iOS Release Notes Archive

  • 2018
  • 2017
  • 2016
  • 2015

We now support special characters and even emojis!

We received advice from a customer that Latvian Unicode failed to render correctly when adding QuickMarks in the app. Now, users of any language (not just Latvian!) can see all text that uses Unicode characters, as well as emojis... and even italicized emojis! :-)

Unicode is an international coding standard, designed to accommodate all of the writing standards known around the world. Each letter, digit, or symbol is assigned a unique numeric value with Unicode, which is applied across different programs and platforms, universally. UTF-16 is the method used to encode the Unicode characters.

Although we've made this positive change in the app, if you opt to edit a comment that contains Unicode on the desktop version of Feedback Studio, your Unicode may render incorrectly. We suggest only using Unicode on your iOS device until we release a fix that supports Unicode on the web! Watch this space!


Submission IDs and time stamps have returned to digital receipts

They're back! Get more information out of your digital receipts with a reinstated submission ID and timestamp, all delivered to your email inbox right after your submission.


Rubric and grading form fixes

Grading form content will now remain available at all times

Oops! We found that grading form cell content sometimes disappeared when scrolling through a grading form, specifically when tapping inside the cell and scrolling through it. We've made sure that this won't happen again!

Grading form scores now always appear in their respective rows

When grading in a particularly long grading form, we discovered that scores assigned to the first two rows of a grading form would frustratingly duplicate in every other row when scrolling down the form. Now, you're able to navigate freely, with scores remaining where you originally placed them, and absolutely nowhere else!

Applying a grading form's total score to the grade will always requires manual confirmation

It's really important that your grading form scores aren't immediately added to a paper's final grade, especially if the post date has already passed. We found that scores were automatically being applied to the grade, rather than the intended manual application. We've quickly resolved this; scores will only be applied to a paper's grade upon the manual press of Apply Total Score to Grade.

Grading form cells now appear above the keyboard during cell editing

When grading in a long grading form, the keyboard obscured the cells being edited, when the grading form failed to scroll up above the keyboard. Now, the form scrolls up, making the cell you're editing completely visible.

Rubric selections are now appearing as expected after exiting and returning to the rubric

We received a report that, after upgrading to version 3.1 of the app, rubric selections were failing to save; however, if a grade was applied after making selections, the grade appeared to save successfully with respect to the previous rubric selections. We've sorted this! Rubric selections are all completely recovered upon returning to a rubric after exit.

Student summary comments are now completely visible

As a student viewing a summary comment left by an instructor, the summary comment appeared cut off at the bottom, and could only be viewed by exiting the submission, then accessing it again. We've resolved this! The summary comment is now always visible to students, just as it should be!

Line breaks are a go! Insert a double line break and it will now stick!

A few of our instructors who updated to version 3.1 of the app reported that, after hitting Done upon completing a summary comment, line breaks were removed. Double line breaks would be converted into a single line break, leaving feedback to appear as a large chunk of text. This issue passed into the desktop version of Feedback Studio and looked what we can only describe as 'icky'. This was certainly not an intended behavior... we've managed to fix this, with line breaks staying put!

We support iOS 11

As part of iOS 11, 'Smart Punctuation' became a default setting for iOS devices. This setting substitutes some forms of punctuation with a more typographically-suitable alternative. This change resulted in some characters in the app, such as summary comments, rendering incorrectly... did someone say smart? Luckily, we've totally got this! We now support iOS 11 to ensure that you can view all comments without issue. Hooray!

Push notifications are now available for students!

Never miss your feedback or due dates again! We'll leave an alert in your device notification center when we think you need to know about your Turnitin assignments. We'll let you know when...

  • Your instructor updates your feedback after the post date has passed (this includes any changes to your paper's grade or comments).
  • Your paper due date is coming up (you will receive a notification to remind you of the date and time that your paper is due only if you have not yet submitted to the assignment).
  • Your post date has passed and feedback is available to view (this includes your paper's grade, comments, and ETS comments).

You'll be asked if you'd like to enable push notifications the next time you submit a paper to Turnitin.

Oh, look at those tidy grading forms...

