Pleco for Windows Desktop
- Thread starter asd20
- Start date
You can use our Android app on Windows via an Android emulator right now, the APK is available to download from our home page at pleco.com.
As for a potential native Windows port, the timeline is that we plan to release a Mac Catalyst version along with or shortly after the next major update to our iOS app, and if that's successful, we'll consider developing a Windows version (after we've finished porting that new version of our app to Android). If it's borderline successful, we might do a Kickstarter or some such for the Windows version and only release it if we make enough money through that.
The basic problem is that a Windows port is a *lot* of work (far more than Mac, which has gotten pretty easy thanks to Catalyst, at least once you have a fully-optimized iPad app) and yet we expect that most people interested in one would already own our mobile app and not be willing to re-purchase everything at full price to use it again on Windows. So we need to figure out if there's any price point for a native Windows version where we'd make enough money to cover the cost of development. That also includes opportunity cost - working on Windows means not working on something else that would grow our business - and the fact that going from 2 platforms to 3 means that every future update takes longer since we have to spend more time porting it.
As for a potential native Windows port, the timeline is that we plan to release a Mac Catalyst version along with or shortly after the next major update to our iOS app, and if that's successful, we'll consider developing a Windows version (after we've finished porting that new version of our app to Android). If it's borderline successful, we might do a Kickstarter or some such for the Windows version and only release it if we make enough money through that.
The basic problem is that a Windows port is a *lot* of work (far more than Mac, which has gotten pretty easy thanks to Catalyst, at least once you have a fully-optimized iPad app) and yet we expect that most people interested in one would already own our mobile app and not be willing to re-purchase everything at full price to use it again on Windows. So we need to figure out if there's any price point for a native Windows version where we'd make enough money to cover the cost of development. That also includes opportunity cost - working on Windows means not working on something else that would grow our business - and the fact that going from 2 platforms to 3 means that every future update takes longer since we have to spend more time porting it.
Fernando
榜眼
I'm not a windows user atm, but I decided to check on the current state of development of MS's windows subsystem for android and found this:
www.androidauthority.com
The current catches: It's US-only and officially you can only use the US Amazon store for apps, no google play.
You can, however, sideload both the subsystem and the apps themselves if you're willing to jump through some [command prompt*] hoops.
Caveat is: haven't tested, don't know if it works with Pleco. Would do it though if I was running windows.
*PowerShell
How to run Android apps on Windows 11: Official and APK methods
Windows 11 has a new feature now available to beta testers. Here's how you can install Android apps on Windows 11 right now.
www.androidauthority.com
The current catches: It's US-only and officially you can only use the US Amazon store for apps, no google play.
You can, however, sideload both the subsystem and the apps themselves if you're willing to jump through some [command prompt*] hoops.
Caveat is: haven't tested, don't know if it works with Pleco. Would do it though if I was running windows.
*PowerShell
Just installed it today. It is actually pretty easy and no need for command line or having the location set up in the USA. I just downloaded from the link provided here, and double clicked the MSIXbundle. I found this link at other websites as well and was a little skeptical at first, but seeing that it gets provided by a legitimate microsoft website my reservations were dispelled. It's also signed by microsoft.
Then I downloaded the pleco app from the official pleco website and sideloaded it by using this application that is also available from the microsoft store. You also have to enable developer options which is quite easy and described step by step on the github site of the app. Do note that, in addition to USA and Japan, WSA is going to be available soon, or might even have been already made available, in more countries. Which means that you might be able to skip this altogether. The amazon app store is going to be installed anyway, so you don't have to go out of your way thinking that you can avoid that.
Now about it's performance on Windows, with the exception of handwriting input that is barely usable, there are no major issues with typical use. As mentioned here, there are also some workarounds. Now regarding the live OCR, that is not addressed there, it does not seem to work, at least in my case. However if you choose still OCR you can still take a picture.
Then I downloaded the pleco app from the official pleco website and sideloaded it by using this application that is also available from the microsoft store. You also have to enable developer options which is quite easy and described step by step on the github site of the app. Do note that, in addition to USA and Japan, WSA is going to be available soon, or might even have been already made available, in more countries. Which means that you might be able to skip this altogether. The amazon app store is going to be installed anyway, so you don't have to go out of your way thinking that you can avoid that.
Now about it's performance on Windows, with the exception of handwriting input that is barely usable, there are no major issues with typical use. As mentioned here, there are also some workarounds. Now regarding the live OCR, that is not addressed there, it does not seem to work, at least in my case. However if you choose still OCR you can still take a picture.
Fernando
榜眼
That's awesome! Thanks for the report.
Just a little note: I wouldn't trust an app from MS Store just because it is the MS Store. Not to say that Apple or Google are great, but MS seems to be a notch lower. Suspicious me would try to get adb by installing the Android SDK via official channels and then proceed from there via command line...
Just a little note: I wouldn't trust an app from MS Store just because it is the MS Store. Not to say that Apple or Google are great, but MS seems to be a notch lower. Suspicious me would try to get adb by installing the Android SDK via official channels and then proceed from there via command line...
Any sense of approximately when that next update to the iOS app and the Mac Catalyst version might appear?
Yes, but every time I answer that question publicly it turns out to be wrong, so I no longer attempt to do so.
Just to give an update.
The newest update fixed the problem with the handwritting input. OCR works perfectly fine for a while now as well. Voice input might or might not work, that would probably require to install some voice typing to test.
I guess what many people might be waiting for is the screen reader. Enabling it does not crash the app as it used to, the floating button appears and when you click on it asks for the service to be enabled. When you click on that as well then it opens windows settings. I digged a little but couldn't find anything related, so that might be an accident that it leads you there.
The newest update fixed the problem with the handwritting input. OCR works perfectly fine for a while now as well. Voice input might or might not work, that would probably require to install some voice typing to test.
I guess what many people might be waiting for is the screen reader. Enabling it does not crash the app as it used to, the floating button appears and when you click on it asks for the service to be enabled. When you click on that as well then it opens windows settings. I digged a little but couldn't find anything related, so that might be an accident that it leads you there.
I don't think there's ever likely to be a way to do that from our Android app on Windows, honestly - there'd be little reason to expose the relevant Windows APIs to Android apps, the biggest use cases for them are screen sharing and accessibility and Windows has its own native solutions for both.
this is a pretty big issue. if you're committing the resources to a third platform would you consider instead of native windows port, go more in the web-based direction and then distribute packaged up versions like e.g. electron or something?
It's a possibility, 4.0 is basically a cross-platform engine talking to the platform UI via JSON anyway and we built it that way partly because it makes object sharing with Java / Swift easier but partly also because it makes a future web-based UI easier.
The main problem with that approach is that people tend to want deep system integration from us and it's hard to get that with an Electron app; if Windows users are going to be prodding us to, say, build some sort of systemwide screen reader capability using Windows' accessibility frameworks, that will probably be a lot easier to accomplish with native UI. So I'd hate to commit to an architecture that limits us down the road. I'm also just a little bit worried about performance in a few cases; word-wrapping an entire ebook, for example.
TROPtastic
Member
Since this thread shows up at the top of search results for Pleco on Windows, I can recommend BlueStacks to emulate the Pleco APK you can download from the homepage. The app is straightforward to install, you can turn off the ads, and I haven't run into any issues using Pleco. No screen reader support or anything like that, so YMMV if you need deeper integration with Windows.