Tag Archives: hydrocarbons

August 31, 2014 · 10:58 pm

Hydrocarbons and Amino Acids on Android

I continue adding my apps to the Google Play. Recently, two chemistry apps appeared there: Hydrocarbons (Android):
Get it on Google Play

and Amino Acids (Android):
Get it on Google Play

They are not the exact copies of their iOS counterparts. There are several major improvements:
1) There are no IAPs: all questions in Hydrocarbons and flashcards in Amino Acids are available for free. And both apps are free as well.
2) There are new multiple-choice modes that cover all compounds and provide a nice variety to the existing letter quizzes.
3) Both apps are brought to the latest standards of my quizzes: 14 letters, scalability of all elements, a different layout of the main menu.
4) There were multiple fixes and changes in localization, icons, and so on.
5) In my all Android apps, the language can be chosen in the game Settings rather than in the device Settings that is much more convenient and looks very nice.

The same updates will come to iOS in due time. All other quizzes will be added to Google Play soon. I am updating the corresponding parts of this site and I am always glad to hear your suggestions and ideas about my apps.

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March 14, 2014 · 5:22 pm

Learn Numerals 1.1 and Hydrocarbons 1.2

Two apps have been updated today: Learn Numerals and Hydrocarbons. In Learn Numerals, I changed an icon to a brighter one, with an yellow background. In both apps, I added the Swedish localization. I consider this language the next most important in Europe after those 7 already present in my apps. The next will be Dutch. Besides the new localization, I added 5 new hydrocarbons and the “Unlimited Hints” purchase to the Hydrocarbons app. It is easier to get to the Settings now when the buttons of paid modes became active.

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February 16, 2014 · 11:04 pm

Hydrocarbons 1.1

The new version of the Hydrocarbons app has been approved after 6 days of waiting and just 1 min of reviewing.

The major reason of the update was to add “promo nodes” (links after questions) to my recent apps. I moved the “Watch Ads” button from the Settings to the game as well, though it seems that the whole idea with interstitial screen ads doesn’t pay off in my case. There are several minor fixes in chemical formulas in their style or sizes. In the main menu, I highlighted that two locked modes (“Dienes & Polyenes” and “Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons”) can be unlocked (= bought) in Settings. The word “Buy” near an inactive button was a bit confusing. The letter keys were made bigger in case of iPhone/iPod. The sounds of correct letters now grow in their pitch which is not as monotonous as it was in 1.0.

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January 31, 2014 · 6:15 pm

Hydrocarbon Chemical Formula

Word World

My first chemistry app Hydrocarbon Formula has been approved and is on the App Store. I plan this to be a start of a series of apps based on the model “Letter Quiz” where the player sees a picture or a formula and has to build its name from the given letters. There will be both chemical and non-chemical quizzes.

The English description of the game is the following:

This application is essential for students learning the basics of organic chemistry, for teachers, graduate students and professionals checking their knowledge of the subject. There are more than 175 structural formulas: fun to guess – easy to remember. Hydrocarbons are the most fundamental class of organic compounds, so it is very important to know their chemical names.

Questions are logically divided into 6 topics covering all possible hydrocarbons. Begin with crucial structures such as methane CH4, benzene C6H6, and octane C8H18 and then proceed to advance topics learning about benzopyrene C20H12 and cubane C8H8. In each question, guess the name of the hydrocarbon or use the hints.

The compound database is prepared by a PhD chemist. 178 structures and names of:

* Alkanes
* Cycloalkanes
* Alkenes / Alkynes
* Dienes, and Polyenes
* Aromatic Hydrocarbons (Arenes)
* Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)

***

1. This app was twice rejected because of too-long name (the reviewer asked to move all those “dienes, polyenes” to keywords) and because of failed (?) in-app-purchase. According to the attached screenshot, the IAP did work. So I wrote a letter to the Resolution Center and the app was quickly approved without any additional comments on their side or actions on my side.

2. New features are:
– “Watch Ads” button showing an AdMob interstitial and giving the player 20 hints
– Send an email to the author (asmolgam@gmail.com) button in the app
– 40 hints are given for sharing the info about the app on Twitter or Facebook
– Localization to 5 languages besides English and Russian: German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese.

3. Acknowledgements: icons for buttons were downloaded from iconmonstr or were created with Font Awesome.

Thanks!

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