iPhone Feature Requests

[mikelove]

numble - the Instapaper part of that would be hard to duplicate - there's some fancy behind-the-scenes work going on there - but you can get pretty much the same output as the Instapaper app through their website; just add the file to your account, go to Unread / Starred / Archive, click on / tap on the button to read it as text and there you go; do that in Pleco's web browser with Live Mode on and there's your Instapaper article.

Or, if you just want their interface without any of that fussiness, you can use their "Mobilizer" function at http://www.instapaper.com/m - actually I should write and see if he'd be amenable to having us add that URL function into Pleco's web browser; seem to already allow it in Tweetie. Even if not, maybe we could add a generically-customizable command that would send a link you encountered to some online mobile-formatting service and let you customize the URL format yourself. (might be better anyway, actually)

As far as RSS, that's certainly feasible to support, it's just a matter of finding the time to implement it - XML parsing is pretty darn easy so we just need to extract the appropriate information and present it in an attractive manner.

Out of curiosity, is there anything we could change in Pleco flashcards that would win you over from Anki? Anything we're particularly missing / lacking in, or are you just uninterested in switching because you've already found a system you're happy with?

 

[mikelove]

There's also the Google Mobilizer at http://www.google.com/gwt/n, actually, so maybe this would be a good option to have in general - a "send to mobilizer" button in the browser that can be configured for whatever mobile-ifying system you want.

 

[numble]

A really good guide and/or an explanation of how the SRS algorithm works might convince me. Or maybe the ability to import all my Anki cards (though all the SRS data will probably be gone, huh?) I haven't really tried to play with the flashcard system too much, though I will admit that the process of manually entering words from text files exported from Pleco are not the most efficient use of my time (usually takes an hour or two to enter in 2-3 weeks of saved characters).

How does interplatform use of the flashcard system work under Pleco? I usually export words from both iPad (words found from newspaper articles, webpages, indoor use) and iPhone (words encountered on the go, or from SMS messages), and then put them all into Anki, which I can study from many different places (though I am almost exclusively doing reviews on the phone now).

I honestly probably should think about switching to Pleco someday to save time. But I've used Anki for so long, I like it's desktop statistics and plugins that tell me my progress with regard to the most common words, etc. (even if it's just a placebo effect). I also just paid $25 for the iPhone app.

I think I'd just like a guide for how to get it to mimic Anki as much as possible.

 

[Tezuk]

Perhaps more of a trivial request, but how about augmented reality. I point my iphone camera at a character or something on a Chinese menu and pleco tells me what it is. I can see that being quite marketable to the general public too and I think there are some non-language augmented reality apps already out there that work on a similar basis. Pleco 3.0 Augmented Reality please!

 

[radioman]

Just got iOS 4 installed - So, far, this works as advertised... very nice.

Is the app constantly grinding away in the background or is it fully dormant until again called on? Any idea?

radioman - yes, if you've enabled the search-clipboard-on-startup option, in OS4 every time you resume Pleco it checks the pasteboard for changes and does a new search / opens up the reader accordingly. (but please let me know how well this works for you - it was a very late addition and probably needs some refinement in 2.1.2)

 

[mikelove]

numble - there's no way to just import a Pleco export file (with definitions) into Anki Online? Seems like that ought to be relatively straightforward.

Right now, about all we offer inter-platform-wise is the ability to move a database backup between iDevices with the still-somewhat-experimental "share files" feature - with the success of the iPad a proper sync system is definitely in the pipeline, but probably not ready until 2.2 or maybe even 2.3.

Anki imports / transfers are a good idea; as far as graphs / statistics, those should hopefully be coming on iPhone / iPad in a release or two anyway.

Tezuk - big request, but stay tuned on that one.

radioman - the app is fully dormant; that's required by Apple, there is an option to extend execution in the background for a few minutes to complete a task (like a download), but we don't use it, we put everything on ice until you come back.

 

[radioman]

After reviewing a bit more, It looks like under iOS 4.0 that if the program is in dictionary mode, it does not load the pasteboard, at least under the following scenario.

