8 posts tagged with "betatesting"

You can now access Kanjiverse in your browser for a desktop-like experience. Try it for yourself with the link below or keep reading to learn more about the differences with the mobile app and some FAQ. Kanjiverse: Japanese Learner’s DictionaryMulti-platform ecosystem for Japanese learners. Learn kanji, build your vocabulary, read real Japanese.Kanjiverse

Why a web app when there is already a mobile app?​

One of the main goals of Kanjiverse is to be multi-platform to provide a seamless experience whether you prefer to use it on mobile, on desktop, or both. Some benefits of the web app compared to the mobile version:

• Try it out before installing it (especially convenient on iOS where you need to install Testflight first during the beta).
• Use it as a desktop app with mouse and keyboard, it will be easier for creating vocabulary lists, etc. It's a PWA so it can even be installed on your computer (the install icon should appear in the address bar on Chrome browser).
• Updates automatically to the latest version and is will receive more frequent updates than the mobile app.
• Will be searchable with Google (still working on this).

What are the differences with the mobile app?​

They are almost the same in terms of look and features, except some changes required to adapt to a browser:

• Navigation: use the browser's back button instead of gesture, share pages by directly copying the URL instead of the Share button, mouse support should work as expected.
• Layout: depending on the size of your window it will look like the phone app or the tablet app. Bottom sheets are replaced with fullscreen dialog on phone and floating dialog on desktop.
• Animation: when running on a phone, transition animations are disabled to improve speed and battery life.
• Fonts: system fonts are used by default so depending on the platform, texts might look different.

Are there any limitations compared to the mobile app?​

Dictionaries cannot be pre-downloaded, but previously seen data are cached and can still be seen offline.

Why does the web app feel different on a desktop browser?​

The app is using a different renderer (how things are drawn on the screen) optimized to your device performance and internet connection, here are the tradeoffs of each version:

• Size: 1.3Mb on mobile, 5.5Mb on desktop.
• First loading time: ~3s on mobile, ~10s on desktop.
• Subsequent loading time: ~1s on both.
• Fidelity: on desktop it looks and behaves just like the native app, while on mobile it feels less reactive, texts might be misaligned, no transparency, no shadow, no transition animations.
• Renderer: html on mobile, canvaskit (skia) on desktop.

How to speed up the loading time?​

Loading time can range from 0.5s to 10s depending on the following factors:

• First time access: loading the app will take longer the first time but subsequent access will be much faster since the app will be already cached in your browser and even update in the background when you use it!
• Phone or desktop: the app detects if you are using a phone or desktop and serves a different version: the phone version is much lighter (1.3Mb) than the desktop version (5.5Mb), so depending on your internet connection it might be faster on phone or desktop.
• First user in your area: the app is distributed worldwide through a CDN but might only be cached in your nearest server if someone has already accessed it.

Can I sign in with the same account on the mobile and web app?​

Yes! You can sign in with Apple, Google or email on the web app too. As long as the linked email address is the same, you will access to the same account on both platforms.

I'm signed in with the same account on web and mobile but the changes I made in one place aren't reflected in the other.​

Syncing between devices/platforms isn't automatic for now so you need to refresh the app manually if you make changes somewhere else by reloading the page in the browser, or doing a pull-to-refresh gesture in the mobile app.

Some characters are missing or replaced with "?".​

• On mobile the app uses your browser's default font so some rare characters might not be available. It can be fixed by selecting a custom font in Account > Settings > Fonts.
• On desktop the app will try to download the missing fonts but this will not be instantaneous, wait a bit or reload the page.

How can I submit a bug report on the web app?​

Shaking gesture (Android) and Screenshot (iOS) doesn't work in the browser but you can send me a message via all social media channels listed in Account > About.

New UX/UI for tablets​

The bottom navigation bar is replaced by a vertical rail navigation.Fullscreen dialogs are replaced by modals while the Bookmark bottom sheet is replaced by a drawer.The Search bottom sheet is replaced by a fullscreen page with tabs shown has button chips.

Other UX/UI Improvements​

The color palette has been adjusted to improve readability so that bright colors have enough contrast.Fullscreen dialogs on iPhone look more native with the previous screen being pushed behind.The search sheet in landscape mode has all tabs and search button vertically aligned on the right side.Notification cards can be dismissed by swiping them.

