Today a new version (10) of iXplain is released in the windows store. The last update has been last summer, so it has been quite a while. The reason for this is that we redesigned the technical heart of the app and made use of new possibilities introduced in Windows 8.1.

For the user this results in smoother and robust drawing. The drawing feels more responsive. Also playing back a recording in the app is now exactly the same as in an exported video. So for example the animations when changing slides or when an image is displayed are now also visible in the app and not just in the exported video. This redesign will allow us to built new features in a more robust way and smaller timeframe. We are now able to introduce new features in a higher frequency. For this release the technical redesign of the app was our main focus, so it is mainly a technical release.

But you will notice one important change in the user interface immediately. It is the new command pallet. We have a lot of new ideas of what you should be able to do with the app. The old command pallet could not be easily extended to host all these new features. So we designed a new command pallet which allows us to use more space to place buttons. But at the same time it is highly configurable. Buttons which you don’t use often can be hidden and re-arranged. This will keep your drawing canvas as simple as necessary.

And last but not least we introduced the new name iXplain, a new logo for the app, and this supporting website. The new name represents much more what you can do with the app. iXplain now has the slogan ‘explaining made easy’, and that is exactly what out what our goal is, and where we want to go. And with this release we are prepared for this.