I submitted the 2.5.0 iOS app update to the store last week, so it should reviewed by early next week (although they have a bit of a backlog). This update improves TTS accuracy for Japanese, sadly disables it for Chinese (too inaccurate), updates some audio files, and fixes a bunch of bugs.

The other main update is that we finally added an option of whether to download sentences or not. All sentences you've already downloaded will still be there, so if you don't want to see them, do a Clear Local Data after you get the update. If you do want to keep seeing them, make sure to enable that option when you get the update, because it defaults to off.

Why will it default to off? We've been seeing a lot of sync problems due to gnarly sentences gumming up the works, and it also makes syncs take a lot longer to do, so if you're not using the sentences, you should see more reliable sync behavior. (Also, it turns out that it will cut Skritter's server costs a lot to only sync sentences to users who actually want them.)

Thanks for your continued work on Skritter. I really appreciate having such a high quality tool for maintaining and moving further. Thank you and thank the team.

👍 Great work! Will there be a way to choose sentences in the app any time soon?

I want to also add my thanks to the development team. It is a real game changer in learning Mandarin.

xiaokaka: no, not in the iOS app, although it's something that's more likely to make its way into the HTML5/Android app.

Hello Nick,

does this mean that the bug I posted some months ago here ( http://www.skritter.com/forum/topic?id=882978250&comments=6 ) has been fixed?

Nick,
I have not had problems with sync before, but I am thinking of enabling sentence downloads for my iPad but keeping them at the default disabled setting for my iPhone. Would doing this invite problems?
Thanks.

I am really disappointed that you decided to completely disable TTS and I seriously don't get why you couldn't put a specific option in the setting tab.

Even though it was a bit buggy it was tremendously helpful to learn advanced words and especially 成语.
(Originally it was the main reason that made me update to iOS 7!!)

I appreciate your efforts and I understand that you don't want something "buggy" in you system, but I have to say that I strongly disagree with your choice.

I hope that you reconsider your position about it, maybe including a direct TTL on/off option in the next release.

The app update has been approved.

zhangyanglu: I wasn't able to reproduce that one personally, so I'm not sure if I fixed it. Sorry! Let me know if it's still present. I did fix two other bugs that would lead to the other problem from that thread, though, where the sounds would become disabled.

podster: the sentence download setting syncs across your devices, so that will be tricky. You can toggle the setting, perform a full sync on a device, toggle the setting the other way, and perform a full sync on the other device, but as new words are added, you either will or won't get sentences on both devices depending on what you leave the setting at.

OrsO135, certainly if we hear enough love for the old TTS even as inaccurate as it was, we'll consider bringing it back. It was causing a ton of support costs, though. By the way, have you downloaded the extra audio pack in the study settings?

Sure!
Maybe in the settings tab you could mention the fact that TTS can create problems and the user enables at his own risk. In this way you are not accountable for any audio errors and we are both happy!

Nick,
yesterday I saw the same bug ( http://www.skritter.com/forum/topic?id=882978250&comments=6 ) again, so it's definetely not fixed.

Thanks for having a setting to keep sentences. Took a while to warm up to them, but actually quite like it now. (Skritter is the only place I study Chinese not in context, so is good to mitigate that as much as I can...)

Also having TTS finally gone (whether having a setting or just removed from the app) is a big relief!

Thanks for the hard work.

Nick, I'm still seeing the problem zhangyanglu described too.

The audio problem seems to have been fixed though, thanks for that!

Came here to say that sentences have gone on some words... But as you pointed out the setting is still there, it's on now! I think it's a fantastic feature now that more of the sentences are correct and at an appropriate level for me. Please don't get rid of them!

I don't miss the confusing and wrong TTS for characters and words but I did find it useful for longer phrases or sentences. My workaround is just to copy the sentences into a note on my phone and have the TTS read them there, but it would be handy to have it in Skritter. Do I remember you guys saying that it was all or nothing? In which case it's probably best to leave it off to avoid teaching bad habits....

I had the same problem as zhangyanglu but haven't managed to reproduce it since updating yesterday.

Reproduced it everyday basically. I am not entirely sure it's related to adding new items, syncing and then leaving the app, but this is what caused the problem today for me.