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2020 Update Issues

ChinesePod Apps
#1

There’s been a new update to the android app but I find a few issues that I hope can be addressed:

  1. I find that if I mark a lesson as ‘played.’ the app does not save this info. So when I revisit a lesson, it will ask if I want to mark it as ‘played.’ Anyone else have trouble with this?

  2. Also there used to be a dark mode in the last version but now there’s only a bright version. Will dark mode be introduced again? I could not find this option in the settings.

  3. The app sometimes stops playing if my screen turns off. So when I walk and listen to a lesson, my screen needs to be on which is annoying if my phone is in my pocket.

  4. I used to be able to listen to a lesson in the background while using another app but I find that functionality has decreased. Most of the time the app stops playing if I switch apps or have Chinesepod in the background. Hopefully this can be improved.

#2

Hi,
I didn’t meet the first problem you got, I always mark the lesson as " studied" after I finished, then open the " studied" button, you can see all you “studied” lessons. I also dont have “stop” problems when I listen to the video, the screen will be on during the video plays.

#3

Hi there,

Thank you for your feedback. I’ll forward it to our technology officers to take care of them. :slight_smile:

Betty

#4

Today my phone downloaded a new version of you app, it is a disaster not an app. No filters, no dark theme, very unconvinient Voc, dialogue, expansion button. In previous version we see the voc right after openning the lesson and that was ergonomic
Stupid intro about Chinespod twice! on the first page for the old subscribers. I wonder who was the person who invented this design definitely non-professional. I really want to see the face of this person and of the person who made the final decision about the redesign.
Really it is not possible to use it now I am not joking and I paid for the year subscription. Please leave an old version on the Google market it is much-much better.
And take this actions fast otherwise I will claim refund.

Best reagrds,
Ekaterina

1 Like
#6

After the first frustration to not find the bookmark- and other filters in the new app, I wrote a comment to blame the app-guys. After playing a bit more with the app, I found the filters. There are two search fields: the first on the “Home” tab. This one seems to have no underlying index. I could not find any lesson’s subject I have bookmarked.
Then I switched to the “Lessons” tab and clicked on the search field. Now a much bigger dialogue opens, giving the opportunity to filter for bookmarks, levels, video, studied and keywords. Uff, one worry gone.

Perhaps some improvement possible - you guys wrote a ton of mails to your premium subscribers. However I have not seen any mail announcing the new app. In such mail I would expect a short hint towards changes, up- and downgrades as for the new key features.

Finally, I just found a flaw in filtering. I wanted to filter for “bookmarked” but NOT studied, thus I tickle the bookmark filter, but let the “Studied” disabled. However the result is that all bookmarked are given. Could you please fix this bug?

#7

In my experience, the search feature is not very good. I will type the title of an episode but it will not show up in the search. For example, I typed “Chinese experience” to listen to the Qingwen lesson about 体验，经验，etc but it doesn’t show up. I tried typing Chinese characters and still could not get it to show up in search. So I had to waste time to look for it. I think the search should be improved to find lessons by title or character.

#8

Hi @ekaterinakhachaturov, @GeorgLohrer, and @465167395,

We are still optimizing our app right now, so thanks for your feedback. I have already forwarded them to our technical group. If there’s any other feedback or question about the new app, feel free to leave them down here or on the feedback page on the app.

Regards,
Betty

#9

One additional issue:

offline mode
downloaded some ten episodes before
playing one episode in „continuous repeat single“ is no problem
playing „continuous repeat“ does not work, it‘s somehow rushing in a second through all episodes, only to end up in the just played episode and repeating that.
Or do I misunderstand the feature?

#11

Hi there,

Thank you for your feedback. I would forward it to our technical group. They will take care of it well. If there’s any other feedback or question about the app, feel free to leave them down here or on the feedback page on the app.

Regards,
Betty

#12

Guys, thanks for the 13.03.2020 update
The mentioned filtering issue was resolved. Well in a pretty much ugly way, but solved. I mean, if you have a switch indicating „Lights“, the „On“ position means On, the „Off“ position Off. If you name the switch „Lights On“ and you do NOT enable it, you will not expect that meaning now is „Undefined“. You will not expect you need another switch „Lights Off“. There is something substantially wrong with your logic. But that‘s only a minor detail.

The major problem seems to be that the download of episodes (lesson, dialogue, etc) is not persistent. I now have downloaded my episodes multiple times. It works for some days (in offline mode), then, out of nowhere, all downloads are gone. Vanished. But they are still available in /sdcard/Podcasts/ChinesePod. Seems that the book-keeping of downloads has some problems. I‘m quite astonished about such bug. Should be a test-case in your regression testing. Please do not tell me, you‘re not testing the offline/download feature.

#13

Hi there,

Thank you for your feedback. ChinesePod team is still optimizing our app and website. So we do appreciate all of the feedback here. We’ll do our best to fix bugs on our website and app as soon as possible.

Betty

#14

Playlist do need to have an auto play option. Many of us use the playlist when walking or driving or exercising.

a flashcard option on the mobile app would be good.

#15

Hi there,

We understand the needs of the playlist, but since lessons have so much additional content, we would like our students taking a look at the vocabulary, expansion sentences, and the practice. Therefore, this is something we’re not planning to have on the website at the current stage.
But, it doesn’t mean that there’s no auto-playing playlist. Students still can make one through itunes or our app. As for how, you can check it in the following link:
https://chinesepod.com/tutorials/beyond-the-basics

Betty

#16

NOPE.
I don’t want to use iTunes. Please fix the app.

Also, I don’t want to sit through an 8 min video. How about you use an udto play feature for the playlist.

#17

Hi Betty

I get it. I prefer to study new content on the laptop, so that I can pay attention, replay easily and do the exercises.

However, playlist are great review of one level down - or previously studied lessons.

I am having trouble with the autoplay in the app. logged out and logged back in. Thanks for the link.

#18

Hi there,
I am not sure how do you build a playlist on the app. This is how I do, and hope it would help:

Step one, select the “Audio”.

step 1
step 1828×1792 214 KB

Step two, select the “Radio-Quality Lesson”.

step 2
step 2828×1792 191 KB

Step 3, click the icon on the right to make sure the podcasts automatically play.
Step 4, click the “My playlist” above the icon

step 3 and 4
step 3 and 4828×1792 188 KB

Step 5, and you will see the list that you build.

step 5
step 5828×1792 64.8 KB