Pleco for Android 3.1 Beta 1

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
Here's the first beta of Pleco 3.1 for Android:

http://cdn.pleco.com/androidapps/plecodroid-140424-310b1.apk

The current minimum system requirement for this is Android 4.0; we could end up raising it to 4.1 or lowering it to 2.3, haven't completely decided about that yet. (there isn't much in here that actually requires 4.0 now, but supporting fewer Android versions will greatly simplify future development, and a major update is the best time to make a change in that area)

This will install in place of your existing copy, so make sure to back up your flashcards / user dictionaries first in case you encounter any problems.

The interface / options / etc are now quite similar to our iOS app, so the best place to look for help with using this is the iOS instruction manual at:

pleco.com/ipmanual

A couple of Android-specific points:
  • We've now added support for the Samsung S-Pen and for Samsung Multi-Window mode. For the former, this means that you can now press the button on your pen to clear the handwriting input box, or press it again when the box is already clear to backspace, replacing the two-finger tap gesture. For the latter, not only will Pleco open in multi-window mode, but if you copy a piece of text to the clipboard in the other window while Pleco is open to its dictionary search or clipboard reader screen, it'll automatically replace the current search or clipboard reader text with whatever you copied.
  • We have a new version of our handwriting recognizer ready to launch and we're trying to decide how to handle upgrades; we're definitely going to give it for free to anybody who bought a bundle or migrated a license from another platform, but we're not sure yet whether it adds enough value to justify charging people who used our free handwriting promotion to upgrade. (they'll be able to keep using the old recognizer regardless) So we'd like to get some user feedback on whether or not the accuracy improvement compared to our old recognizer is noticeable.

    If you go into the Free section of the Add-ons tab you'll see a download link for the new recognizer; install it from there and you'll a list of the characters that it comes up with appear at the bottom of the handwriting box just above the ones that the old recognizer does. They're not tappable - this is just a demo - but we've tried to match them up in font / size / etc so that they're easy to compare. So please try it out and let us know whether it makes a noticeable difference in accuracy.

    (it also supports twice as many characters as the old recognizer did, so it's a big upgrade for that reason alone, but we've limited it to just the set from the old one for the purposes of this accuracy test)
  • By default, Pleco will now do everything in a single activity / task, mirroring our interface on iOS. If you prefer that the dictionary / flashcard / reader / OCR sections have their own separate tasks, there's an option in Settings / Miscellaneous to enable that. If you use that option, please let us know that you're using it (so that we know to keep working on it) and let us know any problems you encounter with it, especially in the areas of task switching ("sharing" files with Pleco, switching between sections through means other than the sidebar (magnifying glass button, e.g.), etc).
  • We've brought over most of our iOS type design to Android, including our lovely new fonts. We've added some code that should catch most potential font-related errors and revert to the old system fonts if it encounters one, but if you experience any weird text rendering behavior or if you simply find the new fonts unreadable, please let us know (and be sure to include your device / firmware version). As before, you can install custom fonts through Settings, though this will probably cause weird display in a few areas (let us know if / where it does).
  • Two minor new options not yet out on iOS that we'd love some feedback on: tone coloring of pinyin and of example sentences (enable in Settings / Colors) and search for Cantonese in Yale instead of Jyutping romanization (enable in Settings / Languages). We've also heavily retooled the character breakdown feature in CHARS since the last iOS update and would appreciate feedback on that as well.
  • Lots of options removed here, and most of them probably aren't coming back. We're no longer supporting custom color schemes for anything except tone colors - to be honest, on Android they're simply too much work - and have also scaled back the customizability of other parts of the UI to some extent. If there's a particular missing option that makes Pleco totally unworkable for you, let us know and we'll hopefully be able to suggest a fix - we've managed to address nearly all of the complaints we've had so far about the similar paring-back of settings on iOS through a combination of workflow changes and new options.
  • Standard Android tap-hold selection finally works (almost) everywhere.
  • With the sidebar open, you'll see two icons at the top right corner of the screen - these will let you instantly toggle Night Mode and simplified/traditional without having to go into Settings.
  • If you're using Android 4.4, we now put up a prompt on first run asking which SD card you'd like to install Pleco to; if you have more than one, we'd appreciate it if you'd try a delete and reinstall (rather than just an upgrade), select something other than the default card and let us know whether files install to that correctly.
Areas we're still working on:
  • Nicer toolbar icons (most of them still aren't xxhdpi and some of them look too big relative to others)
  • Better use of the ActionBar (some screens have needlessly stacked toolbars now)
  • File chooser (going to replace this with a different one, we think, at least for opening files)
  • Text margins (bit too narrow in several places)
Feedback of any kind is welcome, especially bug reports and device-specific problems (wacky screen layouts, oddly sized buttons / fonts, etc).
 

