Morse Elmer 1.7.3 Released!!

Please check it out:  https://apps.apple.com/us/app/morse-elmer/id414371107

The latest documentation is available as .pdf on the right side bar.  

This release is primarily a hot fix for a crash found in the Training Set Listen functionality in the Settings.  As an added bonus a handful of usability and readability improvements have been included.

Morse Elmer 1.7.3 Hot fix in review

 A user identified an intermittent crash in the Training Set Section of the Settings Tab, when listening to the last character in the training set.  While intermittent it was easily reproducible.  A fix has been made and to round out the next release, a handful of usability and readability improvements have been included.

Morse Elmer 1.7.2 Released!!

Please check it out:  https://apps.apple.com/us/app/morse-elmer/id414371107

The latest documentation is available as .pdf on the right side bar.

This release was originally going to be some housekeeping for me, but turned into a more substantial release.  Two big items:

1. A bug introduced in 1.7.1 that caused the app to crash at the completion of training, while using delay has been fixed.
2. In 1.7.1 I changed a long standing capability to precisely stop a training session on or about the requested training duration.  This caused some to have issues copying the last character sent, since it might be truncated trying to end precisely on time.  In 1.7.1, I changed this to naturally stop training, ie: it would be close to the requested training duration but play the entire training set to completion before ending.  This wasn't as enthusiastically received as I had hoped, so in 1.7.2 I gated this behavior in the duration settings.   The app now defaults to its original behavior, ie: to stop "precisely" at the end of the requested training duration, without causing audio artifacts....  But for those who desire you can now select a "natural" training termination which means the entire training set will complete before terminating, this means your training session could be slightly longer than the requested training duration.

In addition to those changes I managed to include a couple of other items:

• White Noise: Add realistic radio static to training audio to simulate real-world conditions. Noise level displayed in dB relative to signal (0 dB = equal, +12 dB max = 4x signal amplitude). Slider uses cubic scale for fine control at lower levels
• Prevent Screen Lock: Keep the screen on during training sessions so you can focus on copying without the display dimming or locking

Improvements:

• Search enabled in documentation viewer
• QSO training now includes randomized weather conditions and season-appropriate temperatures
• Support emails now include optional diagnostic information with your current training settings to help troubleshoot issues

I hope everyone finds this release a usable improvement.

Morse Elmer 1.7.1 Released!!

Please check it out: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/morse-elmer/id414371107 

This release now includes a .pdf of the current documentation, available on this page in the righthand sidebar.

Pending Morse Elmer 1.7.1 Release - mighty bug fixes

After I release 1.7.0, I already had a list of bug fixes I wanted to address next. But this release goes way beyond that initial set of bug fixes. I ended up adding new (requested features) Reformatted the settings and documentation to make it more accessible to those just starting out using Morse Elmer to learn Morse code. Hopefully all of these changes will help the new users to the app and not piss off the established userbase. :D I still have a few other minor changes in the pipe line, but I think I'll wait to see what the reaction (if any) to these most recent changes.

Morse Elmer 1.7.0 Released!!

Please check it out: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/morse-elmer/id414371107

Pending Morse Elmer 1.7.0 Release

 So it's been awhile, but I haven't forgotten about Morse Elmer and development continues just at a glacial pace.  While there's been two release since this blog was updated, you can check out the details in the app once it's released.  This 1.7.0 release contains several modernization updates that while not dramatically changing user experience improves the code base which makes it easier for me to maintain and make future releases.  

You'll notice changes to the Progress Tab graphing capability along with dramatically reformatted documentation in the Help Tab.   

There a couple of bug fixes, but the majority of bug fixes will be in the next point release.  As well as leveraging the new documentation implementation to provide offline .pdf versions as well as updating the documentation on this webpage.

I've gone through the last two years worth of emails from users and compiled a list of 11 potential issues and improvements I will investigate and include in the next release along with updates to the new documentation implementation. 

As always I appreciate everyone who takes the time to use Morse Elmer and I hope it continues to be a useful aid to those learning Morse Code.

