Westeros

It’s been in the work for a few months, and at last, those of you with iOS or Android devices have a good chance (regional availability aside) to get a hold of the latest update to the World of Ice and Fire app (not the same thing as the forthcoming The World of Ice and Fire book), also known as the Game of Throens Guide for Android devices (Order: iTunes, Google Play). It’s a very substantial update, including dozens of new character entries, and scores of entries for many of the locations in the Lands of Ice and Fire maps. Especially all those new, never-before-mentioned locations found on the map of Essos, all taken straight from notes and details GRRM shared with us.

And for more casual fans who aren’t so interested in entries and the accompanying art? A Tyrion chapter from The Wind of Winter is included in the app, which is free to download (info packs—detailed entries that carry the app through the various books of the series—must be paid for as in-app purchases, but are unnecessary to get the excerpt).

Now, there’s lots of questions surrounding the app and its availability, so we’ll try and answer them below.

* Where is the app available?

The iOS version of the app should be very widely available—in every country that has an iTunes store, I’m told—but unfortunately the Android version is limited to the United States at this time. Random House is working to try to make it more widely available, with the eventual aim of having it globally available.

* Isn’t there a Nook version? Does it have the update?

There is a Nook version of the app… but that one has not been updated. However, apparently Nook devices can get the Google Play version of the app, so go grab that one if you’re in the US.

* Once one has the app update, where’s the excerpt?

On the iOS version, there’s a button to the upper left that opens a sidebar menu. Click that, and then just hit the excerpts button (yes, more excerpts are planned for future releases). For the Android version, there’ll be a button at the top of the home screen that indicates "TWoW Excerpt".

* Having trouble restoring previous in-app purchases after updating?

This one comes to us from Random House digital content director Ken Wohlrob, who has been invaluable to getting the app to fans:

Fix #1: 1) log out of the app store in your Settings, 2) restart your device, and then 3) re-login to the app store in your Settings before you click restore purchases

If Fix #1 doesn’t work, try fix #2: 1) delete the app off of your device, 2) Log out of the app store, 3) Restart your device, 4) Log back
in to the app store, 5) Redownload a fresh version of the app, 6) Click the restore purchases button.