iPhone Feature Requests

[yuvalcho]

i dont how you'd want to implement that, but yes, basically just want to b able to test myself on specific def from a multiple def card, without the hassle of generating a new entry.
as i said, not sure what does it mean to your scoring system, but we can both agree that if i know def number 4 and doesnt mean that i know the others (which sometimes is a really big number).

do u think that there is a way to do that?
i mean for it seems like a really important thing, and right now i dont think it gives u perfect solution.
i m not sure making 20 different cards for a word that have 20 defs is the right way either. though that helps u control the scoring for each.
for me the score isnt that important anyways, but i guess there r ppl out there that use different set up than i m using and for them it is, so... not sure what it means (-:

 

[mikelove]

i dont how you'd want to implement that, but yes, basically just want to b able to test myself on specific def from a multiple def card, without the hassle of generating a new entry.
as i said, not sure what does it mean to your scoring system, but we can both agree that if i know def number 4 and doesnt mean that i know the others (which sometimes is a really big number).

Well there's no reason each definition can't be a separate "card," that's my thinking anyway - you might flag these in some way to indicate that they're duplicates in test types that don't involve the definition, but that would be relatively easy to set up even within our current system.

do u think that there is a way to do that?
i mean for it seems like a really important thing, and right now i dont think it gives u perfect solution.
i m not sure making 20 different cards for a word that have 20 defs is the right way either. though that helps u control the scoring for each.
for me the score isnt that important anyways, but i guess there r ppl out there that use different set up than i m using and for them it is, so... not sure what it means (-:

We're not doing too many big flashcard enhancements until the big-release-after-our-next-one - the next release is mainly focused on dictionaries and stuff relating to them - but we can certainly consider it for that release. In the meantime the best I can suggest is that you export cards with definitions, separate the multi-definition ones in the text file and then re-import them with duplicates allowed.

 

[character]

FWIW, I talked to two new users of Pleco today and they both couldn't figure out how to change flashcard categories.

 

[mikelove]

FWIW, I talked to two new users of Pleco today and they both couldn't figure out how to change flashcard categories.

What do you mean? They couldn't figure out how to add cards to a specific category or they couldn't figure out how to move them between categories or they couldn't figure out how to create / rename categories?

 

[character]

What do you mean? They couldn't figure out how to add cards to a specific category or they couldn't figure out how to move them between categories or they couldn't figure out how to create / rename categories?

They couldn't figure out how to add flashcards directly to a specific category from the dictionary. So I showed them the current newbie friendly fan->settings->flashcards->default category and long press methods.

 

[mikelove]

They couldn't figure out how to add flashcards directly to a specific category from the dictionary. So I showed them the current newbie friendly fan->settings->flashcards->default category and long press methods.

Ah - that might be tricky to explain better without cluttering up the interface for everybody else, but we ought to find some way to indicate to people that buttons are tap-holdable.

 

[radioman]

When using the Pleco Reader in edit mode, is there a way to enter a character, and after a short duration of time, the character is automatically accepted so you can just start writing the next character? I've looked around and am not finding such an option.

 

[mikelove]

When using the Pleco Reader in edit mode, is there a way to enter a character, and after a short duration of time, the character is automatically accepted so you can just start writing the next character? I've looked around and am not finding such an option.

Yes - set "Recognition Delay" to something other than "Instant" and enable "Clear on Recognize." (both in Settings / Panels) However, I should warn you that we don't offer this option on Android and may phase it out on iOS in the future - we offered it initially because iPhones were slower and people were transitioning from the stylus-driven handwriting input of our Palm/WM apps, but now that neither of those is the case it's one of a number of little-used options that are liable to disappear soon.

 

[radioman]

However, I should warn you that we don't offer this option on Android and may phase it out on iOS in the future

OK. But I am not fully clear on what would be phasing out.

Using the instructions you provided below that allowed me to circumvent having to select the proper character from a list before moving on, allowed me to MUCH more quickly edit a document. When using a stylus, I do not even have to look at the screen and could accurately write entire sentences into the Reader editor.

I understand having the characters automatically accepted is not right under all occasions, but I certainly believe it is right under certain occasions. My hope is that, however it is implemented, Pleco will retain the option to write a character and have it automatically accepted.

 

[character]

Ah - that might be tricky to explain better without cluttering up the interface for everybody else, but we ought to find some way to indicate to people that buttons are tap-holdable.

Your proposed solution of adding the option to set a category as the default on the flashcard category detail disclosure view seems the best option barring a reworking of the category listing view.

 

[mikelove]

Using the instructions you provided below that allowed me to circumvent having to select the proper character from a list before moving on, allowed me to MUCH more quickly edit a document. When using a stylus, I do not even have to look at the screen and could accurately write entire sentences into the Reader editor.

I understand having the characters automatically accepted is not right under all occasions, but I certainly believe it is right under certain occasions. My hope is that, however it is implemented, Pleco will retain the option to write a character and have it automatically accepted.

Well I don't think we'll take out any useful options like this as long as they continue working, it's more a question of what we do if some future update (to the OS or to another part of Pleco) requires us to heavily rewrite it in order for it to keep working. There aren't really that many people using Pleco as a document editor at the moment, and if we wanted to get serious about that we'd design a real UI for it rather than just the crudely tacked-on "Edit" button option we have now (would also give us a chance to add our own take on Pinyin input, which could actually be pretty cool, and on dictionary-lookups-while-composing-a-document, which would be even cooler). Which might be worth considering in a future release but isn't on our current radar.

