Isle of Time
The story of Taiwan, unfolded
Free · In‑App Purchases
Isle of Time is a digital exhibition chronicling four hundred years of Formosa's history — from the Age of Exploration to modern Taiwan.
Presented with the editorial clarity of a broadsheet newspaper, each article draws from primary sources, archival documents, and images spanning eight distinct historical eras. Browse at your own pace, follow thematic threads that weave across centuries, or let the app surface a new reading each day.
CHRONICLE
Browse a curated timeline spanning eight eras of Taiwan's history — from Dutch and Spanish colonization through the Qing Dynasty, Japanese colonial period, and the road to democracy. A parallel music timeline traces the island's sonic heritage from early gramophone recordings to contemporary indie.
HISTORICAL ATLAS
See where history took place. An interactive map of Taiwan, Penghu, and Green Island plots key events as color-coded dots. Pinch, zoom, and tap to explore connections between eras, follow thematic threads across the island, and jump straight into any article.
THEMATIC THREADS
Follow cross-cutting themes — trade, governance, identity, resistance — that connect events across four centuries into coherent narratives.
DAILY READING
A different article surfaces each day, drawn from across the full archive, so there is always something new to discover.
LISTEN
Have any article read aloud with built-in text-to-speech, and continue listening as you browse.
BOOKMARKS & SEARCH
Save articles for later and search across the entire archive by title or keyword.
Sources and images are drawn from the Academia Historica, National Archives Administration, U.S. National Archives, and other publicly available scholarly resources.
Designed and developed by Studio Aspen.
more 內容很棒,可惜語音是AI,以至於錯音不少,有點可惜,希望這部分能有機會修正。
內容很棒,可惜語音是AI,以至於錯音不少,有點可惜,希望這部分能有機會修正。
Fifteen new volumes, 160 in all. 111 archival images, and images inside a volume now open full screen.
The atlas draws Kinmen, Matsu, Dongsha and Orchid Island.
Fixed the zoom viewer's window size on Mac, and the clipped edge on figure portraits.
1.21 1d ago
Special Issue — a long-form reading surface for a single subject, laid out like a printed magazine. Issue 01 is Yang Chien-ho: five chapters, four accounts from the people and institutions around her, a bibliography, and the sources.
iPhone turns single pages, iPad and Mac open a spread. Tap the folio to jump to any page. Text size changes reflow the issue instead of cutting it off.
1.20 4d ago
Today Tab — New Look
The front page is now a full-screen magazine cover: era colors bleed to the edges, the lead story arrives as a cinematic vertical poster. On iPad and Mac, a two-column layout puts the lead story alongside a curated sidebar.
Onboarding — Now Visual
Five horizontal pages, each showing a real piece of the app — today's cover, the chronicle's era wall, the atlas map with Taiwan, Penghu, and Green Island, and a portrait wall sampled from all 200+ figures. You see what you're getting into before you open anything.
Bug Fixes
• "Continue Reading" tap targets on iPad and Mac now work as expected
• Chronicle tab on Mac no longer shows empty toolbar buttons after selecting an era
1.19 Aug 21
History can now be read by where it happened.
This update brings a location axis to the Atlas, letting time and place meet on a single map.
・Read history by place
Filter by 15 cities and islands, from Keelung to Pingtung, including Hualien, Penghu, and Green Island. Choose one and the map focuses automatically, revealing four centuries of stories layered over the same ground.
・Era × Location, read together
Use either axis on its own, or both at once. Select an era and step through events with the previous and next arrows; add a location and see exactly what one city lived through in that period.
・See a city's weight at a glance
Each city shows its volume count and cover thumbnails, and combinations with no records yet are clearly marked — no need to tap through to find out.
・Island-wide events are no longer left out
Volumes that shaped the whole island and can't be pinned to one place are collected in a pill above the map, one tap away.
・A persistent sidebar on iPad and Mac
Eras and locations sit side by side, so you can adjust and compare in a single glance.
・Your view is remembered
Leave and return to the Atlas, and your filters will be waiting for you.