Details of all changes and bug fixes in v0.7.0​

• fixed cloud sync stopping to work without notifying the user when the refresh token expires: the refresh token is now also updated everytime the access token is refreshed (every 24 hours) and valid for 90 days, therefore the user will remain signed in as long as they open the app once during the 90 days period, each daily access will renew the refresh token for 90 days
• displays dismissible error message card at the top of the screen when there is a critical issue with user data sync
• sends report of non critical errors to crashlytics to detect "silent errors"
• History Word cards are denser with definition on 1 line instead of 2
• Vocabulary List cards are denser and show the number of kanji and word has standard overline chips
• Bookmark Bottom Sheet becomes an end drawer on landscape mode
• Search button is disabled when the search text field is empty or invalid
• Sample Vocabulary List Card is removed from Dashboard and replaced by "Browse all vocabulary lists" suggestion to the search sheet and My Lists tab
• Sign In card and button in My Lists / Account are replaced by the same gradient card
• Sign In large button is moved to the app bar action
• fixed color palette readability by making "epic" and "legendary" colors darker and "unclassified" as black, sub components in the Glyph Graph as a darker and saturated version of the primary color
• dialogs are shown as fullscreen on phone and floating on tablet, same for the Search bottom sheet
• fixed navigation rail Account icon's Sync Status badge
• improved layout of Search sheet in landscape with a Search button on the right and all tab icons vertically below it
• improved the UI with an MD3 inspired style with a square Seach Floating Action Button, scrim/barrier color, shadowless dialog, faster horizontal transition for pages and z-axis transition for dialogs
• fixed History Filter chips to react like buttons
• fixed keyboard hiding when rotating phone and not being to regain focus by taping in the search bar
• clears Search bar tags and text when opening the Search sheet
• fixed Japanese word not being searched in Vocab List titles
• iOS fullscreen dialogs have a native iOS 15 3d look
• fixed kanji and word cards moving around when transitioning between pages where the same kanji/word appear on both pages
• fixed bottom sheets / fullscreen dialogs not being draggable from anywhere on their content
• uses the same style of thicker icons on both Android and iOS
• fixed loading shimmer animation colors
• adds new notification cards in the Dashboard and makes them all dismissible by swiping them
• replaced random kanji and word by one single card that combine a word and its list of kanji
• persists in the cloud the state of all dimissed cards and hints
• clarifies the search suggestion "English: xxx" and "Paste: xxx", displays "Type in romaji, Japanese or English" when the Search Bar is empty
• fixed Search by Components ignoring the frequency limit when kanji index is not downloaded

Version 0.5.0 adds a proper landscape mode, bug fixes and speed improvements from startup time to animations.

Gallery of Major Changes​

Onboarding screen has been replaced by a welcome card so you can use the app right away without selecting your Japanese level.Search sheet is taller and has a denser layout to show more auto complete suggestions.Search by Components displays only the selectable kanji parts to help narrow down a search.New denser layout for lists (no cards) and wider landscape mode that switches the bottom navigation bar with a left side rail navigation.History entries are displayed in a denser list with corresponding bookmark icon, filter can be selected one at a time.

All Changes and Fixes in v0.5.0​

• [iOS] fixed vertical alignment of Japanese texts with furigana
  - [iOS] switches to landscape mode when rotation the device
  - [iOS] uses large title for top page of each tab
  - [iOS] replaced checkboxes with native looking switches
  - [iOS] removed edge shadow on page transition
  - [Android] fixes bottom sheet being dismissed when rotating the device
  - [Android] some design changes to match the new Material You guidelines: stretch overscroll, low caps button label, no elevation, etc.
  - optimized overall app performances and animation smoothness
  - replaced kanji/word card opening transition by a zooming effect instead of a sliding page from the right
  - replaced Sign In dialog by bottom sheet
  - fixed top empty space in Japanese text with no furigana
  - fixed kanji/word cards moving around when going back from a list page to a search results page
  - fixed History tab being fully redrawn everytime a new entry is added
  - fixed Kanji in List not being loaded from cache when available
  - fixed Word Compounds card not using offline cache when available
  - fixed word in format kanji:kana not being loaded from cache
  - fixed scrollbar to go all the way down to the bottom navigation bar
  - swiches navigation bar with rail navigation (vertical bar on the left) in landscape mode
  - extends rail navigation to menu navigation on larger screen
  - disables animation according to OS settings
  
