What's New

1.4.0 — May 5, 2026

Added

• The version number on the home screen is now tappable.
• New "Website" link in Settings → About that opens the Cipher Academy page on the official website.
• A subtle phase label (Warmup / Learning) now appears below the progress bar during play so it's clearer which phase of the level you are in.
• New Braille tip across levels 7-9: progressive mnemonic showing how the printed shapes of D, F, H and J are hidden in their dot patterns. D & F appear at level 7, H joins at level 8, and J completes the family at level 9.
• New A1Z26 tip at level 3: anchor letters every five positions — E = 5, O = 15, Y = 25 — to make the rest of the alphabet easier to place.
• New Morse tip at level 13: the dot and dash ladders — letters made entirely of dots (E, I, S, H) or entirely of dashes (T, M, O), each step adding one symbol.

Changed

• From level 7 onward, levels now favor 5-letter words for a steadier challenge as your alphabet grows; shorter words still appear when the available pool is small.
• Challenge levels now show your remaining lives as hearts in the header instead of a progress bar.
• On Morse levels, the Morse visual hint stays on automatically during the warmup phase; the toggle re-enables once warmup ends.
• Braille reference pages for the 3rd decade (U/V and U/V/X/Y) now also show the matching 1st- and 2nd-decade letters as context, making the +dot 3 + dot 6 pattern easier to see.
• Braille tip at level 13 (W) now shows a diagram with U, V, X, Y, Z together with their A–E parents, and W on its own row to highlight that it is an outlier added later.
• A1Z26 tip at level 2 (J = 10, T = 20) now uses the locale-appropriate mnemonic in French ("JT comme Journal Télévisé").
• The level progress bar now caps at 100% and reflects per-letter mastery more accurately.
• Newly-introduced letters take more correct answers to master, giving you more practice on first exposure.
• When you confuse two letters, both letters now lose a bit of progress (previously only the letter you tapped did).
• On Morse levels, using the visual hint or replaying the audio now grants partial progress for that round instead of full progress.

Fixed

• Reference screen now shows every unlocked info page for ciphers with more than 8 levels (Braille, Morse) — previously these pages were silently hidden once unlocked.
• Morse audio going silent after extended Learn-mode sessions — a follow-up to the 1.3.0 fix that didn't fully resolve the issue. Sound now stays available throughout long sessions without needing to restart the app.
• Avoid long streaks of already-mastered letters when the level still has letters left to master.

1.3.0 — May 3, 2026

Added

• Reference screen reworked into a paginated educational view — for ciphers with a graphical representation (Pigpen, Polybius, Atbash, ROT13, Braille, Bacon) page 1 shows the visual diagram; for others it shows the per-letter table. Subsequent pages reveal the cipher's history, rules and anecdotes you have already unlocked through play, with the unlock level indicated on each page and a source attribution at the bottom. Navigate between pages with the chevrons.
• Educational tips & anecdotes — cipher origins, rules, and fun facts unlock at certain levels and open automatically the first time you reach them in play.
• New "Morse Timing" section in Scientific References explaining ITU-R M.1677-1, PARIS standard, and Farnsworth method.
• New "Educational Tips & Anecdotes" section in Scientific References documenting design principles and source summary for in-game cipher notes.
• New "Morse Learning Method References" section in Scientific References cross-referencing pedagogical claims to sources.

Changed

• Braille progression now starts with A and B (Level 1) before introducing the decade-2 pair K and L (Level 2).
• In the info modal, visuals now appear below the description text for clearer reading order.
• Morse speed settings replaced with three named presets (Learning, Standard, Advanced) using ITU-standard timing ratios and Farnsworth-expanded gaps for beginners. All users are moved to Learning.
• Find the Symbol is now per-cipher — pick a specific cipher from the selection screen, or play "All Ciphers" (premium) for a mixed challenge. Each cipher tracks its own best score and saved session, and all ciphers (not just grid-friendly ones) can now be played. Binary and Bacon use a smaller 4x4 grid so their longer encodings stay readable.

Fixed

• Pigpen X-frame letter mapping (S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z) corrected to match the historical Freemason convention.
• Morse audio no longer goes silent after extended Learn-mode sessions; sound now stays available without needing to restart the app.
• Morse audio no longer plays underneath the educational tip modal when starting a new level; playback now begins once you dismiss the modal.
• Keyboard layout now correctly follows the content language — Spanish players get QWERTY instead of AZERTY.

1.2.0 — April 29, 2026

Added

• Braille Touch modes — three interaction modes: Toggle (tap dots on/off, auto-confirms on correct pattern, default), Cover (hold all dots simultaneously), and Connect (drag through dots one by one); switch between modes in-game or in settings, with preference persisted
• Scientific References screen — accessible from the home screen footer and settings, documenting the research behind the app's learning design across four parts (perception, memory, gamification, and interaction design)
• App version displayed on home screen and settings; tapping the version in settings opens the What's New screen
• What's New screen showing the full changelog with version history
• "Last revision" date shown on privacy, ethics, credits, and scientific references screens
• Challenge levels every 3 levels — replay all learned letters with 3 lives and no teaching phase
• Word decode phase at the end of each level (after level 1) — after mastering all letters, decode multiple randomly selected words (3 for levels 1–6, 5 for levels 7+) from the word bank, using only letters known at that level. Short word lists (3–4 letters) supplement early levels where few 5-letter words are available.
• Entirely reworked letter selection formula — now tracks confusion between similar symbols, factors in long-term mastery, recency, and contrast to decide which letter to show next
• Keyboard zoom — increase or decrease key size with magnifying glass buttons in the corners, with three sizes (small, medium, large) also configurable in settings

Changed

• Decode Words mode reworked — now a 2000-word progress-based journey instead of a 5-minute timed game; play all words at your own pace with progress saved per cipher and per language (e.g. 543/2000), no timer, no score
• Braille Touch info modal rewritten — structured explanation with Toggle highlighted as recommended mode and Cover/Connect shown as alternatives
• Replace emoji icons (check, lock, crown) with consistent SVG icons across all screens
• Refine scientific references and ethical design documentation for clarity and consistency
• Morse audio no longer auto-plays when the device is muted
• Braille Touch & Morse Tap: using a hint now awards no points and breaks the streak, encouraging unaided recall
• Morse Tap no longer shows the same letter twice in a row after a correct answer

Fixed

• Play mode back button no longer requires multiple presses after finishing several games

1.1.2 — April 26, 2026

Changed

• Improve French and Spanish translation quality (remove literal translations, fix grammar)
• Maritime Flags now uses English letter-frequency order for all languages (level progression is no longer language-dependent)
• Warmup phase no longer skips the teaching phase — new letters are still shown with the answer during normal play after the warmup preview
• Improve screen reader support for better accessibility

Fixed

• Back button required multiple presses after completing levels (navigation stack was growing with each level)

1.1.1 — April 25, 2026

Fixed

• Unified progress storage across content languages (migrate to highest level achieved)

1.1.0 — April 25, 2026

Added

• Warmup phase previewing new letters at level start
• Save and resume game sessions
• Info modal on game screens with cipher & mode explanations
• First-launch language picker
• Total mastery progress bar on letters screen
• Decode Words: lock validated letters & show best scores
• Dev build variant for side-by-side install with production

Changed

• Larger keyboard letter sizes
• Smarter letter selection with higher unmastered weight and streak breaker
• Prevent same letter from appearing back-to-back in Learn mode
• Progress bar moved inside level header

Fixed

• Navigation: replace dismiss+push with replace when advancing to next level

1.0.0 — April 23, 2026

Initial release (closed testing)