Transcrybe is Here

I’m excited to finally share that my new(ish) Mac app, Transcrybe, is now live! If you’ve been following my work, you might remember a little menu bar app I released last year called Subtitle Me. It started as a tiny tool to subtitle live speech using Apple’

A New Way to Start Learning Japanese with Nihongo Lessons 1.2

Learning Japanese as a beginner can feel overwhelming, especially with unfamiliar scripts like hiragana and katakana. With Nihongo 1.2, we’re making those first steps easier and more approachable than ever. This update introduces a guided learning system that transitions seamlessly from familiar English letters (romaji) to hiragana and

Black Friday Sale 2024

Black Friday sales for Nihongo and Nihongo Lessons are now live, and will run through December 2nd! Nihongo – 50% off lifetime subscriptions to Nihongo Pro. Nihongo Lessons – 50% off all courses, including the all 7 courses pack. You can literally get all 7 courses for just a little more than

Unlock the Secrets of Kanji with Nihongo 1.31

This is a huge update to Nihongo, taking a massive leap forward in making kanji more understandable to learners. Learning kanji is one of the most challenging parts of learning Japanese, and is a common place that learners get stuck or give up. Making kanji learning easier is an important

iPad gets a big update in Nihongo 1.30

The latest update to Nihongo brings a modern sidebar-style interface when running on the iPad (and Apple Silicon Macs)! My goal with this update was to use the iPad's extra screen space to make it quicker and easier to get back to search (via text or photo lookup)

iCloud Sync and Notes come to Nihongo Lessons in Version 1.1

I just published the first major update to Nihongo Lessons, with two of my most requested features - cloud syncing between devices, and the ability to add your own notes to flashcards. Download here. Major Features * Cloud Syncing - Your progress, notes, and preferences will now be synced automatically to

Big improvements to Photo Lookup in Nihongo 1.29

Nihongo 1.29 is out, and it's all about improvements to the experience of using photos, screenshots, and your camera to look up words and make flashcards. Download here. Major Features * Bulk Photo Lookups - Select multiple photos and look up words in all of them at once.

Nihongo Lessons is here

My latest app, Nihongo Lessons, is now available on the App Store! You can download it here. Think of Nihongo Lessons as the textbook to Nihongo’s dictionary. It’s an app for learning Japanese, specifically made for learners who are serious about becoming fluent, and want a guided set

Update on Jalup Integration

Just a quick update from me, since I know I've been quiet for a while. Since completing my family's move to Japan in August, I've been hard at work on the Jalup integration with Nihongo. In the end I decided it made more sense

Development

Stop Xcode 14 beta from draining your battery

There's a bug in Xcode 14 betas 4-6 that causes your CPU to go crazy and drain your battery. Here's a workaround.

Nihongo + Japanese Level Up

Some big news! You may have heard that Japanese Level Up [https://japaneselevelup.com] (aka Jalup), the excellent Japanese learning tool created by Adam Shapiro, is shutting down [https://japaneselevelup.com/the-end-of-jalup/] later this year. I've long been a fan of Jalup, and was sad to see this

Nihongo 1.28 Release Notes

Major Updates * Handwriting Search - Search for kanji by drawing them with your finger. Other Improvements * 1005 new word entries, 1754 new example sentences, and many more updates to existing word entries and example sentences. * Once we reach the last bucket of kana search results, don't prioritize hiragana

Nihongo 1.27 Release Notes

Major Updates * Search As You Type - Search results will now appear as you type instead of waiting for you to hit "search". Other Improvements * 1802 new word entries added, and 2174 new example sentences added. * Introduced a new purchase screen for Nihongo Pro, including a single list

Nihongo 1.26.1 Release Notes

Improvements * The kanji drawing area's erase button will now move up when the tab bar is visible, so you can press it immediately after opening the app. * Updated in-app screenshots to reflect latest UI changes. Bug Fixes * Fixed an issue where "Done" text would not appear

Tech

How to run 14 iOS Simulators in Parallel on an M1 Mac

After making these changes, I can now run my UI test suite across 14 simulators in parallel, and reduced my UI test suite runtime by 38%.

Nihongo 1.26 Release Notes

Major Updates * Flashcard Audio - Words can now be spoken aloud as you study them in flashcards. Other Improvements * Audio prosody and pitch has been improved for common and uncommon words using text-to-speech. * App will now take up about 200MB less space on your device. * Default font size for clippings

Nihongo 1.25.1 Release Notes

Bug Fixes * Make Quick Note links to dictionary history decks use absolute dates, so you don't have a link to "Today from 9:00am to 10:00am" that no longer represents the correct date. * Fix a rare issue where the toolbar would disappear when viewing the

Nihongo 1.25 Release Notes

Major Updates * iPad Quick Notes - Add notes to dictionary entries, clippings, and flashcard decks, that will be synced with the Notes app. Requires iPad OS 15. Other Improvements * Over 800 new words, and 3000 new example sentences have been added to the dictionary. * Taking a screenshot on a dictionary

Nihongo 1.24.1 Release Notes

Improvements * Improve layout of subscription status screen at larger dynamic type sizes. * Expand the hit area for tapping on the existing photo count to view existing photos, when the "Attach Photo" button is visible on a word entry. * Reduce "rebases" during sync, which should make the

Nihongo 1.24 Release Notes

Nihongo is now on reddit! Come join the community to share tips, flashcard decks, workflows, and help shape the future of the app. [https://reddit.com/r/nihongoapp] Major Updates * More Pitch Accents - Pitch accents on over 35,000 additional words. Other Improvements * Dutch language support has been added.

Nihongo 1.23.x Release Notes

Bug Fixes * Fix app getting stuck on "Changing language" screen when changing languages. * Fix crash when completing Nihongo Pro purchase from a word triage screen, after viewing multiple previous word triage screens. * Fix issue where pushing deeper into the navigation hierarchy on compact iPad multitasking, and then transitioning

Nihongo 1.23 Release Notes

Major Updates * Real Human Audio - Over 10,000 word entries now have pronunciation audio with native Japanese speakers. Other Improvements * When the "Attach Photo" option is available on a word entry, and the word entry already has a photo attached, a badge will now appear indicating the

Nihongo 1.22 Release Notes

Major Updates * Larger Text & Dynamic Type - Default font sizes throughout the app have been increased, and your iOS text size setting will now be respected throughout the app. * Auto Clipboard Search - Automatically search for Japanese text copied to the clipboard from another app, or from a nearby

Releases

Nihongo 1.21 Release Notes

Major Updates * Cloud Syncing - Your flashcards, clippings, photos, and more will now be synced automatically to all your devices via iCloud. * Family Sharing - Nihongo Pro subscriptions can now be shared with up to five family members via Family Sharing. Other Improvements * Release notes no longer pop up on

Releases

Nihongo 1.20 Release Notes

Major Updates * Pitch Accents - Standard Japanese pitch accent pronunciation guides can now be displayed on over 40,000 word entries. Data is provided by the CJK Dictionary Institute, and requires a separate one-time purchase. * Photo Lookup (OCR) in China - Users in China, where Google is blocked, can now