Morse Decoder 1.1.0 Mac App Store update

The HotPaw Morse Code Decoder, version 1.1.0, is now available from the Mac App store.  It is currently still the only Morse Code or CW app available from Apple's Mac App Store.  A free update for current users should be shown automatically when running the App Store app on your Mac.

Two important new features were added to version 1.1.0.

The first new feature is an audio input selection option for users with USB or PCI audio input devices.  Some of these 3rd party USB or PCI accessories will allow line-level audio input directly from a radio receiver.  The use of an audio line-input instead of a microphone may allow for even more accurate Morse Code decoding.  The choice of audio input can now be selected within the app.

Also added is an option for manual control of the threshold level for detecting Morse Code dits and dahs above a background noise floor.  This option can be enabled by turning AGC off, which is useful when the AGC cannot adapt properly to high levels of noise or fading in the audio signal.  The feature works best in conjunction with the optional narrow band filter, which can be enabled just by clicking on the desired frequency peak shown by the built-in spectrum analyzer.

iAutoharp and HotPaw Basic for iOS updates

The iAutoharp app for iOS has been update to version 1.5.  It's a great little easy to play 36-string musical instrument, where you can strum easy-to-select chords.  This version should fix the responsive and lag issues which had been reported for previous versions.  The strings now animate when strummed using a new faster display update method that does not slow down multi-touch strumming or chord changes.

HotPaw Basic for iOS has been updated to version 1.5.6.  (It's the same as 1.5.5, plus some small bug fixes to the built-in help.)  This version adds some new user-requested functions for  getting location (GPS coordinates) and accelerometer information from the device.  A new function to sample the audio input has also been added.  Another very useful addition is a mode allowing editing program text in a small window, instead of one line-at-a-time.

iChromatic Strobe Tuner now in the Mac App Store

I was surprised when I looked in the Mac App Store a few weeks ago, and didn't see any musical instrument tuner applications that were, in my opinion, both attractive and accurate.  So I created a new chromatic strobe tuner app just for the Mac.  The HotPaw iChromatic Strobe Tuner is now available from the Mac App Store for an introductory and fairly low price.

The visual concept is very similar that used in my popular inTuna Guitar Tuners and iChromatic HD Tuners available from the iOS App store.  However, I used the greater processing power available on the Mac to display more attractive circular pitch strobes (two of them), plus a note-on-keyboard indicator and a music grand staff display, as well as usual meter dials and frequency read-out.  It supports a configurable Concert A frequency and several settings to customize tuning intonation by cents.  Check it out, and feel free to send feedback (or bug reports if you find any).

HotPaw Morse Decoder, now available for the Mac

The HotPaw Morse Decoder app for the iPhone and iPad has turned out to be a surprisingly popular app worldwide, selling copies in almost 50 countries, and getting great reviews.  (Although it never hurts to have more! :)

The Morse Decoder has now been ported to Mac OS X.  Version 1.0 of the HotPaw CW Morse Decoder for the Mac is available from the Mac App Store.  The features are nearly identical to the iPad version of the app, including the narrow band audio filtering and high speed QRQ mode with can decode Morse Code at over 80 WPM in good conditions.

So, the interesting question will be: How many radio amateurs use recent Macs?

UnTouchType for iPad

Version 1.0.0 of UnTouchType is now available as a Free app from the U.S. iOS App Store.  Experiment with chorded one-hand touch text input.  The app can speak each letter on input for audible verification.  But the current version is very plain, and only allows one short line of text input.

I am awaiting a bit more user feedback before updating UnTouchType with a version that will allow the user to customize their preferred keying combinations by uploading a text file using iTunes.

UnTouchType

I usually don't announce apps in development until they are ready to ship, approved by Apple, and available in the App store. But I recently demonstrated an early version of an app, on stage, at the close of the iOSDevCamp 2011 weekend Hackathon. So I might as well write about the idea behind an app still very much under construction.

Since adding support for Apple's VoiceOver Accessibility to a few of my apps, I've received enough customer feedback to realize that that iPhones and iPads are more popular among blind (or otherwise vision impaired) users than I might otherwise have suspected. By user request, I even developed an app specifically for this market segment, the HotPaw Talking Tuner.

Now, to segue into a bit of computer history: On December 9, 1968, Douglas Englebart, in what has been called the "Mother of All Demos", demonstrated on stage several innovations including the computer mouse, hypertext linking, online collaboration, and some precursors to bitmapped graphical user interfaces. He also demonstrated something less well known, the chord keyboard. This was a one-handed keyboard that could be used to enter text by hitting a combination of buttons. Chord keyboards haven't become popular because it takes some time to learn the key combinations. But if a person needs to enter text with one hand, and takes the time to learn the chords, it is a fairly fast input method.

One current problem with iPad text entry is the lack of tactile feedback when tapping on keyboard icons and other GUI buttons. This makes it difficult to enter text "eyes-free", that is, without looking at the display. Apple's VoiceOver Accessibility technology provides one solution, by giving synthesized voice feedback about where the graphical keys are located. But it currently seems difficult to make VoiceOver work for chorded multitouch input positioning.

My prototype solution is to have an app dynamically place 5 keyboard buttons wherever a person places all five fingers on the display, then record actions, not by tapping on buttons, but by lifting fingers up off the multitouch display. These finger actions can be converted in a "chording" input method by using the combination of which fingers one picks up to select a character for input. Combinations of lifting touches and swiping gestures can be used expand the potential vocabulary. Since this method is actuated, not by touching, but by lifting fingers up, I am calling this input method:

UnTouchType

In a day or so of coding at the Hackathon, I got the an app working well enough to demonstrate to a few people; and they thought it was an interesting enough idea for me to demo. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me on stage at the conclusion of the iOSDevCamp Hackathon. (Playing with the app and accidentally turning on the mute switch just before my presentation slot didn't help. Live and learn.)

If the kernel of this idea is a new innovation, consider it to now be in the public domain. Some experimental works remains on how fast this input method is compared to other eyes-free input methods on touchpads, and which finger/chord/letter combinations might be faster and/or easier to learn. Stay tuned.

Dance Metronome/BPM

This month, HotPaw Productions introduced a new iOS app, Dance Metronome/BPM now available from Apple's iTunes App Store. This app has both a tap BPM (beats per minute) meter and a very accurate metronome. The BPM meter is designed for ballroom dancers, as it indicates whether a particular tempo is within strict tempo range. All the International Standard, Latin and American Style Smooth and Rhythm dance tempos are included. The metronome in the app can play beats, on time, to sub-millisecond accuracy. (Given an audio sample rate of 44100Hz, there are 44 samples per millisecond, and the Dance Metronome/BPM app calculates the nearest exact sample to start playing each on-time beat.)