Q: How do I send an encoded message?
A: An encoded message should be a short sentence or two at a time.  Simply go to the Encode-Decode page and, at the section labeled "Enter Text to Encode", type in your message in the top text field.  Then press the button "Encode Text" to encode the message you typed.  The encoded equivalent will be shown in the text box below the button.  Finally press the button "Copy Encoded" to copy the encoded message so that you can paste it into another mobile application you would use to send a message.  Note: In some encoding runs, all the text you had entered might not get encoded because of the randomization process.  The easiest way to spot this is to look at the encoding and see if any words are present in it and, if so, try to encode your text again by pressing the "Encode Text" button which will generate a different randomization process.  However, encoding of a word may never be possible such as when accented characters are present in your text to encode or a different language character set is used.

Q: Why does the encoding change for the same message if I press the button more than once?
A: When you enter a message to encode and then press the button to encode that message, the randomization of the encoding process can create a different encoding for the same message, but when that encoded message is decoded (using the same JSON source document) it still decodes the same.

Q: Why does the encoding make letters lowercase?
A: To help improve the encoding speed of messages, alphabetic letters (A-Z) are uncapitalized to their equivalents (a-z).  This reduces the size of the JSON that is needed because you only need uncapitalied letters.  That also allows you to have a larger source document that the encoding process uses if you decide you want to have your own custom JSON source document.  Custom JSON source documents are discussed furher in this FAQ.

Q: What characters should I not have in my message to have encoded?
A: As noted later in this FAQ, this mobile application uses a few characters to build encoded message to include the ~ and the ^.  The ohter characters that it will automatically filter out of your messages to encode include the double quote " and \.  You don't need to actively remove those characters from your message to encode because a filter is automatically applied before the message is encoded.

Q: What characters should I use to encode messages?
A: This mobile application was built around usage of regular "vanilla" text.  That is a-z, A-Z, 0-9 and standard characters on the standard keyboard you use with the shift key such as @, $, and so on.  If you are not using regular text this version of the mobile application may not be able to encode and decode correctly.

Q: How do I decode a message?
A: Once you have copied the encoded message sent to you by a friend (who encoded their message using this mobile application), go to Encode-Decode page and, at the section labeled "Enter Text to Decode", paste it into the top text field.  Then press the button "Decode Text" to decode the message.  The decoded message will be shown in the text box below the button.  The text box will hold several decoded messages at the same time allowing you to read multiple decodings at once.

Q: I sent an encoded message to a friend and they cannot decode it?
A: Both you and the people that you communicate with should be using this mobile application to encode and decode messages.  The other thing to watch for is that you both are using the same JSON source document.  For example, this mobile application ships with a small default JSON source document to encode and decode with.  If you are using the default JSON source document but your friend is using a custom JSON source document, then it will be next to impossible to decode their encoded messages and them to decode yours.

Q: How do I remove what I typed and the encoding/decoding content?
A: The encoding section can be independently cleared of the decoding section.  If you want to clear out the text and last encoding for the section labeled "Enter Text to Encode", press the button "Clear" to the right of that label.  You can do the same thing for the section labeled "Enter Text to Decode".

Q: Why should I be worried about the size of a message to encode or decode?
A: The reason for this is that this mobile application randomizes its encoding process proportional to the size of the JSON source document, so the larger the message it will take longer to encode and decode.  Another limitation is the hardware capabilities of the device.

Q: How big can my custom JSON source document be?
A: The default JSON source document that ships with this mobile application is quite small, so encoding and decoding should operate fine for iPad (7th gen and up), iPad Air (3rd gen and up), iPad Pro (2nd gen and up) along with iPhone 8 and higher.  The disadvantage of using the small default JSON source document is that every user who has this mobile application will also have the default JSON source document.  In such a case, you can build your own custom JSON source document and just give it to your friends.  The larger the custom JSON source document, the more challenging it will be for someone to decode messages without that custom JSON source document.  The caveat is that increasing the size of the custom JSON source document will use more hardware resources so it will take longer to encode and decode messages - though decoding is usually much faster because no randomization is being generated.

Q: How can I give my custom JSON source document to my friends?
A: The mobile application supports allowing you to add the customjson.json file to this app's Documents folder which, depending on whether you have Windows or Mac, needs iTunes or Finder.  The alternate method is to have that file accessed from an https connection (such as a local or non-local website holding the file).  If using an https connection, it is important to note that this mobile application does NOT directly handle passing credentials (like a logon / password).

Q: How should I build my custom JSON source document?
A: The custom JSON source document needs to have a specific structure for this mobile application to be able to read it.  If you go to the page referred to as Settings, the section labeled "Reset Custom JSON File" allows you to create a copy of the default JSON source document into this app's Documents folder.  From that location you can examine the customjson.json file to see its structure.  You can add more pages, paragraphs and words - just be sure to keep the structure the same.

Q: What characters are accepted in the custom JSON source document?
A: The mobile application was built to use a regular text based JSON source document.  That is a-z, A-Z, 0-9 and standard characters on the standard keyboard you use with the shift key such as @, $, and so on.  If you are not using regular text in your custom JSON source document, this version of the mobile application may not be able to encode and decode correctly.

Q: What characters are prohibited in the custom JSON source document?
A: There are a few characters that are used by the mobile application itself in generating encoded messages and will filter those characters out of a message automatically.  The characters include ~ and ^.  The other characters that are filtered include the double quote " and \.

Q: How do I specify the mobile application use my custom JSON source document?
A: In the mobile application there is a page referred to as Settings.  The section labeled "Use Custom JSON File" allows you to turn ON using the custom JSON file, or turn OFF using the custom JSON file.  When turned OFF the mobile application will use the default JSON source document that was included with the mobile application.  The customjson.json file will remain but will not be used when turned OFF.

Q: I think my custom JSON source document has a problem.  How do I reset it?
A: In the mobile application there is a page referred to as Settings.  The section labeled "Reset Custom JSON File" contains a button that will reset the custom JSON source document.  When you press the button, the existing customjson.json file located in this app's Documents folder will be replaced with a copy of the default JSON source document that came with this mobile application effectively resetting that file.

Q: How do I add my custom JSON source document?
A: You will need to unlock the settings on the Settings page of this mobile application.  The structure of the custom JSON document is important, see the Q&A "How should I build my custom JSON source document?" above.  Lastly, the custom JSON source document should be called "customjson.json" and, depending on whether you have Windows or Mac, iTunes or Finder will be needed to place the file in this app's Documents folder.

Q: How do I unlock the settings of this mobile application?
A: In the mobile application there is a page referred to as Settings.  At the top of the page is a section labeled "Unlock ALL Settings".  Press the button "Complete In-App Purchase" to complete the in-app purchase and, after it is successful, all of the settings on the Settings page will be unlocked.  Depending on your device you may have to close and re-start the mobile application.

Q: How do I restore the in-app purchase I made for this mobile application?
A: In the mobile application there is a page referred to as Settings.  The section labeled "Restore In-App Purchase" has a button that you can use to restore the in-app purchase on your device.

Q: Does this mobile device log any of my messages or messages from friends?
A: No, the mobile application does not maintain any logs of messages, encodings or decodings.

For application support questions not included here, please send an email to [EMAIL].  Your interest in this application is greatly appreciated!
