What's New

1.8.1 — June 22, 2026

Fixed

• Improved colour contrast and enlarged touch targets for better accessibility.
• Fixed a storage migration issue that could prevent settings or progress from saving correctly after an update.
• Fixed a rare in-app purchase failure that could cause a purchase to silently not complete.
• Fixed a crash on the Word Decode grid screen.

1.8.0 — May 22, 2026

Changed

• Updated the way system bars (status bar, navigation bar) are drawn for full compatibility with Android 15 edge-to-edge.
• Switched the in-app typeface to Montserrat (open-source) for a slightly more modern look.

1.7.0 — May 15, 2026

Added

• Level-list subtitles now count challenges and medal challenges in addition to regular levels.
• A progress bar is now shown above lives during sub-phases (Symbol Hunt, Word Decode), replacing the X/Y counter.

Changed

• Replaced the check mark emoji in the Scientific References table with an SVG icon.
• Symbol Hunt uses a smaller 4×4 grid on the first three levels, making it less overwhelming for beginners.
• Fewer Symbol Hunt prompts on early levels (4 on levels 1–3, 6 on levels 4–6, 10 on levels 7+).
• Symbol Hunt avoids showing the same letter twice in a row when possible.
• Symbol Hunt grids no longer show duplicate symbols when the cipher has enough distinct symbols to fill the grid.
• The grid no longer reshuffles when you tap the wrong symbol — you keep looking at the same layout.
• Play mode grid no longer shows fake symbols that don’t encode any letter.
• First three levels require fewer correct answers to complete, so new ciphers are quicker to start.

Fixed

• Word Decode no longer gets skipped at the end of a Learn level. Completing Symbol Hunt now correctly advances to Word Decode before the level is marked complete.

1.6.0 — May 11, 2026

Added

• New medal challenge system: four medal gates (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Mastery) are now woven into each cipher's level sequence. Completing a medal challenge awards the corresponding medal and unlocks the next section. Medal challenges use 1 life instead of 3, and require 7–10 correct answers per letter.
• New Symbol Hunt phase in Learn Mode, played right before Word Decode. You spot the prompted letter among the cipher's symbols (6 prompts on levels 1–6, 10 on levels 7+, always including the level's new letters). A short intro modal explains the phase at the start of every level. In challenge and medal challenge levels, Symbol Hunt tests every letter 2–4 times and shares the same lives as the guessing phase.
• On the level completion screen, the earned medal now displays as a large centred trophy instead of the accuracy percentage. At the end of a checkpoint challenge, the screen now shows remaining lives instead of a 5-star rating.
• Lifetime counters now track the number of symbols found in Symbol Hunt and the number of letters encoded in Morse Tap and Braille Touch. They display at the end of each play session.
• New "Reset All Data" option in Settings to erase all progress, settings, and scores and start fresh.

Changed

• Newly-introduced letters now require 7–10 correct answers to master in a regular level (down from 10–15), making levels shorter.
• The next playable level in a cipher's level list now uses a blue primary button instead of grey, making it easier to spot where you left off.
• Symbol Hunt grids now contain all 26 letters plus fake symbols that don't encode any letter, adding confusion and rewarding true cipher knowledge. Fake symbols are available for Braille, Pigpen, Morse and Semaphore.
• Word Decode play mode now has four medal tiers: bronze (500), silver (1 000), gold (1 500) and mastery (2 000 words decoded per cipher), instead of three tiers ending at 2 000.
• Checkpoint challenges now require 8–12 correct answers per letter (up from 5–8).
• The standalone Play modes have new names: "Find the Symbol" is now "Symbol Hunt" and "Decode Words" is now "Word Decode".
• Symbol Hunt, Morse Tap and Braille Touch in Play are now continuous 2 000-letter progress modes, just like Word Decode. No timer, no score, no lives — wrong answers simply move to the next letter. Progress is saved automatically and you can reset anytime.
• Completing a regular challenge now shows your remaining lives instead of a 5-star rating.

Fixed

• Any in-progress Symbol Hunt, Morse Tap or Braille Touch session from a previous version will be cleared on first launch so the new format starts cleanly.

1.5.0 — May 9, 2026

Added

• When opening a cipher's level list, the view now automatically scrolls to center the next level to play.
• Bronze, silver, and gold trophy medals on the cipher list. Medals are earned by completing milestone levels per cipher (learn mode) or by decoding words in word-decode play mode (500 / 1 000 / 2 000 words per cipher). The trophy icon is the Cipher Academy logo, tinted by tier.
• Info pages now show the "Unlocked at level X" subtitle in the info modal, not just in the reference screen.
• The pagination dots in both the info modal and reference screen now show the total number of pages per cipher, with locked pages displayed as smaller muted dots.

Changed

• Wrong answers in learn mode now also reduce progress on two additional random letters, so the penalty on the target letter no longer reveals the correct answer.
• In Morse learn mode, the audio now replays automatically after a wrong answer, without penalty.

Fixed

• Restored breathing room between the score, timer, lives, and hint button in the in-game header so they no longer feel cramped.

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)