  My Lists
  - replaced bookmark pop up menu by draggable bottom sheet
  - replaced cards by denser tiles
  - replaced + card by app bar button
  - replaced edit/create sheet by fullscreen bottom sheet with X and "Edit/Create" buttons
  - removed outline boxes around input fields
  
  History
  - filter buttons can only be selected one at a time, added a default "All" button
  - replaced cards by denser tiles
  - all entries have a leading icon such as magnifying glass for query entries
  - word and list entries have a bookmark icon that indicates if the item is already bookmarked
  - only shows word definitions if the dictionary was downloaded
  
  Search Sheet
  - new landscape mode layout shows tab icons on the left without "search" floating button
  - dismisses keyboard when scrolling the suggestion list
  - removed tab underline indicator, icons shown as outlined when unselected
  - removed "exact match" from kana suggestions
  - removed + button on word/kanji quick search suggestions
  - search bottom sheet is taller, going all the way to the status bar
  - suggestions tiles are more dense vertically
  - shows "Search in *** dictionaries" suggestion when inputing multiple tags (same effect as pressing the magnifying glass icon)
  - radical search tab hides radicals that cannot be selected (and grey them out when loading)
  
  Dashboard
  - replaced onboarding page by "Welcome" card inviting the user to select their level in a bottom sheet
  - replaced status chip by a single "cloud sync status" icon visible on all pages in the top right
  - grouped Kanji and Word of the day on the same row
  - moved "Beta Testing" card to its own row
  
  Settings
  - redesigned Account tab with a title similar to other tab
  - grouped profile name and sign in/out buttons to a Profile card
  - rename Preferences to Settings
  - card disable switches are drawn above the cards
  

New beta version 0.3.2 provides full support to save your Preferences, Lists and History to the cloud and sync between your devices. It also let you customize the Japanese fonts.

Cloud Sync and (Semi) Offline Cache​

If you are signed-in, all your Preferences are synced to the cloud, along with My Lists and History. Syncing is currently only performed when the app starts up, when you sign in, when internet connection is restored after being offline, or when you manually do a "pull-to-refresh". If you haven't signed in yet but made some changes, they will be preserved when you sign in the first time.

The sync status is displayed at the top of the Dashboard screen:

• Signed out: you are not signed in, therefore your data are not saved to the cloud.
• Syncing: your settings/lists are being synced to the cloud.
• Saved: all your local changes to settings/lists have been saved to the cloud (it doesn't mean that the app is up to date if you have made changes on a different device since syncing is not periodically ran, do a pull-to-refresh manually).
• Not saved: your local changes to settings/lists have not been saved to the cloud yet, probably because your device is offline.
• Sync failed: an error occurred when saving local changes to the cloud, long press on the chip to display the reason and error message.

The app can also handle internet disconnections, and changes made to Preferences and Lists while offline are preserved locally (even if the app is restarted) and synced when the app goes back online. Note that the syncing strategy is "last update wins" so for instance if you edit the same List on an offline device A and online device B, the change from B will be saved to the cloud right away but when device A goes back online, it will send its change to the server and override the change from device B.

Custom Japanese Fonts​

Fonts are not prepackaged within the app anymore (reduced the bundle size by 3!) and will instead be downloaded on demand. They can be changed in Account > Preferences > Fonts. It is possible to use a different font for large and small texts.

The default Serif font in previous versions has been removed from Preferences > Japanese > Serif Font for Large Characters, but the same effect can be obtain by checking Preferences > Fonts > Use a different font for large text and choosing Sawarabi Mincho in the dropdown list.

What's Next?​

The biggest changes in these releases were internal, some work I had to do now to facilitate the development of future features:

• Grouped all design elements into a central Theme to prepare for the implementation of dark mode.
• Developed an offline-first syncing cache system to enable full sync of user data between devices and with the coming web and desktop apps.
• The offline-first cache also enables the app to work even without an internet connection. Currently only Preferences and Lists are cached but the next release should also cache all pages (kanji and words) so they can be consulted offline or without fetching them from the server. The next step will be the option to download the whole dictionaries in advance, and with the implementation of a local search feature, the app will be fully operational offline.

