Sumaddle

This version features some usability improvements and styling adaptions. The changes in detail:

• Each clue of a puzzle is now shown as having the shape of a button. This makes it more apparent that the clue values are also buttons. The shapes also help to indicate that a button is available, even when a clue value is hidden (in this case, the button can be used to fill gaps in the associated row or column).

• The new button shapes for clue values can be turned off in the settings, if preferred. The setting can be found in the section “Layout & Appearance” under the heading “Puzzle clues”.

• When the setting to “allow combinations to be deleted individually” is turned on, the clue value that is currently selected is shown highlighted with an underscore. This makes it possible to see, which clue the combinations relate to. This is of particular significance when there are multiple clues with the same value.

• A usability issue concerning the panel with number combinations has been addressed. This panel sometimes overlaps the button for pausing a button, especially if playing on a small screen. Previously, this meant it was quite easy to tap the pause button by accident when trying to delete individual number combinations. An invisible buffer zone around the panel now stops this from happening (the panel is simply hidden instead).

• The red filter is supported more comprehensively. It now works for all forms of popup interaction too.

• The settings popup features some styling adaptions for iOS 26.

Version 2.6.1 also includes some corrections to the way help actions are performed.

This version features some usability improvements and styling adaptions. The changes in detail:

• Each clue of a puzzle is now shown as having the shape of a button. This makes it more apparent that the clue values are also buttons. The shapes also help to indicate that a button is available, even when a clue value is hidden (in this case, the button can be used to fill gaps in the associated row or column).

• The new button shapes for clue values can be turned off in the settings, if preferred. The setting can be found in the section “Layout & Appearance” under the heading “Puzzle clues”.

• When the setting to “allow combinations to be deleted individually” is turned on, the clue value that is currently selected is shown highlighted with an underscore. This makes it possible to see, which clue the combinations relate to. This is of particular significance when there are multiple clues with the same value.

• A usability issue concerning the panel with number combinations has been addressed. This panel sometimes overlaps the button for pausing a button, especially if playing on a small screen. Previously, this meant it was quite easy to tap the pause button by accident when trying to delete individual number combinations. An invisible buffer zone around the panel now stops this from happening (the panel is simply hidden instead).

• The red filter is supported more comprehensively. It now works for all forms of popup interaction too.

• The settings popup features some styling adaptions for iOS 26.

More logic has been built into the puzzle generator and improvements made to the red filter. The changes in detail:

• When running in Expert play mode, the puzzle generator is able to generate puzzles that are even more convoluted than before.

• The red filter can now be added in all lighting modes. The filter also applies throughout the app, instead of just when playing a puzzle. This includes overlay presentations, such as when viewing a leaderboard, and (most) popup interactions. The red filter can be turned on in the settings under “Layout & Appearance”.

• A fix for an issue with the help function, which was occasionally failing to provide any help.

The puzzle generator has more cunning and deleted combinations are restored when steps are undone. The changes in detail:

• More logic has been built into the puzzle generator, making it possible for it to generate puzzles that are even more challenging to solve! The new logic is used in Advanced and Expert play modes.

• When the Undo button is used to back-track the steps that have been played, any combinations that were deleted individually are now restored on a step-by-step basis. The same also applies when the help option “undo back to where I went wrong” is used. The ability to delete individual combinations is an optional feature that can be turned on in the settings.

• Some of the help explanations have been improved.

The 5-year anniversary celebration is coming to an end, so the app is reverting back to its regular look. The extra puzzles that were added for the special edition are still included in this version and players who already started playing the puzzles will be able to finish playing them, until the leaderboard resets again. The reset will happen on 9th March (UTC).

Other small changes in this version:

• The performance analysis popup features some styling adaptions for iOS 26. Some layout issues with this popup have also been fixed.

• When a clue value is tapped and empty squares are auto-filled with blocks, a warning symbol is shown if setting a block would cause an invalid arrangement. This will be the case if there are already two blocks in the intersecting row or column.

• A fix to prevent a crash from happening when resources cannot be loaded properly at app launch.

A special anniversary edition, to celebrate 5 years since the app first went live in the App Store! This version includes an extra set of special puzzles, which are free to play.

Other changes in this version:

• More styling adaptions for iOS 26 have been applied to the section for Puzzle Packs and to the popup view of leaderboard scores.

• When the puzzles in a puzzle pack are reset, the clue values for the puzzles are re-arranged. The same applies to the puzzles featured in the preview of the puzzle generator. This helps to make the puzzles seem less familiar when played again.

