Learn Na'vi iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad App - beta v0.6.1

Started by Seze, January 11, 2010, 10:06:06 AM

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Meuia te Stxeli Tstew'itan

I think you should put some kind of "Personnal Training" section with the voice recorder and an equivalent of the worksheet we currently have.
Fìtsenge kifkey nìswey livu txo ayoe nìNa'vi perlltxeie. Ngal 'awstengyem olo'it fpi tskxekeng.

Aperture

I don't know if it's to much to ask for, but how about some sort of "game" where you have a question with multiple choice answers:
"What does kaltxì mean in English?
• Hello     • Goodbye
• We       • to hunt"
and you have to reach a certain amount of right answers in each "level" to reach the next "level" with a bit more difficult questions. ::)

Txonyä'ite


Satthar

As to the bottom toolbar: buttons for "nouns", "pronouns", "adjectives", "verbs" and such would be great. Fitting a switch button between an English-sorted and Na'vi-sorted word list would be superb as well. Not sure tho how would the search fit into that technical-wise... I'm not entirely sure if it's possible to code it in such a way that even when you're in the Na'vi list, typing an english word in the search bar would get you the proper Na'vi word.

judytuna

Have you taken a look at the dictionary.com app? We could get some layout ideas there. In their "black bar" at the bottom, they have tabs switching between a Dictionary, a Thesaurus, Recent searches, and a "word of the day." However, since the learnnavi app is going to have more than one feature anyway, I figure the "other features" will be accessible by the "kelutrel" button, though, so instead, we'd use the black bar for switching between dictionary features.

I like Satthar's idea of switching between browsing different parts of speech. I think the black bar could have different dictionary modes like "search" (which will bring you to the search box, which will have an easy way to switch between english->na'vi and na'vi->english, and when it's na'vi, it'll have the special keys in the keyboard.... oooh, we'll have to work on a layout for that), "browse" (which could be organized by beginning letter/' or by parts of speech), and "recent"  (keeping a list of recently viewed entries might be useful.

There are a million little things in my brain, like I'd also like to see links to "related words" that you can tap to jump to the entry. Maybe include an easy way to view a page that explains IPA with english-word and na'vi-word examples.

Also, the Dictionary.com app comes with all the text when you download it, so the dictionary is fully functional even when you're not connected to the internet. But you do need an internet connection to hear the audio clips of the words, which I think is a good idea since it'll keep the app from being really huge.

I'll go on the hunt for some translation apps to see what ideas we can get from there. Sorry about the randomness of this post. I'm just so excited!!!

Eywayä lì'u

I'm glad it's going so well, really looking forward to the testing! I think that the idea of having a game with multiple choice questions is great, it should definitely be in the app!

anyway good luck on the rest of it!

Eywa Ngahu ma Seze
Oe prrkxentrrkrr ngeyä sa'nok!

GENERATION 18: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

Oe teyaron

i'd love to do some testing on this, and i can't wait to see the finished product!

it would be good if you could get all the information into the app, or at least all the dictionary content, as i very rarely have access to Wi-Fi on my iPod touch  >:(

i'm gonna keep watching this thread

kiyevame, ulte eywa ngahu

Miyapxi


I sent you some very potentially useful information. ;)

I hope I can be of help.

Seze

Kaltxì ma frapo,

I have the first beta ready.  To install the beta (Version 0.1, build 16), please download the following 2 files to your computer...
LearnNavi.ipa
Provisioning Profile

After you have the two files, drag and drop both of them into iTunes.  Once the files have been dropped into iTunes, sync your device.  Note: this will only work for people who have sent me their UDID number.  If you did send me your UDID number and you can't get the beta to install or run properly, please let me know. 

I still have plenty of spots left if anyone else wants to help with the testing.  If you are interested, please send me a PM with your UDID and DEVICE TYPE, and then I will add you to the list.

Release Notes for Version 0.1 (Build 16)
-When you launch the App, you should see "Version 0.1 (16)" on the main screen.  If not, you are not running the latest binary
-Only the Dictionary button should work on the main screen

I am still in the process of building out the UI for the dictionary.  It should feel pretty empty and incomplete.  What this version of the beta is intended for, is to provide you with a sample mockup of the user interface and to see how things are going to look and feel. 

