Android Explorations

Ever wanted to give and Android app as a gift? Unfortunately, this is not supported by the Android Market, so unless you are willing to share your Google Wallet account, you currently can't do this for most apps. Kanji Recognizer and Hanzi Recognizer are however special: it is now possible to buy an upgrade coupon code and give it as a gift.

As of version 2.1, both apps support upgrading via coupon codes, as well as directly through the Android Market. If you just want to upgrade on your own device, the fastest way is to open Settings, and hit 'Upgrade to premium' (as before). After you authorize the payment using the Android Market dialog, all premium features will be enabled within seconds. To get a gift coupon code on the other hand, visit this page, select an app and login with your Google account. Then just enter your email address and press the 'Buy' button. Since payments are handled through Google Wallet, just as on Android, no registration or entering of payment details is required.  Simply review the purchase details on the Google Wallet dialog, and press 'Finish'. The coupon code and upgrade instructions will be sent to your email address immediately. You can then give the coupon code as a gift to anyone -- it is not tied to your account.

To upgrade using the coupon code, open the app's Settings and tap 'Redeem license' to display the license screen. Enter a valid email address and the coupon code, then tap 'Redeem license' to retrieve the license. The coupon code will be validated, and premium features will be enabled automatically upon success. Validation needs an Internet connection, so make sure you are not offline when redeeming a license.


The license will be associated with the entered email address, and a recovery PIN will be sent to it. If you wiped (a.k.a 'factory reset') your device or have a new one, you can recover the license using this PIN. Just select 'Recover license' in the license screen (see screenshot), and enter your email address, the coupon code and the PIN. Premium features will be enabled once the coupon code an PIN are verified.

Try it out, and send some gifts!

The latest version is now live on the Android Market. This release shares some basic features with Kanji Recognizer v2.1 and offers improved compounds search.

The app has a new set of action bar icons, consistent across Android versions. The main screen now looks like this:


Version 2.1 also adds support for native Android sharing and a new icon for copying, see the Kanji Recognizer post for details.

Another common feature, that we will present in a bit more detail here, is support for direct export to an Anki deck. Anki is a flashcard application that employs the spaced repetition learning technique which has been proven very effective for vocabulary acquisition. Besides managing your flashcards, Anki automatically decides when to present a particular flashcard based on feedback from the user, thus greatly optimizing the learning experience. Applications are provided for both desktop (Windows/Mac/Linux), mobile (Android/iPhone) and the Web.

Favorites export to an Anki deck is now integrated into the export menu. However, since your favorites can contain both characters and compounds, you need to use the filter to select one or the other, since mixed flashcards are not currently supported. Here's how:

1. On the Favorites tab, tap the filter action bar icon and select 'Hanzi' or 'Compounds'.
2. Tap the up arrow (export) icon and select 'Anki deck' from the menu.
3. The deck file will be saved to the app's directory on the SD card
   (usually /mnt/sdcard/Android/data/org.nick.hanzirecognizer/files/export)
4. Copy it to AnkiDriod's deck directory using your favorite file manager.

The final new feature is support for upgrading using coupon codes. You can now upgrade to the premium version using a coupon code, as well as via the Android Market. Just open Settings, tap 'Redeem license' and enter your email address and a valid coupon code. Here are some free upgrade coupons for those brave souls willing to test how it works:

The newest version is now available on the Android Market. This release brings a slightly more polished UI, some convenient new features and support for upgrading using coupon codes.

The action bar pattern was introduced in version 2.0 for both tablets and phones, but action item icons depended on the OS version. This release bundles a set of common icons (created with the excellent Android Asset Studio), that should make the look and feel of the app consistent across different devices and Android versions. Here's how the main screen looks like with the new action bar icons:

Kanji Recognizer has supported copying and appending recognized characters to the clipboard for use in other apps since the very first version. However, sending character data to other apps using Android's native sharing functionality was missing. This version (finally) corrects that. You can now send characters (kanji, reading and meaning) to any app that accepts text data. One thing to note is that, while previous versions used the 'share' icon for copying, v2.1 uses it for sharing, and thus there is a new icon for copying (first from the left, see screenshot below). You can also copy a kanji by long-pressing on the title character.


The app lets you mark characters you search for, or ones coming up in the writing quiz as favorite (premium only). If you wanted to import favorited characters into other programs (for printing, editing or review), you could do so using the CSV export feature. It writes out character data to a portable format, but all post-processing is up to you. One of the most popular methods of reviewing words and characters is using flashcards, and without a doubt the best flashcard application for both desktop and mobile is Anki. While you could create Anki decks using the exported CSV with the help of the Anki desktop application, Kanji Recognizer can now export your favorites directly to an Anki deck. Just open favorites, tap the up arrow icon and select 'Anki deck' from the menu. The deck file will be saved to Kanji Recognizer's folder on the SD card, so you need to either point the Anki app to that folder, or copy it to your deck folder using a file manager.

Another often requested feature that made it to this release is audible correctness feedback for the quiz. Right/wrong answers are now marked by a bell/buzzer sound, as well as visually. The feature is off by default, enable it by opening Settings and checking the 'Use sounds' in the 'Quiz settings' section.

Finally, not really a core app feature, but important nonetheless: upgrading using coupon codes. You can now upgrade to the premium version using a coupon code, as well as via the Android Market. This makes it easy (for me:)) to promote the app by giving away upgrade codes, and enables users to get premium features on devices without the Android Market. I might also add an ability to buy coupon codes and send them as gifts, so stay tuned. And now, for all those that read this post till the end, here are some free upgrade codes. Get them while they last and don't forget to rate the app!

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