neilperks

进士
Hi Mike,

VERY initial impressions without any deep digging......yet:).

Love the new interface, but need some time to get used to it, looks streets ahead of the old one.

A couple of things I noticed.

Have installed on my HTC one m8 and Galaxy Note 8.0 and it seems a bit laggy, especially when scrolling lists and when the side bar retracts. The latter retracts half way, stutters for a moment before fully retracting.

Also using the back key from a root menu keeps dumping me back to the desktop. Not a problem but catches me every time as I can't remember which level I'm in. I think it used to take me back to the dictionary search screen in the old version so you always had a reference. As I said not an issue just a noticeable change. Need to get used to it :)

I notice their is also a Thesaurus ?, how does this work ?

Need to dig deeper now:), but very impressive, great work.

Cheers

Neil
 

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
Thanks!

Is it laggy on both devices? It's actually very smooth on an HTC One m7 here, so I'd be surprised to hear it's working less well on the m8. We may add an option to disable subpixel text smoothing, since on xxhdpi devices it starts to become unnecessary (the pixels being so small) and it might help with lag.

The back button we're still debating what to do with - Google's own guidelines say that in a navigation drawer pattern, a system back at the top level should take you back to the previous app or home screen, and as they've adopted navigation drawer in quite a few of their own apps (apps which the vast majority of Android users are running) I'd be inclined to think that in most cases following those guidelines will ensure consistency with what people are used to, but at the same time, very few other apps have as many top-level sections as we do so there may be something to be said for a little innovation here.

If you enable the option in Settings / Miscellaneous to split the major Pleco sections into separate tasks, does that get things working in more of the way you'd expect as far as the back button goes?

Thesaurus results will show up at the top of WORDS if you've downloaded it and if it has data for the current word - very very experimental at the moment, but we've got some early data and we wanted to share it in some fashion at least.
 

neilperks

进士
Yes it's the same on both devices; the Galaxy Note 8.0 has a custom ROM with 4.4.2 on it, so maybe you can ignore that (although it's fast on other software). The HTC One m8 is fresh out of the box and pretty fast so not sure what's going on there. Both have all the data on the ext SD card (I remember the m7 didn't have an SD slot) if that makes any difference.

The main areas where it is noticeable is when it's scrolling list of results in the dictionary, just a little bit jerky when scrolling (not huge, but noticeable). With the sidebar it's ok if you just open the sidebar then just close it, but if you switch to another function then it retracts half way, sticks for half a second, then retracts fully once the new function is opened.

The back button is no big deal, just a different way of doing things which keeps catching me out :D. I much prefer the new interface, so I'll persevere.

OK will try out the thesaurus, thanks.

Cheers

Neil
 

Taichi

榜眼
Great update! Here are problems I experienced so far. FYI, I upgraded pleco instead of reinstalling it. I'm going to reinstall it later to see if the bugs goes away.

It's a little bit laggy on Xperia Z Ultra (4.4.2) as well. Launching Pleco, switching between setting/search/flashcard takes 0.5~1 seconds. I don't see much lag when scrolling results.

When I tap on the play icon, it plays syllable-by-syllable audio not the extended audio. If I turn off the syllable-by-syllable audio on setting, Pleco crashes when play.

Play example sentences crashes Pleco. TTS problem?.