• The puzzle pool used by the preview of the puzzle generator contains a more diverse collection of puzzles.

• Corrections to the way the preview of the puzzle generator picks the next puzzle from its pool when a puzzle of a particular size is requested. Sometimes, it was delivering a puzzle of the wrong size, or not delivering a puzzle at all, even though a suitable puzzle would have been available.

• A fix for when a row or column has two blocks and there is just a single square outside the blocks. If the setting to show inverted combinations is enabled and the clue value is tapped twice, the combination is now shown inverted, as it should be.

• The option to view the Game Center leaderboards using the classic display style has been dropped. It was no longer working with iOS 26.

The support website has a FAQ section with more information about the special edition. A link to this page can be found in the info popup on the main menu page of the app. The info popup is shown by tapping the info button, located bottom-left of screen.

New multi-select capabilities, together with some small corrections and fixes. The changes in detail:

• When multiple squares are selected by swiping (sliding) along a row or column, all squares that are not blocks are now selected together. Previously, multiple squares could only be selected together if they were all either inside or outside the blocks.

• New settings for multi-select make it possible to adjust the current selection. Squares can be added to the selection, or removed from the selection, or the whole selection can be inverted. The new settings can be found on the settings page for optional features.

• Pre-filled blocks in 9x9 puzzles are a little darker in all display modes.

• Fix for an issue where the timer for a puzzle would not always start correctly.

• Fixes for propagation issues when the candidate values of squares are changed.

• The sliders used for setting the volume level and red-filter effect now snap to the step positions correctly.

• Further attempts to prevent the Game Center access point from appearing on pages where it shouldn’t. This was sometimes happening when returning to the app after it had been inactive for an extended period.

• Version 2.1.1 also includes fixes for two regression issues: (1) the timer would sometimes keep running when a puzzle was paused; (2) when the setting to show inverted combinations is enabled and a clue value is tapped a second time, the combinations were only being shown inverted if 2 blocks were present.

The new multi-select capabilities may be particularly useful for when a row or column has n squares with exactly n candidate values. For example, if there are two squares which can only take the values 1 or 2, these two candidate values can be eliminated from all other squares in the same row or column. By selecting all the other squares together, the values can be removed from all squares at once.

New multi-select capabilities, together with some small corrections and fixes. The changes in detail:

• When multiple squares are selected by swiping (sliding) along a row or column, all squares that are not blocks are now selected together. Previously, multiple squares could only be selected together if they were all either inside or outside the blocks.

• New settings for multi-select make it possible to adjust the current selection. Squares can be added to the selection, or removed from the selection, or the whole selection can be inverted. The new settings can be found on the settings page for optional features.

• Pre-filled blocks in 9x9 puzzles are a little darker in all display modes.

• Fix for an issue where the timer for a puzzle would not always start correctly.

• Fixes for propagation issues when the candidate values of squares are changed.

• The sliders used for setting the volume level and red-filter effect now snap to the step positions correctly.

• Further attempts to prevent the Game Center access point from appearing on pages where it shouldn’t. This was sometimes happening when returning to the app after it had been inactive for an extended period.

The new multi-select capabilities may be particularly useful for when a row or column has n squares with exactly n candidate values. For example, if there are two squares which can only take the values 1 or 2, these two candidate values can be eliminated from all other squares in the same row or column. By selecting all the other squares together, the values can be removed from all squares at once.

Ready for iOS 26! This version includes styling adaptions for iOS/iPadOS 26 and some accessibility improvements, along with other small corrections and enhancements. The changes in detail:

• Styling adaptions for iOS/iPadOS 26 have been applied throughout the app. In particular, buttons and backgrounds have a more rounded appearance and glass effect is used in some places. Buttons that are used in the headers of pages are now represented by symbols, instead of descriptive labels. Some content animations also work differently, such as when the explanation for help is revealed.

• More improvements to accessibility, including better support for very large text sizes.

• More refinements to the way the difficulty of a puzzle is estimated for new puzzles that are generated by the built-in puzzle generator.

• When the option to select the size of the next puzzle is enabled for the puzzle generator, a new settings option makes it possible to select the puzzle difficulty too. This replaces the option that previously existed, which allowed the skill level to be selected. If the target difficulty is outside the range that is normally supported by the current play mode, the puzzle generator switches to a suitable alternative mode automatically.

• On the settings page for layout & appearance, new screen layout options are available for iPhone. When the device orientation changes, players can choose to have the screen orientation switch back to the preferred orientation automatically. This may be a more convenient option than setting the orientation lock on the device. Players who like to play while lying down might find this feature particularly practical.

