KanjiBox Dev Blog

This year, give the gift of Knowledge to your friends and family!

Too mushy?

OK, how about:

Make somebody’s life miserable by turning them on to Japanese studying!

KanjiBox runs on practically every iOS devices ever made (iPod Touch and iPhone 2nd Gen and up, all iPad models), making it an ideal gift for those people learning Japanese around you.

Click here to gift KanjiBox via the App Store…

Note: Due to App Store restrictions, keep in mind that your gift can only be redeemed in an account from the same country as yours…

KanjiBox 1.5 is currently going through beta-testing and, while I wait for feedbacks and bug reports (fingers crossed for a public release by mid-november), I thought I’d mention something funny I noticed about KanjiBox App Store reviews (but that probably applies equally well to most other app reviews out there). Absolutely nothing of substance regarding KB dev or upcoming features in the present post (that stuff is coming in another post, when release is impending).

In theory, app store reviews are a great way to promote your app through word of mouth and for users to avoid paying for sleek-looking crappy apps. Human nature being what it is, things rarely work out like that. Leaving review is not only optional, but even slightly difficult for most casual users. People with specific grievances are much more likely to make the extra effort to gripe on the review page than regular happy users.

This would not be such a problem, if all users were equally thoughtful rational people who read the doc before complaining about missing features (that are in fact there) or random lack of compatibility (despite warnings in big bold letters)… I have in the past downloaded perfectly fine apps, with horrendous rating average which, upon closer inspection, were due to a handful ultra-negative reviews bemoaning the lack of feature X or Y (when usually feature X or Y would be either useless or already implemented).

But back to KanjiBox. Over time, I have noticed something interesting about negative/mediocre reviews… Every single one of them can be put in one of three categories: regular, kindergarten blackmailer and… French!

Let me explain… (more…)

Many people have inquired on the chances of a version of KanjiBox for Android. Indeed, not everybody out there wants to rely on the whims of Apple for their content and Android devices have come a long way: I completely hear you.

Unfortunately, the short answer is that KanjiBox for Android won’t be happening anytime soon. As in: not happening in the next 3-to-6 months, which is generally about as far as I can see in my life (feel free to keep your hopes up for after that, but the chances of my forfeiting all ties to the material world and joining a Zen monastery are at least on par).

As for a more detailed answer and overview of the reasons behind this regrettable decision, feel free to read on if you have some time to kill:
(more…)

Overnight, my iPod Touch has gone from fine and healthy to an unresponsive brick: the screen is dark and plugging it into the computer elicits no reaction on either side. Charging, forced reset and any of the usual button-pushing tricks has yielded no result. The thing is well and truly dead.

Need I even mention that it has been purchased exactly one year and three months ago and is therefore just out of the warranty period.

Sorry folks, but that’s bad news for immediate development of KanjiBox’s next version. I can fortunately do the small stuff using only the iPhone simulator and relying on beta testers for live testing, but there is no way I can push out a reliable update with major changes in it.

Of course, I will eventually get a new one, but this purchase is definitely not gonna happen before October, as next month budget is entirely dedicated to paying the usual barron robber fees involved in moving to a new place in Japan (the infamous reikin+shikikin+agency fee+rent lethal combo, known and loved by all apartment renters throughout Japan).

Luckily, version 0.5.3 (out on the store as soon as Apple finally deigns approving it) seems to have reached full maturity and stability. So even with no new features for a while, you should at least have a sturdy app to play with in the meantime.

Sorry for this roadmap hiccup and thanks for your patience…