Tapping on "File reader" crashes Pleco.
 

Taichi

榜眼
Also, I found a small ui glitch on xperia z ultra (4.4.2). Attaching a screenshot.
 

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Js

Member
pleco crashes when i try to start a flashcard test. (i use android 4.1.2)

see attached alogcat
 

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neilperks

进士
Further update.

1. Tried the delete and new install on my HTC. Chose the SD card, it then created the directories on the SD card, but installed everything on the phone !!! File storage location in settings is set to "system default (usually external)".

2. Also get the crash when playing audio sample sentences as Taichi did, although the individual characters play ok. Haven't installed the extended voices yet as it's evening here in China and the overseas internet is pretty useless this time of day (VPN or not). Mornings usually better so will download tomorrow.

3. Thesaurus is really neat, I like that; my wife will love it, she uses Pleco to help improve her English :D

4. After reinstall, the lags for lists (not that bad, just not smooth) and sidebar (this really is the bad one; for me anyway) are still there as mentioned previously

5. File reader works ok on the HTC (so far....).

6. Find the handwriting recogniser better; some characters such as "pan 潘 " I could never, ever, get to recognise, but got it first time with the new software, or else my handwriting has dramatically improved (highly unlikely)

Hope this helps, I'll try and dig some more
 

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
@neilperks - any particular sections where the sidebar halt is more noticeable? Slow list result scrolling is definitely something that disabling sub pixel rendering should fix - honestly I think we went a little too crazy with it, even on iOS we only use subpixel text in definitions and not in result lists.

@Taichi - could you send some crash logs from TTS and File Reader? "Take bug report" in Settings / Developer Options should generate those. (we'd like to issue a beta on Google Play and collect them automatically, but their crash reporting function is currently broken - perfect timing) Installing ADB on your desktop and running "adb logcat" after a crash would also work.

@Js - there's actually nothing in here about the crash; could you please run aLogcat again, then run Pleco and get it to crash, then send the results?

@neilperks again - very odd about the text-to-speech crashing, it works perfectly here. Are you using Hui and Lulu or just one or the other?

With handwriting, did you actually install the new handwriting recognizer test version? (Add-ons / Free) The results wouldn't show up in the regular box, they'd appear in another line of characters above it.
 

Lijie

秀才
I'm kind of on the verge of crying because it's finally here!!
I'll do my best to report bugs with the spen if there are any.
Edit:Noticed the button on the top left next to the fish crashes the app.
Also I find it weird that pressing back on the settings or add on tab closes the app and doesn't take you back to the main screen.(resolved by dividing the apps or whatever ) Also didn't see multi tab option.
Screenshot_2014-04-26-00-15-28.png

note 10.1
Edit 2 pleco still doesn't recognize 發。。。(it always gives me 癹even though I write it according to the stroke order ) I always need to write the 簡體。ok... the new recognizer does!
Edit 1000
notice how a sentence without 沐浴appears in the sentence section also what are those cubes?
 

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This will take a bit getting used to. (After the day of use, I'm used to it, expect the back button).

I’m on a stock HTC One (M7) 4.4.2, from upgrade I experience a lot lag. Will try a clean install and see if that changes anything. After a clean Install: The performance has improved but is still laggy. Issues that have been resolved after a clean install and been mentioned below.

Back Button:
The back button keeps taking me back to the desktop. If I’m in settings, hit the back button, I go to the desktop, when I open Pleco again I’m still in settings. I checked the “split the major Pleco sections” that seemed to get it back to the old way. It didn’t take me back from History, but all others that I tested. The “split the major Pleco sections” is nice since it brings the Back button function back to working how we are used to, but I don’t like the actual splitting of Pleco. When I double tap the home button I like just have to one app to close.
One thing I did notice is that if I’m in settings, hit the back button, I’m taken back to “search” but in the menu "Settings" is still selected.