Reinstated the top criterion header for portrait mode - We found that the top criterion header wasn't appearing if a grading form was opened in portrait mode. We found this to only be an issue on an iPhone using iOS 11. The criterion is now always visible to our users, regardless of your iPhone orientation.

Corrected issues when opening a grading form - We noticed that the grading form loaded twice upon opening, when ideally, it should only load once with ease. We've made some adjustments to ensure that the grading form only loads once to ensure a quicker and more streamlined access.

The keyboard no longer covers grading form cells - Oops... had difficulty viewing cells in grading forms? We've fixed that! You can now scroll the grading form up to make the cell you're editing completely visible when the keyboard is present.

Bug fix

Fixed a bug preventing the rubric grade from saving - We received a number of reports that the app was failing to save entries made in the attached rubric. Upon reentering the rubric after making selections, users found that their selections were cleared. This was certainly not intended behavior! We understand the seriousness of this issue and thankfully, it's all sorted!

Unnecessary scale values appearing in SplitView mode

When accessing the qualitative rubric of a graded assignment in SplitView mode, extraneous scale values were present causing confusion. This was purely a cosmetic issue, but being the perfectionists that we are, we got rid of it quickly!

Incorrect cell point values in iPhone SplitView mode

A user highlighted that incorrect cell point values were displaying in their custom rubric. Once again, the issue was cosmetic, as the actual score value for the grade remained correct. We fixed it anyway!

Unexpected ability to overwrite the voice recording of a partially downloaded paper

On quick glimpse of an actively downloading paper with a voice comment attached, users were presented with a red record button, rather than the expected play button. Having temporarily lost our voices *gulp*, we took our cough syrup and found them again Engineers have successfully reinstated the play button! Phew.

Crash fixes and stability improvements

Turnitin engineers have been working hard to ensure that your Feedback Studio for iOS app is moving along smoothly at all times.

Incorrect information displaying in a custom rubric

Well, who'd have thought a harmless custom rubric could cause so many problems? In this instance, certainly not us! Whilst grading in Feedback Studio for iOS, a user highlighted some unfortunate issues in their custom rubric; this included double cell selection, weighted criteria percentages in the left-hand column (found only in a standard rubric), as well as the max grade ('out of' denominator) being totally incorrect. At the same time, the correct data was transferred to the browser version of Feedback Studio.

Custom rubric scale value appearing next to column header cells

When investigating the aforementioned bug, we noticed some confusing (but cosmetic) scale values appearing in several column header cells.

We've managed to fix what can only be described as obnoxious pests! We figured that the problem, in this case, was a result of the custom rubric being formatted/scaled/scored in exactly the same way as a standard rubric, tricking the system into believing it should behave just like a standard rubric.

Crash fixes

  • Failed logout after exiting split-screen view, causing users to be logged back in due to unexpected crashing.
  • Queuing a large set of submissions for download caused the app to crash.

We're now available on iPhone!

Calling all iPhone users! Grade or submit from anywhere with the Turnitin Feedback Studio app. Now available to instructors and students on iPhone (as well as any other device running iOS 9), and optimized for mobile with adaptive screen sizes.

We're always aiming to make submissions from your mobile device as effortless as possible, and what better way to do this than from your iPhone? Use Feedback Studio from the train, bus, or wherever your mood takes you. We've got you covered.

Download it now!

Improved discoverability of hard-to-find features

Who needs a feedback summary view? Not us! We've addressed several requests to reduce the number of steps involved in accessing certain features in the app.

Previously, the grade, rubric/ grading form, summary text comments, voice comments, and submission information were available in the feedback summary view; now they're all available from the document viewer for both instructors and students.

By cutting down the number of taps involved in reaching important features, instructors and students can now experience a more streamlined and quicker feedback and submission process.

We've refreshed the style of the app

We've implemented a big styling refresh to the app's user interface, including a new color palette and adjustments to feedback tools to build on our accessibility efforts. The new color palette is now in line with the colors found in Turnitin Feedback Studio for desktop.

Updates to QuickMark and bubble comments

We've updated the design of QuickMarks and bubble comments to improve the clarity of our features and better adapt to the iPhone scale. With clearer text action labels, rather than ambiguous icon-only buttons, we've made user navigation easier. We've also made QuickMark details front and center to avoid having to search for this information.

