User Interface Feedback Thread

[soulspirit]

Ah, makes sense. So maybe an option at the top of a list of partial-match results to create a new flashcard (or dictionary entry) from the entered word?

exactly, that would be very nice! or a button that appears next to the "copy-to-clipboard" button, when i mark the word in the input-box.

 

[soulspirit]

i have another suggestion: is it possible to add a quicker way to return from deep within the flashcard system back to the dictionary?

when im organizing/adding flashcards and i want to look up a word in the dictionary, the only way i found is to press the return button multiple times. i think this is only a problem with the flashcards system, since you can also have multiple levels of flashcards: one return to exit the current flashcard, for each of the subcategories you have to hit return once and then again 2 times to exit the flashcard system.. makes 5 clicks for me since i currently have one category with 2 subcategories.. and then after looking up i need again 5 clicks to go back to where i stopped organizing. switching back and forth directly would be very nice.

 

[mikelove]

when im organizing/adding flashcards and i want to look up a word in the dictionary, the only way i found is to press the return button multiple times. i think this is only a problem with the flashcards system, since you can also have multiple levels of flashcards: one return to exit the current flashcard, for each of the subcategories you have to hit return once and then again 2 times to exit the flashcard system.. makes 5 clicks for me since i currently have one category with 2 subcategories.. and then after looking up i need again 5 clicks to go back to where i stopped organizing. switching back and forth directly would be very nice.

That's actually what the new shortcut system and improved launching in 2.4 is designed to help with - try installing that beta, use the option in Settings / General to create separate launch icons for flash and dictionary search, then launch the appropriate shortcut to switch back and forth. (and please let us know if you encounter any bugs / undesired behavior while doing this)

 

[soulspirit]

found the setting. switching to the dictionary works really well, however the flashcard shortcut always opens the review flashcard screen, and pressing the back button will then return to dictionary. so for anything else than reviewing flashcards the shortcut will not work.

 

[mikelove]

found the setting. switching to the dictionary works really well, however the flashcard shortcut always opens the review flashcard screen, and pressing the back button will then return to dictionary. so for anything else than reviewing flashcards the shortcut will not work.

Ah, we hadn't really thought people would be wanting to do that so much - we'll see about adding an option to make the flashcard shortcut point to that screen instead.

 

[HW60]

In the main screen, searching for a chinese word in chinese english dictionaries and then scrolling through the different dictionaries so far only delivered the results of chinese english dictionaries. Now after all chinese english dictionaries Pleco continues searching in english chinese dictionaries, while the switch language button is still 中. Probably this is intended. Can I restrict Pleco's choice of dictionaries? Do I need the new dictionary groups, which I did not use and understand until now?

The same is true btw using full text search in chinese english dictionaries - here too the search continues in english chinese dictionaries, while the language button is 英.

Is there any (beta-) documentation for this behaviour and the possible settings?

 

[mikelove]

In the main screen, searching for a chinese word in chinese english dictionaries and then scrolling through the different dictionaries so far only delivered the results of chinese english dictionaries. Now after all chinese english dictionaries Pleco continues searching in english chinese dictionaries, while the switch language button is still 中. Probably this is intended. Can I restrict Pleco's choice of dictionaries? Do I need the new dictionary groups, which I did not use and understand until now?

Have you turned on the option in Settings / Dictionary / Search Settings / Full-text to "Integrate into Chinese"? If not then this is probably a bug.

The same is true btw using full text search in chinese english dictionaries - here too the search continues in english chinese dictionaries, while the language button is 英.

Same thing with "Integrate into English," but that option is actually on by default. Turning off both options should get this to stop happening.

Is there any (beta-) documentation for this behaviour and the possible settings?

It's more-or-less unchanged since the old app, the dictionary groups are just treated like other dictionaries-of-this-sort-that-you-can-switch-to.

 

[ckatt]

I want to say that i really like the new additions to the OCR but there are two things i would like to see implemented some day, though probably in the next update since i m sure there are other things still to work on. any way one thing i would love is if there was an easier way to switch how it handles unknown words, like in the dictionary you can tap at the top of the list and "add to the user dict" i know this possible in the OCR but it is buried in a menu and then once it is on its an all or nothing deal, especially when using the cross-hair mode and it tries to add a whole sentence. so if i'm scanning a group of new words and one of them doesn't turn up in any dictionarys i might as well not bother changing the unknown words handling option and instead go back to the dictionary and add the card manually from there. Maybe some would disagree but personally i have never used the history from the OCR so it would make more sense to me to have a custom dict entry button rather than the history button.

the second things is i would like to see some kind of camera sleep mode when i leave the camera running on my phone not only dose this run down the battery pretty quick but my phone tends to heat up a lot too. any way my idea is this. If i place the phone down on the table the camera is covered and image goes totally black. pleco could then know the the ocr is not being used an turn off the camera but still keep the screen on. then if the phone is lifted it could use the motion detection to know the phone was in use again and turn the camera back on. this would be extra useful if the option to keep the power on during OCR has been activated.

