Jisho 4.1 and the Mac App Store

I’ve released Jisho 4.1 and existing users can update via Sparkle ( Jisho -> Check for Updates ). Jisho 4.1 started in February 2010, fresh off the heels of 4.0.1 with the idea of refining the interface.

Development wore on and the UI was looking a bit better, but it didn’t feel natural. Not like how a Mac app is supposed to behave. This combined with feature creep, the hope of a Jisho 4.1 as I had envisioned it being didn’t seem feasible. At that rate I do not know when that vision of Jisho would have been released, if ever.

So what’s new in Jisho 4.1, I hear you ask? Mostly a few over-due bug fixes that greatly enhance the experience of Jisho.

1) There was a bug that would cause Jisho to search forever. Fixed.
2) The entry view would overflow and not show scrollers. Fixed.
3) That random message thing has been removed in favor of a much more generic and useful “Type a word to look it up”.
4) I’ve added a link to new website I’m building, focusing on learning Japanese and travel Japanese, LearnJapane.se (new window). I hope that this website will become something of great value for users of Jisho (and non-users as well). It’s still in its early stages, so any feedback is welcome. You can also launch it from Jisho by click Jisho -> Visit LearnJapane.se.

So what’s with the big version jump when it clearly should be a 4.0.x release? Enter MacApp Store, stage left.

I’ve been quiet about this while contemplating what direction I wanted to take in regards to the MacApp Store. Clearly the purchasing and experience for users of the MacApp Store is bar-none, the best a mac or pc has ever had. I think it’s the future of most consumer-oriented utilities, like Jisho, on the Mac.

As much as I would like to, there is no way to migrate users from my current registration mechanism to the MacApp Store.This really only leaves me with one good solution for both existing and MacApp Store users (once submitted and approved of course).

For the rest of the 4.x series I will maintain two releases of Jisho: the current, downloadable trial and Sparkle-updated version that we all know and love, and a MacApp Store version.