FAQ:

Last update of this page: February 2022

Are there other versions of the Girih App or the Zellige App for other operating systems?

At the moment there is only one version for macOS publicly available.

The most recent release of the Girih App is available at:

 
Version 3.1 from October 2023.

The most recent release of the Zellige App is available at:

 
Version 3.0 from October 2023.

The most recent release of the Hedron App is available at:

 
Version 2.1 from May 2024.

How easy it it to use the App?

The Zellige App and Girih App is as easy to use as putting tiles of a jigsaw puzzle together.
But in contrast to a jigsaw puzzle, where you can only build one fixed design, with the Zellige App and Girih App you can build any combination of the tiles and with any colors you want.

How do I start using the Girih App?

Look at the menu File -> Examples.

Look at the Help menu.

Create your own design by starting with a decagon. Then surround it with pentagons.
Double click your already placed decagon. Now you can add more decagons.
Look at the toolbar for matching shapes to fill the gaps.
If you want to remove shapes from your design, use drag and drop.

I have made YouTube playlists for the Girih App and the Zellige App.

What is maximum image size that can be exported as PNG or JPG?

The Girih App does not limit the image size.

The size will only be limited by your hardware and operating system.

If you double click the scale factor field in the export dialog, the scale factor is recalculated to match a maximum width or height of 13500px. But you can also enter bigger sizes.

13500px is very well tested, which is up to 182 Megapixels, which should be good enough for most use cases. Let me know, what your preferred size is.

Will there be a Windows Version?

Writing the Girih App took more than three years.
Writing a Windows Version of the Girih App would also take a lot of valuable time.
This time could better be spend into another macOS App which never seen before features.
Not all features of the macOS App would be available under windows.
Other „free“ macOS features have to be reimplemented for Windows.
I do not know how useful Swift programming for Windows is at the moment. Otherwise everything has to be completely rewritten.
I do not have a development Windows PC.

Features of macOS which would not be ported to Windows:
Quick Look
Quick Look Previews in the Examples Menu
Restoration of unsaved documents after restart or even after crash
Version Browser
Touch Bar
Drag and Drop of Colors
Sharing
Fullscreen
Window Tabs
Save, Rename, Move, Open Folder via document window title
Sandbox Security

Features which are built-in macOS which have to be re-implemented manually with lots of effort for windows:
Core Animation
Undo Manager
NSDocument
NSFilePresenter
NSCollectionView
Autosave
Color Picker
Printing
SceneKit

The whole user interface has to be completely rewritten.

Will there be an iOS Version?

Many of the code of the macOS App can be reused for iOS.
But the user interaction has to be different. There are no mouse-events without clicking on a touch device.
iPads are much slower than a Mac. Some extra time for further performance optimizations has been done.
A rudimentary iOS version has been started. So far it supports file handling including iCloud support.

Files can be shared between the macOS Girih App and the iOS App via iCloud Drive.
The file format is exactly the same. The code for reading and writing is exactly the same.
I found no documentation how to add tags to a file on iOS. iOS users can view and modify tags manually.
So tags saved by the macOS Girih app will be visible on iOS, but the iOS app does not update these tags.

Icons in the iOS App and the File App show a preview of the file. Export to SVG is already working.

The iOS App so far can read and display files. Zoom, rotate and pan is possible in this early stages.
Save and Autosave works. iOS does not support writing of tags.

Shapes can be selected, copied and added.

Selected shapes can be deleted.

Three rhombs in a hexagon can be swapped via drag and drop.

The shape selection panel is implemented.
Selection of multiple shapes will not be supported on iOS.
The macOS version uses the Shift-key and rubber bands for selecting multiple shapes.
Categories have been added to the shapes panel. But they have currently no menus which would made access to subcategories faster.
The detail view has to be added to the shapes panel

The iOS version is intended to support as well iPad and iPhone devices.

Rubberband to select multiple shapes in the main window has to be implemented.
The iOS 14 color picker is used.
At least the first release will not support pattern on the tiles to improve performance and save implementation time.

In this state the app is already usable and useful on iPad and iPhone to create new designs on the the device.

The example menu is missing.
The help window is missing.
No parameters like border with can be changed inside the app.

macOS does support 80-Bit floating point operations, which iOS does not.
On iOS 64-Bit floating point operations will be used instead.

Will there be an Android Version?

An Android version should be done after all the user interaction changes are solved for an iOS version.
I do not know how useful Swift programming for Android is at the moment. Otherwise everything has to be completely rewritten.

Can I use the files, which I create with the app, for commercial purposes?

Yes.
You can use your designs for commercial purposes.

Will the App also run on older Computers?

I started developing my Apps on a Mac Book Pro from 2010 and it still works there.
Meanwhile I am using a recent Mac Book Pro.
The old Mac has only OpenGL and not the better Metal rendering.
So it has no physical based light rendering and changing the metalness and roughness of the surface has no effect on the old computer.
This affects only the 3D visualization of the Zellige App and Girih App.

Once purchased can the app be transferred to another computer, when I buy a new one?

Yes.
Since the license of the App will be purchased via the Mac App Store, you can use it on all your computers, which are connected to your Apple ID. And since I allow family-sharing in my Apps, your family members can use it on their computers too without additional costs.