Pleco Desktop

[werewitt]

I've installed Pleco Android using Bluestacks today and it's going quite well. Of course, flashcards don't sync with my iPhone but this is such a minor inconvenience. I bet any decent Windows Android emulator will be great as well. ARC Welder and similar "solutions" were an unstable cpu hog with no persistence (I bought a few addons in the past )

 

[Furio Petrossi]

Also MEmu is a well done emulator.
Only a problem, for emulators: it's better to run it when we turn on the computer computer , 'cause the activation is not so immediate.
ARC or ARChon are quick, until they work (Chrome perhaps will remove the feature...)

 

[goldyn chyld]

Actually there are step-by-step instructions right here:

https://plecoforums.com/threads/google-arc-welder.4590/page-3#post-39021

Can someone help me with getting this thing to work on macOS High Sierra? It used to work for me until it stopped working at some point.

Now I tried deleting the above Chrome extensions and reinstalling everything following the above instructions but it doesn't work.

I managed to load ARChon into Chrome (see attached screenshot), but when I try to load the PlecoChrome directory it says "could not load manifest" (see screenshot below). Any ideas?

 

[ACardiganAndAFrown]

Can someone help me with getting this thing to work on macOS High Sierra? It used to work for me until it stopped working at some point.

Now I tried deleting the above Chrome extensions and reinstalling everything following the above instructions but it doesn't work.

I managed to load ARChon into Chrome (see attached screenshot), but when I try to load the PlecoChrome directory it says "could not load manifest" (see screenshot below). Any ideas?

https://plecoforums.com/threads/google-arc-welder.4590/page-6#post-42334

did you download the Intel x86 Chrome 64-bit / Chrome OS 64-bit version of ARChon? I believe the Chrome 32-bit / Chrome OS 32-bit and ARM (i.e ARM-based Chromebooks) versions of ARChon don't work.

 

[goldyn chyld]

https://plecoforums.com/threads/google-arc-welder.4590/page-6#post-42334

Sorry for a late reply. Yes, I did download the Intel x86 Chrome 64-bit / Chrome OS 64-bit version of ARChon.

 

[ACardiganAndAFrown]

Sorry for a late reply. Yes, I did download the Intel x86 Chrome 64-bit / Chrome OS 64-bit version of ARChon.

Maybe it needs to be the 2.1.0 beta? As opposed to the 1.2 stable version.

This is what I'm running
macOS: 10.13.5
Chrome: Version 67.0.3396.79 (Official Build) (64-bit)
ARChon Custom Runtime 2.1.0 - x86_64
Pleco (180403): 3.2.58

There are errors in chrome://extensions/ for both ARChon and Pleco, but it has run fine for ages and without any major hiccups.

 

[Miguel]

Also MEmu is a well done emulator.
Only a problem, for emulators: it's better to run it when we turn on the computer computer , 'cause the activation is not so immediate.
ARC or ARChon are quick, until they work (Chrome perhaps will remove the feature...)

Lately my Archon installation is giving some problems. In Bluestacks and/or Memu can you access the Pleco folder in order to modify the Pleco Flashcard Database.pqb?

 

[LeonardoM]

Have you ever considered building a browser extension like Frill? And add lots of cool things that Pleco already has?

 

[mikelove]

Not really a way to build one of those and reliably protect DRMed dictionary data (or, for that matter, charge for it at all) unless we host it on a server, which means expensive ongoing costs + subscription fees. Which I don't think there's enough demand for; a basic problem with any attempt to do something more interesting than recompile-and-it-works desktop porting is that the marginal value that offers people over the mobile Pleco they already have is rarely enough to get them to pay us enough money to make it worth our while; the cost on our end is not justified by the value on users' end.

Our Project Marzipan macOS App will likely contain the same embedded web browser as our iOS app, though, and I expect we'll do something with Screen Reader on Chrome once Google goes through a few more cycles of bringing Android functionality to it.

 

[zahir]

Not really a way to build one of those and reliably protect DRMed dictionary data (or, for that matter, charge for it at all) unless we host it on a server, which means expensive ongoing costs + subscription fees. Which I don't think there's enough demand for; a basic problem with any attempt to do something more interesting than recompile-and-it-works desktop porting is that the marginal value that offers people over the mobile Pleco they already have is rarely enough to get them to pay us enough money to make it worth our while; the cost on our end is not justified by the value on users' end.