Flashcards:
When doing a “Review Only” test, and you hit the back button, you get brought back to the desktop. I would be nice to be like the old version, when you hit the back button it prompts you, or as I have it set, saves your current test in progress. Not having to open the side menu, scroll down and click new test would be nice.
(Img 4) Again in a test and you rotate the device, the back, edit and test buttons become, Ba, Edi, and Te, plenty of screen space with the gray bar all the way across the bottom of the screen.

Cosmetics:
Flashcards – (Img 5) In the fill-in-the-blanks, Prompt for Characters. Down in the lower left, I can see the Blue bar from the Back, Edit, Test buttons. Also right above the area that displaces the characters choices, and between the Blue handwriting area, you can see part of the Edit word behind. Maybe just hide everything behind until you click done, or are done with you character choice.
Not sure if this belongs here or under bugs. (Img 6, 7) But during the “Tone Practice” test, the Ma’s just look bad, see picture below.
Handwriting – (Img 1, 2, 3) On the handwriting screen at the bottom left below the character choice area I get a small black bar. Sometimes it flashed on and off; sometimes it’s not there at all. In settings under Character Sets I have only “Common Traditional”, “Rear Traditional”, “Use full screen” and “Second chards on tap” selected. So when I write 你, it gives me 們, 好, and 得the a black bar, again sometimes its white. Also when selecting the word I want, you get a blue box that appears when you are pressing on the screen, that doesn’t cover the whole word. This was there in the old version also.
Very nice to get Zhuyin and pinyin at the same time, but the ZY, and PY might not be needed.

Bugs:
CHARS– Unfortunately, Pleco has Stopped. Pleco crashes on single words like 給, 冷; but not on words with two characters like車庫, 檯燈. * Fixed with Clean install.
Radicals – None * Fixed with Clean install.
Sents – None * Fixed with Clean install.
File Reader – Unfortunately, Pleco has Stopped. * Fixed with Clean install.
Import/Export – Unfortunately, Pleco has Stopped. * Fixed with Clean install.
Handwriting – When in handwriting, I search for a phrase say 你好, click done it will bring up the list. If the device then gets rotated it brings me back to the handwriting section. Again click done and repeat.
Handwriting – (Img 1)With the “Enhanced Handwritting Test” installed I get a weird double row of characters. One is the normal row, then right above that, over the top of “tap with two fingers…” I get another row. This row in not selectable and displays slightly different set of characters.
Flashcards – (Img 8, 9) This is similar to a bug I had before. After I moved on from that set of cards I was working on I never got that same error again. When I start a “Stroke Order” test, I just get a blank screen, even after I click check answer, the next chard displays properly. I stopped the test and started over with the same error. On the third trial, it happened for the first 4 cards, just blanks screens.

1)2014-04-25 05.17.13.png 2)2014-04-25 10.47.52.png 3)2014-04-25 15.48.59.png 4)2014-04-25 13.09.03.png 5)2014-04-25 13.47.42.png 6)2014-04-25 13.53.06.png 7)2014-04-25 13.55.41.png 8)2014-04-25 13.58.08.png 9)2014-04-25 13.58.14.png

Thanks for the Nice update Pleco team.
 
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ckatt

状元
Installed it on my Asus tf101 today. looks great but aint running so well. I can start a flash card test either and i crashed in a few other places as well. i don't have alogcat installed on the tf101 yet, so no crash logs to send yet. sorry. ill get to that tomorrow.
 

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
@Lijie - strange about that 沐 search. Thanks for the crash note with Edit Entry. The boxes suggest that your custom font is missing a character - which font are you using?

@ohlordamen - Thanks for all the bug reports.

So basically you'd like the back button to roll back all of your section navigations since you last entered the app?

The idea with flashcards now is that your session is saved transparently regardless of what you do - no more need to configure it to save. So the test is saving when you go back, even if not explicitly, and "continue test" should be available the next time you reopen Pleco.

The double bar is exactly what the enhanced recognizer is supposed to do, actually - we're testing it without settling on how we're going to sell it, so everybody can see results from it (and compare them to what you'd normally get) but it can't actually be used yet.
 

