Clockwise

There is a very rare bug that sometimes corrupts the cache of words that Lexikon uses. This makes saving new words not function. I’m still not exactly sure how the database is corrupted as everything happens on the main thread of the program, but for less than 1 out of every 1000 users it does. Thanks to the help of the latest victim and some luck with Google I think I have a method to handle a corrupted database, extract the data without crashing the program and create a new database that will save new words. I’m doing some final testing on this and will submit the update early this week to Apple.

I have also been working on my plans for a 3.0 version of Lexikon. I had hoped to get to this sooner, but Lexikon is more of a hobby project than a work project. It isn’t a financial failure, but it’s not exactly a success considering how much time I put into it, and the number of people who are interested in the app.

After Apple’s unveiling of iOS 5 at WWDC 2011 last Monday, I have decided that Lexikon 3.0 will require iOS 5. That means it won’t come out at least until iOS 5 is released. It will be a free update for previous users. It will be a universal app and use iCloud to sync the word cache between multiple devices. I am also going to be adding favorite words and a history list of the last looked up words. My aim is that between those two tools it may help you focus on words that you might be trying to learn now.

I’m also open to other suggestions, so please get in contact via email or on this site with your suggestions. I can’t promise that I’ll have the time or that I’ll feel that the idea ultimately fits in with the goal of Lexikon, but I would like to at least explore if you have a good idea that might make Lexikon better.

Lexikon 2.5.5 has been submitted for review. It uses the Folkets Lexikon for English since Lexin no longer has English support. The entries aren’t as good, but there are 50% more words. Also this version has some big improvements with the web service consumption I’d been working on for awhile, from now on any changes to the web services can be adapted to right away and without an update being reviewed by Apple. Version 3.0 is unfortunately still a ways out, with iPad interface, syncing of words between devices and other features. You can check back here or follow lexikonapp on Twitter for updates.

Update: Lexikon 2.5.5 was approved and is available via the App Store.

Unfortunately Lexin has changed their site, discontinuing English completely, which is making looking up new words in Lexikon impossible. I’m scrambling to get a fix that will get the other languages working again, and though I preferred Lexin’s entries, I will integrate Folkets Lexikon for English/Swedish lookups.

Update: I received word on Tuesday that the update has been marked as a priority review for critical updates. Hopefully it will be approved later today or tomorrow.

Update 2: The update has been approved and is being processed for the App Store. It should appear within about an hour.

I’ve submitted an update to Lexikon. While the current version was working fine with all of the iOS 4 betas, there was a bug in my code that was exposed via crashing in the GM build. Hopefully the update will speed through the approval process and hit before or soon after iOS 4 is released later today.

Beyond iOS 4 support the biggest new feature is easier searching, the search bar is always on the screen instead of scrolling off. In addition Lexikon will now better inform you when Lexin is unavailable, some stray memory leaks have been fixed, removal of Pinch analytics, a better default screen to explain how to use Lexikon among other misc. fixes.

As to an offline app I don’t know that I will do one. I find the Folkets Lexikon data lacking, you basically get one word translation and little context, you also don’t get helpful things like the different forms of words, important for those learning the language. I also looked at Wiktionary which has some nice information, some words even have pronunciations for some words. However the overall number of words is lacking.

This site has sadly been a bit neglected as in addition to working on Lexikon, other projects and client work I’m also redoing this site to improve marketing and communication.