Morse Elmer Version 1.5 Released to the App Store

This update is mostly a catch up release, UI tweaks and refactoring to work with the latest hardware and iOS releases. A few bug fixes thrown in, QSO UI layout should be better, iOS File support improved.




Check it out! Morse Elmer v1.5

Welcome New Users!

So after a long lull in activity Morse Elmer has been thrust into the lime light again. Welcome everyone that learned of Morse Elmer from the recent Ham Radio Crash Course YouTube Video While I'm thrilled this app has been exposed to new people trying to learn CW, I'm a bit mortified at the state you find the app in... I've allowed the app to languish for far too long. While it still accomplishes most of what it tries to do, it hasn't kept up with the times. I mentioned in my previous post from 2019 that I was working on a new version. This is true... I'm in the process of completely rewriting the app in Swift. Unfortunately this rewrite is going very slowly and I have a bunch of new users and an antiquated app in the app store. Fortunately I started updated the existing app over the Christmas break. I've made a lot of progress and I'm happy to report that I should have an updated version ready to release in the near future. This version will handle working on the latest hardware and I'll try to include the bug fixes for the most onerous issues that have been reported. Thanks again for trying his app out and please comment here with your experiences and issues.

A New version is in the works!

Hi all, it has certainly been a long time. This little app just keeps chugging along! It's been on the back burner for a long time and definitely needs an update. I've started bringing the core app up to the latest iOS technology. That might be all I release in the next version. Once it's updated then I can look at new and updated features. Thanks to all who continue to use this. Morgan KI4OWG

Version 1.4 is available!

Well it's been quite awhile, but I finally managed to cobble together enough time to push out another release of Morse Elmer.

It's available in the App Store today.

• I've been playing with the idea of training by listening to a randomly generated QSO...  for the longest time I was unhappy with contents of the QSO.  Finally I decided on implementing a version simple QSO exchange (using a very formal format) just to see if anyone was interested.  There's more that could be done here, but if no one uses it I won't bother wasting cycles on it.  

• Version 1.4 includes the ability to use files in your Dropbox account for training - stevel

• I had a couple of requests to include the ability to vary the WPM over the training duration...  I settled on implementing a graduated wpm suggested by frankk.  If this is well received I can enhance it further.

• I've added the ability to exaggerate the spacing between words in files - martyr and added back in the ability to see the last letter transmitted as a HUD on the results tab - dougl

There was also a fair amount of reworking the internals of Morse Elmer to support some of the new functionality.  I hope everyone continues to find Morse Elmer useful and enjoys the new features.

Please use the Feedback section on the Settings tab to let me know what you think of Morse Elmer.

Remember every version needs to be reviewed!

Thanks again for your purchase and continued support.

Cheers,

Morgan
KI4OWG

Version 1.3 has been submitted to the App Store

It's been a long and busy year, but I've finally managed to put together my next release of Morse Elmer.

Version 1.3 has been submitted to the iOS App Store for approval.

This version supports iOS 7 and 4" iPhones.

I've added support for file based training sets.

I've tackled a couple of bugs people have been emailing me about.

Hopefully this will be approved shortly.

Bugfix version 1.2.2 submitted to the App Store

Well the title says most of it...

I had two bugs in version 1.2.1 that this new version will address.
There was an immediate crash of the app on devices using version 4.3.3, that has been resolved.
A number of people noticed that as of version 1.2.1 when the device screen locked any training audio cut off.  This has also been resolved in version 1.2.2

I've started laying out screens and functionality for version 1.3
So once this version is approved and in the store I'll continue working on 1.3

Cheers!

Version 1.2.1 Bugs

Well the latest version of Morse Elmer has been in the wild for a while and two bugs have been reported to me:

1.)  a crash on startup on devices running 4.3.3
2.)  the app will no longer play audio when the screen locks.

