Update: 22 March 2022. Apple have removed the app from the app store because I didn't want to pay them 100 euro a year to keep the app in the store. Fair enough I guess.

So the iOS app is no longer maintained. For all your future Siteswap Explorer needs I recommend using the Siteswap Explorer website!

Or feel free to continue with the iOS version if you have it!

Siteswap Explorer
by Dave Barnes
barnesy@juggler.net

Welcome to the support page for the Siteswap Explorer app.

If you've come here to find out what siteswap is, I recommend looking at these links.

About the app

The app is all about using siteswap notation to derive other patterns. Instead of typing stuff in or using a list of patterns, you just press buttons to manipulate each siteswap and see an animation of the result. You only ever get the buttons that will yield a new valid siteswap.

Here's a list of the things the app can do:

From buttons on the main screen:

• add an object by adding 1 to all throws
• subtract an object by subtracting 1 from all throws
• increase a throw by adding the siteswap's period to it, so you get something like the last pattern but with an extra ball popping out
• decrease by period (reverse of that)
• delete a throw
• extend the period by inserting another number (the number of objects) at the last possible valid position (e.g. 5353 becomes 53534)
• undo each step

The throw menu (click a number to get there) repeats the throw related operations but with an added 'look before you leap': each option shows what siteswap it will produce. It also gives a little more control:

• you can choose where to insert another throw, so for the above example 53453 becomes reachable.
• swapping. So for example swapping the first 3 of 333 by 2 places to get 531. Or you can swap by just dragging the numbers on the main screen. Hold one for a while to pick it up!

The siteswap menu (top right) does stuff to the whole siteswap:

• add object
• subtract object
• double (e.g. 534 becomes 534534)
• halve (e.g. 534534 becomes 534)
• dual
• time reverse
• showerify
• make one handed
• make two handed
• reset to default pattern (333)

Each of those options only show up when they produce a new and different siteswap and when the app can display that many characters.

Siteswap length is currently limited by screen width. On the smallest devices that will be 9 characters.

The app requires iOS 11 or newer. If that's just too new for you and you think you would like to have the app, please tell me. iOS 11 is a nice limit for me because it means I haven't had to add any OS version checks in the code, but I can consider supporting older versions if I know there is demand!

Please don't hesitate to get in touch (see top of page for the address) if you have a question, a suggestion, or some other feedback. I hope to continue to improve the app, so it would be great to know what you'd like to see!

The animator uses JMLib from JuggleMaster. Thanks for that to Ken Matsuoka, Per Johan Groland and Chunky Kibbles.

Learning about siteswap

• Taylor Glenn explains the basics nicely in this video
• The Gandini Press Siteswaps DVD is the ultimate siteswap resource. And being the lovely people that they are, the Gandinis have made the whole thing available online for free!
• Or for a texty approach, Orinoco has written a lot of good stuff here
• ...and there's a lot of good info on this page. The 'creating new siteswaps' section there was particularly useful for creating this app.