Our Project Marzipan macOS App will likely contain the same embedded web browser as our iOS app, though, and I expect we'll do something with Screen Reader on Chrome once Google goes through a few more cycles of bringing Android functionality to it.

Any idea when the Marzipan beta may be available to test? I've been craving Pleco functionality on my desktop for years.

Thanks again for all the hard work you all do.

 

[mikelove]

I expect Marzipan itself will be supported by the first macOS 10.15 public beta in late June of 2019.

As far as Pleco working with that, I can’t really even speculate how much work it’ll be since Apple hasn’t given us much information about the porting process yet and the details people have learned by examining the Marzipan apps in 10.14 suggest that they’re using a very temporary hacked together version we shouldn’t read much into.

 

[Fredlex]

I've installed Pleco Android using Bluestacks today and it's going quite well. Of course, flashcards don't sync with my iPhone but this is such a minor inconvenience. I bet any decent Windows Android emulator will be great as well. ARC Welder and similar "solutions" were an unstable cpu hog with no persistence (I bought a few addons in the past )

The biggest problem with Blustacks right now is that the Device ID is reset every time that you turn off it. So Pleco thinks that you are trying to activate the licence on a lot of devices with the danger of invalidating it. What is the best Android emulator for Pleco on PC right now a part from Bluestacks?

 

[BenJackson]

If the limiting factor of a desktop app is sales and distribution, you could consider using Steam. App itself can be free or paid. Can ship on PC, Mac, Linux. Automatic updating, DLC (or even finer grained transactions) for add-ons, workshop (to let people share lists), cloud saves. I don't know offhand if Steamworks has anything to help you with meeting whatever contractual obligations you have for redistributing dictionaries.

 

[mikelove]

No, it’s really all about the work of porting - sales and distribution are easy, we already have our own store and our own DRM system. (And I’d rather not give Valve a large % of our sales if I don’t have to)

 

[Kaimi]

I have been using Pleco on my computer for a while now, thanks to https://www.vysor.io/
I tried everything before, every Android emulator, until I discovered Vysor. It works perfectly for me. I can use Pleco and any app on my PC very smoothly. It's really affordable too, like 10€ a year. Absolutely recommend it.

 

[alex_hk90]

I have been using Pleco on my computer for a while now, thanks to https://www.vysor.io/
I tried everything before, every Android emulator, until I discovered Vysor. It works perfectly for me. I can use Pleco and any app on my PC very smoothly. It's really affordable too, like 10€ a year. Absolutely recommend it.

If I'm reading it correctly Vysor is a bit different in that it's not actually an emulator but a way of controlling your Android phone from a computer?

The reviews for Vysor on the Chrome Web Store suggest some rather questionable practices (poor customer service, Chrome extension redirecting adverts, phone home required for Pro version):
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/vysor/gidgenkbbabolejbgbpnhbimgjbffefm

Though it seems like there is a free (and open source) alternative in scrcpy:
https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy

This sounds interesting so I'll probably have a go at trying Pleco with scrcpy when I have some time.

 

[Kaimi]

If I'm reading it correctly Vysor is a bit different in that it's not actually an emulator but a way of controlling your Android phone from a computer?

Exactly, it mirrors your phone on your computer screen, which for me is way better than an emulator because Pleco is configured just like on my phone, don't have to make and load flashcard backups everytime I switch, and because I'm using Vysor when I'm home for everything not just Pleco, instead of the phone anymore.

The reviews for Vysor on the Chrome Web Store suggest some rather questionable practices (poor customer service, Chrome extension redirecting adverts, phone home required for Pro version):
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/vysor/gidgenkbbabolejbgbpnhbimgjbffefm

UPDATE: So my Vysor license for one year expired (I really made the most of it with around 800 hours of use and no problems) and I tried your suggestion (scrcpy).
And I have to say that scrcpy works incredibly smooth, it's faster and has higher quality that Vysor. And it's open source and free. Really an amazing complement for Pleco and many other things! Thank you!

 

[Kaimi]

Android users: use scrcpy to use Pleco on your PC. It's the best thing out there, don't bother with anything else. scrcpy is the way to go! Game changer for dictionary and flashcards (I combine it with an AutoHotKey script for really fast reviews).

 

[Miguel]

I'll give it a try, thanks!

 

[LeonardoM]

As rumors say Apple seems to switch to ARM next year, with an imminent announcement at the WWDC, are you developers putting on hold the development of the Mac version of pleco? If it has even started, I mean.