• The settings page now includes an option to cancel all changes, in addition to the option to apply the changes.

• When the setting “show if numbers add up correctly to the clue values” is enabled, an error is indicated if the number of squares between the blocks does not fit any valid combination for the clue value (in other words, if the wrong number of squares are sandwiched between the blocks).

• In the performance analysis, the use of help that is described in the summary section at the top of the page is now based on the percentage of puzzles for which help was used. Previously, it described the extent to which the help was used when averaged over all puzzles. This could mean it described the use of help as being frequent, even when it was only used for one puzzle.

• A fix to the progress reporting that is shown in the Challenge Trail. This was not informing of a promotion when a level was completed.

• A fix for an issue with the Puzzle Generator Preview, where a change to the play mode was not actually taking effect.

The styling changes are seen when running with iOS/iPadOS 26. When running with older versions of iOS or iPadOS, the styling is still the same as before.

Version 2.0.3 also includes a fix to ensure that the bullet points in the help explanations are always shown in full, instead of occasionally being truncated. In addition, there are more measures to help prevent crashes when the device orientation is changed.

Ready for iOS 26! This version includes styling adaptions for iOS/iPadOS 26 and some accessibility improvements, along with other small corrections and enhancements. The changes in detail:

• Styling adaptions for iOS/iPadOS 26 have been applied throughout the app. In particular, buttons and backgrounds have a more rounded appearance and glass effect is used in some places. Buttons that are used in the headers of pages are now represented by symbols, instead of descriptive labels. Some content animations also work differently, such as when the explanation for help is revealed.

• More improvements to accessibility, including better support for very large text sizes.

• More refinements to the way the difficulty of a puzzle is estimated for new puzzles that are generated by the built-in puzzle generator.

• When the option to select the size of the next puzzle is enabled for the puzzle generator, a new settings option makes it possible to select the puzzle difficulty too. This replaces the option that previously existed, which allowed the skill level to be selected. If the target difficulty is outside the range that is normally supported by the current play mode, the puzzle generator switches to a suitable alternative mode automatically.

• On the settings page for layout & appearance, new screen layout options are available for iPhone. When the device orientation changes, players can choose to have the screen orientation switch back to the preferred orientation automatically. This may be a more convenient option than setting the orientation lock on the device. Players who like to play while lying down might find this feature particularly practical.

• The settings page now includes an option to cancel all changes, in addition to the option to apply the changes.

• When the setting “show if numbers add up correctly to the clue values” is enabled, an error is indicated if the number of squares between the blocks does not fit any valid combination for the clue value (in other words, if the wrong number of squares are sandwiched between the blocks).

• In the performance analysis, the use of help that is described in the summary section at the top of the page is now based on the percentage of puzzles for which help was used. Previously, it described the extent to which the help was used when averaged over all puzzles. This could mean it described the use of help as being frequent, even when it was only used for one puzzle.

• A fix to the progress reporting that is shown in the Challenge Trail. This was not informing of a promotion when a level was completed.

• A fix for an issue with the Puzzle Generator Preview, where a change to the play mode was not actually taking effect.

The styling changes are seen when running with iOS/iPadOS 26. When running with older versions of iOS or iPadOS, the styling is still the same as before.

Version 2.0.2 also includes a fix for a crash that was sometimes happening when attempting to reset the puzzles in the puzzle packs.

The Challenge Trail has some new puzzles! Details of this and other changes:

• The free puzzles in the Challenge Trail have been updated. Most of the puzzles in the harder levels have been replaced with new puzzles that reflect the difficulty ratings more accurately. In the easier levels, some 4x4 puzzles are now featured. In total, there are more puzzles to play than before.

• When the puzzle generator is configured with different weights for the different categories of puzzle difficulty, the puzzles are now generated with a better mix of difficulties.

• When a square has no candidate values left, a yellow warning symbol is shown, instead of a plain empty square. When this happens, it usually means there is a mistake somewhere. A quick way to fix mistakes is to use the built-in help.

Version 1.64.2 also includes a correction to the way points are awarded for solving a puzzle.

Major improvements to accessibility and some other functional enhancements. The changes in detail:

• Accessibility has been overhauled throughout the app. In particular, there is now comprehensive support for VoiceOver and the legibility of text has been improved in some places.

