UPDATE: Due to constant updates in iOS, the information in this blog post is no longer relevant.  (3/25/2013)

I previously wrote about an iPhone app called 辞書登録Lite (Jisho Tōroku) which allowed you to add words to the iPhone’s Japanese dictionary and determine what yomigana input would trigger the kanji conversion. The app I was writing about was free and worked for all the entries I tested it with. However, the next day when I tried to use the kaomoji and words I had entered, I found that nothing came up. Obviously, this free version was just a demo to promote the full-featured pay version.

OK, fair enough. I can’t slight the company for trying to turn a buck – although I fully fault Apple for not taking into consideration this basic function of any other keitai sold in the Japanese market. But having had a little taste, I decided this was a feature that would save me a lot of time and could prove to be a well spent ¥350. The functionality of 辞書登録Plus is basically the same, however there a few differences. I’ve been running the app for a week or so now and none of my entries have disappeared and always appear in my list of available kanji when I enter the reading I assigned. So this one definitely works.

Keep in mind, like Jisho Tōroku Lite, Jisho Tōroku Plusis written all in Japanese. If you can’t read Japanese – or can only read a little bit – have no fear, here’s a quick step-by-step run down on how to use Jisho Tōroku Plus on your iPhone 3G/3GS.

SETTINGS

First click the settings button to make sure you are configured correctly. I configured like this:

The first setting determines what words pop up first in your kanji conversion option field. Just leave this as it is (the first option is highlighted by default).

The second field gives you an option of having your words appear in the address book 連絡先緒帳). Why you would want this is beyond me. I enabled it, just to see what would happen… and it populated my address book with kaomoji and random vocab words. Freaking pointless and cluttery. I disabled it and it removed them without affecting the address book in any way.

The last two fields are for enabling/disabling the hint messages and resetting the hints, respectively. If you can read Japanese, you might want to leave them enabled for a bit. If you can’t, just turn them off.

HOW TO USE

Click the 十 sign at the upper left hand side to add a new word.

1 – 読みがな (yomigana) – Enter the reading (kana input) you want to use.
In this case, when I enter ぺに in hiragana, I want my word to come up.

2 – 登録語 (tōroku-go) – Enter the kanji/kaomoji/character (kanji output) you want to show up in the selection field.
In this case, when I enter ぺに in hiragana, I want ﾍﾟﾝﾊﾞﾝ to come up in katakana.

3 – 一時登録（変換テスト実行）(ichiji tōroku – henkan tesuto jikkō) – This is a practice test to make sure that the kanji you entered displays correctly in the selection field. You may have to look on the next page of options, but it will definitely come up. When you see it, select it to confirm that it is correct.

That’s all there is too it. If you re-open the app, it always defaults to your user customizable dictionary. If you click 十, you can add a new word. If you click an entry, you can edit it. If you click 編集 (henshū – at the bottom left) you can easily delete multiple entries.

A Word About Reworder Lite

If you purchased Jisho Tōroku Plus, you can also download the free application Reworder Lite.

This simple application gives you access to the iPhone’s Japanese dictionary, but allows you to move the order in which similar words pop up in the kanji selection field. I downloaded and played with it a little bit but haven’t found it particularly useful yet. If anyone else finds it useful, let me know. Maybe I’m missing out on something here….

Anyways, enjoy!

awwwwwwww yeah!
mαrky( -_-)凸