I have not been skrittering much the last month, mainly because I wanted to give the Android app some more time to develop. But I was very disappointed today when I started the app and hardly found anything new. No example sentences, no colors for right and wrong (red and green), no mnemonics etc. If skritter was a free service I would have no reason to complain, but it's not. Things need to happen faster, and I think the users deserve to know the deadlines you have set up for when certain functions will be added because paying a monthly fee while waiting for something that you don't know how long you will have to wait for feels unfair.
I don't mean to sound harsh, but as a paying customer I feel I hand the right to make certain demands.

Thanks.

Hi DaXia!

Here is a link with a current list of commits on the Android app, I think you will find that there is much more going on than what appears on the surface:
https://github.com/skritter/skritter-html5/commits/master

(Infact there have been 7 commits so far today!)

We were and are also hard at work at adding kana handwriting support for the Android app, which might be why you haven't noticed as many changes if you are on the Chinese side:
http://blog.skritter.com/2014/11/kana-is-here-now-available-for-android.html

Sorry, I just get frustrated that now when the webpage version finally has everything you could ask for (except for multiple choice definition reviews, *hint),
I can't use it on my phone anymore and once again I am stuck with using a version of skritter that feels incomplete.

"Implemented initial auto add functionality " Wuhu :D

I have to agree with DaXia. I'm traveling long-term at the moment and I have to put up with a lot of bugs since I'm using my tablet. I've sent several mails about my problems, but not many of them have been answered, and sometimes I find myslef unable to study for days at a time. It feels unfair because we're all paying the full price.

Speaking of which, right now my app just freezes after the first review and I cant even sync. Is this going to keep me from studying again? For a week maybe?

Hello,
I'm a new user of skritter, using it on my android phone and tablet. However, it looks like sync between both devices is not working at all. Does anybody have some advice?
Greetings from Dalian

Felix - You are right!
(a frustrating situation)

@AndyCCAA, Nice catch! Yes, we've been working to finally get this implemented properly and it should be out with the next update.

@Schnabelhund, I've been having troubles reproducing the issues we've discussed via e-mail. I've tried specifically configuring tests around your account, but things appear to be functioning smoothly from my end. I'm actively looking into the issues, but from the development side it's a bit of a stab in the dark until I can consistently reproduce them. Are you using any antivirus or protection apps on your device?

@Felix, Have you been using the manual sync button from the dashboard when switching between devices? It's a good idea to do this each time you change devices for a study session. If things appear to be getting out of sync you can trying hitting the "Restore Data" button on the bottom of the account page via Android.

Well I'm sorry, but I can't know if you're working on them if you don't answer my mails. "I can't figure out what the problem is" might not be the most pleasant thing to read for me, but at least it would be a response, you know.

No, I'm not using any antivirus or such.

And the new problem might be unrelated to the sync discrepancy. As mentioned before, the app doesn't react after I finish the first review, so I can't do any further reviews. Also, syncing doesn't work.

I haven't tried uninstall/reinstall because I don't want to lose the progress I made on Android.

You gotta understand man, only a few days of skipping lets my review queue bloat up to several hundred or even a thousand. It's not exactly motivating to see a number like that and I'd really like to avoid it.

@Schnabelhund, I think I've tracked down and fixed the issue where it's not loading after the first review. I'll be pushing an update out that will include it tomorrow. It looks like it's getting stuck on an item without a definition. The quick fix is to load up the website, study 10-20 prompts and then sync you Android device if possible. That will hopefully get whatever review it's hanging on out of the way. If that's not an option then the update will be out shortly.

I know my replies via e-mail haven't contained too many answers yet, but I have continued to look into the issues you've raised. I also sent you e-mails on both 11/26 and 12/1 to let you know that I've been having troubles reproducing things and that I'm still looking into the issues.

This is something I just found out and it annoys the crap out of me. Because there is no example sentences and/or other additional information showed in the app, I have decided to do character writing and tones on the app and definitions on the webpage. Now, here is the very weird problem.

I can only change what I want to study on the account page, and not the account page on the app either but on the webpage!!!

If I try to change what I want to study while studying it goes into "review mode" (wtf?), meaning no progress will be made. And on the app, all the non selected options in the account study settings page are just grayed out.

Is it really necessary to make it so complicated? Why cant we just click what we want to study while studying without all the unnecessary complications (that gets even more complicated when using the app)!!!