We've also refined map zooming and node spacing, so densely clustered events stay legible as you zoom in.
Thank you for reading. If this project means something to you, a rating on the App Store helps more people discover Formosa's story.
1.18.0 Aug 7
A major expansion covering the full sweep of Qing-era Taiwan — pioneer settlers, water engineers, rebels, Western naturalists, missionaries, and the final Qing literati.
Story Threads updated: Resistance adds the commanders of the Lin Shuangwen and 1895 Taichung campaigns. Builders adds Guo Xiliu of the Liugong Canal. Pioneers adds early Zhudong settler Wang Shijie. Arts gains a new Qing literati segment bridging into the Japanese-era awakening. Indigenous Histories is now a curated figure thread featuring six Indigenous voices across four centuries.
1.17 Jul 30
New: Story Threads — the threads that run through history
・Follow one theme across centuries, weaving people and events into a single line
・A gallery of figures along the timeline up top; related volumes below
・Tap a figure for their life, or a link marker to jump to where they're mentioned
1.16 Jul 17
・Tip Jar: A new way to support this digital museum. If it brings you joy, you can leave a small tip to help keep it going.
・Reimagined figures browsing: Jump between historical eras with a new era selector, and enjoy a freshly curated order within each era that better follows the flow of history.
・Redesigned Settings for a cleaner, more intuitive experience.
・Numerous layout refinements and stability improvements across iPhone and iPad.
Thank you for journeying with us to the Isle of Time.
1.15 Jul 8
- The Historical Atlas timeline has been redesigned for
clearer eras and cleaner connections.
- The Historical Figures list has been refreshed, with
quick links from each figure to the volumes they appear in.
- Reading progress is now remembered: return to any article
and pick up where you left off.
- Polish across bookmarks, the About page, volume cards,
and overall pacing.
1.14 Jun 24
Meet Astor — your personal digital docent.
Tap "Ask Astor" on any article to ask a knowledgeable guide about what you just read: why it mattered, who the key figures were, and how it shaped Taiwan today. Answers run entirely on-device with Apple Intelligence — private and offline.
Requires iOS 26 and Apple Intelligence.
1.13 Jun 17
What's New in 1.12
• New chapter: The Kingdom of Tungning — the Koxinga dynasty arrives, with deeper coverage of the Siege of Fort Zeelandia.
• Narration progress is now saved — pick up exactly where you left off, even after closing the app.
• Refreshed share cards — sharper quote-card layout in articles and figure pages.
• Revised Thematic Threads and copy polish throughout.
• macOS: smoother cinematic chapter playback, refined Now Playing layout, and tuned default window size.
1.12 Jun 15
• "Figures in This Era" cross-link added below the daily lead story
• 16 new volumes covering the Hamada Incident, the Coup of
Eastern Ning, the Battle of Penghu, and other key episodes of
early Taiwan history
• 12 new historical figures including Cai Qian, the Qianlong
Emperor, Fukang'an, John Dodd, Li Chunsheng, and Camachat
Aslamie (King of Middag)
• Redesigned Atlas (v2) — historical portraits now surface
directly on the map
• Share inspiring quotes straight to Instagram Stories
• Layout polish and faster image loading throughout
1.11 Jun 12
• Redesigned iPad layouts across Figure profiles, Article covers,
Curation, and Search — closer to an editorial magazine rhythm.
• Faster, more reliable cover and beat-image loading for
Cinematic Stories.
1.10 Jun 4
An All-New Visual Upgrade is Here!
We have completely overhauled our core visuals and interface to bring you an even more immersive exploration experience:
- All-New Graphic Novel: Meticulously reshaped visuals and fluid layouts make your story reading experience truly captivating.
- All-New Character Profiles: Fully redesigned character cards and stunning portraits showcase every detail with exquisite fidelity.
- All-New Historical Atlas: A freshly structured historical map and timeline chart make tracking historical contexts clear and intuitive.
Thank you for using our app! If you love this brand-new upgrade, please leave us a nice review on the App Store to show your support!
