Thoughts on the next version of Morse Trainer
I’m delighted to note that Morse Trainer has become popular with a few hard-core Morse code aficionados! I pretty much created it just for fun and because there didn’t seem to be anything else quite like it. The App Store reports that there have been 2,286 downloads in the past six months, and its popularity seems to be picking up. It’s gotten a few good reviews as well – thanks to all who have taken the time to write something, good or bad.
A few users have written me asking for some changes/upgrades. Here’s what’s been requested so far:
- Separate the app’s volume control from the system’s ringer volume (this seems to be people’s biggest issue – they mute their ringer or otherwise disable ringer volume control, which is what the app uses for its volume setting, and the app doesn’t beep, which is the whole point of the app!)
- Add optional punctuation
- Add an option to use light instead of sound
- Add faster sending speeds or more fine-grained control of speeds
- Add the ability to repeat the same message multiple times before revealing the text
- Add the ability to store messages for use when no data connection is available
Most of those things are possible and I’m trying to decide which ones would have the most impact without making the app too complex.
What do you think? Which of these would you find useful and which would just add unneeded complexity? Are there other changes you’d like to see?
First, I want to say thank you for building a solid, free app. I have been using it often and it beats the others I have tried by a long shot.
It would be really helpful to be able to set character AND word speed. Faster character speed helps me learn by sound, and slower WPM gives me a few more milliseconds to process things.
Thanks again for taking the time to build this app.
I just downloaded Morse Trainer on my iPad and iPhone — Thanks! I’ve been looking for a morse code app that pulls practice text from the web. Some features I would love to see are:
Separate settings for WPM and character speeds
Ability to select any speed from 5-50 WPM
Ability to set the tone of the CW in Hz
More practice text options… Local weather forecast, news headlines, amateur radio newsline, etc.
Ability to choose a custom RSS feed for practice text
I think it’s great that this a free app, but with features like those above I would be happy to pay for it.
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