• App Store interaction has been re-engineered to use Apple’s latest interface. One benefit is that a purchase on one device will automatically show up on other devices that are signed in using the same Apple account. This also applies if the app is transferred to a new device. If any purchases are not showing when Sumaddle is launched, please tap “Restore purchases” from inside the app to restore them. For more troubleshooting steps, please refer to the support website.

• When the help is used to show how the next step goes, tapping outside the puzzle area no longer clears the help explanation. This makes it easier to examine the explanation multiple times. The explanation does still get cleared when a puzzle square is selected or when pencil mode is activated.

Improvements in the area of puzzle packs and some changes to the way the number buttons work. The changes in detail:

• Puzzle packs can now be reset individually, instead of all packs in the same category having to be reset together. The menu option “reset puzzle packs” brings up a dialog in which the packs to be reset can be selected freely.

• When playing the puzzles in puzzle packs, the way that the next puzzle is selected has been changed. It now works more sequentially, always proceeding forwards where possible. When all puzzles in a pack have been solved, the search proceeds forwards to the next available puzzle pack, instead of jumping back to the first pack.

• When a puzzle in a puzzle pack is paused, the page with the button for continuing play now includes a new button to “skip to next puzzle”. This provides a more convenient way to proceed to the next puzzle in a pack, rather than having to go back to the overview of puzzles and selecting the next puzzle manually.

• The way the number buttons switch between being active or inactive has been changed. The buttons are now only active for the numbers that are still considered to be candidates, they are inactive for numbers that have already been eliminated. This helps to prevent numbers from being mistakenly re-added to a square, or to a group of squares. It also makes it easier to see which combinations fit a group of squares that have been selected together.

• Depending on playing strategy, some players may prefer to have the number buttons working as they did before. The setting “tie number buttons to narrowed candidates” makes it possible to choose, whether the buttons work in the new or old way. This new setting can be found in the settings section for “optional features”, it is on by default (= new way of working).

• When a single square is selected and the candidate values are updated by tapping the number buttons, values that are eliminated are now highlighted with orange/pink. This is consistent with the way the numbers are highlighted when multiple squares are selected and operated on together.

• When a single square is selected and pencil mode is active, the number buttons no longer appear with orange highlighting for all buttons. Instead, the buttons use the same highlighting as when pencil mode is not active.

• Added dark and tinted app icons for iOS 18 / iPadOS 18.

• Added some measures that might help to prevent the Game Center icon from being shown at the wrong time when the app is brought back into action after having been suspended for a while.

• Some corrections have been made to the way that candidate values are restored to related squares when the selected square (or group of squares) is cleared by tapping repeatedly, or by tapping the clear button.

Version 1.62.1 includes some additional fixes:

• When a 9x9 puzzle with pre-filled blocks is reset, the pre-filled blocks should not be cleared.

• When the setting “Show if numbers add up correctly to the clue values” is turned off, there should be no sound or haptic feedback when numbers do not add up correctly.

• When the setting “Show if numbers add up correctly to the clue values” is turned on and multiple squares have been selected together, checks on numbers adding up correctly are suspended while the selection is still active. This will help to prevent false alarms of an incorrect sum when players choose to tap in candidate numbers one by one, instead of eliminating numbers using double tap.

This version contains some enhancements to the built-in help and some usability improvements:

- A new setting makes it possible to see a warning symbol next to help actions that will cause points to be lost. This setting can be found in the section “Layout & Appearance”.

- When the help is used to “undo back to where I went wrong” or “clear mistakes only”, any combinations that have been deleted incorrectly are restored automatically. The ability to delete individual combinations can be turned on under “Optional Features” in the settings.

- When a square is tapped a second time, the square is no longer turned into a block if there are already two blocks in the same row or column. This is because it makes no sense to add a third block, if two are already present. This change might help to prevent squares from being filled inadvertently when a square is (re-)selected for the purpose of updating candidate values, or when tapping quickly between squares at the end of a game.

- Previously, if pencil mode was active and a square with pencil markings was tapped, the square would sometimes be converted to a number square with candidate values. This was the case when there were already two blocks in the same row or column. This was not very intuitive, so it no longer happens. Instead, the square now remains in pencilled state.

Version 1.61.1 also includes a correction for the size of overlay sheets on iPads running iPadOS 18. Overlay sheets are used for temporary presentations, such as for the settings.

Two new packs of quirky puzzles and a new pack of premium 9x9 puzzles, along with some other small improvements. The changes in detail:

- Three new packs of puzzles have been added in this version: 2 packs of quirky puzzles and a pack of premium 9x9 puzzles. These special types of puzzle are the hardest to generate using the built-in puzzle generator, so the packs offer a more convenient way to play these sorts of puzzle.

