It was no longer maintained anyway. There is another application, Flaming Durtles, that works like a charm.
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Love this app. Still use it to this day and vastly prefer it over Flying Durtles. Canāt really say why, it has less features, but it just āfeelsā right with all the little things that I miss when using Flaming Durtles. Saddens me that it will be dead once API v1 will be discontinued.
Anyone with coding knowledge has any idea how feasible/difficult it is to make it work with API v2?
Itās definitely feasible, and not too difficult for someone with experience in native Android app development. But itād be a lot of work, Iād guess a few solid days of coding. All in all, the biggest problem would be to find a developer who has the right skills and experience, and who would be willing to dive into an old, dusty piece of code like that. Especially since it would probably also be a big, unpleasant job to polish the code to a state where itās acceptable for the Play Store again. Google has a lot of rules for that.
Itās all possible in theory, but I fear all of the old Android apps will simply die a quiet death come September.
the biggest problem would be to find a developer who has the right skills and experience, and who would be willing to dive into an old, dusty piece of code like that. Especially since it would probably also be a big, unpleasant job to polish the code
Yeeep. I doubt anyone would be willing to deal with this codebase unless paid properly. 
Thatās also why I think trying to upgrade this codebase to API v2 isnāt a great idea. Youāll have to change plenty of things and thatāll inevitably be a pain. When I say the codebase is a time machine on GitHub, I mean it - quite a bit in there is straight from 2013. 
Now, regarding working on a new app, Iāve thought about it a few times. Even started some work. But then ādonāt even remember whereā I read rumors of official apps being in development, so I figured maybe I shouldnāt bother. Add to that my free time decreasing and the project died.
Itās been around a year since then, and thereās still no official apps in horizon, so maybe whoever wrote what I read was mistaken and after all, maybe itās a decent idea to build a new app.
For those reading this and are technically inclined, Iāve been working with Flutter for the past 2 years, and itās fantastic. So Iām thinking, if I am to work on another WaniKani app, itās gonna be built with Flutter, for Android and iOS (and potentially Mac/Windows/Linux). Itās also much much easier/simpler/faster to build apps with than native Android.
However, Iām not confident Iād have the stamina to build a production-ready app alone, on top of my full-time dev job and other projects. I would be totally up to set up a GitHub org and work with whoever is interested though. React or React Native experience translates very well to Flutter, for example, so if youāre in that camp, are willing to learn, and have the time, you could join up, and we could have a good time.
Iāve always done my own designs, but itās just been what I feel looks nice and is good design ā no real expertise. So if we do assemble a team, and if youāre a designer whoād be willing to help out, Iād gladly welcome input from you.
So yeahā¦ If thereās anyone interested in any way, Iām definitely down to talk.
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It wasnāt a mistake, official apps are in development, but it looks like they are still pretty far off. And even if/when the official apps arrive there will still be a place for unofficial ones like mine (and hopefully more - choice is good). Some of the most popular features in Flaming Durtles for example are inspired by userscripts and are the kind of features that the WK devs will almost certainly never put into an official app.
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I realized you were the dev of Flaming Durtles shortly after posting my previous message. Hey there. I would offer something like joining forces to make Flaming Durtles look fancy or something, but you seem to be doing native Android so whateverā¦ 
I agree, and youāre right. Maybe Iāll start a project sometime and do some groundwork, then see if anyone wants to join the effort in a new thread.
Yeah, my Java day job made that an easy decision, as well as the fact that Iām moving away from using iOS and I really, really donāt want to deal with the criminally abusive App Store policies, which are affecting iOS WK apps as well. So I donāt need cross-platform support.
FD is definitely not a pretty beast, but itās always been my priority to keep the UI simple, fast and efficient. And when I look at what passes for good app UI design these days I see too much form over function, too much bling and bloat at the price of usability, too many people who think they know what āusabilityā means but really donāt. I know there must be a nice middle ground there, but until I find it I have firmly chosen one side of that raging river 
. I know itās not to the taste of some people, but thatās the price of letting a backend dev do frontend design without proper training 
Haha. I can respect that. Iāve known a few others with similar opinions and I think you make a fair point, although I guess I prefer to get as close to the middle ground as I can.
As for iOS, I couldnāt agree with you more. Just the other day, an app we built for a client got rejected after initially being approved, and who knows what will happen now. Appleās developer practices, and especially the App Store, singlehandedly make me want to switch away from mobile development sometimes.
At the end of the day, though, so many potential users are on iOS that you canāt just ignore it as a business. And in the case of a potential WK app built with Flutter, the work to get it to iOS is so little besides the struggle with the App Store that the the number of users who might benefit from me biting a bit of that bullet kind of makes it worth it. I still rage when something negative happens, butā¦
Hereās hoping these antitrust investigations yield some results.
Amen to that.
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Hi all!
Iāve been using this app ever since I started WaniKani ~1.5 years ago, and I really like it.