 

[mikelove]

I want to say that i really like the new additions to the OCR but there are two things i would like to see implemented some day, though probably in the next update since i m sure there are other things still to work on. any way one thing i would love is if there was an easier way to switch how it handles unknown words, like in the dictionary you can tap at the top of the list and "add to the user dict" i know this possible in the OCR but it is buried in a menu and then once it is on its an all or nothing deal, especially when using the cross-hair mode and it tries to add a whole sentence. so if i'm scanning a group of new words and one of them doesn't turn up in any dictionarys i might as well not bother changing the unknown words handling option and instead go back to the dictionary and add the card manually from there. Maybe some would disagree but personally i have never used the history from the OCR so it would make more sense to me to have a custom dict entry button rather than the history button.

Good idea, and actually we even have a place for it with the currently double-width + button.

Is the crosshairs mode working OK for you in general? Haven't had a lot of feedback on it - in our testing it gets confused occasionally (mostly by moire patterns on monitors) but seems to work well most of the time.

the second things is i would like to see some kind of camera sleep mode when i leave the camera running on my phone not only dose this run down the battery pretty quick but my phone tends to heat up a lot too. any way my idea is this. If i place the phone down on the table the camera is covered and image goes totally black. pleco could then know the the ocr is not being used an turn off the camera but still keep the screen on. then if the phone is lifted it could use the motion detection to know the phone was in use again and turn the camera back on. this would be extra useful if the option to keep the power on during OCR has been activated.

I think we'd probably want to do this based purely on motion rather than checking for a black screen - have an option to put the camera to sleep after 5 or 10 seconds with no movement.

 

[ckatt]

Is the crosshairs mode working OK for you in general? Haven't had a lot of feedback on it - in our testing it gets confused occasionally (mostly by moire patterns on monitors) but seems to work well most of the time.

So far so good. I never used it much before but since the button is right there on the screen now i have been using it a bit more. I haven't had any really trouble that i can think of. i haven't tried it on my monitor but when i have used the box on the monitor I find it helps when its slightly out of focus. the recognition still works fine but there's no moire, or pixels if i'm holding it to close.
speaking of holding it to close, it would be great if, when in macro mode, and the camera is unable to focus, it would default to the closest possible focus. my camera doesn't seem to get sharp when i hold the phone to close to the page but often the OCR still works just fine.
it is more comfortable for me to rest my hand on a book, and more stable, when i'm scanning words, but its just a bit to close for the camera to focus. if i turn off auto focus and hold the phone just an extra inch back and focus manually then i can rest my hand on the book and the OCR has no trouble with the slightly out of focus words. if there was a way to just force the closest focus it would save me a lot of wrist strain. perhaps this could also work some way to help with moire.

 

[mikelove]

So far so good. I never used it much before but since the button is right there on the screen now i have been using it a bit more. I haven't had any really trouble that i can think of. i haven't tried it on my monitor but when i have used the box on the monitor I find it helps when its slightly out of focus. the recognition still works fine but there's no moire, or pixels if i'm holding it to close.

Glad to hear it! Hopefully other people will feel similarly once it's a readily available option.

speaking of holding it to close, it would be great if, when in macro mode, and the camera is unable to focus, it would default to the closest possible focus. my camera doesn't seem to get sharp when i hold the phone to close to the page but often the OCR still works just fine.

No way to do that, sadly, at least none we're aware of in the Android camera API - we can ask it to autofocus but we can't adjust the focus manually.

 

[ckatt]

speaking of holding it to close, it would be great if, when in macro mode, and the camera is unable to focus, it would default to the closest possible focus. my camera doesn't seem to get sharp when i hold the phone to close to the page but often the OCR still works just fine.

No way to do that, sadly, at least none we're aware of in the Android camera API - we can ask it to autofocus but we can't adjust the focus manually.

A should have know there would be a tiger in the road like this. I guess that's why Nikon's new android camera has no manual focus either. Hopefully this will change in the not to distant future.

 

[kyococo]

Here are some ideas after many months of intensive usage.

Flashcards:
- add a new multiple choices test to practice tones. It would show same pin yin with different tones. If no valid alternates are available it could show fake ones. That would be much more convenient and faster than having to type the tone, especially on a small keyboard. As a matter of fact I didn't practice tones in Pleco.
- add a review of characters with the possibility to practice drawing following a transparent greyed character. That would be a good way to improve precise drawing and achieve better balanced character.
- add a calligraphy font for words in flashcards, maybe what is used in the stroke order or more calligraphic ones.
- possibility to just specify higher categories in the flashcard settings (like new or learned), and later organize the cards by moving subcategories without having to tick the moved subcategories again in the test settings. Could be an already corrected bug.