I have tested a fix for the second item and that is now integrated.
I just sent a test fix for the first item off to a generous user who's offered to help me diagnose this issue, since I no longer have anyway of testing code on OS version prior to 5.0

If these tests pan out, I'll do a quick turn around release 1.2.2 and then get back to working on version 1.3!

73's

1.2.1 Released to App Store!

OK all! The latest revision of Morse Elmer has been approved and I just released it to the App Store!
Now to start on the next version ;)

Version 1.2.1 submitted to the App Store!

Yep you heard that right!! :D

A couple of my friends found some issues that needed to be addressed.
I found a couple more just prior to submitting.
But still got everything submitted this afternoon...
We'll see how quick Apple turns it around, I'm guess by the end of the week.

Now to start on version 1.3

Version 1.2.1 in Testing!

Granted no one actually reads this but myself, but fiiiiinally I got the next version ready for release.  I've given it to several friends of mine to help me test a couple critical features.  Barring any problems I should have it submitted to the app store next week! :D

Planning for new versions of Morse Elmer

Well, granted I'm writing this basically for myself, but in case any users happen to check the blog...
I'm planning on several new version of Morse Elmer.  The QST article in January 2012 really spiked my downloads.  I've had numerous suggestions for features and several bugs pointed out.
So to keep everything straight here's how I'm going to proceed:

Soon version 1.2.1 will be released to addressed a couple of bugs.  The bugs are, for the most part, fairly innocuous but at least one involves a migration of the underlying database that stores all the training results... this is something that I don't want to mess up.  So just addressing the bugs in that release will be keep the headaches to a minimum

Next I'll start working on version 1.3 this will consist of several new features, including the much requested:  type on device while training.

Lastly, I'll then proceed to version 2.0 which will extend Morse Elmer to run universally on an iPad.
I have a few other tweaks I'll plan to include but those will be surprises :D

Below is a list of what I intend on including in each release:

1.2.1 (bug fixes)

• attempting to insert a character at the beginning of a training causes the cursor to keep jumping to the end - JM 1/3/2012
• progress edit page always shows 1 char even when set for something other than 1 - JT 9/20/11

1.3 (new features)

• support local character sets - HG 1/26/12
• support training for a user supplied file/URL, etc - JM 1/10/12
• support typing in a separate window while training - JM 1/3/12

2.0 (universal app)

• Universal App

I can't promise when I'll have these versions ready, but I'm kinda itching to get some of this resolved, so hopefully soon.

Thanks to everyone whose provided feedback.

73's

KI4OWG

QST Review!

I happened to check my iTunesConnect account recently and was shocked my a huge up swing in my Morse Elmer App sales... I tracked it down to a nice review of the app in the February 2012 issue of QST (p. 98).
Thanks to all new Morse Elmer users.

I've been getting more emails asking questions and several emails making suggestions for the next version.

I've been very busy for the last 3-4 months with my day job, but I've certainly accumulated enough bugs and feature requests to start the new version of Morse Elmer.  I'll post later what I'm considering for the new version.

Any and all input is welcomed.

Please when you get a chance go back to the App Store and rate the App.

Morse Elmer does have a user(s)

I received an email today from a Morse Elmer user!! (yes they do exist...)
He was reporting a bug... a field isn't displaying properly in the Progress/Edit view...
The second field "XX chars" is suppose to show how many characters were in your training set...
It currently shows 1 all the time... the user was using the Default Training Set.

this is a hold over from version 1.1, when there was only 1 training set.
Now I have multiple training sets... and each set has a num chars used field... because you might be training with 13 characters in the default set, but only 2 characters in the prosigns set, etc...

so what to do now... I have only one field in the database for this, but two value to store.
I can actually get the the two values into a single field, but what to do with all the values everyone already has stored in the Morse Elmer DB...?!

I get to release a new version that now has to include a CoreData Migration something or other...
upgrade everyone's db to the new format.  bleh...

Well it's something to work on.

This user also made a couple of other suggestions, some of which I'll include in the next release as well.

hmmm off to do some Core Data Migration reading.... >.<