We've discovered an issue with iPhone 3.0 Beta 5 with menu navigation and are working on an update to Leaf Trombone: World Stage to address this.

We've discovered an issue with iPhone 3.0 Beta 5 with audio playback and are working on an update to Zephyr to address this.

Touch to draw. Using finger you can draw or write a message. After creating (or taking a pause during the creation) message a send button appears on the bottom right side of the screen. To erase your message completely, just shake the phone.

Yes, your message can consist of multiple screens and its playing length can be up to approximately 3 minutes. To create a multi-part message:

• Draw your first screen
• At the end of your first screen, use a 2 finger gesture to erase the screen (pull the fingers apart).
• Draw your next screen(s) clearing the screen in this way for each subsequent screen.
• When your masterpiece is complete, press the send button and all screens will be sent together as one animation.

There are two ways to erase:

• If you want to start an entirely new message, shake your iPhone and anything you have drawn thus far will disappear.
• Use a two finger gesture to erase just parts of your message so you can redraw them.

Tapping the send button sends your message around the globe. Once you’ve sent a message, other people who have Zephyr will be able to view it in locations all over the world. They will be able to show it love or respond to it as well.

Tap the antenna icon in the lower left hand part of the screen and then tap the globe icon (second from the bottom). This is the Globe view. In the globe view you can see what other people are creating as well as where their messages have been before they reach you.

The bouncing comet shows where a message has traveled before it reaches you. Each bounce represents a place where it was viewed by someone else.

A white comet represents an original message, and a blue comet represents a message that was a reply to the last viewed message.

To access the buttons on the Zephyr interface, press the green Radio button. This brings up a toolbar on the left side of the screen.
The four icons in the menu bar from the top down:

• info button
  - Shows how many times your messages have been received.
  - Contains the report issue button.
• settings button
  - Allows you to create tour Zephyr name
  - Allows you to pick a brush to use (snow, hearts, clover, or stars)
  - Has an option to view the original message prior to replying and show background lines, making drawing intricate designs easier.
• World view button
  - Shows you messages from Zephyr users around the world.
• Composition button
  - Takes you back to composition mode to create messages you can send around the world.

To access the buttons on the Zephyr interface, press the green Radio button. This brings up a toolbar on the left side of the screen.

• Heart button
  - Allows you to give love to a message, making it pop-up more often.
• Next message button
  - Skips the current message and sends you a new one.
• Reply button
  - Lets you create a response message to another user's Zephyr-gram. When in response mode you have the same capabilities as in regular composition mode, except now when you hit send the message will be tagged as a reply and shown after the original message in the globe view.
• Filter button
  - Allows you to pick between standard "World view", "Top messages" view, "My Loved" messages view, and "My Messages".
• Report Abuse button
  - Lets you flag inappropriate content so that it won’t be passed on.

Go to the settings page (accessed through the menu bar which is displayed after tapping the antenna icon) and then tap the chooser wheel labeled “zephyr brush".

In the info page (accessed through the menu bar which is displayed after tapping the antenna icon) you can see how many times your messages have been received, the number of times they have been loved, and the number of jumps made by your longest message chain.

Explore the Zeldarian mode.

Play together or in groups!

We've discovered an issue with iPhone 3.0 Beta 5 with audio playback in the globe view and are working on an update to Ocarina to address this.

This issue seems to be with the most recent Apple iPhone 2.2 firmware update. We suggest upgrading your iPhone OS with the latest Apple release.

This issue seems to be resolved with the most recent Apple iPhone 2.2 firmware update. We suggest upgrading your iPhone OS with the latest Apple release.

It is a known issue with the Touch interface that Ocarina holes sometimes stick. In some isolated cases, holes can stick when playing the Ocarina. We have found that this is due to a grounding issue with the iPhone hardware itself and have reported the issue to Apple.

The quick workaround is to either connect your iPhone USB cable to the phone, or to keep one finger touching the metallic strip on the edge of your iPhone. Both methods prevent the grounding issue from causing detection errors on the iPhone touch screen. For more discussion about this issue, please visit this post in our Ocarina Q&A Forums here, here and in this Video clip.

Another successfull workaround is to vary your fingering slightly to avoid aligning your touching of holes (as the iPhone screen scans for touches on its surface, if the touch points are directly aligned, it can cause issues recognizing 3 and 4 finger touches.  We will introduce a special hole configuration in an upcoming release, as an option, to make it easier for users to avoid this problem.

We have tested and found some potential anomalies in the touch interface related to OS or Hardware issues with grounding in the device itself. It is possible to workaround some of these false/missed touches by touching the silver edge around the screen with your skin, or by having the usb cable connected.

