iPhone App Approved, should go live Friday
- Thread starter mikelove
- Start date
Hi Mike,
Congratulations, now I can finally give up on my Treo 680!
I'm sorry I wasn't able to participate in the iPhone version beta program, but I'm *very* keen to participate in the beta for the upcoming flashcards version, will there be a signup process like last time? If not, please put my name on the list!
Congratulations again, what a milestone!
Congratulations, now I can finally give up on my Treo 680!
I'm sorry I wasn't able to participate in the iPhone version beta program, but I'm *very* keen to participate in the beta for the upcoming flashcards version, will there be a signup process like last time? If not, please put my name on the list!Congratulations again, what a milestone!
westmeadboy
榜眼
I'm not sure if its particularly confusing to go from home screen to app screen - its exactly the same situation for desktop users and there's no problem there AFAIK.
The system settings are built using PreferenceScreen which is commonly used in apps so that's all standard. Even the home screen can show multiple widgets each of which can use standard UI elements, so if anything I think there is a lot of commonality between home screen and apps.
However, I must admit, I've only used an iPhone briefly once so I cannot really compare them. People who are already into the iPhone and then try Android, say they prefer iPhone. People who are already into Android and then try iPhone, say they prefer Android. I guess its a bit like having a kid!
Crossing over from one to the other, its very easy to say "oh, it doesn't do this and that therefore..." without truly exploring the possibilities.
It would be interesting to hear what multi-platform developers like TuneWiki have to say about the pros and cons of Android vs iPhone development are. People who have invested considerable time in both platforms would do a better comparison than people like us who take a look at the other platform and sneer
I don't understand that issue with chinese fonts. They are AWESOME on my HTC Hero (maybe because the manufacturer is taiwanese?). By far the best chinese fonts I've ever used. But I'm not an expert. Would be interested to see some screen shots of the Droid's fonts. Either way, again, I suspect this is not a problem with Android, more with specific devices which are still maturing.
BTW, AFAIK, at least (maybe others too) the HTC devices sold in asia come with built in chinese handwriting recognition IME. So can be used in any app. Maybe this is obvious. Just thought I'd mention it to be sure
The system settings are built using PreferenceScreen which is commonly used in apps so that's all standard. Even the home screen can show multiple widgets each of which can use standard UI elements, so if anything I think there is a lot of commonality between home screen and apps.
However, I must admit, I've only used an iPhone briefly once so I cannot really compare them. People who are already into the iPhone and then try Android, say they prefer iPhone. People who are already into Android and then try iPhone, say they prefer Android. I guess its a bit like having a kid!
Crossing over from one to the other, its very easy to say "oh, it doesn't do this and that therefore..." without truly exploring the possibilities.
It would be interesting to hear what multi-platform developers like TuneWiki have to say about the pros and cons of Android vs iPhone development are. People who have invested considerable time in both platforms would do a better comparison than people like us who take a look at the other platform and sneer
I don't understand that issue with chinese fonts. They are AWESOME on my HTC Hero (maybe because the manufacturer is taiwanese?). By far the best chinese fonts I've ever used. But I'm not an expert. Would be interested to see some screen shots of the Droid's fonts. Either way, again, I suspect this is not a problem with Android, more with specific devices which are still maturing.
BTW, AFAIK, at least (maybe others too) the HTC devices sold in asia come with built in chinese handwriting recognition IME. So can be used in any app. Maybe this is obvious. Just thought I'd mention it to be sure
sych / gm289 - flashcards may not get a very long beta-test; the hard stuff is a straight port from Palm/WM (and any cross-platform changes we'd rather test on those, since we can make those betas available to everyone rather than having to pick and choose) so a flashcard beta on iPhone would probably be little more than a double-check; might only get you using flashcards a few weeks before everyone else does. But we'll send out an announcement if we expand the pool for that beyond any interested people from the original iPhone-version test pool.
westmeadboy - you don't find the mix of styles / weights in Droid Sans annoying? Or does the Hero use something else? Built-in Chinese handwriting only diminishes the case for Android for us - we still have to license the recognizer for people who don't get it built-in but now the ones that do have it built-in don't consider it as useful an addition (though I suppose our improved multitouch / fullscreen UI is worth something, and worth quite a lot on iPhone). I'd have to examine the UI standardization issue in more detail to have clearer opinions on it, but there are a number of elements of standard Android UI that I know enough about to be pretty sure I don't like them, though certainly individual tastes can vary widely - there are plenty of Pleco features I also don't like but have implemented for the sake of large numbers of customers that do.