Happy testing :)

Other changes to version 0.3.0 to 0.3.2​

Fonts​

• removed fonts from the app file to reduce its size from 54mb to 22mb
  - uses OS default font (Roboto on Android, San Francisco on iOS) instead of Noto fonts
  - fixed "wiggling" Japanese text on iOS where kanji without furigana were not aligned with kanji with furigana
  - sets font weight according to their size to be a bit thiner and more readable

Preferences​

• Switch Level screen has a checkbox to let the user decide if preferences must be wiped out or if manually edited changes must be preserved
  - all settings are synced to the cloud if user is signed in
  - all settings and history are saved to the cloud the first time a user signs in
  - when the user signs out, all settings, lists, etc. are cleared from the local app

My Lists​

• lists stays visible even with no internet connection
  - lists can be updated, kanji/word added to them, even with no internet connection
  - internet connection is still required to create a new list
  - preferences and list changes made without internet connection are preserved even if the app is restarted
  - preferences and list changes are synced to the cloud when the app goes back online

Dashboard​

• replaced welcome header by "Dashboard"
  - displays status chips at the top: app version, online state, data sync status (signed-out/syncing/saved/not-saved/error)
  - kanji/word of the day are reloaded when the level is changed (if the dashboard is displayed)
  - kanji/word of the day are now selected from all entries in the user's level (instead of just the first 500 entries)
  - word of the day is now only selected among verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs (exclude particles, etc.)

UI​

• bottom navigation bar has a shadow on Android
  - better fits the keyword on kanji small card, makes it smaller or splits it over two lines
  - missing kanji keyword displays ??? instead of being empty and making the kanji bigger
  - denser word card with reduced vertical padding and vertically centered content
  - History app bar's filter buttons resize to fit in the screen width
  - prettier loading animation that looks like a shimmer
  - removed 'feedback-on-shake' gesture on iOS, use the standard 'feedback-on-screenshot' instead
  - moved all switches in Preferences to the right
  

With the latest version available on both Android and iOS, you can now sign in with your Google account or Apple ID instead of the current email+password.

Signing in with Apple/Google will** **carry over everything you have in My Lists if the email address is the same.

If you prefer to continue to sign in with email, you will be asked to verify your email address first, simply follow the link in the email that will be sent to you the first time you try to sign in. The same will now be required for any new account. There is also the option to reset your password from the Sign in with Email sheet.

Happy testing :)

Detailed list of changes in v0.1.14​

• adds support for Sign in with Google and Apple
  - replaces Sign In buttons with branded buttons
  - improves Sign in with Email security by sending a verification email
  - forces old user accounts to verify their email before signing in again
  - adds Reset Password link in the Sign in with Email sheet
  - adds clear button in the email text field
  - adds visibility button in the password text field
  - fixes keyboard action "next" on Sign in with Email sheet
  - Account page shows user's picture when signed in with Google
  - fixes JMDict Variant text size being too small when there were hidden infrequent variants
  - JMDict Variant text size adapts to the width of the screen if less than 10 characters long

Detailed list of changes in v0.1.13​

• fixes preferences being reset and "choose your level" screen showing up every time the app restart
  - fixes scaling issues when the user set Accessibility > Large Font in the OS Settings
  - Kanji grid's number of kanji per row adapts to the Accessibility > Large Font
  - shrinks long Japanese words on Word Cards so they are fully visible even when longer than 5 characters
  - shows ellipsis when Part of Speech (grammar) tags overflows on Word Cards
  - fixes tags in the app bar overflowing on small devices
  - improves contrast on iOS with a darker background tint when Search sheet is opened
  - fixes black label on filled buttons in iOS

It's finally here! This new version is the first one to be released on both Android and iOS at the same time. Invites will be sent by email to anyone enrolled. If you haven't already, you can still enroll on the site.