More specifically, code in our 1.0.2 release fixed two multi-touch bugs:

1. If the user manage to press two touches in one quadrant and then releases one, the hole will be released.
2. If the user presses to the left or the right of the radio button and then slides up, this touch will never get processed.

Users of beta releases of iPhone OS 2.1 may experience audio initialization issues. Upgrading to the official release version of iPhone OS 2.2 may be required to alleviate these issues. (Forum Posting) We suggest upgrading your iPhone OS with the latest Apple release.

Yes, we agree.  The 3G hardware is much better for audio than the original iPhone. Audio sometimes distorted on first generation phones.  We are working with Apple to address this.  Our pending 1.0.2 release provides some improvements, as will Apple's next 2.2 firmware update.

Yes you can. You can use many kinds of external microphones with Ocarina such as the kind of products you'll find here. Just make sure that the microphone has the correct adaptor for your device and you should be good to go. Rock on!

This will happen if you have no access to a network, either on your cellular network or WIFI.  The globe view is real-time:  we are pulling data off of our servers every time you access this.  If we can't get to the data (with a network), then we will not play anything.

The heart means you like a song.  The skip button means you do not, but also will skip whatever is being played.  The Smule Sonic Network will feature songs that are liked.  And yes, we're busy developing enhancements so that your preferences can carry more weight for your own view.

Yes, we're working on this too.

We're working on it!  Stay tuned.

Yes, we're working on this too.

Well, as our Stairway video demonstrated, quintets and duets, etc., are certainly possible.  We're thinking about other ways to play together.  Feel free to send us your own thoughts here, or participate in the ocarina.smule.com forum.

Tutorial: Modulate your voice with Sonic Vox.

Here are a few ways to use Sonic Vox:

• Just talk into your phone, holding your phone to your ear as you would when using it as a phone.
• Sonic Vox is better with headphones.
• Sonic Vox is best if you plug your phone into external speakers and use the phone as you would a microphone.

Our tutorial video, for example, has the phone plugged directly into a video camera (speaker-out to mic-in) -- this is quite effective.

Note that Sonic Vox cannot change your voice on existing iPhone calls.

You can, however, integrate Sonic Vox with Skype:

• Connect your iPhone (speaker-out) to your MacBook (mic-in).
• Switch the System Preference to Line-In.
• Launch Sonic Vox.
• Launch Skype.   
• Make that call.

Use your touch pad to dynamically adjust your voice.  Swipe left makes your voice more dark, and swiping right makes your voice more silly. Swiping up will add echo. Swiping down removes the echo.  

Yes you can. You can use many kinds of external microphones with Sonic Vox such as the kind of products you'll find here. Just make sure that the microphone has the correct adaptor for your device and you should be good to go. Rock on!

Swipe left while talking into the microphone.

Swipe right while talking into the microphone.

At this point you cannot do that.  Apple has not allowed any applications to interfere with the use of the actual phone.

You will need a computer running Skype.  On a MacBook, plug your iPhone speaker-out (with a simply stereo cable) to your MacBook line-in.  Update your system preference/audio to use the line-in instead of the built-in mic.  Launch Skype.

As you can imagine, we are busy working on several different 'characters' for our first Vox update.  Stay tuned.

Tutorial: Light Sonic Boom with your finger.

Simply touch the Smule icon on the lower left corner and then select the globe icon.

Well, yes, they are real virtual explosions.  Every time someone blows up a firecracker, an event is registered on the Smule servers, including location (GPS) and TNT values.  The globe view will query this server in real-time and play back the 100 most recent explosions around the world, pin-pointing their location and approximating their TNT values, of course taking into consideration the proximity of your view and location relative to the explosions.

If you are an iPod Touch user, you need a microphone to enable ignition from an iPhone.  Any type of microphone attachment should work.  Direct the sound from the iPhone towards your microphone on the Touch.  Make sure the volume is set at a reasonably high level on the iPhone -- especially if you are in a noisy setting.

If you wait a moment before launching the globe, Sonic Boom will have more time to load your GPS coordinates.  Notice that once we have them, we'll show a blue circle as a beacon to indicate your location on the globe.

You require access to a network to see the world explosions.  On an iPod, this means you must be on a wi-fi network.  On an iPhone, this means you need a network signal of some sort.  Otherwise, we can't download the data of the latest explosions around the world.

Simply tap the Smule icon in the lower left corner, then select the camera icon, and then select a photo.  We strongly encourage you to use care and taste when using this feature, particularly with younger children.

How to light one Sonic Lighter™ with the flame of a second lighter.

How to ignite and blow out the Sonic Lighter™ flame.

After upgrading to the latest version of Sonic Lighter it is recommended that you reboot your phone to eradicate any lingering issues.

Tapping the antenna icon will bring up the menu bar.

The menu bar has four icons. Here are the descriptions of the four icons from left to right.