Any and all comments are welcome, and appreciated...

~Seze


Learn Na'vi Mobile App - Now Available

judytuna

AWESOME. It's looking good.
- The bar is orange?? =)
- I'm glad the features aren't in Papyrus. haha
Really happy to see the mockups, and thank you!

Novo

:o
i ever wanted to make iphone Apps for myself BUT i dont have a MAC so i can't!
(or does the Windoes toolchain work again?)
Good work!

EDIT:
Are you serious?
Why Paying License to Apple for Developing this?
Jailbreak for ever !
"So wird das immer gemacht! Wenn man etwas haben will macht man sich einen Feind!
Und dies rechtfertigt dann dass du es dir nehmen kannst!" - Jake Sully

Seze

Quote from: judytuna on January 22, 2010, 12:29:11 PM
AWESOME. It's looking good.
- The bar is orange?? =)
- I'm glad the features aren't in Papyrus. haha
Really happy to see the mockups, and thank you!

I only went with Papyrus for some things because this site uses that font quite a bit.  I was trying to go for consistency.  At the same time, Papyrus isn't a supported font on the iPhone, so wherever you see that font in the beta, you are actually seeing a picture made through Photoshop.  So if you have any font suggestions on what to use, I am more than happy to change the font to something else.


Learn Na'vi Mobile App - Now Available

Na'rìngioang

First impression on the App: It looks absolutely fantastic. I love the icon you created for it, and the home screen is also lovely. Though... I think that maybe finding someone to 'shop out the helicopter to the top right of the Dictionary button would be nice (just a personal thing and not noticed right away).

Buttons are a nice size, and the papyrus font definitely gives consistency to the look from the film and this site (I'm really not sure where the hatred of this font comes from... it simply doesn't bother me). I like how the buttons flash blue when pressed, and how they're translucent, though I think just a TOUCH more opacity would be best, so that the font doesn't try to blend into the background picture.

In the dictionary proper: I think that perhaps having each part of speech on the bottom bar be a different color might be nice, and you could also carry this over to the word list itself, have some kind of colored symbol or something to represent part of speech.

Something to consider: when typing in Na'vi, we often have to use different characters (the ì, and ä). Perhaps having a special keyboard for this app that includes those characters could make things much easier for search features, though I'm not even sure how one would go about creating a special keyboard or how in-depth and time consuming a process that is.

For navigation and search, I actually like that the options are in orange for some reason. It's different. I'm not entirely sure why you went with orange, given the abundance of blue that's associated with the film, but it works.

As a personal preference, I'd like to see the search bar be hidden by default, and for scrolling to the top to reveal it, like in the music selection part of my iPod.

Excellent work over all, and I can't wait to see more of it when it's released!

Seze

Quote from: Na'rìngioang on January 22, 2010, 03:06:44 PM
First impression on the App: It looks absolutely fantastic. I love the icon you created for it, and the home screen is also lovely. Though... I think that maybe finding someone to 'shop out the helicopter to the top right of the Dictionary button would be nice (just a personal thing and not noticed right away).

I was hoping to have the background image replaced with something different at some point.  I don't really want to get into a copyright battle over an image from the movie.  I just used that one as filler for now until something better could be made.

Quote
In the dictionary proper: I think that perhaps having each part of speech on the bottom bar be a different color might be nice, and you could also carry this over to the word list itself, have some kind of colored symbol or something to represent part of speech.

Making the buttons use different colors is not easy.  The segmented button control only lets you pick one color, and going for the different colors on a segmented button control may go against Apple's Human Interface Guidelines, but I would have to check on that. 

Quote
Something to consider: when typing in Na'vi, we often have to use different characters (the ì, and ä). Perhaps having a special keyboard for this app that includes those characters could make things much easier for search features, though I'm not even sure how one would go about creating a special keyboard or how in-depth and time consuming a process that is.

This type of behavior is already there, though its hidden.  If you press and hold i or a, something will popup with all the different versions of that letter to pick from.  This is a standard behavior on the iPhone, but if you have never needed the fancy characters before, its really easy to miss.



