iOS 9 launch and Pleco
- Thread starter dcarpent
- Start date
Two current issues which we're probably going to be submitting a patch for today:
1) The handwriting box doesn't respond very well to two-finger touches, due to a change in the way iOS 9 does tap detection; they work but you have to tap just right for it to catch.
2) The STHeiTiSC and STHeiTiTC fonts were removed - replaced by PingFang - but iOS gives us PingFang when we ask for those two fonts, which screws up the metrics in a few places (e.g. handwriting/radical choices). So if you're only satisfied with the iOS system Chinese font and not with any other fonts (not even with the free Source Han Sans ones in Add-ons), then you might want to wait on that update.
Also, the Lyrics Reader is broken but was broken in 8.4 as well (and pretty much irreversibly so), so that's not a new change, and the "back to" button for Skitter et al no longer works due to a change in iOS' URL handling protocols, but that doesn't matter because they've added a new system "back to" button at the top left corner of the screen when you launch another app from a URL. (so the functionality is still there thanks to that, just in a different place)
But that's pretty much it for iOS 9 issues we know about. Assuming we do submit the patch today there's a good chance it'll be approved by the end of the week since they seem to be coming thick and fast of late, but if you really can't bear to deal with 1) or 2) you might want to wait a few days.
1) The handwriting box doesn't respond very well to two-finger touches, due to a change in the way iOS 9 does tap detection; they work but you have to tap just right for it to catch.
2) The STHeiTiSC and STHeiTiTC fonts were removed - replaced by PingFang - but iOS gives us PingFang when we ask for those two fonts, which screws up the metrics in a few places (e.g. handwriting/radical choices). So if you're only satisfied with the iOS system Chinese font and not with any other fonts (not even with the free Source Han Sans ones in Add-ons), then you might want to wait on that update.
Also, the Lyrics Reader is broken but was broken in 8.4 as well (and pretty much irreversibly so), so that's not a new change, and the "back to" button for Skitter et al no longer works due to a change in iOS' URL handling protocols, but that doesn't matter because they've added a new system "back to" button at the top left corner of the screen when you launch another app from a URL. (so the functionality is still there thanks to that, just in a different place)
But that's pretty much it for iOS 9 issues we know about. Assuming we do submit the patch today there's a good chance it'll be approved by the end of the week since they seem to be coming thick and fast of late, but if you really can't bear to deal with 1) or 2) you might want to wait a few days.
Hi Mike,
Does this mean that it won't be possible to open MP3 files directly in the document reader?
Thank you
Tatarik - 晨星
举人
Thanks for clarifying Mike, really looking forward to this long-awaited feature !
Getting back to my earlier post and the question about the possibilities of the new iPad Pro, split screen and the Apple Pencil as a way of practicing writing characters, I want to report on my own experience, now that I finally have an Apple Pencil.
I used traditional white boards and markers for this for the first couple of years studying Chinese, then stopped, partly due to lack of time but also because of the bother of messing with white boards (which seem to be seldom white and always dirty) (and not happy with the alternative of wasting large amounts of paper).