Version 0.1.12 also adds a bunch of fixes and improvements:

• long press to copy kanji, words and sentences
• tap the Home icon to go back to the Dashboard
• easier to read Sans Serif font for large Japanese text, set by default for Novice/Beginner, can also be set in Account > Preferences > Japanese Collection > Font, Furigana and Limits

Happy testing :)

Detailed Changelog of Version 0.1.12

• Copy kanji, Japanese word or sentences with a long press
  - Displays large Kanji and Japanese text with an easier to read Sans Serif font
  - Sans Serif font is set by default for Novice/Beginner level
  - Sans Serif font can be set in Preferences > Japanese Collection > Font, Furigana and Limits
  - Go back to Dashboard by tapping on the Home button when already on the Home tab
  - Bookmarking a page without being signed in will first prompt the user to Sign In
  - Removed edit/delete buttons on the List cards, the buttons are now on the app bar when a List is opened
  - Edit List dialog is replaced with a bottom sheet
  - Removed shake bug reporting on ios, use the native testflight screenshot method instead
  - Dashboard shows a Latest News card (triggered remotely with Firebase Remote Config)
  - Dashboard shows an Update Available card when a new version is available
  - Fixed Kanji Readings listing words that do not match the reading
  - Fixed characters spacing in words that have furigana wider than the word itself
  - Fixed keyboard navigation in the Sign In dialog and the Search sheet
  - Fixed background becoming transparent when pressing back on Search Results pages
  - Fixed Bookmark button not working after signing in on pages that were opened before signing in
  - Fixed missing app bar and back button on Search Results pages that have no results
  - Stops automatically opening kanji/word of a List when there is only one item
  - Refreshes the page after updating a List's details
  - Notifies that the Sign In is successful
  - Improves look of navigation bar with color tint and blurred opacity on ios
  - Improves look of Search by Radical Input screen with an ios-style Sliding Segment instead of multiple chips
  - Improves shadows softness
  - Improves toast bar notifications look
  - Adds a scrollbar
  - Makes Search Bottom Sheet taller on Radical and Tag Input tabs
  - Adds gradient on Welcome page's title
  - Adds Firebase crashlytics and performance
  

A new version is available to beta testers on the play store! This release fixes (all?) issues with the autocompletion's suggestion lists (it won't hide outside the screen anymore) and adds a bunch of new filters including the convenient Sort By filters.

Sort By filter autocompletion​

The Sort By filters can be autocompleted when you type "sort" or the name of what you want to sort:

• sort kanji by character, #strokes, frequency, grade/JLPT/kanken level, glyph composition, glyph formation, references (e.g. RTK index)
• sort words by Japanese variant, English definition, frequency, part-of-speech (aka grammar), field, dialect, misc
• sort results in ascending or descending order
• they can also be chained, in the order you typed them

Here are a few examples of what you can do with them (from left to right):

• sort joyo kanji by grade then frequency
• sort kanji in their RTK order
• sort all computer related nouns by frequency

All the other fixes in version 0.1.10:​

• adds autocomplete for more filters such as Katakana, Collection, Kanji Readings, References (i.e. RTK, dictionary indices, etc.)
• fixed search bottom sheet being hidden behind the navigation bar
• fixed suggestion list overflowing on the right of the screen
• fixed pressing filter in the search bar make the dialog move behind the navigation bar
• fixed crash when Kanji has no meanings and no keyword
• fixed some unrecognized radicals/subcomponents
• fixes parenthesis and comma issues in kanji meanings
• fixed * wildcard not working in english words
• fixed 'any' value not returning anything when searching by level (grade, jlpt, kanken) or references (RTK, wanikani, etc.)
• fixed suggestion list height overflowing on the top of the screen
• fixed radicals not being ordered correctly in the radical input method tab
• changes the font of radicals input to sans serif
• forces a update of all pages when user switch their level
  

Android users will finally be able to get their hands on the first Private Beta! Here is what you can expect.

Collections and Dictionaries​

Kanjiverse currently supports two types of collection: Kanji and Japanese (words and expressions). Each page of a collection is a series of customizable cards. New cards will added in the future, here is what's available now.