- The difficulty ratings for puzzles in the existing quirky packs and 9x9 pack have been re-assessed and revised in some cases. The aim is to ensure that the difficulty ratings for puzzles in these categories are consistent. The new assessment is based on an evaluation of the logic that is needed to solve the puzzles. The puzzles themselves have not changed, so the revised difficulty ratings only affect the scoring. Some packs have also been re-ordered a little.

- When full dark mode is in operation and a puzzle starts with pre-filled blocks, the blocks can be seen more clearly against the background of the empty puzzle. Pre-filled blocks only occur in 9x9 puzzles generated by the puzzle generator.

- More improvements to the way the difficulty is estimated for new puzzles generated by the puzzle generator.

- A fix for issues with scrolling when switching between puzzle pack categories.

- A fix for the way candidate values are added or removed from a group of squares for the case of when a previous update left the squares with less candidates than number of squares.

Version 1.60.1 contains some additional small changes:

- Further improvements when estimating the difficulty of a new puzzle and when scrolling to position in the context of puzzle packs.

- A change to the follow-up page when a puzzle in the Challenge Trail or a puzzle pack is paused during play. Instead of returning straight back to the overview page as before, the page for a paused puzzle is now shown. This makes it easier to resume play. It also makes it more likely that the previously played steps can still be undone one by one. This flow is the same as how it works when playing puzzles generated by the puzzle generator.

More small improvements:

• When the setting “Allow combinations to be deleted individually” is turned on, the space freed up by deleting individual combinations is better used for showing the remaining combinations. This will particularly benefit players who are playing large puzzles on small devices.

• When the leaderboard display style is set to “Top scores” (which is the default) and the player’s own score is outside the top 100, more scores from other players are now shown around the player’s own score. The leaderboard display style can be selected in the system settings for the Sumaddle app.

• The section of the introduction that was previously called “Tips” has been renamed to “Strategy”.

Version 1.59.2 also includes some small cosmetic improvements and mechanisms for investigating scoring irregularities.

More small improvements:

- When the setting “Allow combinations to be deleted individually” is turned on, the space freed up by deleting individual combinations is better used for showing the remaining combinations. This will particularly benefit players who are playing large puzzles on small devices.

- When the leaderboard display style is set to “Top scores” (which is the default) and the player’s own score is outside the top 100, more scores from other players are now shown around the player’s own score. The leaderboard display style can be selected in the system settings for the Sumaddle app.

- The section of the introduction that was previously called “Tips” has been renamed to “Strategy”.

More cunning added to the puzzle generator and a new setting for the size of numbers. All the changes in detail:

- New logic has been added to the puzzle generator, used when generating very difficult puzzles in Expert mode.

- More refinements to the way the puzzle generator estimates the difficulty of the new puzzles it generates.

- A new setting in the section “Layout & Appearance” makes it possible to adjust the size of the numbers in a puzzle. This setting works independently of the text size that is set on the device.

- The “dimmed” appearance for dark mode is a bit darker.

- More improvements to the way the help chooses where to show a hint. Steps involving just a small change to candidate values are selected according to where there is most benefit in preparing the way for a more significant step.

- Fix for an issue where an empty square would sometimes display a dotted block outline if a clue was tapped and the row or column had errors.

- The arrow for the help is more animated.

Version 1.58.1 also includes a fix for an issue where the help would sometimes not show a hint for certain cases of very difficult puzzles.

This update fixes an issue relating to the buttons for generating a new puzzle of a particular size. When the setting to “select skill level too” is enabled and Expert is selected as skill level, the puzzle generator was incorrectly using Normal skill level to generate the new puzzle (instead of Expert). This meant, puzzles that were generated this way were usually too easy. This problem is fixed, puzzles generated this way are now generated using Expert skill level, as they should be.

This version contains a number of enhancements that have been requested by players (via the contact form and quick survey):

- A swipe action can be used to select any group of squares that does not contain a block. Actions can then be performed on these squares together, such as number elimination.

- Pencil mode includes the possibility to set temporary blocks. This can be useful for trying out possible block positions.

- Pencil mode stays on when squares are selected by tapping a hint. Updates to multi-selected squares are also possible with pencil mode still active.

- When the last pencilled candidate has been eliminated from a square, the square shows the outline of a block, instead of appearing empty. This is to indicate that the square might be ready to receive a block, because no candidate values are left.

