mobile devices

Mobile sketcher improvement: charge buttons alongside the periodic table

periodictable_chargesAn addition that I’ve been meaning to implement for awhile: double-tapping on an atom within the structure sketcher, using apps such as the Mobile Molecular DataSheet, MolPrime and others, brings up a periodic table and several sliders that allow atom-specific properties to be edited. Using a slider to edit the charge has always been a little unsatisfactory, so as you can see on the snapshot to the right, there are now 7 additional buttons cradled in the deadzone of the periodic table for quickly setting the charge from -3 through +3.

The modified sketcher feature will appear one app at a time, as they get updated during the natural course of events.

Finding vendors using mobile apps: compliments of PubChem

pubchem_vendorsUsers of the PubChem service may have noticed that the hit records include a list of vendors and links to the compound records for their site (e.g. see here). The Mobile Molecular DataSheet (MMDS) app, among others, can tap into PubChem to search by name or structure. The next version makes use of the vendor information, and provides this to the user as part of the search results. Continue reading →

Searching public databases from mobile apps: better feedback

searchrtA few iterations ago, some of the flagship mobile apps from Molecular Materials Informatics (namely the Mobile Molecular DataSheet, SAR Table and MolPrime+) added an integrated feature for searching public databases by name and structure. The feature works through a webservice meta-layer that currently wraps PubChem and ChEBI.

The use case is very convenient, but one of the downsides for the presently available features is that the webservice connection is carried out as a single operation, with no feedback until the search is complete. From a user experience point of view, an operation with no progress indicator gives the impression of taking about 10x as long as one that provides useful feedback. Continue reading →

MolPrime (iOS) due for an overhaul

molprime_changelogoThe MolPrime app is one of the first free apps from Molecular Materials Informatics. It was designed as a minimalist showcase for the powerful touch-based sketching technology of its older sibling, the Mobile Molecular DataSheet. It was put together in short order and, by the standards of the rest of the app suite, is a bit of an ugly duckling. Given that it has become quite popular, second only to ChemSpider Mobile in download count, it’s time revisit the aesthetic. Continue reading →