• Flame Icon: Tapping this icon will take you to the flame view.
• Globe Icon: Tapping this icon will take you to the globe view. In the globe view you can see where other people are lighting up around the world. The drop down menu at the top of the globe view will allow you to see different populations/affiliations of lighter users. The “Default Lighter” view will show you all of the people who have lit up around the world in the past 24 hours. The “Super Bowl 09” view will show you the results of the Sonic Lighter Super Bowl Pole. The “US Election 08” view will show you the results of the Sonic Lighter Election 08 Pole. The “My Network” view will show you where your light has gone around the world.
• Settings Icon: Tapping this icon will bring up a semi transparent settings page in front of the currently active view. On the settings page you can change your lighter affiliation by tapping the drop down menu at the top of the page. In the 1.3 update you have four choices for affiliation, “Default Lighter”, “Super Bowl 09”, “US Elections 2008”, and “My Network”. If you choose the Super Bowl or Elections affiliation you will then be able to choose between different flame colors, which represent your particular affiliation choice.
• Info Icon: Tapping this icon will bring up a semi transparent info page in front of the currently active view. On this page you will be able to see how long your lighter has burned for in Jules, how many lights you have received, give you information about the app, and allow you to report issues with the app.

There are three different colors in the “My Network” globe view.

• Orange: Shows where your lighter has been lit.
• Yellow: Shows where people are lighting up that you have lit.
• Blue: Shows where people are lighting up that have been lit by people you have lit.

Make sure you are connected to a reliable network. The globe view will take longer to load if your connection is slow.

Please be patient. If the activity indicator (spinning wheel symbol) to the left of the drop down box is spinning, then the data is loading and you cannot choose a different population/affiliation view.

If you tap the top of the screen, a drop down menu should appear

To change your flame's color, tap the antenna icon in the lower left hand corner of the screen to bring up the menu bar. hen choose the settings icon (third from the left). Now you can change your flame’s color by tapping the drop down box at the top of the settings page, choosing your preferred affiliation, and then choosing one of the available flame colors/affiliations.

Yes. Go to the settings page (tap the antenna icon to bring up the menu bar and then tap the settings icon, which is the third from the left) and slide the “Wind Input” slider to the off position (slide to the left). This will turn off the microphone input.

iPod Touch users require an external microphone for this feature to work. If you have a first gen iPod Touch this feature is not available. Make sure the Sonic Lighter is running on your phone/iPod and your friend's phone/iPod. Make sure your volume is on a reasonably high setting. And make sure that you don't have a head-set plugged into either phone (for iPhones only). Press and hold the valve (next to flints). Point your microphone (base of the phone or external mic on the Touch) to the receiver (the speaker embedded in the touch-pad) of your friend’s phone/iPod.

A downward motion of your finger against the flints should produce light.

A Sonic Modem is a simply a modem, and in this case, a modem built into the Sonic Lighter. The modem embeds data (e.g. instructions) in sound. The Sonic Lighter uses a Sonic Modem to communicate the ignite instruction to adjacent phones. As sound dissipates with distance, the modem will only work in close proximity to another phone -- you know, like heat. The Sonic Modem communicates between iPhones by embedding instructions in a sound. Like it's forefather – the traditional modem – the Sonic Modem sends information from one device to another. In the case of the Sonic Lighter a sound emitted on one phone ignites the lighter of the phone that hears this sound (needless to say, the receiver needs to be pretty close to the sender).  Imagine the possibilities!

iPod Touch users require an external microphone for this feature to work. If you have a first gen iPod Touch this feature is not available. First, try blowing harder. Or, it's possible you are not aiming your air at the microphone. The microphone is located at the base of the phone, just to the right of where you insert the USB cable to connect to your computer. It’s also possible that you are simply not getting enough exercise – think about taking a walk every other morning or evening.

Tap the antenna icon in the lower left corner of the globe and then tap the flame icon from the popup menu bar.

Win more games, especially around late March. It’s that simple.

This issue is resolved in the 1.1 update.

This issue is resolved in the 1.1 update.

This issue is resolved in the 1.1 update.

The Sonic Lighter was not able to get a GPS fix prior to launching the globe view and so centers your globe at GPS coordinates (0,0) -- just off the coast of Africa. Try waiting a moment longer before launching the globe view.

Smule will send the following information to the smule server: your phone unique identifier, Joules burned, your lighter affiliation, whether you have received a light from the mule, and whenever your phone ignites or is ignited by another phone. If you decline GPS when prompted, then no GPS data will be sent; otherwise, GPS coordinates will be uploaded for each ignition event. If you log a support request, and you agree to include debug information, then a debug log will be sent with the email message -- just scroll down this message and you'll see everything in the debug log.