Super Speller v1.2 was released today. v1.2 adds the option to ignore capitalization when grading a spelling test.
On the surface, this seems a minor update, but we really put some thought into this feature. You see, this had been mentioned even before the Super Speller was originally released, but we were hesitant to add it for a couple of reasons. First, we love apps that are simple and easy to use, and we didn’t want to clutter things up with a bunch of options unless we were absolutely certain there was a real need. This seems especially true with apps written for kids. There was no consensus on whether the option to ignore capitalization was truly necessary. In addition, when our son’s spelling tests are graded, points are taken off for incorrect capitalization. We certainly don’t want to give the impression that capitalization doesn’t matter. So we shipped without it.
On the flip side, since release we’ve had additional requests for the option to ignore capitalization. And at least one review that was critical of this missing feature. We also imagined that with younger students just learning to spell, that correct capitalization probably isn’t quite as important. These things were enough to convince us that the need for the option was real.
This isn’t to say that we require our users to build a case providing justification for their favorite feature. Rather we want to make sure that the things we add make sense and that we’re not just adding junk so we can have the most bullet points in our app description.