Here's a list of questions that we received and that could help you. If your question is not listed here, please write an email to support@hubermat.com.

Application start

Q: I installed iChinese on my device, but if I run it, it crashes...

A: This seems to be a problem that is quite frequently experienced with firmware 2.0+. One solution is to delete the app from both the device and iTunes, then sync the device, then download the app again from iTunes and sync it to the device. Another thing that has worked is to completely power down and power up the device (hold down the "Power" button for a few seconds).

Extension modules / Library

Q: I bought a lesson pack but iChinese does not show it under „Library“.

A: You have to register the lesson pack with iChinese. Simply run the lesson pack application and tap on the register button.

Q: I registered the lesson pack and it showed up in iChinese. But now it is no longer available in iChinese. What happened?

A: Most likely you removed the lesson pack application from your iPhone/iPod Touch. For iChinese to be able to use the lesson pack, it needs to stay installed on the device. If you sync it back unto the device, it can be used again.

Dictionary

Q: How can I enter Chinese characters in handwriting?

A: Simply enable the Chinese keyboard (simplified and/or traditional) with the Settings-Application. You can enable the Chinese keyboards under Settings->General->Keyboard->International Keyboards. Then you use it in iChinese to draw characters to search for in the dictionary.

Q: Sometimes my handwriting does not get recognized. What's wrong?

A: The character recognition Apple uses in its Chinese keyboard is based on the correct stroke order. So if you draw the characters with the correct stroke order, the right matches will show up. Please take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroke_order for a very good explanation of the stroke order of chinese characters.

Lessons

Q: I always get "Wrong number of characters"! What can I do?

A: iChinese expects you to write several characters to form a complex word or a sentence. After you finished a character, tap on the hook button in the lower right corner of the input area to move the character to the mulit-character entry field. You can then draw the next character. The number of needed characters can be deduced from the pinyin, e.g. "ni3 hao3" needs two characters, "ni3" and "hao3".

Q: I write the characters correctly, but iChinese gives me a 0% score.

A: iChinese is very nitpicking about the correct stroke order and the number of strokes. If you got a bad score, take your time to review the drawn characters by tapping on each of them in the multi-character entry field. Wrong strokes are marked in red. You can even animate the character by tapping on the "▶" button, to see the expected stroke order.