cniesen / morsetrainer

Learn Morse code by listening. An android app.

STATUS: Google has given me the ultimatum to either upgrade the app to an API level within 2 years of the latest Android release or being removed from the app store. Targeting a newer SDK brings lot of other requirements with it. For example Android 11 (API level 30) won't allow device storage to be accessed under the current model. As technology is being driven forward, continuing change is being forced upon us for the better and worse. This would mean that I need to continuously play catch up just to keep the app alive in the app store. I don't have the motivation to dedicate that much free time to doing so. So sadly I will see my baby die. I've extended the deadline till May 1, 2023 at which point Google will apparently pull my app from the store. Existing installs should still work but new installs will not be possible through the Google App store. With that this app will join the landfill among the billions of android devices that have become obsolete and can't be used anymore. I guess you could pull one of those out of the garbage and side load the app.

Claus' Morse Trainer

Android app to learn morse code.

The app is available in the Google Play store (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.niesens.morsetrainer) and on GitHub (https://github.com/cniesen/morsetrainer/releases/latest).

Premade additional wordlist can be found at: https://github.com/cniesen/morsetrainer/tree/master/additional_word_lists

License

The code of Claus' Morse Trainer has been Licensed under GNU GPL 3.0.

Note that the images, primarily the app icon png files, are not released under any license and all rights have been retained. In other words, don't publish your own app to any store with these images unless explicit permission is given.

morsetrainer's Issues

FilePickerActivity causes NullPointerException when user doesn't grant permission

Add a permission check in the FilePickerActivity similar to what is in MainActivity.onCreate().

Is error causes nuisance error message. Instead display a Toast to the user and return to the MainActivity.

Update callsign and repo location

Change K0TET to AE02 and location of repo to https://github.com/cniesen/morsetrainer/

Dit & Dah Sound Improvement

The morse sound is pretty harsh due to the overshooting. Especially at louder volumes. Shaping the wave form via volume might help.

MorsePlayer doesn't play upper case characters

Just need to convert text to lower case to make this work properly.

Create Privacy Policy for Google Play Store

Suggestion regarding Google ultimatum / API level

You could put the application on FDroid as its open source.

I doubt they have such strict requirements

Pause between morse and speak adjustment

Allow user to adjust the time between the played Morse code and the spoken text.

File change may mess up active trainer

Weird behavior might occur when training is in progress while the word list file is changed.

"has stopped" message on close

When closing the app the message "Claus' Morse Trainer has stopped" is displayed with the option to close the app. This is caused by a null pointer exception.

Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException: 
  at com.niesens.morsetrainer.MainActivity.onDestroy (MainActivity.java:206)
  at android.app.Activity.performDestroy (Activity.java:7195)
  at android.app.Instrumentation.callActivityOnDestroy (Instrumentation.java:1161)
  at android.app.ActivityThread.performDestroyActivity (ActivityThread.java:4573)

App crashes when starting the trainer without selecting a training file

Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException: 
  at com.niesens.morsetrainer.Trainer.doInBackground (Trainer.java:25)
  at com.niesens.morsetrainer.Trainer.doInBackground (Trainer.java:8)
  at android.os.AsyncTask$2.call (AsyncTask.java:304)
  at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run (FutureTask.java:237)

Setting to specify morse repeat

Add a setting that specifies how often the morse word should be send before giving the answer.

1-10 should be sane values.
May also want to add a setting to customize delay between repeats.

Wpm & Farnsworth adjustment

Allow user to adjust the words per minutes (wpm) and the Farnsworth spacing of the Morse code.

Exiting app while trainer is running causes app not to work properly in future

When exiting the app while the morse trainer is running (i.e. using the back button) brings the app into a state where it won't start the training on future starts off the app.

A work around is to close the app completely (using the apps list) and restarting it again.

Missing Symbols

There are currently only three symbols being sent. Please add at least those required for FCC Commercial License.
Thank you,
Kevin
W4KMM

Custom files don't work

Custom files cause a FileNotFoundException when loading the content.

1000 common English words

Hi - Thanks for the great app and thanks for making it free software.

Would you mind including a text file that has the 1000 common english words - like the one available here?

https://gist.githubusercontent.com/deekayen/4148741/raw/01c6252ccc5b5fb307c1bb899c95989a8a284616/1-1000.txt

Cheers
Ram

Settings: Improve Slider Controls

Settings slider are hard to use, especially for the lower settings. Use a better control.

Add a license

Add an open source license to the project. GPL-3.0 is proposed.

Add prosign and Russian character support

Settings to speak before/after morse play

Currently the app plays morse code than it says what was sent. (I.e. the user has to decode the morse code.)

Allow for the app to say what should be sent and then play the morse code. (I.e. the user has to generate the morse code.)

Settings: Farnsworth Toggle Switch

Add toggle switch to enable/disable Farnsworth spacing

Add Adaptive Application Icons for Android Oreo

Oreo displays the generic icon.

Update to scoped storage (support of current storage will end soon)

https://developer.android.com/training/data-storage/use-cases

Morse pitch/frequency adjustment

Allow user to adjust the Morse code frequency.

An option would be to allow adjustments in 50Hz steps and also give an option that would choose a random frequency for each new word.

on/off switch for voice

implement on/off switch for voice, so non-english speakers can focus on CW sound and visual chars only

(by the way great job in this app, thanks!)

Screen rotation causes app to reload

When the screen is rotated android destroys and recreates the activity. This currently causes the same behavior as exiting and starting the app new. Instead we want the app to run seamlessly.

see:
https://medium.com/google-developers/activity-revival-and-the-case-of-the-rotating-device-167e34f9a30d

upper case / bigger toast chars

Use upper case chars (bigger font possible?) in toast to increase visibility

Exchange toast message "stroke" by "slash" which is a more common name for "/" sign worldwide

(by the way great job in this app, thanks!)

feature requests - dark mode and sleep timer

great app!

I had just started writing something very similar, but no point reinventing the wheel :)

2 feature requests

• dark mode - lower power consumption on oled displays and easier on the eyes at night

• sleep timer - to random play chosen morse file for x minutes (I like to listen to morse when Im going to sleep )

hope these comments are of use

73 de g7nbp

background noise

implement option for a simple radio background noise; this is specially important when using bluetooth earphones or speakers, because they have a little delay to come on after sound went to zero that disrupts the CW signs

once more: thanks a lot for this app !

E coming out as i

The lady is saying e but an I with the spacing a little off is being sent.

LG G7 phone

And thank you so much for this app