If I have Pleco opened, then go to another program, load the pasteboard, then come back to Pleco, the reader loads. But after loading clipboard and coming back into Pleco to use the reader, I then click on a character to read the definition - then I go to another program and load the pasteboard and come back into Pleco, Pleco has not reloaded the pasteboard (that is, I am still looking at the same definition that was there before I jumped to another program to that loaded the pasteboard).

Just got iOS 4 installed - So, far, this works as advertised... very nice.

Is the app constantly grinding away in the background or is it fully dormant until again called on? Any idea?

radioman - yes, if you've enabled the search-clipboard-on-startup option, in OS4 every time you resume Pleco it checks the pasteboard for changes and does a new search / opens up the reader accordingly. (but please let me know how well this works for you - it was a very late addition and probably needs some refinement in 2.1.2)

 

[bglasow]

Adding my vote to integrate support for lyrics stored in iPod mp3's into the document reader.

-Brian

 

[mikelove]

After reviewing a bit more, It looks like under iOS 4.0 that if the program is in dictionary mode, it does not load the pasteboard, at least under the following scenario.

If I have Pleco opened, then go to another program, load the pasteboard, then come back to Pleco, the reader loads. But after loading clipboard and coming back into Pleco to use the reader, I then click on a character to read the definition - then I go to another program and load the pasteboard and come back into Pleco, Pleco has not reloaded the pasteboard (that is, I am still looking at the same definition that was there before I jumped to another program to that loaded the pasteboard).

Good point - this should be fixed in the 2.1.2 update. Thanks.

Adding my vote to integrate support for lyrics stored in iPod mp3's into the document reader.

We actually tried this and it turned out to be extremely slow - the lag involved in waiting for the song picker to come up was several seconds at least. It may have improved in OS 4, though, we haven't experimented in it with that yet. It also doesn't seem to work correctly with podcasts - they don't even show up in the library browser (as regular songs or in the "podcasts" section), they only seem to work if you install them separately from your desktop.

We're hoping ChinesePod will finally release their official API soon, since then it should be fairly easy for us to integrate downloading / reading / (importing vocabulary from?) CP lessons right into Pleco, which would take care of one large source of lyrics anyway.

 

[numble]

We actually tried this and it turned out to be extremely slow - the lag involved in waiting for the song picker to come up was several seconds at least. It may have improved in OS 4, though, we haven't experimented in it with that yet. It also doesn't seem to work correctly with podcasts - they don't even show up in the library browser (as regular songs or in the "podcasts" section), they only seem to work if you install them separately from your desktop.

We're hoping ChinesePod will finally release their official API soon, since then it should be fairly easy for us to integrate downloading / reading / (importing vocabulary from?) CP lessons right into Pleco, which would take care of one large source of lyrics anyway.

Even if the song picker is slow, I think many people would still like having this option. Nearly all the MP3s on google.cn/music come bundled with the lyrics in the ID3 tags, for instance, and I'm sure plenty of Chinese learners try to study lyrics of some songs in advance of going on those guaranteed-to-happen KTV trips with the locals. Songs are also good for teaching synonyms of emotional expressions, so that you aren't just stuck saying the same old simple words all the time (constantly saying 难过 and 高兴 instead of other words, for example).

 

[Charles]

I have a multi-choice flashcard profile with "Prompt for" set to "Pron + Defn" and "Show" set to "Headword". In "Test Settings/Audio", I have "Auto-play on show" set to ON, which causes the audio to play after I have selected the pronunciation AND the definition (2 steps). I suppose this is the way the program is designed to work, but I would rather have the audio play immediately after the pronunciation shows (before I see the definition). There really isn't a reason to wait until you have chosen the definition before hearing the pronunciation because the pronunciation is already written on the screen.

 

[mikelove]

Even if the song picker is slow, I think many people would still like having this option. Nearly all the MP3s on google.cn/music come bundled with the lyrics in the ID3 tags, for instance, and I'm sure plenty of Chinese learners try to study lyrics of some songs in advance of going on those guaranteed-to-happen KTV trips with the locals. Songs are also good for teaching synonyms of emotional expressions, so that you aren't just stuck saying the same old simple words all the time (constantly saying 难过 and 高兴 instead of other words, for example).