- The difficulty weighting for the puzzle generator can be configured in more diverse ways. Players can now mix and match the weights for the different categories of difficulty.

- When the difficulty weighting is set exclusively to either "harder puzzles" or "easier puzzles", the generator is more likely to generate puzzles that have maximum or minimum difficulty.

- Fix for a rare issue where the sum combinations were occasionally not being displayed correctly after being inverted.

Version 1.56.2 includes some additional fixes:

- Fix for a problem where candidate values were not always being applied correctly to the selected squares when the selection consisted of a group of squares together.
- Resolved an issue which was causing high battery usage when the top leaderboard scores were being viewed.
- Regression issue corrected: when a single square is selected and the square has only one candidate value, the value should be set automatically.

A bunch of small improvements. The main changes:

- An improvement to the Spotlight feature. If there are any squares where the spotlight value is the only candidate value, these are shown highlighted as single cases, even if there are other squares in the same row or column which also have the value as a candidate.

- The option to show inverted combinations now takes effect whenever a sum value is tapped twice, even if two blocks are not present. Previously, the combinations were only shown inverted if there were two blocks, when double tap also inverts the selection.

- Improvements to the way the difficulty of newly-generated puzzles is estimated for cases involving expert complexity.

- Fixes for a number of small anomalies.

- Further improvements to help explanations.

A new feature makes it possible to delete combinations individually. This is especially useful for solving large puzzles! Also in this version:

- The general settings are now split over two pages, instead of having all settings on one long page.

- 8x8 puzzles are generated faster, with less load on the battery.

- The puzzle generator observes the difficulty weighting more closely for all puzzle sizes up to 8x8.

- Small cosmetic improvements.

- Version 1.52.1 also includes a fix for the suspected cause of a small number of crashes in 1.52.0.

Enhancements to the spotlight feature and fixes for some reported issues. The changes in detail:

- The spotlight feature now supports three modes of highlighting, which can be selected in the settings. The default mode makes it much easier to spot when a value only occurs once in a row or column. Another new mode highlights paired values too, which advanced players may find particularly helpful.

- Fix for an issue where tap gestures were not aligning correctly with app content. This was happening when resuming play if the app had previously been put in the background while an overlay sheet was showing.

- Fix for an isolated crash that was reported as happening when a puzzle was paused.

- Other cosmetic improvements.

- Version 1.51.1 also includes a fix for help explanations not showing properly (especially on iPad).

The advanced solving technique that uses paired values is explained in more detail in the FAQ at the support site (section Settings). A link to the FAQ can be found by tapping the info symbol below the main menu of the app.

Celebrating 50 releases of Sumaddle! This 50th release includes two new categories of puzzle packs, each with 3 brand-new packs. The Challenge Trail also has a new look and there are a few naming changes. The changes in detail:

- New puzzle packs: new categories added for Quirky and Scary puzzles, each with 3 new packs. The Quirky packs contain out-of-the-ordinary puzzles, the Scary packs are aimed at skilled players and include a pack of premium 9x9 puzzles.

- A new kind of selector is used for switching between the categories of puzzle packs and the contents of the packs are described in more detail.

- Challenge Trail makeover: this section of the app has a new look, more consistent with the woodland themes used elsewhere in the app. There is also better support for dark mode.

- Naming changes: the section Puzzle Sets is now called Puzzle Packs, the section Random Play is now called Puzzle Generator.

- Also included: a fix to the way the next puzzle is selected in the puzzle packs, to avoid going back to skipped puzzles after the app is restarted; a fix to prevent the puzzle generator from occasionally whirring forever; corrections and improvements to the help explanations.

Improvements to the built-in puzzle generator. The Random Play puzzle generator now generates puzzles that are more fiendish than ever (play modes Advanced and Expert). Improvements have also been made to the help explanations.

Version 1.49.1 is a patch update to 1.49.0 which includes a fix for an issue with the help. The help was occasionally not able to show the next step for puzzles generated in Random Play using expert mode.

Improvements to the built-in puzzle generator and other small enhancements. The changes in detail:

- New logic has been added to the Random Play puzzle generator. This makes it possible for puzzles generated in Expert play mode to be harder than ever!

- Improvements to the way the difficulty rating is estimated for puzzles generated by the puzzle generator in Random Play.

- When the help is used to fix mistakes and the option to clear the puzzle is selected, an “are you sure?” popup is now shown. This is to help prevent the puzzle from being cleared accidentally.

- Items in a popup menu are easier to select: blank space next to an item is also sensitive to tapping.