westmeadboy - you don't find the mix of styles / weights in Droid Sans annoying? Or does the Hero use something else? Built-in Chinese handwriting only diminishes the case for Android for us - we still have to license the recognizer for people who don't get it built-in but now the ones that do have it built-in don't consider it as useful an addition (though I suppose our improved multitouch / fullscreen UI is worth something, and worth quite a lot on iPhone). I'd have to examine the UI standardization issue in more detail to have clearer opinions on it, but there are a number of elements of standard Android UI that I know enough about to be pretty sure I don't like them, though certainly individual tastes can vary widely - there are plenty of Pleco features I also don't like but have implemented for the sake of large numbers of customers that do.
westmeadboy
榜眼
Fonts - I've never noticed any problem with styles/weights - I'd be interested to see some kind of screenshot that shows the problem.
Handwriting recognition - when I say "built-in", I mean "bundled". Does the iPhone released in China not have such an IME? I don't know what its like on the iPhone, but with Android you can have any number of IMEs installed (you easily switch between them as you like). If your handwriting recognizer is so much better than the others then you might want to consider releasing it on Android as a paid IME. Or license it to OEMs etc. Or, even better, you could release it for free and use it as an advertising platform for the rest of your product - i.e. an Android port or to tempt android users over to the iPhone!
Does Pleco's handwriting recognizer work across all iPhone apps or only within Pleco?
Handwriting recognition - when I say "built-in", I mean "bundled". Does the iPhone released in China not have such an IME? I don't know what its like on the iPhone, but with Android you can have any number of IMEs installed (you easily switch between them as you like). If your handwriting recognizer is so much better than the others then you might want to consider releasing it on Android as a paid IME. Or license it to OEMs etc. Or, even better, you could release it for free and use it as an advertising platform for the rest of your product - i.e. an Android port or to tempt android users over to the iPhone!
Does Pleco's handwriting recognizer work across all iPhone apps or only within Pleco?
First of all congratulations for the upcoming release!
Then, I was wondering if you could give us some informations about the possibility of a license switching from PPC version to Iphone and if there are additional costs to do that. And will all the dictionaries of the previous release be available on Iphone?
Thank you
Then, I was wondering if you could give us some informations about the possibility of a license switching from PPC version to Iphone and if there are additional costs to do that. And will all the dictionaries of the previous release be available on Iphone?
Thank you
panamajack
举人
Congratulations Mike! Can't wait to hear more info.
Hey hey hey!
Just letting everyone know, I can see Pleco on iTunes now, downloading as we speak. I'm based in China (currently 3am here), but logged in to the New Zealand app store, if that makes any difference...
So it's a free app with upgrade dictionaries available. What I'm curious about is the in-app purchase cost for each of the upgrades... Mike, is there a list we can find somewhere so we can see all the prices in one place before we make our decision?
Thanks, and all the best!
Just letting everyone know, I can see Pleco on iTunes now, downloading as we speak. I'm based in China (currently 3am here), but logged in to the New Zealand app store, if that makes any difference...
So it's a free app with upgrade dictionaries available. What I'm curious about is the in-app purchase cost for each of the upgrades... Mike, is there a list we can find somewhere so we can see all the prices in one place before we make our decision?
Thanks, and all the best!
Oh, and BTW, seems like the website is ready for an update:
iPhone / iPod Touch: An iPhone / iPod Touch version of Pleco is in development, but we're not yet ready to announce a release date for it, nor do we have any information about features / pricing / upgrade policies on iPhone.
Good luck, and keep up the good work ;-)
iPhone / iPod Touch: An iPhone / iPod Touch version of Pleco is in development, but we're not yet ready to announce a release date for it, nor do we have any information about features / pricing / upgrade policies on iPhone.
