Updating our Android Writing Apps

 

We’ve updated all of our Android apps on both Google Play and the Amazon Appstore for Android.

Lists for Writers now has all the latest lists. The new search feature lets you search any list – perfect for finding a phobia or term from a genre list. The new shuffle feature randomizes the order of any list, making it easier to find some inspiration.

Story Dice now has all the latest die faces, bringing the total up to 170 different pictograms.

All of the apps also got some substantial internal updates, which should resolve a few cases where things didn’t quite work. Also behind the scenes, we moved all of the apps to Android Studio (goodbye Eclipse!), made some good improvements to our build workflow, and added additional test devices.

 
Lists for Writers on Nexus 7

Name Dice for iPhone / iPad updated to 1.4

We’ve updated our Name Dice app for iPhone / iPad / iPod Touch. This is an app that helps writers come up with character names and ideas for fictional writing. It’s very popular with writers from middle school / high school language arts classes to adult novelists and NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) competitors.

Name Dice now includes a new history feature where you can swipe backwards to view the last dozen rolls. We also updated the UI to improve the appearance on iPhone 5 and iOS 7 devices.

Name Dice on iPhone 5

Story Dice 1.5 Update

We’ve updated the iOS version of Story Dice with 30 new die faces, a history feature, and improved its appearance.

Story Dice iPhone 5

The top request we’ve received for Story Dice is to add a history feature to see previous rolls. Done! We’ve added it so you can see the previous dozen rolls! To see a previous roll, just swipe backwards until you get to the roll you want. To roll again, just tap the screen. Voila!

We’ve also added 30 new die faces for a whopping total of 170 pictures! Awesome!

NaNoWriMo on the Nexus 7

Nexus 7 with keyboardWith NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) approaching, this is a good time to point out that three of our popular writing apps are available on Google Play for Android devices including the Nexus 7 tablet. Our NaNoWriMo experiences before forming Thinkamingo actually lead to our focus on building writing apps, so it’s always neat to see others using our apps to help hit their word count.

I actually carry a Nexus 7 (2012) and use it daily. I didn’t attempt NaNoWriMo last year, but I have written quite a bit on my Nexus 7. The Microsoft Wedge bluetooth keyboard makes a great companion for wireless writing on the Nexus 7. Though it is intended for Windows tablets, it matches the Nexus 7 (2012) style very well and is large enough to actually type on. I also have one of these cover-style keyboards as well but it’s pretty hard to type on. While I’ve tried the different Android office suites, I write most of my text in Evernote because it syncs so well to my other devices. I’m still not certain whether I will attempt NaNoWriMo 2013, but if I do, my Nexus 7 will get a lot of use.

Lists for Writers for AndroidLists for Writers is a collection of lists to rapidly brainstorm ideas for characters, settings, and plots. The iPad version has been repeatedly featured by Apple and blogs like Cult of Mac and MakeUseOf.
Story Dice for Android Story Dice is a visual brainstorming tool. It simulates rolling dice with 140 different die face pictures to come up with combinations a writer can connect to come up with new plot or character ideas.
Name Dice for AndroidName Dice is a simple tool for generating character name ideas. It provides random combinations of first and last names that have been surprisingly effective for a lot of writers. Best of all – it’s FREE!

All of our Android apps are available on Google Play, Amazon Appstore for Android, and the NOOK Market.

Spooky Story Dice Updated

Just in time for some scary storytelling, Spooky Story Dice has been updated to fully support the iPhone 5 / iPod Touch 5th Generation and iOS 7.

Spooky Story Dice is a seasonal and more compact version of our app, Story Dice. It has over 70 pictures to generate spooky elements in your stories! From the “More” menu, users may change the settings to show 1-3 dice on each roll. Great for a middle school or high school language arts or English classroom Halloween activity.

Spy Tools now updated for iPad and iPhone 5

We’ve updated our Spy Tools for Kids app to fully support the iPhone 5 and iPad. We have also improved the appearance of the UI and fake identification cards.

Apple-172wide

We removed the Facebook and email sharing options for picture from the disguise kit, identification kit, and night vision camera. This provides a more child-friendly experience and we’ve determined that most users saved pictures to the camera roll and shared them from there.

Spy Tools on iPad Mini