Learn Na'vi Mobile App - Now Available

vraedwulf

Looks great so far! (I would like to preface this post with the statement that I know absolutely nothing about programming an app for the iPhone/iPod platform and nearly nothing about programming in general. If my ideas would be ridiculously difficult to implement, please don't think I'm just being a jerk, I promise it is through ignorance alone)

What is the plan for what will be included on the Dictionary pages? The word itself, obviously, a written pronunciation guide, a definition and perhaps a pronunciation soundbite? maybe a picture?

The phrase book will be just phrases that we know are correct? or will it also break down the grammar and use known phrases to shown examples of how the grammar works?

What all is planned to be included in the "Practice" section?Each time you start a new hardness level, you could have it so that there is a different game that gets unlocked and helps to teach the new lessons. This way a person could always go back to the basics (they would still be unlocked) but they couldn't jump in too deep and get lost (too advanced games are locked).

1) Vocabulary (Easy): I like the idea of multiple choice "here's a word, which of these four options is its correct meaning?". I really like the idea of using pictures instead of words like in one of the games at this link: http://irongamer.net/navi/#app=141c&a256-selectedIndex=1. You could also mix in the reverse "here's a picture, pick the right word" as well as "play this soundbite and pick the word's meaning". You could draw random questions from a database and track percentage correctly answered for advancement. would it be insanely difficult to have a voice recognition too? something along the lines of "i'll give you an english word, say the Na'vi translation into the mic"? if they get it wrong, on the "i'm sorry, that's the wrong answer" screen, you could have a "next question" button and a button that takes them to the part of the app that explains what they got wrong, for example if they said "Ikran" means eyes, you could give them the option to visit the Dictionary page for "Ikran".

2) Affixes (Medium): you could have short sentences in English and underline a word to translate into Na'vi that requires an Affix. you could provide the base word (or not) and have a menu including all the Affixes and the player has to choose the correct one. if there are too many Affixes (i don't know if there are) you could have three buttons that display prefixes/infixes/suffixes respectively. you could also have the reverse mixed in of "here's a word with an Affixes, can you find it?". Care would need to be taken, however, to only include the Affixes that relate to tense and other such things, and to exclude the Affixes that have more to do with grammar such as the -l/-ti couplet for nouns

3) Grammar (Hard): you could have "Here's a sentence in English, write it in Na'vi" (difficulty levels could be "with Affixes marked" and "without Affixes marked") and the reverse "here's a sentence in Na'vi, what does it mean in English?". you could also do "point out the error in this sentence". this would be a good time to use the voice recognition thingy (like i said, if it's not insanely hard...).

I like the idea mentioned earlier in this thread about playing games/passing lessons to win points and progress to harder levels, but I think it might be neat to have something else that those points get you. Progressively greater titles on a score board with other people who have the app? miles in the journey to Pandora (like with a little space map?)? percent completion in the growth of an Avatar (little growing avatar pic)? maybe some kind of tie-in with facebook, people seem to love that... I dunno, people love to have something to work towards and it would help them stay motivated through the times when learning has gotten hard.

Wow, that got long. Anyway, I really love what you're doing and I have nothing but respect for you for the project you're tackling and for the benefit this will bring to our community! Good luck!!!

vraedwulf

Satthar

One thing I really have to say:

@vraedwulf: Implementing voice recognition to the point you're describing, it WILL be insanely hard =p

Great news with the first build, irayo ma tsmukan - gonna bite into it and perhaps come up with some ideas tomorrow.

vraedwulf

Hahaha, yeah I kinda figured that would be the case, but if we're just brainstorming then it's better to throw all ideas out there and let them fall where they may. *shrug* at least that's what I think.

Miyapxi


All of those things, aside from the voice recognition, would be easy to implement.


Eyaye Tskxe

#79
Currently loading it onto my iPod. Will come back with feedback soon!

Looks good! Only a couple things off for me.

The word "Search" in the search bar is a little off from the side. It looks like there should be some kind of icon next to it. Either put in the standard search icon (Magnifying glass) or move the text over. Maybe even use the Na'vi equivalent instead of the English word.

Second, as aforementioned, orange buttons. I suggest the blue from the buttons on the title screen, just to keep things consistent.

Third, more content, so I can learn more!  ;)