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Chris Vasselli

Chris Vasselli

Independent app developer, dad, and creator of Nihongo.

Vermont, USA •
23 posts •
Nihongo + Japanese Level Up

Nihongo + Japanese Level Up

Some big news! You may have heard that Japanese Level Up (aka Jalup), the excellent Japanese learning tool created by Adam Shapiro, is shutting down later this year. I've long been a fan

  • Chris Vasselli
    Chris Vasselli
2 min read

Nihongo 1.28 Release Notes

Major UpdatesHandwriting Search - Search for kanji by drawing them with your finger.Other Improvements1005 new word entries, 1754 new example sentences, and many more updates to existing word entries and example sentences.

  • Chris Vasselli
    Chris Vasselli
2 min read

Nihongo 1.27 Release Notes

Major UpdatesSearch As You Type - Search results will now appear as you type instead of waiting for you to hit "search".Other Improvements1802 new word entries added, and 2174 new example sentences

  • Chris Vasselli
    Chris Vasselli
2 min read

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

  • Chris Vasselli
    Chris Vasselli
1 min read
How to run 14 iOS Simulators in Parallel on an M1 Mac
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%.

  • Chris Vasselli
    Chris Vasselli
4 min read

Nihongo 1.26 Release Notes

Major UpdatesFlashcard Audio - Words can now be spoken aloud as you study them in flashcards.Other ImprovementsAudio prosody and pitch has been improved for common and uncommon words using text-to-speech.App will

  • Chris Vasselli
    Chris Vasselli
1 min read

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links to dictionary history decks use absolute dates, so you don't have a link to "Today from 9:00am to 10:00am" that no longer represents the correct

  • Chris Vasselli
    Chris Vasselli
1 min read

Nihongo 1.25 Release Notes

Major UpdatesiPad Quick Notes - Add notes to dictionary entries, clippings, and flashcard decks, that will be synced with the Notes app. Requires iPad OS 15.Other ImprovementsOver 800 new words, and 3000

  • Chris Vasselli
    Chris Vasselli
1 min read

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

  • Chris Vasselli
    Chris Vasselli
1 min read

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. Major UpdatesMore Pitch Accents - Pitch accents on over 35,

  • Chris Vasselli
    Chris Vasselli
1 min read

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

  • Chris Vasselli
    Chris Vasselli
1 min read

Nihongo 1.23 Release Notes

Major UpdatesReal Human Audio - Over 10,000 word entries now have pronunciation audio with native Japanese speakers.Other ImprovementsWhen the "Attach Photo" option is available on a word entry, and the word

  • Chris Vasselli
    Chris Vasselli
3 min read

Nihongo 1.22 Release Notes

Major UpdatesLarger 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 -

  • Chris Vasselli
    Chris Vasselli
2 min read
Releases

Nihongo 1.21 Release Notes

Major UpdatesCloud 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

  • Chris Vasselli
    Chris Vasselli
1 min read
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

  • Chris Vasselli
    Chris Vasselli
2 min read

Nihongo 1.19 Release Notes

Photo Lookup (OCR) You can now look up Japanese words just by taking a picture of them.Simply tap on words to look them up, no viewfinder or other complicated interface.Load from

  • Chris Vasselli
    Chris Vasselli
1 min read

Nihongo 1.18 Release Notes

Major Updates Conjugation Tables - Entries for verbs and adjectives now contain a list of common conjugations.Russian Language Support - Russian definitions can now be downloaded from the Settings tab, and if

  • Chris Vasselli
    Chris Vasselli
3 min read
expectNotNil: Handling Swift optionals that should never be nil
Swift

expectNotNil: Handling Swift optionals that should never be nil

Fail gracefully (i.e., don't crash), but let me know something went wrong so I can fix it in my next release.

  • Chris Vasselli
    Chris Vasselli
2 min read

Nihongo 1.17 Release Notes

Major Updates New Audio Options - You can now select voice quality, gender, and speaking speed from the Settings tab.Romaji Improvements - New clipping and flashcard formatting options are now available for

  • Chris Vasselli
    Chris Vasselli
2 min read

Nihongo 1.16.x Release Notes

I've put out a few patch releases to Nihongo 1.16 in the last few weeks to address some bugs that came to light after the release. Here are the details: 1.16.

  • Chris Vasselli
    Chris Vasselli
1 min read

Nihongo 1.16 Release Notes

Major Updates Dark Mode - Nihongo sports a sleek new dark interface, great for studying at night. Requires iOS 13. Modern Interface - Nihongo has been updated to a more modern style, with

  • Chris Vasselli
    Chris Vasselli
1 min read
Using Videogames to Study Japanese
Guides

Using Videogames to Study Japanese

Here are some things to consider that will help you get the most out of the time you spend playing games in Japanese.

  • Chris Vasselli
    Chris Vasselli
8 min read
Nihongo 1.15 Release Notes
Releases

Nihongo 1.15 Release Notes

Version 1.15 is all about kanji.

  • Chris Vasselli
    Chris Vasselli
1 min read
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