Kanji Collection​

The Kanji Collection contains 13,108 kanji with the following cards:

• Glyph Graph: everyone's favorite, decomposes a kanji into its components and sub-components, tap one of them to zoom in.
• Formula: a flat version of the Glyph Graph, shows Heisig's Remembering The Kanji (RTK) keyword for each component.
• Meanings & Tags: various informations about the kanji such as JLPT level, is it a pictogram, is it a joyo, etc. All those tags can be used as filters when doing a search.
• Readings: each possible reading of the kanji, sorted and colored by frequency of usage, lists all words that use this reading.

Japanese Collection​

The Japanese Words and Expressions Collection contains* 180,429 entries* with the following cards:

• JMdict Variants: some Japanese words can be written with different kanji, kana or have different pronunciations, this card shows them all, courtesy of JMdict/Edict.
• Kanji List: links to Kanji Collection pages for each kanji present in the word/expression.
• JMdict Senses: list of definitions with tags that can also be used as search filters.
• Compounds and Affixes: Japanese is an agglutinative language, words can often be part of other longer words.
• Tatoeba Corpus Sentences: sample sentences with English translations from the Tateoba Corpus.

User Level and Preferences​

Kanjiverse comes with 5 recommended profiles based on the user's level. You choose the one that matches your level and the interface and content displayed will be adapted to fit your needs.

Things that change based on the selected profile: types of card displayed, tag details, furigana, romaji or kana, English or Japanese labels, hiding rare kanji/words, etc.

Example of the same page displayed for Novice, Intermediate, and Expert levels: The same page displayed for Novice, Intermediate, and Expert levels. All the settings used in these default profiles can also be fine tuned individually: Some of the Preference screens.

Smart Search Bar​

The search bar helps you query all collections at once with different input methods:

• Keyboard Input: provides suggestions as you type, converts romaji to hiragana and autocompletes all filter tags.
• Kanji Component Input: search by radical, phonetic component or any part of a character.
• Filter Tag Input: every tag present on kanji/word pages can be used as filter. More than a hundred are available such as kanji composition, grammar element, frequency of usage, JLPT levels, etc. Search with different Input Methods.

Vocabulary Lists and Catalog​

You can create your own lists of kanji/words and share them with others. You can also browse the catalog and bookmark any list that others have shared!

To create your own list:​

1. Go to My Lists (tab in the bottom navigation).
2. Sign In is required (only email sign in is available for now, careful not to forget your password, account reset isn't implemented yet!).
3. Tap CREATE NEW LIST.
4. Enter at least a title, description is optional, and check Share List if you want to let other users search and bookmark this list (of course they won't be able to modify its content).
5. To add a kanji/words to this list, press the bookmark icon on any page, then select the list. Steps to create a custom list and bookmark pages.

To find shared lists:​

Instead of creating a list from scratch, you can search if someone has already shared a list for your textbook or favorite anime:

1. Go to My Lists tab.
2. Press the Search button (on this tab it is an icon of a magnifying glass hovering bookmarks).
3. Type the title you are looking for and press SEARCH.
4. Tap on one of the results to open the list's details.
5. Press the bookmarks icon to add it to My Lists. Steps to search the catalog of vocabulary lists.

Is that all?​

You might have noticed that not all features announced on the landing page are present in this first beta version, notably:

• Kanjiverse Corpus (sentences from the real world extracted from anime, drama, etc.): development will continue when the app is stable, for now only Tatoeba Corpus is available.
• Mnemonic Card: writing and sharing mnemonics to remember kanji will be added soon, meanwhile you can use the Formula Card to see Heisig's Remembering the Kanji (RTK) keywords for each component of a kanji.
• Share translation and votes: community features are currently limited to creating and sharing vocabulary lists, there is no feature to add content, vote or report either.
• Handwriting Input: the recommended workaround is to install Gboard.
• Web app: the quality of the web version isn't good enough yet to provide a satisfying user experience so it will be delayed until it stabilizes.
• **iPhone version: **the iOS version is ready to meet its beta testers, I am now at the mercy of Apple to allow its distribution... this might take weeks.

Don't be disappointed if a feature you were looking forward to isn't there yet, the development of Kanjiverse is far from over. In order not to delay the access to the private beta any further, I've decided to release a first version with only the features presented on this page. It should already provide beta testers with a usable experience. Further developments will then be prioritized based on the feedback from the community.

If you haven't register yet, go there and enter your email address to receive your invite link. Looking forward to seeing you in the private beta :)