- A fix for the wrong list of leaderboard entries sometimes being shown when switching between the current and previous Random Play leaderboards around the time of the daily leaderboard reset.

- A fix for double-tap value elimination when used on the last free square of a multiple selection. Previously, double-tap wasn’t working in this case.

- Improvements to help explanations.

Some small improvements in connection with the new way of displaying leaderboards that was introduced in 1.47.0.

- A fix for the wrong leaderboard sometimes being shown when switching between leaderboards.
- When a leaderboard is viewed on a narrow device, long player names can wrap over two lines if they need to.
- Improvements to animations and transitions.

A new way of displaying the leaderboards, no more penalties when help is used for Easy puzzles and some scoring tweaks. The changes in detail:

- There is no longer any penalty for using the built-in help with Easy puzzles, no matter how much the help is used. This is aimed at giving better support to new players who are just learning how to solve the puzzles.

- Some small tweaks have been made to the scoring. In particular, 8x8 puzzles now score more points.

- When the option to view a leaderboard is selected from an Options menu, or when the points for a completed puzzle are tapped, the leaderboard is shown in a new way.

Some of the benefits of the new leaderboard display style are:
- it is expected to work more reliably
- dark and light display modes are respected in the normal way
- on narrow screens, player names are not truncated
- it resolves an issue being seen on iPads where a leaderboard was sometimes showing as dark text on a dark background
- it is quick and easy to switch between different leaderboards (just tap the leaderboard picture).

The standard Game Center display style is still used when viewing the leaderboards via the Game Center dashboard, reached by tapping the player symbol on the menu page. For players who prefer the standard leaderboard display style at all times, an option in the Sumaddle app settings makes it possible to restore the previous leaderboard display style.

A new spotlight feature for highlighting numbers and improved 9x9 puzzle generation. All changes in detail:

- The new number spotlight feature makes it quick and easy to highlight numbers of the same value. The How To Use and Tips sections of the introduction have been updated to show how the feature works.

- 9x9 puzzles are now generated faster and the puzzles are more likely to involve advanced or expert complexity, when generated at these levels.

- An issue has been fixed where the finish button would sometimes turn active while there will still squares with pencil markings, even though not all blocks had been placed.

Version 1.46.1 is a patch update that adds a setting to allow the spotlight buttons to be turned off, for the benefit of players who do not require the new functionality.

The puzzle generator built into the app can now generate 9x9 puzzles! Other functional improvements are also included. The changes in detail:

- The Advanced and Expert modes of Random Play now support generation of 9x9 puzzles. 9x9 puzzles can also be launched from any play mode when the option to select the size of the next puzzle is enabled in the Random Play settings. The free preview of Random Play has been supplemented with some examples of 9x9 puzzles.

- When puzzles are generated with hidden sum values, the difficulty weighting selected in the settings is now observed more closely.

- Empty squares have a slightly darker appearance than squares with numbers. This gives a clearer distinction between squares where it is known that a number will appear and squares where a block might still be possible. It also helps to make pencil mode easier to use.

- A new app setting makes it possible to disable Game Center completely. The app settings can be found in the section Sumaddle of the device settings.

- The screens for the in-app settings have been de-cluttered by moving additional information into info items which are collapsed by default.

- More improvements to help explanations.

Some small usability issues were being encountered in version 1.45.0. When a square was tapped, it would sometimes lose focus immediately, which meant it had to be tapped again to be selected. Selection of squares by swiping was also not always working correctly. These problems are fixed in patch version 1.45.1.

Some small enhancements:

- In the previous release, a way to invert a selection was introduced (please see the previous release notes for details). To complement this feature, a new setting makes it possible to show the sum combinations in inverted form too.

- After playing a puzzle in the section Puzzle Sets, the overview of puzzles now brings the puzzle just played into view automatically. Previously, it was sometimes necessary to scroll down to find the puzzle just played.

- Also included: an attempted fix for occasional crashes that have been reported as happening on iPhones running iOS 16.

Added another way to play faster and more contextual information for Random Play puzzles. The changes in detail:

- Players will already be familiar with the technique of tapping a sum value to select the squares between two blocks. A second tap now inverts the selection and selects the squares outside the blocks. This makes it possible to apply updates to all the squares outside the blocks simultaneously, in the same way as it works for the squares between the blocks when these are selected together.

- In Random Play, the mode used to generate a puzzle is shown on the outcome page.

Version 1.39.1 is a patch update to version 1.39.0, with a fix for a small issue concerning the new inverted selection. This was not working correctly when an inverted selection was applied to a row with a single square between the blocks.