Well it's not so bad on a 3GS/4 or even on an 3G with a modest-sized music library, but the podcast problem is still a big concern; it might just be a bug, though, I should probably file a report with Apple on that. We probably wouldn't want a situation where someone downloads a ChinesePod or other learning podcast on their device through iTunes and can't get its lyrics even though they're embedded right in the file.

I have a multi-choice flashcard profile with "Prompt for" set to "Pron + Defn" and "Show" set to "Headword". In "Test Settings/Audio", I have "Auto-play on show" set to ON, which causes the audio to play after I have selected the pronunciation AND the definition (2 steps). I suppose this is the way the program is designed to work, but I would rather have the audio play immediately after the pronunciation shows (before I see the definition). There really isn't a reason to wait until you have chosen the definition before hearing the pronunciation because the pronunciation is already written on the screen.

Good point - actually not something we'd even thought of before. Though I'm not sure whether there'd also be people who prefer it the way it works now...

 

[mikeo]

Looking for a feature to handle confused characters.

First, just a flashcard list of commonly-confused characters.

Second, a way to add a character under review to this list along with one or more that I'm confusing it with.

There seems to be available screen real estate on the iphone4 for this.

 

[mikelove]

There are a few lists of easily-confused characters floating around, but I don't know if there's a particular one that would make sense to offer in Pleco.

As far as adding characters in flashcards to that list, though, that's actually already possible. Go into "Commands" under Flashcard Testing / More Settings, and set "Category button default" to whatever your confused-card category is. Then, during the test, to add a card to that list just tap on the delta (triangle) tab button and tap on the button to add the card to that category (a folder with a + icon). You can tap-hold on the button to add the card to / remove it from a different category.

 

[trickyt]

What I really want is a flashcard count-down timer. I believe a flash card character is only learned if I can get it in 10 to 20 seconds. Longer than that it should be marked wrong.

 

[mikelove]

You can get that now in Flashcard Testing / More Settings / Display / Top Fields; set one of them to "Card Timer" and it'll count how long you're looking at the card and stop the clock once you reveal the answer. You'd still have to be disciplined enough to manually mark yourself wrong if you took longer than the allotted time, but this would at least give you an easy way to get that time.

 

[numble]

Too tiny feature requests:

Option to clear the search bar when the user uses the tap-hold add to flashcard command
Automatically add the text that's been inputted to the search bar to the user dictionary entry field after the user presses "add to user dictionary"

Recently been using Pleco to add words on paper lists to make my own digital list, so having to clear out the search bar by pressing the little "X" every time slows things down a bit... Same with adding entries to the user dictionary.

 

[radioman]

I personally think this concept is really important. I can't argue about the need for discipline, but I personally could use all the help possible in that regard.

I would venture a guess that I am not alone in this, but in a long flashcard session, you need to keep things moving or you will never get done. Having an intrusive way where the system is clocking you, flagging the card as wrong, flipping the card, etc., forces you to stay on game and pay attention.

I liken this to an audio book. After working, etc., to pick up a book and read is just tough. So for me, audio books are just an easier way to assimilate the story. The nice thing about the audio format is that it forces you to keep up. For example, working in the yard, I would listen to audio books. However, sometimes, I would get caught up on some part of planting a tree or moving stones, and would be distracted from the audio book. I could always rewind. But, more often, I would not bother and would just let the audio run. Through context, I could figure out what what going on. In the end, the book would be finished and I would get most all of the detail.

Flashcards are different, for sure. But the flashcard system does have the advantage over the audio book that if the user gets distracted, it will take note (i.e., flag the card as wrong), and re-quiz later. But, in the meantime, the system would assist in forcing the user to get to the end of the lesson.

What I really want is a flashcard count-down timer. I believe a flash card character is only learned if I can get it in 10 to 20 seconds. Longer than that it should be marked wrong.

 

[character]

Speaking of timers, an optional one which would not let you move on from a wrong answer for a few seconds might be helpful for some users. That way they would pay a little more attention to the correct answer instead of hurrying on to the next card.

 

[meng]

Is there any way to move the up and down arrows (when in 典 view) to the bottom left corner of the UI / phone? I use that feature quite a bit but it's pretty inconveniently placed.