1.9 Jun 3
20 new historical chapters — Taiwan's timeline keeps growing.
New Chapters
• Imperial Frontier (Qing era) — 7 chapters: Luohanjiao crossing, Zhu Yi-Gui Rebellion, Birth of Chiayi's name, King of the Black Flag, Dazhongye & Wanshan worship, Rise and fall of the Golden Port, Taiwan's first steam locomotive
• Under the Rising Sun (Japanese era) — 7 chapters: Yiwei War, World's Greatest Thief, Opium War, Awakening of the Taiwanese soul, Seediq Bale, Chianan Irrigation miracle, KANO baseball
• Silent Island (Authoritarian era) — 6 chapters: Intellectual disillusionment, Luku Incident, Indigenous elite purges, Internal military purges, Cross-provincial democracy alliance, Institutional independence declaration
Audio
• All 70 volumes now have bilingual narration (Traditional Chinese / English) — 140 tracks in total
• Redesigned audio player with smoother streaming playback
UI Polish
• Article share card with cover, title, and download CTA
• Historical atlas: figure avatars on map, refined padding and nav bar
• Onboarding flow and push notification fixes
Thanks for reading.
1.8 May 30
Redesigned Audio Player
• A fresh Now Playing view that puts the current volume front and center
• New mini player tucked into the tab bar — control playback without leaving your article
• Full support for Lock Screen, Control Center, AirPods, and CarPlay
• Scrub the timeline, skip 15s forward/back, adjust playback speed
Other Improvements
• Daily Reading now rotates through volumes chronologically, with a 7 AM daily notification
• Article share cards: cover + title in one shareable image
• Polished navigation, atlas, and transitions
1.7 May 22
Introducing the new Figures tab!
Meet the people who shaped Taiwan's history — from political leaders and cultural pioneers to witnesses of pivotal moments. Each figure features a full bilingual biography, life journey, and historical legacy, letting you rediscover the island through the lives that lived it.
We've also completely redesigned the audio player with a more intuitive layout and refined visuals, so every chapter of history sounds as good as it reads.
1.6 May 19
Historical Atlas
Explore Taiwan's history on an interactive map. The new Atlas tab plots key historical events across a detailed outline of Taiwan, Penghu, and Green Island — color-coded by era from Dutch colonial rule through modern democracy.
• Pinch to zoom and drag to pan across the map
• Tap any event to see its era, thematic threads, and connections to related events
• Browse all events within an era from the legend bar
• Jump directly from the map into any article
• Read progress syncs with your Chronicle timeline
1.5 May 12
• Improved image display in articles: Gallery images now perfectly match the screen width for a cleaner, more immersive look.
• General performance and stability improvements.
1.4 May 7
• Enhanced exhibition sections: new content on Dutch colonial rule, Koxinga’s Kingdom, transitional justice, and modern social movements.
• General bug fixes and performance improvements.
1.3 May 6
This update brings a redesigned iPad experience, making reading more immersive and focused.
iPad: Enhanced Reading Experience
- Timeline is now integrated into the sidebar for easier browsing
- Unified navigation with Daily Reading, Threads, Bookmarks, and Timeline in one place
- Smoother flow between exploring and reading
Improved Navigation
- Faster access to volumes with a cleaner, more structured layout
- Better organization for exploring historical threads and saved content
Refinements
- Subtle UI improvements and performance enhancements across the app
As always, thank you for reading Isle of Time.
1.2 May 4
• Expanded Educational Content: Discover new historical images with detailed background descriptions, perfect for learning and teaching.
• Enhanced Visual Experience: Improved high-resolution assets and curated descriptions help bring history to life.
• Performance Improvements: Faster browsing and smoother navigation for a better educational journey.
1.1 Apr 25
Fifteen new volumes, 160 in all. 111 archival images, and images inside a volume now open full screen.
The atlas draws Kinmen, Matsu, Dongsha and Orchid Island.
Fixed the zoom viewer's window size on Mac, and the clipped edge on figure portraits.
more Version 1.21 1d ago
Data Not Collected The developer does not collect any data from this app.