The Chemical Touch
Frequently Asked Questions and Comments:
1) $0.99 is way too expensive for such a useful little application.
If you have a Mac OS X computer, you might be interested in the widget I wrote for Dashboard
(
The Periodic Table). It's free
and has many of the same features, it's just not as portable.
You could also just download the Lite Edition from the App Store. It only has the masses and the
wikipedia button, but it gives you a chance to test out the interface. Sometimes the masses are
all you need.
2) Help! My application isn't working for some reason!
I've tested it quite a bit, and I'm pretty sure I've worked out the kinks. This doesn't mean something
unexpected can't crop up. Send me a message with what's happening,
and I'll do what I can to get to the bottom of the problem.
A couple of people have contacted me with a problem where the application fails to start up on their iPhone
or iPod touch (it shows a gray screen and closes after a couple of seconds). This is apparently a general issue
that has been striking many applications on the store. If you run into this problem, follow
these directions at Apple's support site:
Troubleshooting App Store Downloads (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1702)
The key step in this process is deleting the application from your iPhone or iPod touch and redownloading it
using the same account used to purchase it originally (you shouldn't be charged for the redownload). This
process has worked for anyone who's run into this issue and contacted me. Though I'm uncertain what the actual
cause of this problem is, it is likely that the application was simply corrupted on transfer from the store and a
redownload is in order.
3) I like what's here, but I would love features X, Y, and Z ASAP!
It's great getting excited by the possibilities, I always do anyway. The philosophy behind The Chemical
Touch is to make a periodic table that does more and is more fun than the standard periodic table you
might find in a big textbook or on a study card. It's meant to be a simple and easy to use reference that
fits in your iPhone's display.
The Chemical Touch will evolve with additional content.
Version updates, like nearly all the other iPhone apps, will be free.
If there is a feature you desperately want added,
let me know and I'll get back to you with what I think. It's just me
working on this and responding to email in whatever free time I have, so please be patient.
4) Why did you add the font buttons?
Since this is a quick reference application, text readability is key. Not everyone prefers the same style of text,
so I decided to let you have some options: a serif font (Georgia), a sans serif font (Helvetica for you font
purists), and a default font (Trebuchet MS because I like it). There are a limited number of fonts in the
iPhone system, and these 3 were the ones I liked the most.
5) The boiling point of Entirelyobscurium is 41 K, not 42 K!
I've tried to filter and select the most reliable source data, but there is a bit of variety out there,
particularly when it comes to atomic radii. The masses come from a fairly recent IUPAC technical report:
R. D. Loss, Atomic Weights of the Elements 2001,
Pure Appl. Chem., 75(8); 1107-1122 (2003),
so they should be quite good. If you think there are better numbers for any of the other properties,
let me know, and I'll look into it.
6) Why are the element buttons so small? I can't easily tap the element I want.
They are small to fit the whole table on the screen. You actually don't need to "tap" the button exactly
to select specific elements. Just stick your finger on the screen and drag it to the element you want. A
zoomed flag pops up over the currently selected button to help you see which element your finger is on
(similar to the iPhone keyboard input). When you release your finger, the last element your finger was on
becomes the selected element.
If you have any other questions,
click here to send me email.