Some small corrections and enhancements. The changes in detail:

- The page showing the outcome of a puzzle now includes summary information to describe the puzzle just played (this is shown at the top).

- In the performance analysis, the analysis at group level now shows the average points for the puzzles in a group, instead of the total points.

- Long help explanations can now be scrolled. This ensures that the explanations are able to fit within the display space available.

- In Random Play, when the setting for selecting the size of the next puzzle has been turned on, a new option lets players choose to see the outcome page of the previous puzzle when Random Play is first launched. This makes it possible to select the size of the first new puzzle to be generated.

- Also included: some cosmetic improvements, a fix to the way the candidate values for empty puzzle squares are determined and more corrections to the help explanations.

Some small refinements and corrections relating to the new performance analysis and the new generator logic added in version 1.32.0. This includes some improvements to the way the help determines the next step to show.

Performance analysis has been added as a new feature, a red filter is available to supplement the dark-mode appearance and the puzzle generator is better than ever. The changes in detail:

- Each section of the app now has an option to show an analysis of performance. This gives players a detailed overview of which puzzles scored the most points and the time taken to solve the puzzles. Players can also see where help was used the most and the impact that this had on the points scored. In the section Random Play, players who are interested in climbing the daily leaderboard quickly will find the analysis of the scoring rate (points per minute) particularly useful!

- A new option in the settings makes it possible to turn on a red filter when dark mode is active on the device. This can help to reduce blue light even more.

- New logic has been built into the Random Play puzzle generator, for generating puzzles with even more ingenuity. The new logic is used in the play modes Advanced and Expert.

- Also in this version: some fixes relating to the use of pencil mode, a fix for rare cases of the help not performing any changes and more improvements to the help explanations.

More cunning has been built into the puzzle generator and a new setting has been added to Random Play, allowing easier or harder puzzles to be generated more often. The changes in detail:

- New logic has been added to the puzzle generator for generating puzzles with even more cunning. The new logic is encountered in the Advanced and Expert play modes of Random Play. The (free) Random Play preview also includes some examples.

- A new setting has been added to Random Play which makes it possible to give more weight to either easier or harder puzzles, if preferred. Players who like playing the easiest or hardest puzzles the most now have a way to generate these puzzles more often.

- Also, more small improvements to the help explanations.

A new Random Play setting that allows puzzles to be generated with less-challenging permutation logic. This will benefit Advanced and Expert players who are not keen on permutation analysis! Some small corrections to the help explanations are also included in this version.

A bundle of usability improvements and small enhancements. The offline playing experience has been improved too, which will also benefit players who prefer not to sign in to Game Center. The changes in detail:

- When a puzzle is solved in the Challenge Trail or in a Puzzle Set, the new leaderboard total is shown below the points scored (after the first puzzle and space permitting), even when playing offline.

- Likewise, the new total is always shown below the points scored when a puzzle is solved in Random Play, even if the points cannot be posted to the leaderboard straight away. This makes it possible for players to track their total score and perhaps aim for a certain target when playing offline or when not signed in to Game Center.

- When the squares between two blocks are selected by tapping a sum value, any cells outside the blocks that are still empty are now changed to number cells automatically. This works for a sum of 0 too.

- When pencil mode is active, a candidate number can be eliminated from a square by tapping the number twice, just like in normal mode. Previously, it was unpredictable whether one or two taps were necessary, which made the process of pencil value elimination awkward to use.

- Dark mode is observed in more places (secondary buttons, popup options menu).

Random Play now offers 4x4 puzzles and has a new play mode "Keep It Simple", ideal for novice players! There is also a fix for rare cases of the help not performing any changes (only affected Random Play in expert mode).

Version 1.23.1. has an additional fix to prevent the puzzle generator from getting stuck when attempting to generate a large puzzle with the new play mode Keep It Simple.

This release supports iOS 14 and above but no longer supports iOS 13. The reasons for this move are explained in the FAQ section "app insights" at the support site.

Bespoke puzzle generation, new graphics and adaptions for iOS 15. The changes in detail:
- The feature that allows a Random Play puzzle to be generated for a selected size, added in version 1.14, has been extended to allow the skill level to be selected too (new settings option).
- New leaderboard graphics, also used for puzzle set packs.
- Fix for pencil squares changing unexpectedly to number squares while pencil mode is in operation.
- Adaptions for iOS 15, to ensure a consistent look and feel with previous versions. This version has been tested with devices running iOS 14 and iOS 15.