review it to help get the word out and get more people using it.

This version features one fix and a few tweaks. First, the app would sometimes crash when adding a single new example to a new card and then trying to cycle through the examples during a study session. These crashes won’t happen anymore. I also messed around with how new cards are sorted. First of all, new cards will respect the total max number of cards set in the Settings app. Before, you would get the max total plus new cards which wasn’t really sensible. Also, new cards that have been swiped left as incorrect but not yet memorized will still count as new cards and will be presented in study sessions before completely untested cards. Additionally, cards will be sorted by difficulty and then randomized. This will ensure that you’re getting your most difficult cards even if you’ve limited the total number of cards you have per study session.

If any of that doesn’t make sense to you, don’t worry about it. Most users probably won’t really notice the difference but I do think it’ll enhance how quickly and completely you can memorize kanji and words even if you have a limited amount of time to study each day.

Happy Studies!