Molecules 1.0.1 available on iTunes

July 26, 2008
Molecules icon

It looks like things are settling down in the App Store, because Molecules 1.0.1 is now available for download.

Fixed in this version:

  • The chemical bond lookup tables have been enhanced to include standard amino acids, all nucleotides, and the bonds in-between, so most DNA, RNA, and protein structures should be properly represented.
  • A visual corruption bug when scrolling over the rows in the detailed description of the molecule has been fixed.
  • A minor glitch where the Info button on the main view could be pressed twice in a row has been fixed.

I'll admit that I pushed 1.0 out a little early, but I had assumed that I could get a patch posted within a couple days. I apologize to the iTunes reviewers who described 1.0 as an incomplete product. It currently is more proof-of-concept than useful scientific tool, but I plan to add capabilities as quickly as I can to bring it closer to that level.

I'm currently working on a larger 1.1 update, which will add spacefilling and cylindrical (with residue-specific coloring) visualization modes, integrated keyword searching of the Protein Data Bank, and should improve performance by caching the molecules in a SQLite database the first time they are loaded.

Comments

Bryan Dodson (not verified)February 4, 2009 at 8:10 PM

Very nice application! In future iterations, would it be possible to change the visualization (ie the bond length) in the app? The reason I ask is because when I find myself viewing protein structures, I think that they do not match well with what I see on, say, a desktop app. This is due to the fact that a lot of the molecules look too cluttered, mostly by the way bonds themselves are being rendered too long (thereby making the negative space become cluttered by the background). I know that there is not much screen economy on the ipod touch, but perhaps it may be worth exploring with user input? (If only by a general multiplier could ease such a process; moreover, that way individual bond lengths would not have to be assigned per element.)

Also, in a future update, would it be possible to view cml files or would you feel this unneeded due to such programs as babble on the desktop? Just may be useful to conserve desktop disk space without the need of such a program like babble.

Awesome program in any case and keep up the awesome work!
Thanks for your time.

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