Good luck, and keep up the good work ;-)
westmeadboy - all iPhones have that sort of IME, it's just not very good; to make developers' lives easier Apple uses the exact same size input area for Chinese as for every other language, which can get a bit confining. The actual recognition engine behind our system was licensed from another company, our contribution is the interface (which as far as I know has never been done before on iPhone or anything else). Our recognizer only works within Pleco, there'd be no way to make it work systemwide except as a jailbreak app.
bodybag / sych - yeah, for the sake of not having to update all the website links twice we're posting that along with the other iPhone version product info once it goes live.
ciaocibai - yep, as I think I've said here once or twice before we're taking full advantage of the new in-app-purchase-in-free-apps policy. And we've already got a couple of new registrations from New Zealanders... The prices should show up in the Add-ons catalog a few seconds after it loads, though it may be that the in-app purchases won't be active on Apple's servers until midnight Cupertino time.
Website update will go up once the product's available in most of the world.
bodybag / sych - yeah, for the sake of not having to update all the website links twice we're posting that along with the other iPhone version product info once it goes live.
ciaocibai - yep, as I think I've said here once or twice before we're taking full advantage of the new in-app-purchase-in-free-apps policy. And we've already got a couple of new registrations from New Zealanders... The prices should show up in the Add-ons catalog a few seconds after it loads, though it may be that the in-app purchases won't be active on Apple's servers until midnight Cupertino time.
Website update will go up once the product's available in most of the world.
Updated website is live, decided not to wait since US-based people will apparently be automatically redirected to the Australian store when they click on the iTunes download link. So you can go in and transfer licenses / check prices / etc right now. Announcement email with further details / answers to a few of the likely "what the hell are you guys thinking?" questions won't be ready until midday Friday US time, though.
As of 12/17, 19:43 UTC, clicking on the URL (http://itunes.com/apps/PlecoChineseDictionary) from California generated the following error dialog in iTunes: "Your request could not be completed. The item you've requested is not currently available in the US store."
Probably just a matter of time.
Probably just a matter of time.
Well, I've just checked the upgrading policy from WM to Iphone, and...I'm speechless...
Thank you very much Mike, that shows how nice you and your company are, it's very rare to find a company that cares so much about its customers...basically the only thing that can't be transferred free of charge is the stroke order diagram, but i think i can live without it, and also without the Oxford concise dictionary, since I'll purchase the new ABC English-Chinese dictionary as soon as Pleco will be available on Italian App Store.
So let's wait and hoping that the app will work properly (actually I don't have any doubts about it)
Thank you again and good luck for your brand new "Iphone adventure" !
Thank you very much Mike, that shows how nice you and your company are, it's very rare to find a company that cares so much about its customers...basically the only thing that can't be transferred free of charge is the stroke order diagram, but i think i can live without it, and also without the Oxford concise dictionary, since I'll purchase the new ABC English-Chinese dictionary as soon as Pleco will be available on Italian App Store.
So let's wait and hoping that the app will work properly (actually I don't have any doubts about it)
Thank you again and good luck for your brand new "Iphone adventure" !
Hey Mike,
Just had a read through the website, and everything looks peachy! I want to add a really big thanks for adding educational discounts (I'm a student, I swear!), fingers crossed people don't take advantage of this and it works out for all involved.
Just having a play around with this now (borrowed a friends iPod touch for the occasion, off to buy a new iPhone at Zhong Guan Cun tomorrow!) and it's awesome. Can't believe how fast it's running.
Great job, and thanks again!
Just had a read through the website, and everything looks peachy! I want to add a really big thanks for adding educational discounts (I'm a student, I swear!), fingers crossed people don't take advantage of this and it works out for all involved.
Just having a play around with this now (borrowed a friends iPod touch for the occasion, off to buy a new iPhone at Zhong Guan Cun tomorrow!) and it's awesome. Can't believe how fast it's running.
Great job, and thanks again!
Good morning from Australia! Installed and registered Downloading all my add-ons (and upgrades).
Mike, your platform transfer policy is a bit too generous! I'd have paid a smallish/reasonable fee for the transfer, given all the time you and your team have put into the iPhone version. I'm downloading the (paid) Stroke Order and ABC EN-CH, so I hope you get a reasonable cut from those.
Also, nice move making the base install free & providing that basic dictionary! Where is it sourced from? It actually looks pretty good!
Downloading all my add-ons (and upgrades).Mike, your platform transfer policy is a bit too generous!
I'd have paid a smallish/reasonable fee for the transfer, given all the time you and your team have put into the iPhone version. I'm downloading the (paid) Stroke Order and ABC EN-CH, so I hope you get a reasonable cut from those.Also, nice move making the base install free & providing that basic dictionary! Where is it sourced from? It actually looks pretty good!