Jay Kruer

Member
Just experienced a bug where the arrows and flashcard adding buttons overlap the search bar when, if I remember correctly, viewing a definition in landscape then exiting back to search while at the same time turning the phone to portrait. I have a screenshot (attached), however I was unfortunately unable to capture a logcat nor can I reproduce the issue.

Quite interestingly, the crash dramatically increased scrolling performance with the side menu on my HTC M8. Strange.
 

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neilperks

进士
For the sidebar, basically what happens is this:

I click on the fish top left, the sidebar glides out smoothly, looks great no problem. I select another function on the sidebar (doesn't matter which one), the sidebar retracts smoothly halfway then sticks. The function which I've selected starts up, once it has started the sidebar then retracts fully. Maybe it's an m8 problem as Jay Kruer seems to hint at something similar (or maybe not ;))

For the text to speech I'm just using Hui.

For the handwriting I installed the new test version so have the 2 rows at the bottom of the screen. Basically the new version picked up my writing immediately (top row), whereas the old still refused to find certain characters. Seemed much better to me from my limited test.

Still not sure why the clean install used the phone when I specifically chose the sd card. Anyway loads of room on my new phone so will just leave there.

Cheers

Neil
 

neilperks

进士
Info update:

Finally got the extended audio installed, still the same crashes when playing a sample sentence within a definition. It does play the headwords ok, but doesn't use extended audio, just the basic character by character voice, which I think someone said previously.
 

Shun

状元
I installed Pleco 2.4 on Android-x86 inside VMware Player, which worked great, but after installing 3.1b1 on top, I get the "Unfortunately, Pleco has stopped." message right after opening the app. I uninstalled and re-installed 3.1b1 to no avail. Is this how I do a clean install? Thanks.

vmware android.PNG
 
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alex_hk90

状元

Firstly I just want to say thank you for this - the new interface looks beautiful on my Sony Xperia Z1 Compact (running KitKat 4.4.2). :)

  • If you're using Android 4.4, we now put up a prompt on first run asking which SD card you'd like to install Pleco to; if you have more than one, we'd appreciate it if you'd try a delete and reinstall (rather than just an upgrade), select something other than the default card and let us know whether files install to that correctly.

On first run I get an option of either:
- Volume 0 (the internal storage): this shows as a virtual SD card and is accessible from any of the following (and probably some other locations as well):
/storage/emulated/0
/storage/sdcard0
/mnt/sdcard
/sdcard
- Volume 1 (the external removable SD card): this is mounted at the following locations (and probably more):
/storage/removable/sdcard1
/storage/sdcard1
/mnt/media_rw/sdcard1
/sdcard1

Firstly I tried Volume 0, which seemed to work as expected. Then I uninstalled and tried Volume 1. This also seemed to install to Volume 0, and in the Pleco settings under Miscellaneous (which shows up with a title of 'Colors', but that's an aside) - File Locations, the "File storage location" is set to "System Default (usually external)" with the "Custom location" showing as "/mnt/sdcard/Android/data/com.pleco.chinesesystem/files" (i.e. on Volume 0 rather than Volume 1 that I chose on first run).

Generally I also feel it is a bit laggy compared to the previous versions - not inhibitively but sometimes noticeable.

Thanks again and hope some of this is helpful. :)
 

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
@Jay Kruer - we've seen this one a few times too; still trying to get to the bottom of it (has to do with the order in which the action bar is repopulated with items). Which crash are you referring to that increased scrolling performance?

@neilperks - glad the handwriting is an improvement. Audio crash we think we've gotten to the bottom of now - the callback from the native-code TTS system can't consistently find the bit of Java code it's supposed to call back to to update on the status of TTS. (we actually have a cool new highlight-the-currently-spoken-word feature now but none of you can see it because of this crash)

@afritzse - not sure about that one - if you send a crash log we can take a look, but it may be beyond what we can feasibly fix if it relates to buggy code in a third-party library (since x86 support isn't something that all of our partners are obligated to provide).

@alex_hk90 - thanks - seems like this multi-volume system isn't working as reliably as we'd like yet.
 
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