Okay fine @Atikker, you love the mobile apps that I think are an embarassing disgrace. You can stop now, I get it.
Changing your own keyboard to type foreign languages is something that can be done on desktop but unfortunately Windows makes it harder than it should be from what I hear. It’s still possible. But this isn’t a feature of the memrise mobile apps, it’s just an inherent advantage of touch typing devices that they make it easier to switch keyboards. Memrise could’ve just taken advantage of that fact in their apps, but instead they chose to create spoiler keyboards - which are not hidden for me when I try the apps on either iOS or Android. They pretty much destroy the ability to use the apps for real learning, but apparently fool a lot of people into not realizing how much time they’re wasting answering things right and not learning as much.
Regardless, it’s definitely a good idea for memrise to create apps for iOS and Android, and I’d love it if they made good ones. Instead they made this icky dreck, and used it as an excuse to abandon development of the web site. I was horrified when I first tried the apps and found the silently hide and skip all the multimedia levels, and continue to be horrified that years have passed and they’re still pushing these apps without fixing that. It’s a hostile slap in the face to all pre-existing course creators like me who took so much time and care to make courses before the mobile apps, and integrated multimedia levels as critical pieces of our courses.
To me, the mobile apps are a sign of Memrise’s hatred for existing users and for course creators, and their shoddy quality, mounds of bugs, and gaping holes, are nonetheless being used as an excuse to ignore user requests, feature suggestions, support of course creators, or fixing usability problems with the web site that actually works at a basic level.
As your app versions of MemRise is taking most of your time and is your preferred vision, I have been trying to understand what changes I need to make to my courses to allow app users to have a great experience and have a way of communicating with me.
Unfortunately I (like a few of us web-only users) do not have a smart phone but I do have a BlackBerry PlayBook (tablet), an OSX iMac PPC and a Windows 10 laptop.
I guess there are millions who have a Windows 10 computer, so are you planning to create an app for it? (I can’t find one in the store.)
It would be so helpful if I could see what app users see to test the efficacy of what I am doing or what I need to do, and so this is what this thread is about.
There are significant differences between the iOS and Android apps. If they did ever make an app for for other platform or device, it would likely be different again. It wouldn’t help you learn about the quirks of the iOS and Android apps, it would only add yet another variation.
All I am after is to know how much information the App user gets.
How do people select courses?
Can they search by key words? Is it shown in a similar fashion to our web view?
Do they get information on the number of people doing the course and how long it will take?
Do they get to see the top nine scores/ ranking and theirs (like we see on the web), for the week, the month and all time, once they are into it?
I now know they don’t see any Multimedia levels and I think they don’t even see our introductions (or ‘course description’) and links (if any) to the Forum.
Presumably they see the image?
Do they see the name of the creator?
I believe all they see is what we retrospectively add to the ‘Sort description’ field.
The biggest difference seems to be how the app is advertised on the store:
“Memrise: Learn Languages Free”
It seems to concentrate on MemRise’s own language courses and it’s not advertised as an app to learn (virtually) anything (as I think the web version does).
I wonder how many people who use the app find they can learn other things besides languages?
Yesterday I had the opportunity to introduce an Apple iPhone user to MemRise.
However sadly, without them signing up, neither the downloaded App nor viewing the web version via a (limited) browser was anything like I was expecting via a pc web portal.
I struggled to show them say “bird” courses or other key words (like DW7) which I know usually work.
I did eventually manage to navigate away from the intros to see “map” courses but not other subjects, that easily.
I was trying to show them the benefits before they signed up, so failed in that respect.
Also it was ‘interesting’ seeing the ‘famous’ flying and space look instead of our old familiar interface.
I need to investigate this further.
PS
I had a look on an Android smart-phone yesterday using the browser.
It is quite tricky (and probably not what a newcomer would expect) but once you get to courses, you can then search by keywords.
Although I haven’t numbered this one, but I have managed to gain access to an Android phone to load the MemRise App and I am shocked how different it all is!
It looks like a kids ‘fun & games’ app, not a serious site for learning (IMHO).
I found it incredibly hard to get started.
I struggled to understand how it worked.
I found it hard to find any of my courses even thought I was logged in as DW7
I found it hard to know if there were any other non-language categories or courses.
I struggled to know how to search for courses.
I am not sure what a newcomer would think and I will always point them to the web version (which also has so much more information about courses and of course the MultiMedia levels).
I do see the advantage of the app - it can be easy and addictive to keep scoring points!
