Feature suggestion: voice reader repeat mode / read aloud all flashcards

L

Logi

Member
Hello,

I am very happy with the functionality of IOS Pleco, and it is a great and extensive tool. But I believe it could support us even more if some features were added. During our daily commute, for example, driving a car. Or when running in the park. Or any other situation when you'd better focus on something else but your mobile.

I would very much like to play a reader textfile in an endless TTS loop. I would paste the text of my current lesson, and then have it read aloud over and over again on my way from and to office without having to interact with Pleco. Such a feature could be implemented by a slider "endless mode" in the settings/reader menu, triggering a 'read from beginning' command once the end of a textfile is reached.

Another great feature would be reading out aloud a complete set of flashcards of a test session without the requirement to press any button. Pleco would read one by one the headword, followed by a pause for your own recap, and then the definition. Just the way we are used to with standard audio language lessons. This could be achieved by adding a new test type 'rehearse all', which would operate similarly to the 'review only' test type, but with auto-play audio and no need to press 'next card'.

If other forum members feel such a feature would also be useful for them, please support my request.

Thanks.
 
mikelove

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
We've been thinking about doing something like this, but we're kind of waiting for the wearables market to flesh out a bit more first - we think any automated audio feature we develop will be considerably more useful if we can pair it with a smartwatch to provide control and the option for a bit of interaction, and frankly also we'd like to see wider wearables adoption since we think having that option will make people much more likely to use this feature.

On iOS things are actually relatively clear now (though we are very curious to see what the next major Watch hardware revamp looks like after last year's fairly minor one), but on Android they're somewhat less so - not sure whether Android Wear or Tizen or some other proprietary thing will end up dominating.

There's also the possibility of voice control, but things are in flux there too - not sure whether we're better off with Alexa or Google on Android, and on iOS Siri and its API are kind of terrible at the moment and we'd want to see them get better.
 
M

Matt P

秀才
I agree. I often want to listen to the audio of a folder of flashcards, but right now there isn't a really good way to do that. I'm less concerned about the wearable interface and think that would me more like a cherry on top.
 
D

Daniel C

秀才
sobriaebritas said:
I strongly support this request.
Click to expand...
I also strongly support this request. I like to do a lot of my Chinese study while walking (esp. listening to podcasts etc).It would be great if I could also study vocab while walking. I don't own an Apple Watch or any other wearable but I don't think they would be necessary to make this feature work. The phone can be manually controlled at the beginning of the vocab session and the rest of the session can be automated (Chinese word read out, 2-3 second delay, then English word read out; also option for English-Chinese). Siri could also be integrated.
 
pdwalker

pdwalker

状元
Oxy said:
So how much longer do we need to wait? I think everyone is eager to see version 4
:D
Click to expand...

Like all software, the usual answer is "when it's done, and not a moment before".

Welcome to the waiting club! Now get in line with the rest of us. :p
 
mikelove

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
We did not add an endless looping reader audio feature, no - I think for that I'd recommend turning it into an MP3 instead.

We do have an auto-advance flashcard audio feature, yes - it's one of the new test types you can select in 4.0.
 
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