If you are wondering how to purchase the Pro version, please check here.
Be sure to also check the HowTos & Tips for the Pro version.
Terminology
- Search screen - the screen the app normally starts in where you can enter search text
- Details screen - the screen that shows one dictionary entry at a time (i.e. the screen after you click on a dictionary entry in the search results)
- Starred Lists & Tags A Starred List is, unsurprisingly, a word list based on words you have "starred". One such list, is called the "All Starred" list, which consists of [i]all[/i] the words you have "starred". Starred Lists can be accessed via the "Starred" tab at the bottom of the Search screen. When you "star" a word (in the Details screen), you may optionally assign any number of "Tags". For example, when you star the word "张" (zhāng|Chinese surname and measure word for flat objects) you might assign the Tags "surnames" and "measurewords". For each Tag, there is a corresponding Starred List. So, the "Tag: surnames" Starred List will contain all words that have been tagged with "surnames". Note: On the Details screen, long-press on the star icon or go to the Tags menu item to bring up the Tags dialog. There you can assign/create/modify Tags. If you would like to share your own Starred Lists then feel free to post them on this forum!
- How to enter Chinese characters? For Chinese handwriting, upgrade to Pro version or use gPen IME. For pinyin and radical-based input, try [url=https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.inputmethod.pinyin]Google Pinyin IME[/url]
- How to search by radical? Tap the 部 icon in the search box
- How to know whether I'm in traditional or simplified mode? In traditional mode, search box hint text starts with "漢字", otherwise "汉字". Alternatively, press Menu > Settings where you will see either "Simplified", "Simp [Trad]", "Traditional" or "Trad [Simp]"
- How to use voice recognition in Chinese? If your device supports voice recognition then you will see a microphone icon in Hanping's search box. Long-press on this icon to show the configuration dialog. From here you can choose whether to recognize Chinese (Mandarin), English or simply use the System Default. If you click on the System Default you will be taken to the System Settings screen for Voice Recognition. The next time you click on the microphone icon, the latest configuration will be used.
- How to enter the "ü" Pinyin character? Use "v" instead. For example, if you want to search for the pinyin "nǚpéngyǒu" (which means girlfriend) then you might type "nvpengyou" or "nv3peng2you3". In fact, if you are using [url=https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.inputmethod.pinyin]Google Pinyin IME[/url], "nvp" is enough.
- How to view Simplified & Traditional characters together? In the Menu you will see an item describing whether the displayed Chinese characters are Simplified or Traditional. Click on this menu option to cycle through the different settings. You can view Simplified only, Traditional only, Simplified [Traditional], or Traditional [Simplified]
- How to use a custom Chinese font? Please read [url=/forum/viewtopic.php@f=3&t=21681]this[/url].
- How to install Hanping Pro's old homescreen widgets? Please read [url=/forum/viewtopic.php@f=3&t=21680]this[/url].
- How to look up words/characters within words (Details screen)? Suppose you have a multi-character word in the Details screen and want to see the dictionary entries for characters/words within that word. Just click on the character you are interested in. This will usually bring up the dictionary entry for that character. However, if there is a sub-word starting with that character then that will be shown instead. For example, suppose the Details screen is showing 中国人民 (zhōngguórénmín, the Chinese people). Click on 人 and you will see the entry for 人民. Click on 人 again and you will see the entry for 人.
- Try searching for long Chinese phrases. If you enter a long phrase (which is not in the dictionary) then Hanping will break down the phrase into words. This works really well when combined with voice recognition in Chinese mode!
- When searching using pinyin, there is no need to enter spaces in between syllables. However, sometimes its useful to do so. For example, searching for "xi an" will not include any of the "xian" results
- Navigating dictionary entries (Details screen) [b]Arrow buttons:[/b] The up/down arrow buttons at the top-right of the screen are used to navigate through the results (usually the results of a search in the main screen). To return to the search screen you can either click Back through the Details screens, or just click the top-left app icon to jump straight to the Search screen [b]Gestures:[/b] Try swiping your finger quickly left or right. This will step through the dictionary. For example, if 你好 (nǐhǎo, hello) is currently showing, then use swipe from the right to show the next dictionary entry 你好吗 (nǐhǎoma, how are you?). This is very useful for finding related words that might not have come up when searching by English (for example, "hello" would not bring up 你好吗 (nǐhǎoma, how are you?) Swiping your finger quickly up or down will have the same effect as using the up/down arrow buttons (i.e. step through the search results)
- Hanzi colouring The colouring represents the tone of each character. There are different colouring-schemes available. To cycle through them: Menu (within app) > Settings > Colouring by Tones
- Add multiple Homescreen Widgets (Pro only) (If you are not yet familiar with Homescreen Widgets, please [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMsqSQzV6nw]watch this[/url] or [url=http://androidforanyone.com/2010/12/what-is-an-android-widget]read this[/url].) There are two types of widgets available: "1x1" (2-character words) and "2x1" (4-character word). The words are updated daily. Adding lots of these widgets (for example, you can add four 1x1 widgets) is a great way to learn multiple words every day. Clicking on the word in the widget, brings up the word in the second screen of the app. Clicking on the icon of the widget, brings up the main screen of the app. This means you don't need to have a separate shortcut to Hanping on your homescreen.