Reader:
- possibility to use it as a writer by -adding- the typed/scanned/etc. text and not just replacing the whole document.
- maybe very basic word processing like copy paste, direct typing.
- option to write phrases in the draft zone of flashcards (found it a good way to practice new or forgotten words, but doing it in the draft handwriting) and add them to document reader. That would allow a self correction at the end of the test or to copy and send the text to a teacher.

 

[stephanhodges]

We've made those two buttons also map to the volume buttons for the next beta, though this currently only works in the document reader - we may eventually extend it to other screens, though.

How do I adjust volume when playing audio from the reader now? I tried to lower the audio volume, and it deselected all of my text and moved the cursor back.

I've just installed latest beta. I didn't see a setting for this in the "Voice" section.

 

[stephanhodges]

Is there any way to stop TTS when it's reading a long paragraph?

 

[stephanhodges]

(Using beta 5)

When I long press the "extend right" button to select more text, the first press selects sentence. Next press selects whole paragraph (or perhaps it was the 3rd long press...).

Anyway, if I start in the middle of the paragraph, it STILL selects backwards to select the entire paragraph. I expected (and I think it should :shock: ) select forward to end of paragraph with this long press.

Then, perhaps one MORE long press could select backwards to entire paragraph? This would only be needed if starting the selection process in the middle of a "long" paragraph, of course.

 

[mikelove]

- add a new multiple choices test to practice tones. It would show same pin yin with different tones. If no valid alternates are available it could show fake ones. That would be much more convenient and faster than having to type the tone, especially on a small keyboard. As a matter of fact I didn't practice tones in Pleco.

Have you tried our "tone practice" test mode? It doesn't give you the keyboard, it gives you a couple of big easy-to-tap numbered buttons for tones - we thought this was a better approach than randomized multi-choice since it's just as ergonomic-friendly but forces you to recall them exactly rather than just guessing.

- add a review of characters with the possibility to practice drawing following a transparent greyed character. That would be a good way to improve precise drawing and achieve better balanced character.

This one we've actually had a lot of requests for, just have to find the time to implement it.

- add a calligraphy font for words in flashcards, maybe what is used in the stroke order or more calligraphic ones.

Also coming, we've already licensed a few fonts for it in fact.

- possibility to just specify higher categories in the flashcard settings (like new or learned), and later organize the cards by moving subcategories without having to tick the moved subcategories again in the test settings. Could be an already corrected bug.

That should already work, actually - the checkboxes in the category selection screen won't update, but when you start the test it makes sure that all of the sub-categories are selected and selects them if not. Have you actually observed this not working or were you just confused by the UI?

- possibility to use it as a writer by -adding- the typed/scanned/etc. text and not just replacing the whole document.

We actually already support that with OCR on iOS, we didn't on Android thanks to our wacky task-switching behavior but now that we've fixed that we can certainly look at an OCR append mode.

- maybe very basic word processing like copy paste, direct typing.

Also supported on iOS already, but we're not really sure if there's a point to it on Android with its shared document directories and easy inter-app data sharing - better to leave that to dedicated text editor apps.

- option to write phrases in the draft zone of flashcards (found it a good way to practice new or forgotten words, but doing it in the draft handwriting) and add them to document reader. That would allow a self correction at the end of the test or to copy and send the text to a teacher.

Again I'd tend to think that that's better done with a separate text editor app, though we could look at adding a "share" command to flashcards to facilitate sending text to that app.

How do I adjust volume when playing audio from the reader now? I tried to lower the audio volume, and it deselected all of my text and moved the cursor back.

You can turn off the option in Settings / Reader to use the volume buttons for scrolling.

Is there any way to stop TTS when it's reading a long paragraph?

At the moment the only way is to play something else that's shorter than that.

Anyway, if I start in the middle of the paragraph, it STILL selects backwards to select the entire paragraph. I expected (and I think it should ) select forward to end of paragraph with this long press.

Makes sense, I suppose... the thinking had been that this way you'd capture the whole thing but I can see how the directional aspect of it would be a bit disorienting. Not sure if we can fix this for the official 2.4 release, though.

 

[stephanhodges]

Thanks for pointing to setting to disable volume scroll. I'm sure (seeing the setting screen) that I had that unchecked before, but perhaps my mind is playing it's usual tricks on me, telling me (usually incorrectly) "how smart I am"

Hope you find time somewhere along the way to implement the forward select, and, of course, adding one additional long press for "all paragraph" select.

I also hope you are able to make a release announcement of more "stuff" (dictionaries, etc) before Christmas

 

[mikelove]

I also hope you are able to make a release announcement of more "stuff" (dictionaries, etc) before Christmas

Probably not quite that soon, since a few of the new ones would be very tricky to get working with our non-updated iOS app and we don't want to release any new dictionaries on Android without releasing them on iOS (it's bad enough that we're putting out TTS first on Android).

 

[soulspirit]

would it be possible to show the addon-pricings in different currencies. i mean, you surely know how many euros, dollars, renminbi or philippine pesos... you will charge for each addon - at least as far as i remember from iOs interface - so why not show it on android?