Desktop version?
- Thread starter 大卫
- Start date
tomasilheu
Member
Any update on the public beta? I would love to test it 
No; to be honest we'd rather not release it until we have something that's pretty polished, since there's not much point in having people beta test something with a lot of obvious bugs we already know about. (would waste users' time filing reports and our time checking them against our bug database)
Will 4.0 have iOS 13 as a minimum system requirement?
Depends on when it's ready and on how quickly Apple addresses the bugs in iOS 13. Honestly the extreme bugginess of the first few iOS 13 versions has more *more* inclined to require it if possible, since that way we can require 13.1 or 13.2 or whatever the first non-terrible version of it is and not be stuck supporting the in-between versions of iOS 13 too.
erwinhero
Member
Any movement on the macOS Project Catalyst port now that Catalina has been released? Thank you.
Mezzodelcammin
Member
What about now with MacOS Catalina and Project Catalyst? Does that make the port to the desktop easier?
I know this thread is pretty old, considering it has been a full year. However, there are NO other Chinese dictionaries to date that I am aware of on PC, and trust me, there are a lot of college students (like myself) out there who would gladly pay for a desktop version of the app. I have already paid for the same dictionary packs on both android and ios because I love and support Pleco wholeheartedly (in the meantime, NOX and BlueStacks just don't work well on my PC, especially since they don't have pen support, so instead I typically have my iPhone and my iPad nearby whenever studying Chinese).
Just out of curiosity, what kind of money are we talking about to get Pleco running on PC?
Just out of curiosity, what kind of money are we talking about to get Pleco running on PC?
Until 4.0 is finished on both iOS and Android we don't have the available staff time to do a PC port, and there's not really any amount of money that would cause us to reorder our priorities to get a PC port of 3.x out before that. Mac port can happen sooner since the work on that can happen in conjunction with work on 4.0 for iOS, but a PC port is a totally new thing.
I don't know much we'd ask for if we decided to crowdfund a PC port - quite a lot, I'd think; I remain highly skeptical of the commercial potential for a PC version of Pleco, so we'd have to make enough money to not only cover the cost of the initial port (with the inevitable delays / complications) but also let us maintain it for a while even if post-release sales proved disappointing.
I don't know much we'd ask for if we decided to crowdfund a PC port - quite a lot, I'd think; I remain highly skeptical of the commercial potential for a PC version of Pleco, so we'd have to make enough money to not only cover the cost of the initial port (with the inevitable delays / complications) but also let us maintain it for a while even if post-release sales proved disappointing.
If/when you do decide to do it, I'm not sure how feasible it would be, or how this might affect things, but just throwing it out there that it would be awesome if it was available through Microsoft Store. This would make it more accessible to more PCs. Also, you could have someone reach out to universities with dedicated Chinese programs and see if they would be willing to help fund the project. Brigham Young University is a good one, since there are tons of returned Chinese speaking missionaries and most, if not all that I met, use Pleco. But I completely understand the hesitation. After all, profit margins are an important part of business, and if it's a flop, well, that's a waste of resources.
One other idea I had is that you could ask users directly via the apps whether they would be interested in a desktop version and how much they would be willing to pay for it. Can you tell I want this? I would just switch to Mac when the 4.0 comes out, but they have no touchscreen/pen option other than iPad and that option does NOT work for me.
We might consider listing through the Microsoft Store, but our tentative plan for 4.0 / desktop releases is to start marking up app store prices to cover their commissions, so if the base price of the Professional Bundle on desktops remains $60 you'd likely be paying an extra ~$25 or so for the privilege of getting it through the Microsoft Store instead of from our website.
Surveys for purchase intent are... iffy, plus I hate to annoy users with something like that; a Kickstarter seems like a better solution since people have to actually commit real money rather than just saying they might hypothetically be interested.
Surveys for purchase intent are... iffy, plus I hate to annoy users with something like that; a Kickstarter seems like a better solution since people have to actually commit real money rather than just saying they might hypothetically be interested.
My desire to have Pleco on desktop was long motivated by the excellent reader function and text to speech, which helps build a good habit of reasonable pacing in "reading"/absorbing slightly challenging articles.
I learned that newer versions of Microsoft Word have a built-in text to speech reader that is quite competent. In a document, at the top ribbon go to Review -> Speech -> Read Aloud. It is certainly imperfect compared to Pleco, but serves as a decent desktop alternative for the time being.
I learned that newer versions of Microsoft Word have a built-in text to speech reader that is quite competent. In a document, at the top ribbon go to Review -> Speech -> Read Aloud. It is certainly imperfect compared to Pleco, but serves as a decent desktop alternative for the time being.
Marzipan / Catalyst don't really work well unless you update your app to use standard UI controls + use them in a modern way, which is something we're doing for Pleco 4.0. So we're planning to release a Mac version with (or shortly after) that but don't plan to try to get the existing app working on Mac.
sonojackson
Member
I saw in the Windows 11 announcement that Android apps will soon be available on Windows via the Amazon app store. I just had a quick look in the Amazon store but can't see Pleco listed anywhere. Is this something that might be explored in the future? I'm still holding out hope for Pleco on Windows one day!
We don't list on Amazon, but actually that's not necessary; per this tweet from Miguel de Icaza at Microsoft, you'll be able to load APKs on Windows without the Amazon AppStore as well, and we already offer Pleco as a downloadable APK.
Honestly I think the Amazon integration may have a lot to do with the fact that while the Amazon store is kind of a ghost town in general, by virtue of being the primary app store for Amazon's Fire tablets it does have a lot of tablet-optimized apps (which should therefore scale well to large screens).
Honestly I think the Amazon integration may have a lot to do with the fact that while the Amazon store is kind of a ghost town in general, by virtue of being the primary app store for Amazon's Fire tablets it does have a lot of tablet-optimized apps (which should therefore scale well to large screens).
Last edited:
sonojackson
Member
Oh wow - that's such good news, I can't wait for this Windows update to roll out! I've been following any developments with Pleco on desktop closely so this is an amazing step! Regarding the Amazon store - that makes sense. I had wondered a bit about the logic behind it but I suppose also there may have been some difficulties with Play Services and certification if they'd tried to use the Play Store.
Thanks so much for all your work on Pleco - one of my absolute favourite apps! Looking forward to hopefully having the chance to play with it on Windows soon!