We’re working harder than ever to get this iOS app to you! Since our tester pool is full, while you’re waiting, we’re sharing some stories from those testers who have had a chance to take Skritter out into the world in their pockets. This week we have Ptolemy in Melbourne, Australia, talking of the app’s convenience effect.
As soon as I heard about the iOS version of skritter I knew it was for me. I already use my iPhone as my main dictionary with Pleco and my sentence flash cards, so getting Skritter on it sounded like the perfect plan. But I didn’t quite know exactly how much I would enjoy it till it arrived. The first week I split my time pretty much 50/50 between iOS Skritter and PC Skritter. I was using the iphone version any time I wasn’t at my computer, but still using the PC version whenever I was home. It was working quite well–I enjoyed the app–but slowly something happened: I stopped using the desktop version all together.
It had already started, but the big change was when work hit. I’m a programmer, and I had a deadline coming up, so a few weeks of late nights came around. When you get home at 10pm after working on your computer all day, you really don’t want to turn on your home PC: you’re sick of computers, you’re tired, and you just want to go bleghh on the couch. But I enjoy the Skritter app; I really like trying to get the sparks going and it doesn’t seem to drain me in much the same way that other studying does. Sitting down after a long day and doing 10 minutes while eating or in the ad breaks on TV kept me interested while work was being a pain. I’m certain that had I not had the app I simply would not have Skrittered for most of January at all. I didn’t learn a great deal during this month, and my stats are horrible but what the app did do was stop a slide. I didn’t come back after a month and have 388748 reviews due, instead I’ve kept it under 100, which means now that work has calmed down, I’m fine to kick off where I left off with no big drama.
Now I’m sure there is a bit of novelty factor in there. The app is still shiny and new, and it’s getting lots of updates, so it’s constantly changing and improving. In 6 months or a year’s time it certainly won’t be as fun as it is now simply because I’ll be used to it, however it’ll still be cooler than the PC client in my opinion because of the places you can study.
There have been some great photos already on the blog of people using it in exotic locations. And you can see me using it on the beach on Australia day just hanging out. That was pretty cool, but also the glare of the screen outdoors was very annoying and I only lasted about 5 minutes before the heat and the sun glare won and I went swimming instead. The exotic locations offer great photo ops, but what I found far more useful are the locations that do not offer funtastic photos. My favourite is lying in bed. I traditionally read before going to sleep, however dropping in 15 minutes of Skritter while lying down is great. Drawing characters while horizontal is surprisingly hard, so they end up super deformed however it doesn’t matter. It’s just a great way to get through a bunch of reviews every day in a relaxed setting. Beyond lying in bed, I’ve started muting the ads on TV and dropping out 3 mins of review during commercial breaks while sitting on the couch. I Skritter while waiting for my computer to boot at work. And let’s be honest, I’ve Skrittered while on the toilet more than once. None of these are cool places to study with super awesome photos, but to me they’re what make the Skritter iOS app better than the desktop version. The convenience.
Now to be fair lots of these you could do with a laptop, but I have a laptop and I never do any of them. Laptops take time to boot, they don’t fit in my pocket and aren’t always within arms reach. It’s not so much about “could” you do this with a laptop but “do” you? And for me I don’t–it’s just too much hassle. When I’m watching something on TV and the ads hit will I get up, get the laptop and boot it up? No, the ads will probably be over before it’s even ready. But would I reach into my pocket and instantly start Skrittering without having to move? Probably. It’s just so easy I can’t help it. Also my wife looks at me weird when I try to take the laptop into the toilet! So even if you live in the most domestic and average of settings I still think you’ll get a ton of use out of the Skritter iPhone app. Now all I need to do is find some way to fit a native speaker who constantly wants to practise into my pocket as well and I’ll be fluent in no time!
If you haven’t already, go check out the Skritter iOS app teaser page and sign up to get an email when we launch the free app. You’ll also be entered to win a free iPad to Skritter on.