In the past few months, I got emails as well as reviews from users who generously made some suggestions for improving the app, but what they didn’t realise was most of the features were actually already included in the game. If you click the Info button (About page), you can read about the game, the normal levels, the challenge levels, how to use hints, how to contact me (per email) etc. and if you click the Settings button, you can change words per minute, interface sounds, background noise, vibration, frequency, Farnsworth speed, keyboard layout etc. I guess just as most people are not interested in reading Terms of Use or Privacy Policy, most users don’t bother reading the About page or Settings page either. Therefore, to make things easier for you, in this post, I’ll answer the most frequently asked questions about how to use the app and show you some of the features which you might not know about. Don’t worry, I’ll create a bulleted list (overview) so you can visit the chapters you are interested in and skip the ones you are not. One thing I can promise is that Morse Mania (on Android and on iOS) is more powerful than it seems.
1. What if as a beginner, the sound is too fast for me?
2. What’s the point of background noise?
4. How do I change the keyboard so I don’t get used to the position of the symbols?
5. There are actually more than 23 word levels
6. Monthly subscription or lifetime premium?
9. You can play challenge levels as many times as you need to
10. The premium version is NOT limited to one device
1. What if as a beginner, the sound is too fast for me?
In Settings, you can change “Words Per Minute”, which plays the sounds slower or faster. The default value is 20 WPM and less is not recommended as you should try to memorise the overall sound of a letter, number or symbol instead of concentrating on the number of dots and dashes. However, every learner is different, and if you feel you are struggling at the beginning you can of course make it slower. Unfortunately, I can’t make the dots alone sound longer (requested by one user) because according to international standard, the duration of a dash is three times the duration of a dot.
2. What’s the point of background noise?
In Settings you can change the loudness of background noise. I first introduced this feature because some users complained that when they used bluetooth earphones sometimes the sound didn’t appear immediately after they started playing the game. This is because bluetooth devices tend to disconnect from phones or other devices from time to time to save battery, and if you start playing the game immediately, it’s very likely that the bluetooth devices are not reconnected in time. The default value of background noise is 0, but if you are using bluetooth devices to hear the sound, I recommend you to set it to 10-20%, which shouldn’t disturb your playing but at the same time ensures that your devices are always connected. Later, some users commented that they liked the background noise feature as when they adjusted its value to 60% or even 80%, they found the game more challenging and more interesting. I guess when the noise is louder, it does make your setting more similar to a war scene, but this is probably something for advanced learners.
3. What is Farnsworth speed?
Farnsworth speed means the speed of transmission for silences (spaces) between words and characters. The default value is 15 WPM and setting it lower can help beginners to learn. However, as you gradually get used to the sounds, you should aim for higher Farnsworth speed.
4. How do I change the keyboard so I don’t get used to the position of the symbols?
Under Settings, you can change your keyboard to various layouts such as French, German, Alphabetical, Dvorak, Colemak, Maltron, Workman and so on. Some users indicated that during their learning process, they got used to the arrangement of letters on one specific keyboard and instead of establishing a connection between the sound and each letter, number or symbol, they subconsciously tried to connect the sounds with the position of the letters, numbers and symbols on the keyboard. In order to achieve better results, I recommend you to change the keyboard layout from time to time to “force” yourself to get used to the sounds. What you might not know is that under the same setting, you can even randomise letter positions and positions for all symbols.
5. There are actually more than 23 word levels
Once you open the Levels page and scroll down, you should see there are 3 levels for short words, 5 levels for medium words, 5 levels for long words, 5 levels for every long words and 5 levels for all words. However, I actually programmed hundreds of short, medium, long and very long words to be randomly chosen once you enter a specific level, which means you can actually repeat the levels and continue training with totally different words. This is one of the hidden features of the app that most people don’t know about. 🙂
6. Monthly subscription or lifetime premium?
The subscription costs 1 USD / month while lifetime premium costs 3 USD, so if you plan to use the premium features for more than three month, it’s certainly already worth buying the premium version. Which option is better for you? It totally depends on your goal with this app. For example, if you just wanna try out the premium features, you can simply subscribe and please do NOT forget to cancel it before the next charge.
I plan to update the app every few months and from the next update on, I’ll list all the potential future add-ons below the purchase button. You can evaluate how important the current and coming premium features are to you and then decide if you wanna obtain all of them once and forever. Once you get the premium version, all future updates will be free for you (for subscribed users, all premium features will be free as long as your subscription is valid).
Warning: Please do NOT forget to cancel your subscription if you are not interested in the premium features anymore!
7. Please contact me by email
I’m very happy to hear your suggestions for improving the game and I’m also very happy to answer your questions about the app. However, please contact me by email if you have anything to discuss with me. On iOS I can write long paragraphs to help you but unfortunately on Google Play store I can only reply to you once and the word limit is 350… It’s very painful to answer your questions, some of which are rather complicated, with such a small word limit. If you need my help, I’m always here, but please give me the opportunity to provide you with a detailed solution.
8. How do the hints work?
If you don’t know the answer during your learning process (except in challenge levels), you can click the hint button (?) to get help. The first hint reveals the sound sequence that has been played (in dots and dashes), the second reveals the sequence for all letters, numbers and symbols on the keyboard, and the last simply shows the answer. You can use hints as many times as you want and they are completely free.
9. You can play challenge levels as many times as you need to
Some users got nervous as they got stuck in certain challenge levels and asked me if they were running out of “life” (hearts). First of all, don’t get disappointed if you can’t pass certain challenge levels because Morse Code is not easy and it’s normal to get stuck at some point. That just means you need a bit more training with the symbols you think you have already mastered. Secondly, unlike in many other apps, you will never need to buy “hearts” in the game and you can keep trying as many times as you need or want to.
10. The premium version is NOT limited to one device
If you have purchased the premium version of the app, it should work within a few minutes on the device you purchased it on. However, depending on your connection, credit card company and Google Play store, it might take a bit longer. Have a bit of patience and if it still doesn’t work, please contact me by email and I’ll try my best to resolve this issue for you. Up till now only two people complained that they purchased the premium version which didn’t work on their devices, and it turned out they just needed to wait a bit longer. Don’t worry, I’m not a scammer, and I’ll be more than happy to fix your problems because they might be bothering other users as well.
Please note, if you have two or even more devices which share the same Google Play store account or Apple ID, the premium version of Morse Mania should be working on all those devices. However, it might take some time (around 1 hour) to transfer the information to another device, on which the app is newly installed. Simply click the “Restore” button (iOS) to restore purchase. Again, please just wait a bit and if it doesn’t work, just send me an email and I’ll gladly reply to you within one working day if I’m not on holiday.
Is there a was to remove the dot and dash symbols on the “keyboard”? I want to learn the sounds without associating it with “counting” dots and dashs.
Hi John, when you are learning and practising the letters/numbers/symbols, the dots and dashes are only shown if you press the Hint button. I hope that answers your question.