Improved sorting in the assignment inbox

We've added the ability to sort the assignment inbox by grade, allowing instructors to order student submissions by not graded status. It's now so much easier to find the ⇅sort button, too!

Fixed an issue with disappearing bubble comments

Oops! You told us that the text in your bubble comments disappeared after long-pressing or moving a bubble comment around the paper. We're sorry about that! Our engineers have fixed this pesky bug, so you can now grade with the complete confidence that your comments will stay put.

Simplified submissions

The Feedback Studio for iPad app now fits into any workflow! Use the share extension to submit from content development and storage apps like Google Docs, Pages, Dropbox, iCloud and more!

Step-by-step guidance for submitting via a third-party app is available iOS Home. Happy submitting!

Microphone improvements

Tap the microphone and let your students hear your feedback; the team threw in a couple fixes to voice comments to make your recording session solid.

Access code bug fixed

We wiped out a little bug that was trying to keep our users out; you can now be certain that users with access code logins won’t be ignored!

Improved class and assignment organization

On our quest for organization, the team spent time sorting and separating assignments and classes to make locating master classes and sections easier.

Additional bug fixes and improvements

As always, Turnitin engineers have been working hard to ensure that your Feedback Studio for iPad app works smoothly from start to finish. They've fixed bugs that may have been affecting your workflow and enhanced the performance of the app along the way.

Role switching

Feedback Studio for iPad now supports user role switching! Instructors can mark and grade student submissions and students can submit papers to assignments, as well as view instructor feedback all from inside one, multifunctional app.

Please note that, for all of instructor and student classes to appear in-app, you must be using the same email address for both roles.


Student submission capability

Students are now able to submit papers to assignments using the Feedback Studio for iPad app. The app allows students to select their paper from their iPad device, then upload the paper to Turnitin. The app provides students with the option to submit papers late or resubmit papers if the options have been enabled by their instructor.

Submissions made to TurnitinUK.com or Turnitin.com directly can be accessed in-app and vice versa.


Student review feedback, grades, rubrics, and similarity reports

Students can used Feedback Studio for iPad to view all feedback left by their instructor. Students have full access to their on-paper feedback and are even able to listen to their instructor's voice comments. Viewing assignment rubrics prior to submission and after grading is easy in-app, as well as interpreting a similarity report, which can be toggled on and off.

Streamlined account and class management, with improved instructor inbox

From Feedback Studio for iPad's freshly designed assignment inbox enables instructors to sort by name or by date submitted. The date in which each student has submitted their paper is clearly detailed, alongside the grade and point value awarded to each student (if graded). With the help of the red clock icon, instructors can now identify whether or not a paper was submitted late to an assignment.

Enhanced notification detail

Feedback Studio for iPad provides notifications to keep users up to date about any changes or issues in their Turnitin account. Tap the bell icon in the top right-hand corner of the app to access notifications. For any unread notifications, a red circle will appear alongside the notification icon.

New documentation

To help get you started with Feedback Studio for iOS, iOS Home, providing step-by-step instructions for how to use all new and existing features.

Data fetch sync improvements for small to medium sized classes

We’ve improved the performance for data upload, download, and syncing to present you with the option to download either a single paper or all papers at the same time.

If you opt to download all papers at the same time, you can set a download priority; users are now able to tap on any paper in the downloading queue to download them in the order selected. Alternatively, natural priority download will download papers according to their order in the Assignment Inbox.

Login/password improvements

Turnitin for iPad now updates to identify any incorrect or outdated credentials. If your password is changed while the app is linked to Turnitin, a pop-up box will appear advising of this change and will encourage you to correct the issue.Turnitin, a pop-up box will appear advising of this change and will encourage you to correct the issue.

Once your new password has been entered, you can continue working without interruption, and any unsynced data will be synced upon entry of the new password.

Removal of iOS 7 support

Turnitin for iPad 1.4.1 does not support iOS 7. Please update your device to the most up to date iOS in order to use the newest version of Turnitin for iPad. iPads using iOS 8 will perform considerably better, especially for larger classes with larger assignments.