AccelaStudy - Release Notes

AccelaStudy® has been continuously updated since it was first released in the iTunes App Store on Opening Day in July 2008. The value of the application has steadily increased with more vocabulary, audio, a beautiful version for the iPad, artwork for the Retina Display on iPhone and iPad, and now updated for the iPhone 5.

Version 2.6.0 (April 2013)

Version 2.6.0 is a big release for AccelaStudy and introduces a beautiful new main menu design which makes room for new features to be added in the future. Like many other applications in the App Store, the main menu is now accessible by tapping the icon in the upper left of the screen. Swipe or tap again to close the menu.

Specific changes include:

  • Colorful new user interface, with consistent color usage throughout the application.
  • iOS 6 users will now see the elegant Avenir font used throughout the application.
  • The most recent search term is now restored when going back to search.
  • "Audio Auto Advance" mode has been renamed to "Handsfree".
  • The Search feature is now available by tapping the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the main menu. Application info and options have also been similarly relocated.
  • Progress through a category or study set is now displayed at the top of the screen.
  • Performance improvements.

A number of usability enhancements have also been made:

  • Flashcard transition is now slightly faster.
  • Transitioning from one quiz question to the next now has a slight pause after indicating an answer.
  • It's now easier to release the keyboard after searching.
  • Improved the layout of cards on the screen so that the cards are slightly larger, allowing for slightly larger text.
  • The main menu items are displayed in a larger font for some localizations, including Japanese, Chinese, and Korean.
  • Application options have been reorganized.
  • Additional localization improvements.

Additional changes have been made to Lite versions:

  • Ads are now displayed throughout the application. The paid version continues to be completely ad-free.
  • A prominent Upgrade button has been provided at the top of the main menu which will display the paid version of the application in the App Store.

Version 2.5.0 (October 2012)

  • NEW! High resolution artwork for the iPhone 5.
  • Improved compatibility with iOS 6.0.
  • Now requires iOS 5.0 or later.

Version 2.4.0 (August 2012)

  • Performance enhancements and optimizations.

Version 2.3.0 (June 2012)

  • Gorgeous high definition artwork for the new iPad Retina display.

Version 2.2.0 (April 2012)

  • NEW! Statistics can now be reset for individual categories.
  • NEW! Statistics percentages are now displayed for categories.
  • Improved the display of statistics percentages.
  • Other minor optimizations and improvements to the user interface.

Version 2.1.0 (November 2011)

  • Improved compatibility with iOS 5.0.
  • Audio auto advance can now run in the background. Switching to another application like Mail will no longer stop AccelaStudy's audio playback when using this feature.
  • The app is now localized in Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.
  • Fixed an issue experienced on iPad devices when launching the app in landscape orientation.
  • Other performance enhancements and optimizations.

Version 2.0.0 (June 2011)

  • Audio Auto Advance mode has been added and is accessible from the main menu. Audio Auto Advance mode allows you to study vocabulary on the go by automatically iterating through all of the words in your study focus, playing the audio pronunciations of each word in the list. The pause between pronunciations can be configured in the Options. After each pass through the list, the words are automatically shuffled. Audio Auto Advance mode is completely hands-free and an excellent way to learn new words while jogging or driving.
  • The gorgeous interface introduced in the iPad version of AccelaStudy has now been applied to the iPhone version! All versions of AccelaStudy now share a consistent look and feel.
  • Improved audio performance. You can now listen to music and other audio sources while using AccelaStudy.
  • When reviewing the Quiz Results in Audio Quiz mode, you can now tap a missed word to hear its audio pronunciation.
  • Spaced Repetition mode now displays statistics for all study focus types.
  • In Spaced Repetition mode, you can now swipe down to indicate “incorrect” and swipe up to indicate “correct”. Swiping allows you to study words using Spaced Repetition mode without having to look at the device.
  • On the iPhone version, the correct/incorrect buttons for Spaced Repetition have been improved for easier feedback.
  • The About screen has been updated and now has the following features: Become a Fan on Facebook, Follow Us on Twitter, Recommend to a Friend, Leave a Review, Send Feedback, Join our Mailing List, and Contact Support.
  • The About screen also includes a listing of selected Renkara applications.
  • All web content accessible from the About screen, such as Release Notes and About Renkara, may now be viewed without leaving AccelaStudy.
  • Chinese localization has been fixed.
  • The Translate feature has been removed. Renkara Media Group offers an excellent, FREE translator app "Translate Now! by AccelaStudy" which translates words and sentences in 43 languages and has additional features including translation history, favorites translations, and downloadable text-to-speech voices.
  • The volume control has been moved to the Options screen.

Version 1.9.0 (Late December 2010)

  • Now requires iOS 4.2 or later.
  • Full support for the iPad with new layout and artwork specifically designed for the iPad screen.
  • Landscape and portrait orientations in the iPad version.

