Glimpse Elements

Have fun while glimpsing the elements and their properties!

All known elements from hydrogen to oganesson can be playfully accessed on a single level.

Ever wondered in what sequence they were discovered? Glimpse Elements empowers you to explore this, and much more.

Simply sort on discovery date, melting point, density or any other property, and glimpse the progression.

The periodic table itself is in the center, highlighting the element currently in focus.

How to use Glimpse (also watch the video):

* Glimpse consists of lots of disks. We call them "snips".
* See the ring on the outer edge? It may contain up to 120 snips.
* But they are too small to see well or touch easily. What to do?
* Here's the trick: Touch down on the center snip, and drag it away like a curtain.
* The snips opposite to the direction of dragging grow and reveal their content.
* Move your finger around in a circle to find the item you want.
* Lift to latch the center snip. Now tap an enlarged snip on the ring.
* The snip grows to maximum size, then makes room for the next level snips.
* To go back one level, or relax a latched center snip, tap on the center.
* That's it. Tap on a ring snip to go forward, tap on the center snip to go back.

It's a bit like a touch pad with counter-scrolling. Play around to get used to it.

But get this: Glimpse breaks the competition between your eye and your finger during navigation.

This is especially important on a tiny screen, like that of your smartwatch.

When you tap on an element snip, the next level shows its properties. Glimpse them.

There is also an About snip and a Settings snip. Try them out to see what you can do.

The "featured" property (the one displayed on the element snips) is selectable.

You may also choose the property according to which the elements are sorted.

Please rate Glimpse Elements on Google Play once you have tried it. We also welcome your comments.

Suggestions for new features will be added to the Glimpse Elements wish list and carefully considered for inclusion.

Due to our preference for simplicity, we do not guarantee that any particular feature request will be implemented.

Bug fixes will be prioritized.

Glimpse Elements is also available for Wear OS.

Advanced Glimpse interaction:

* See the tick marks like those around a watch face? Look for the little green pointer on it.
* The pointer shows the position of the current focus snip for future reference.
* Learn to find gold (Au, 79) in three seconds. What is its melting point?
* In the latched state, you can drag a ring snip around the circle to visit its neighbors.
* This circular dragging can go on as long as you like.
* Start outside and drag to the center to enlarge the snip closest to the touch down point.
* Sort on, say, density, then watch the highlight dance around the table as you glimpse.
* The periodic table may be replaced by six arrows.

Known issues:

* On selecting a "sorting" property, the "featured" property also changes. This is intentional.
* Changing some settings relaunches the app. Please wait a moment.
* Interaction may be inconvenient at some angles. Please try using your other hand or tilting the device.
* It can be confusing if you select a "featured" property different from the "sorting" property (if not atomic number).

Glimpse Elements does not collect or transmit any personal information. Should this change, we will indicate it in the change log and on the privacy web page.

Glimpse interaction has limitless applications. Imagine your stuff in this style. Then talk to us.

Disclaimer: While reasonable care has been taken to provide accurate information, Glimpse Elements and its contents are provided AS-IS and without any guarantees. Do not rely on this information to design a quantum computer, fusion reactor or something useful.

Patent applications are pending on Glimpse & Swirl.

Please visit https://swirl.design/elements for details.

Recent changes:
Target SDK 34 and update some dependencies.
Replace deprecated AsyncTask with direct use of a thread pool.