FAQ English
Yes, this is basically freeware, but we sell packages in some events. Redistribution rule.
- You are not allowed to change the binary of Apricot and redistribute or reprint it. You are allowed to redistribute or reprint Apricot without any change on the binary. In that case you must package your distribution in a way users can identify it as a different package from the original package.
- You cannot redistribute any alpha or beta versions of Apricot binary. It is allowed to create your own Apricot characters and distribute them together with Apricot.exe file. In this case, delete the Cache folder (if it exists), copy and past Apricot.exe.config and Storage.sdf from the original archive to reset settings before distribution.
.NET Frameword 4 or later is necessary to run Apricot 5.0 or later. Please install from the following link. You can also get these components via Windows Update.
Microsoft .NET Framework 4:
.NET Framework 4
Then, double click Apricot.exe to launch the app. If you see any problem while launching the app, please check Trace.log file in the folder where Apricot.exe exists, and send the content of the log to us.
In case you are using old video cards (or GPUs) or netbooks, you might see some frame drops during animation. Here is the tips which might help.
- Enable software rendering
Open "Scripts" fonder which is in the folder enclosing Apricot.exe, and rename "ForceSoftwareRendering.py.tmp" to "ForceSoftwareRendering.py". The relaunch Apricot - Disable drop shadow
From content menu in Apricot, select "Options" and see wether there is checkmark on "Enable Dropshadow". In case it's checked, uncheck it. - Disable Windows Aero If you are using Windows Vista or later.
Font, font size, and line height can be changed by editing "Apricot.exe.config" file which is found under the same folder of Apricot.exe.
- In "Apricot.exe.config" file, find below part.
<add key="FontFamily" value="Tahoma" /> - Change font family name from "Tahoma" to your favorite font family like below example (to Arial).
<add key="FontFamily" value="Arial" />
To change font size, find key name "FontSize" and change the value. Do the same for "LineHeight" for changing line height, and "LineLength" for the width of balloons.
To change character, right click on the character and open the context menu. In the context menu, select "Characters" and then pick up a name of character you want to change to. Another way is, first open "Characters" folder under the same folder enclosing Apricot.exe first. You see folders of available characters. Pick one of these character folders and drag & drop it over the character running on the desktop.
Find "Characters" folder under the folder enclosing "Apricot.exe". Add you character's folder under this "Characters" folder.
####How to add character to Apricot iOS app?
- Prepare XML file and resources (e.g. images). (Please follow Apricot Character Specification)
- Note that path of image and sound tags in the XML file will be only file names and not including any upper directories. (
Images\Foo.png→
Foo.png)
- Add XML file and resources using iTunes' File Sharing.
- Sync.
- Launch Apricot app and go to Settings, then change characters.
Yes. It's OK. Delete the content after when Apricot is not running. "Cache" folder is used for caching images in RSS/Atom feed. Cached images are shown when latest headlines or key words are clicked.
No only upon refresh, you can get latest headlines anytime. Right click on the character and select "Update" then the headline will be shown (after fetching RSS/Atom feed done).
You can add and remove feeds by editing Subscriptions.opml file (OPML format).
Add the shortcut to Apricot.exe to the startup folder in the Windows' start menu.
Hold Ctrl key and press F9 key. Do the same to show the Apricot.
Hold Ctrl key and click and drag the character to left. Hold Ctrl key and click and drag the character to right to revert it back.
Copy a search keyword to the clip board. The copied keywords are shown in the balloon as a link. Click this link to open the inspector. In the inspector, click the link of the keyword, then search starts.
When new entry list is shown in the balloon, click an entry to open the inspector. If you see "+(number)" to the side of the entry's title, there are related entries to this entry. Hold Ctrl and click the entry's title, you can see the list of related entries.
- Copy any words you want to teach to the clipboard. The copied phrase is shown in the balloon as a link. Click the link to show the inspector. In the inspector, hold Ctrl and click the link of the phrase.
- Ensure that Apricot is asking the meaning of the phrase in the blown.
- In the list of meanings, Ctrl + Click the one which is most appropriate. The taught phrase turned to translucent. If you want to discard the phrase, Ctrl + Click the phrase.
- Under the folder enclosing Apricot.exe, find "Script" folder. In the folder, rename "Gmail.py.tmp" to "Gmail.py".
- Right click the character on the desktop and open the context menu. In the context menu, select "Google" -> "Sign In" and then input username and password.
Right click on the character and open the context menu. In the context menu, select "Twitter" -> "Sign in", then follow the instruction shown.