Am I supposed to have to go in to the account page and enter study options every time I want to change exactly what I study, because when I study I always want new words to be added continuously. Why not simply merge the two together? Why is study options under account and not in study settings?

Help please.

I'm sorry. You've indeed sent replies to most of my mails. It would've been more accurate to say that there are several questions within those mails you don't answer and I got frustrated over that, in addition to the frustration about not being able to use Skritter at all for days now.

I don't recall having any words without a definition. One thing I tried is to apply filters in order to rule out bad words, but no matter which list I focus on, skritter gets stuck, so the lack of definition isn't likely to be the cause, is it?

As I mentioned before, I can't use flash on my device. I'd use the web version pretty much all the time if I could.

Sorry I'm so mad, but I'm spending so much more time on trying to get skritter to work than on actually studying. As you can imagine, it's not exactly fun to do this on the road, with all the forum-browsing, mail-sending and waiting for replies, but especially with all the recalculating, restoring, installing custom builds, reinstalling from the playstore etc. and the way too frequent "something went wrong" - all this takes hours of loading up and down through VPN over crappy hostel wifi, and in most cases doesn't solve problems or improve my situation in any way. All the while I could as well be in vacation mode and let the reviews pile up while saving money and precious traveling time, I might add.

@DaXia, As you pointed out the website and iOS app won't allow you to add new items when you have parts turned off on the settings. This is unlikely to get changed due to the way those platforms function. However the Android app will allow you to add new items though even if you have certain part filters toggled.

It looks like you might be using an old version 0.60.2214 of the Android app. There have been about 10 updates since then and the latest version is currently 0.84.2591. I'd highly recommend updating as soon as possible. Since you'll be upgrading from such an old version it might be a good idea to completely uninstall the app first.

http://html5.skritter.com/files/0.84.2591/

It can be updated directly from Google Play or by downloading the apk directly using the link above. Keep in mind most devices should select the ARM build.

@Schnabelhund, I understand your frustration and know how to feels to miss a few days then have the queue get backed up. One of the factors that could very well be contributing to me not being able to reproduce things is the vpn plus unstable wifi scenario.

I've tried to configure it so that it handles downloads better on unstable connections, but from what you've described it still downloads your account inconsistently. I've done several tests using a simulated slower internet connection and intermittently interrupted it, but things still seem to download correctly for me.

I strongly feel that the incomplete or corrupt initial downloads are causing the large majority of the other issues you've brought up. So if we can get the initial download to complete properly then other things will start falling into place.

@Josh

Thanks for the reply, but I thought the app would automatically check for updates?

Also, I did not really get what you meant about the settings on the webpage and the filters in the app.

If I just want to do writing on the app, and tones and definitions on the webpage, but no writing, what would be the easiest way to configure it while still adding words at at least one of the devices?

Applications like this will always be 'incomplete'. You could engage several developers full time (with the resultant subscription fee increase) and still not keep up with technology changes and the never ending wish list of features.

I'd also like to see features such as coloured gradings yesterday but a quick look at the commit log linked above by Jeremy shows that fixing bugs and cleaning up after the mammoth amount of coding over the last 18 months is a time consuming exercise.

The significance of the recent work put into kana for Japanese is something Chinese learners won't appreciate, just as I don't care about anything relating to tones or to simplified vs traditional. Kana recognition is a totally different programming problem to kanji recognition and makes an enormous difference to the value of the app for Japanese learners. Despite some very successful fine tuning with hiragana over the last couple of weeks there are a lot of frustrating hours, and weeks, of work ahead before the work with kana is finished.

Before anyone complains further about the 'lack of progress' they should take a look at the commit log and then try coding a highly complex client/server app to be available off-line and compatible with the IOS and flash versions, and optimised for both tablets and phones, and compatible with any of dozens of brands and models.

and don't forget to allow an hour or two each day to deal with user problems and perceived problems.

Apologies for the rant.

All -
Josh worked hard to solve my problem (not synching) but it really was MY problem. A reset of my tablet which had gotten gummed up (by me, no doubt) and a re-installation of skritter has everything consistent. Now I can happily practice.

@josh
Yes, I've tried the manual sync button, but I'm still having different stats on my phone and tablet. So, I'll just stick to one device, before I somehow screw up my progress...