Version 1.8.0

  • Now requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later.
  • New support for fast app switching on supported devices running iOS 4.
  • Completely new high resolution artwork for the iPhone 4 Retina Display.

Version 1.7.1

  • Translate any word, phrase, or sentence using the built-in translator. Powered by Google Translate.
  • Play button is no longer invisible when volume is turned off.

Version 1.7.0

  • AccelaStudy® Hebrew and AccelaStudy® Arabic were released to the iTunes App Store.

Version 1.6.2

  • Added 20 verbs in infinitive form for the FREE versions of German, French, Italian, and Turkish.

Version 1.6.1

  • Fixed a stability issue experienced during the last update.

Version 1.6.0

  • Added volume control (available for iPhone OS 3.0 only).
  • Centralized the options for all modes including Study, Flashcards, Quiz, and Spaced Repetition.
  • Added the application version under “About AccelaStudy”.
  • Added several minor visual enhancements.

Version 1.5.0

  • Added over 225 verbs in infinitive form for Spanish, French, Italian, German, and Turkish.

Version 1.4.4

  • Significantly faster search performance and scrolling speed.
  • General improvements in application stability, particularly in the Spaced Repetition feature.

Version 1.4.3

  • Updated Vocabulary Builder products for further OS 3.0 compatibility.
  • Released TOEFL Vocabulary Builder and SAT and ACT Vocabulary Builder.

Version 1.4.1

  • All audio files have been added back into the application. All audio files are now included and no separate download is required.
  • Certain areas of the user interface have been modified to improve the display of long labels.
  • The readability of long vocabulary words has improved in all modes.
  • The Quiz Results view has been completely redesigned to make missed words more readable.
  • Space Repetition mode has been improved by eliminating the possibility of seeing the same word twice back-to-back.
  • For Essentials, the application has been modified to only show the promotional view once per session.
  • Several modifications have been made which result in improved performance.

Version 1.4

  • To minimize update download times from the App Store, most audio files are no longer embedded in the application but must be downloaded from the Internet after installing the update. Once downloaded, audio files will not need to be downloaded again in future updates.
  • In preparation for adding additional study tools, the user interface has been completely redesigned to be more intuitive, elegant, and expandable.
  • NEW! Audio Quiz mode is now available. Similar to normal Quiz mode but rather than seeing a word and choosing the correct translation, you hear a native speaker and choose the word you heard!
  • NEW! Spaced Repetition mode is now available. Using an advanced spaced repetition algorithm, AccelaStudy presents you with words you don’t know yet more often than words you do so you learn new words faster.
  • Shuffling words in Study mode or Flashcard mode is now performed by shaking the device instead of tapping a button.
  • Tapping on a search result in Search mode will now play the audio files associated with that word.
  • NEW! Automatic statistics tracking is now available. As you use Spaced Repetition mode and indicate words that you know or don’t know, AccelaStudy will track your progress and let you know how much of the vocabulary you have mastered.
  • NEW! Add categories directly to study sets.
  • NEW! Add the current word in Study mode, Flashcard mode, or Spaced Repetition mode to one or more study sets.

Version 1.3

  • Over 4,200 audio pronunciations have been added to the application – 2,100 in Dutch and 2,100 in Chinese. Each word is pronounced by a professional voice actor yielding a clear and pleasant, static-free sound.

Version 1.2

  • Select All and Select None
  • Introduction of Plan tab
  • Elimination of all info buttons for options in favor of options on Plan tab
  • Sorting and display options for Study and Flashcard modes
  • Localized categories

Version 1.1

  • Custom study sets can now be created with any number of words from the vocabulary list.
  • All Words, Selected Categories, and Study Sets can be used as the source of words for Study mode, Flashcard mode, and Quiz mode.

Version 1.0.5

  • The performance of Challenging quiz generation has been significantly improved. A 30 question quiz should now take only 1-2 seconds to generate.
  • The current quiz is no longer reset when changing the translation direction.

Version 1.0.4

  • Fixed an issue where users could not deselect all categories after the updating v1.0 to v1.0.3.
  • Performance optimizations in support of future updates.

Version 1.0.3

  • Almost 1,000 new vocabulary words have been added bringing the total to just under 2,200.
  • Industry-specific words have been added. This update includes highly specialized terms for automotive issues, general banking, economics, investments, and investment banking. Future updates will include medical terminology, cooking terms, office and technology terms, and more.
  • The total number of categories has been increased to 66 from 41.
  • The Challenging mode of quiz difficulty is significantly more difficult. The following improvements have been made:
    • Perfect cognates and most near cognates are not used in the quiz.
    • Words are matched by part of speech. Thus, nouns are matched with nouns, adjectives with adjectives, and so on.
  • The Renkara logo icon has been removed from the card view. Links to the Product and Support websites have been added to the Study Options view instead.
  • Release Notes are now viewable within the application.