Your proposed solution of adding the option to set a category as the default on the flashcard category detail disclosure view seems the best option barring a reworking of the category listing view.

It seems sensible, yes - there ought to be something next to the category in Organize to indicate that it's the current default (we had that in our Palm/WM apps) and once we've done that it's logical to also add a "make default" option.

 

[radioman]

There aren't really that many people using Pleco as a document editor at the moment ...

Understood. Frankly, this is the first time I have used it as a document editor because I was getting frustrated with Apple's input on iOS 5 (maybe 6 is better...). It was handling the input in very unpredictable ways. Not sure if it was due to my iPhone being jailbroken. However, when i brought up Pleco's full screen input, it worked without any of the "noise" that appeared to be introduced when using Apple's HWR.

After taking out the need to confirm the characters, I was writing on Pleco several times faster than using Apple's input, and even did not have to look at the screen.

I think some other feature sets (e.g., PDF reader) sit higher in priority, but an optimized editor would be nice.

 

[mikelove]

Understood. Frankly, this is the first time I have used it as a document editor because I was getting frustrated with Apple's input on iOS 5 (maybe 6 is better...). It was handling the input in very unpredictable ways. Not sure if it was due to my iPhone being jailbroken. However, when i brought up Pleco's full screen input, it worked without any of the "noise" that appeared to be introduced when using Apple's HWR.

After taking out the need to confirm the characters, I was writing on Pleco several times faster than using Apple's input, and even did not have to look at the screen.

Interesting... might be a market there, though it is indeed tough to make it a priority relative to the other stuff we're working on.

 

[character]

Interesting... might be a market there, though it is indeed tough to make it a priority relative to the other stuff we're working on.

If there's money but not time available, I would think you could contract out some of the UI work for iOS and Android to get the editor to a more usable level of functionality. The more Pleco-specific enhancements you mention could be added later. I think a usable editor would make Pleco more appealing to schools.

 

[mikelove]

If there's money but not time available, I would think you could contract out some of the UI work for iOS and Android to get the editor to a more usable level of functionality. The more Pleco-specific enhancements you mention could be added later. I think a usable editor would make Pleco more appealing to schools.

Not really something we can contract out - it's not modular enough for that, we'd spend as much time explaining how things worked and correcting / reintegrating their work as it would take us to do the whole thing in-house.

 

[jamesquek]

Mike,

I am thinking: wouldn't it be good if when encountering new words using the reader, I could highlight them for future reference after adding to the flashcard library. And wouldn't it be even better if, when adding to the flashcards, I could also lift the entire sentence and add to the flashcard. In other words, each flashcard could have an additional field for adding our own example sentences.

Wouldn't it be great?

James

 

[mikelove]

I am thinking: wouldn't it be good if when encountering new words using the reader, I could highlight them for future reference after adding to the flashcard library.

I think we'd probably do this with some sort of document "notes" feature rather than linking it to flashcards - that way you can tie it to a particular comment like "means X in this context".

And wouldn't it be even better if, when adding to the flashcards, I could also lift the entire sentence and add to the flashcard. In other words, each flashcard could have an additional field for adding our own example sentences.

There should be a lot of stuff like this in the big flashcard update next year - the "custom field" system is going to be quite epic, and some auto-generated fields like "context" are very likely in the offing too.

 

[Markcrobinson]

Saving missed words in a separate category

I love this program!
Flashcards:
I need a lot of extra practice with a handful of words. I'd like the ability to put words I constantly miss into a "study this" category.

 

[radioman]

I think a usable editor would make Pleco more appealing to schools.

So my teacher wants us to write a short story. I don't want to do this on paper, so I'll write it on the iPad using Notability.

The app is very interesting on a number of fronts with regard to Chinese writing:

1) its a notepad so you can write and draw freehand.
2) It has a way so that you write bigger in a magnified view, complete with wrist protection.
3) you can lay down graph paper and write within the blocks (if you want),
4) you save, convert to pdf, email, etc.

I'm just throwing this up on the board right now as I think there are interesting possibilities to take Notability and find some way to have it interact with Pleco, The writing of Chinese on Notable using your own handwritten characters is compelling, and at least in my case acceptable for my teacher (who accepts emails). As well I can just print out the result. And all the docs and notes are nicely organized in Notability folders. You can also do straight HWR using the iOS HWR, but that obviously lacks all the Pleco learning bells and whistles support (stroke order diagrams, dictionary lookups, on the fly OCR (if desired).

Over the next day or two, I will use this method to write the short story. I know I can just 4 finger swipe to Pleco - for such lookup. Maybe thats good enough. I'll see.

I'd be interested to know if others are "writing" on their iPads (not just HWR).

 

[mikelove]

I need a lot of extra practice with a handful of words. I'd like the ability to put words I constantly miss into a "study this" category.

You mean automatically? Or do you just want an extra category that behaves differently in some way?

I'm just throwing this up on the board right now as I think there are interesting possibilities to take Notability and find some way to have it interact with Pleco, The writing of Chinese on Notable using your own handwritten characters is compelling, and at least in my case acceptable for my teacher (who accepts emails). As well I can just print out the result. And all the docs and notes are nicely organized in Notability folders. You can also do straight HWR using the iOS HWR, but that obviously lacks all the Pleco learning bells and whistles support (stroke order diagrams, dictionary lookups, on the fly OCR (if desired).

Interesting idea, though in general I think handwriting Chinese is likely to more-or-less disappear from curricula in another 5 or 10 years (much as learning to write in cursive has largely disappeared in American schools), so it's not necessarily something I'd consider a priority for Pleco.