Itās simple, fast, has a good look/feel, and Iām used to it.
I wanted to continue using it after V1 API was shut off, so Iāve gone and updated the bulk of the application to use the V2 API.
There are some things I havenāt gotten to yet (including notifications, recent unlocks/critical item display in the dashboard, and support for vacation mode) - however all the functionality I thought important works.
Hereās a link to the repo: https://github.com/mrothberg/WaniKani-for-Android-V2
Itās not 100% ready for general release just yet, as viewing subject items are not being restricted based on subscription status, which I believe is a WaniKani requirement.
I have currently only tested with my account, which has a lifetime subscription.
Iād love additional testing/feedback if anyone is inclined to clone/build it. I could also build and provide an apk here.
Thereās definitely still some cleanup I need to do on my changes. I used this as an opportunity to learn some new things and I havenāt worked with the WaniKani API before, so some things can definitely be done cleaner.
However, it works well enough at this point that others can try it out.
Questions for @xip
- I wanted to get your opinion on how a release should be handled. It looks like others are interested in continuing to use the app as well, so it would be cool to release this properly.
- Would you be interested in updating/releasing to the existing play store app? Or should I go ahead and release it myself when ready? Currently all the package names are unchanged from the original.
Feel free to ask any questions about my changes or bring up any ideas.
Thanks
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Might be quicker to get in contact with them by email, seeing as they donāt visit the forums regularly anymore
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While the link posted still works, Iām getting no results when searching the play store for it.
With it being long abandoned, Iād say itās safe to do as you wish with the source (though giving some credit in fine print at least would be nice)
But, I recommend giving it a different name, and making clear it is not official. This app has caused endless confusion over the years, making WaniKani look bad.
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@Kumirei
Good idea, Iāll send an email.
@DaisukeJigen
I agree, and was going to bring up a name change even if it were updated on the original play store app entry. I want it to be clear that itās a 3rd party unofficial app. I remember thinking it was official when I first installed it.
It was taken down from the play store - I would need @xip to give me access to republish it as is. Also as I stated in my post, the app needs a bit more work before it can be published due to the subject browsing functionality. My link is a brand new repo I created since the original is read-only.
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Hey!
@mrothberg37 Have you seen what I had written here a while ago? If you are going to spend time working on this, maybe youād be interested in working on a proper app? I say proper but that doesnāt have to mean a big project. At least for starters.
I can probably build the basic UI in a weekend (especially if we donāt change designs from WK for Android at the start). Then the rest of the architecture and the API would take a while, but I think we could get it to a state thatās āgood enoughā and around the same level as a reboot of the current app quickly. The difference would be that itād be a good base to expand on afterwards.
EDIT: Actually, nvm, reviews and lessons would probably require some significant work with the new API.
If you are not interested, and would like to simply continue making small fixes to this app, thatās totally fine by me too. I donāt think Iād like to manage the play store listing for it, but if you donāt have an account, I can ālendā you one for the app.
As for the name, oh yes, please do change it! High school me didnāt realize what a terrible idea it was to name an unofficial app with an official name. To everyone - I apologize for all the confusion Iāve caused, and I really should have changed the name at some point.
Hopefully I didnāt miss a question. Feel free to ask whatever else or send an email. Iām open to any kind of further talk.
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This was relaxed a while ago. Browsing the subject database on the web site is now unrestricted based on level, or even without a login.
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Amazing work!
You deserve a lot of credit this was no easy feat, and all for the benefit of everyone who enjoys this excellent app, just in the nick of time too!
Thanks a ton @mrothberg37, canāt wait to see the release on the play store 
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Working on a new app could be interesting, but Iām not sure I have the time to commit to that right now. It would be cool to learn one of the cross-platform technologies you mentioned though. I think I would like to finish up what Iāve done so far, release it properly, and reevaluate then. It looks like people are still interested in the app, so might as well get it out there as is for those that want it since itās almost done.
Iām fine releasing the app myself - just figured it might be cool to release it to the original play store entry, even with a rename since it would make it easier for people who have used the app to find it. Of course I can give the you/the original app a mention/credit in the description if I release it fresh. I suppose posting here is exposure enough, especially since itās been removed for so long.
I wouldnāt feel bad about the name, especially if you made it way back in high school lol - I think the app is a pretty solid accomplishment.
Thanks for the reply!
@ejplugge
Interesting, this section in the documentation still states youāre supposed to respect the subscription status. It would be nice if I could release without making those changes, as theyāre gonna take some time. I see that you can browse subjects without being logged in, but it looks like you need to know the link to get to it. I suppose a free account would get you there though.
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Youāre doing godās work. I love this app and was devastated to see it bite the dust. I am 100% down to test any builds/APKs you want to throw my way.
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Awesome, hereās a debug build - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1m_guOsk2_bP4c9p3MddCqXgZoH-5Epm5/view?usp=sharing
ty mr. othberg
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