Well, I know the iPad Pro/Apple Pencil is a high cost alternative, but with the right software it works very well. Some programs still suffer from noticeable latency with the pencil, but I've found that Procreate works very well. There is virtually no latency using the Pencil, Procreate includes a calligraphy pen, and many more brushes as well, plus the option of creating your own. It also-crucially--supports the new split screen mode. Not all programs do. Zen Brush does, but has very noticeable latency. Paper from FiftyThree has a beautiful pen and low latency, but doesn't support split screen. With Procreate at 3/4 screen and Pleco open in the sidebar who have have a model text to work from, access to the stoke animations within Pleco when needed, and a large canvas to write on. Procreate also has nice commands for clearing the canvas when you have filled it up, much faster (and clearer!) than wiping a whiteboard. The Apple Pencil feels like a pencil and is fun to write with. All in all, a virtually perfect way to practice writing characters. Though I'm not recommending that anyone run out and buy an iPad Pro and an Apple Pencil just for this, if you already have one or plan to get one for whatever reasons, definitely try this out. Procreate is $6, which in my opinion IS worth buying just for this, even if you don't need a full feature drawing program (PS I have no ties to this company; I just found it reviewed on the web and bought it, after being dissatisfied with Zen Brush, Paper and also Adobe's Sketch, all good programs in their own right, but not the best for this purpose). I think actually writing characters is very important, both in terms of learning characters well and also for appreciating the value of actually writing (as distinct from merely reading) characters in Chinese culture. But it can be a lot of bother and can be time consuming, and thus easy to avoid as a routine practice. This is, pedagogically speaking, a great option. It's still not a brush on paper, but perhaps the next best thing, at least when viewed more from the angle of learning rather than from the angle of art.
I used traditional white boards and markers for this for the first couple of years studying Chinese, then stopped, partly due to lack of time but also because of the bother of messing with white boards (which seem to be seldom white and always dirty) (and not happy with the alternative of wasting large amounts of paper).
Well, I know the iPad Pro/Apple Pencil is a high cost alternative, but with the right software it works very well. Some programs still suffer from noticeable latency with the pencil, but I've found that Procreate works very well. There is virtually no latency using the Pencil, Procreate includes a calligraphy pen, and many more brushes as well, plus the option of creating your own. It also-crucially--supports the new split screen mode. Not all programs do. Zen Brush does, but has very noticeable latency. Paper from FiftyThree has a beautiful pen and low latency, but doesn't support split screen. With Procreate at 3/4 screen and Pleco open in the sidebar who have have a model text to work from, access to the stoke animations within Pleco when needed, and a large canvas to write on. Procreate also has nice commands for clearing the canvas when you have filled it up, much faster (and clearer!) than wiping a whiteboard. The Apple Pencil feels like a pencil and is fun to write with. All in all, a virtually perfect way to practice writing characters. Though I'm not recommending that anyone run out and buy an iPad Pro and an Apple Pencil just for this, if you already have one or plan to get one for whatever reasons, definitely try this out. Procreate is $6, which in my opinion IS worth buying just for this, even if you don't need a full feature drawing program (PS I have no ties to this company; I just found it reviewed on the web and bought it, after being dissatisfied with Zen Brush, Paper and also Adobe's Sketch, all good programs in their own right, but not the best for this purpose). I think actually writing characters is very important, both in terms of learning characters well and also for appreciating the value of actually writing (as distinct from merely reading) characters in Chinese culture. But it can be a lot of bother and can be time consuming, and thus easy to avoid as a routine practice. This is, pedagogically speaking, a great option. It's still not a brush on paper, but perhaps the next best thing, at least when viewed more from the angle of learning rather than from the angle of art.
We'll consider more aggressive iPad Pro support if we see it show up more prominently in our sales numbers - as yet I'm not seeing enough people with them to justify the time investment, and frankly, as Apple have been demanding a lot from developers lately without giving a whole lot back, I'm not inclined to be the first to jump in the pool for a new form factor, at least not unless I see some meaningful improvements at WWDC (something to suggest that Apple is putting more thought into the iPad Pro than a blown-up iPhone OS + split-screen).
My main point was that Pleco just as it is at present works great for this purpose. You are supporting split-screen mode, which seems to me to be the main issue.
The main thing was finding the right supplemental tools, i.e., the Apple Pencil and Procreate. I suspect this would also work on the new iPad that supports true multitasking, unlike my old iPad Air, :-( But the large canvas on the iPad Pro is really nice.
The main thing was finding the right supplemental tools, i.e., the Apple Pencil and Procreate. I suspect this would also work on the new iPad that supports true multitasking, unlike my old iPad Air, :-( But the large canvas on the iPad Pro is really nice.