Endless sessions, insistent reminders, points to collect: most learning apps are built to hold on to users for as long as possible. It works for the metrics, far less for the desire to come back.
Kippu takes the opposite stance: one thing a day, a gesture that means something, and an object crafted carefully enough that you want to find it again the next day. It is also our own product, from the first mockup to the App Store listing, and we run it ourselves.
The counter prints the day's ticket, you punch it by dragging the punch across, then it shows “See you tomorrow”. It is the only action of the day, and it takes less than a minute.
The sound of the motor and the paper, the haptic feedback of the punch, holographic glints that follow the tilt of the phone: every ticket behaves like a real transit ticket.
The ritual stays whole for everyone, with no ads. Kippu+, as a subscription or for life, and six ticket editions open up the rest. No price is written into the app: the App Store is the source of truth.
A server publishes the catalogue and its calendar. The app ships with all 596 words to work offline, and picks up corrections as soon as it is back online.
A new feature, a free edition or an apology after an outage is written on the server and shown in the app, whatever its version. Nothing ever leads to a dead end.
An optional account lets you pick up your progress elsewhere. Merging two histories is the most delicate calculation in the app: it lives on its own, held by dedicated tests.
A pipeline checks every entry against the JMdict dictionary before publication. Every word has its pronunciation, shipped with the app and played the moment you punch.