Cubeast – Cubing the Smart Way | Hacker News Reader

Cubeast – Cubing the Smart Way

cubeast.com

26 pointsaxiomdata31610 comments

Cubeast looks pretty awesome, but it only works in Chrome, which is a non-starter for me. So a few months back I started my own Python/Qt app, which is roughly similar to Cubeast, but less features as of now: https://github.com/zwegner/CubingB

I haven't had much time to work on it lately, and there's limitations like only supporting Bluetooth on macOS and only one type of cube (the MoYu AI), but it's open source and works pretty well as a timer (both for smart cubes and regular cubes).

That's cool! Moyu AI is a great cube but the electronics are terrible. I have had 3 already and they all stop tracking moves at some point. Cubeast is much more than simple timer. The statistics, method steps tracking and case recognition are killer features. At the same time basic drilling solves is as seemless as on cstimer (and your app it seems) as opposed to native apps from gan or moyu which are bloated and slow.

Fwiw I submitted cubeast to HN some time ago but it didn't get any votes.

Yeah my MoYu also has a face or two that sometimes desync. Really annoying.

I have a basic case recognition feature, though no statistics are tracked there yet. I also have some code for tracking splits (only CFOP), though I haven't integrated it into the app for tracking stats.

csTimer has a ton of features too, but I've completely stopped using it, since CubingB has everything I need for basic timing and lots of improvements (like not losing session data, easily moving solves between sessions, partial scramble diagrams).

OK, I'll bite: Has the name "Rubik" been canceled? It took me a while to realize that they were talking about Rubik Cubes.

> Has the name "Rubik" been canceled?

Rubik is a trademark in the context of toys. Competing rotating cube products are available, but can't use the name unless they want to be cancelled by trademark lawyers. Hence the sport is just "Cubing".

No. I’ve been a cubist for decades and it’s uncommon for people to say “Rubik’s”. Partly because hardly anyone prefers the original brand. Partly because insiders know what “cube” refers to.

Ironically, Rubik's brand cubes are fairly terrible for speedcubing.

It's been cancelled in the same way that the name "Frisbee" has been cancelled, ie. it's a trademark that isn't used in any competitions, organizations, or any of the communities around them because of trademark stupidity.

It took way way more time than I care to admit to realize that this was about that puzzle. I clicked expecting it to be something about data cubes (business intelligence/data warehousing), so the mention of "Bluetooth cubes" put my tired brain in such a broken state that I couldn't make heads or tails from that site.

There’s Bluetooth cubes now?!?

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