Shimeji Support
Shimeji is an iPhone app for making your own animated characters, importing ones your friends made, and playing with them right inside the app.
Contact us: [email protected]
It helps if you include your iPhone model, the iOS version and the app version (shown at the bottom of the app’s Settings tab), and a screenshot if something looks wrong. We usually reply within a few days.
Common questions
Where are my characters?
On the Home tab. It lists the characters you made, copied, imported or downloaded. Tick a character to add it to the playground, and tap its picture for details. Swipe right on a character to copy and edit it, or left to delete it. Your 3D pets are on the 3D Pets card on the Home tab.
Everything is saved only on your iPhone, inside the app. Deleting the app deletes your characters, so export the ones you want to keep (see below). If you use iCloud Backup, they are part of your iPhone backup.
How do I import a character file?
Open the Create tab, tap Import a file and choose the character’s .zip or .shimeji file. If a file holds several characters, choose the ones you want.
The Files app unzips a .zip when you tap it. If that happened, pick the unzipped folder instead, or share the .zip to Shimeji.
Can I import a classic Shimeji character pack?
Yes. Classic desktop Shimeji packs (a .zip with an img folder of shime1.png, shime2.png… pictures, usually with actions.xml and behaviors.xml) import the same way: Create > Import a file. A pack with several characters lets you choose which ones to import. The app only reads the pictures and the XML settings; programs in the pack are ignored. A few classic features work differently: right-facing pictures are replaced by mirrored ones, and touch hotspots are not supported yet.
How do I open a character from the Files app?
In Files, touch and hold the .zip (instead of tapping it), then choose Open With > Shimeji, or Share and then Shimeji. A .shimeji file opens in Shimeji with a simple tap.
How do I export a character or send it to a friend?
Open the Create tab, tap Export a character and choose the character. The app makes a .zip file named after the character, and the share sheet lets you save it to Files or send it with AirDrop, Messages or another app. Your friend imports it with Create > Import a file.
Why can’t my characters walk around the Home Screen or other apps?
iOS does not let apps show characters on top of the Home Screen or other apps, so for now they live inside Shimeji: on the Playground, and walking along the menus while you browse (switch this with Shimeji in menus in Settings). Future versions of iOS might allow more.
How do I change my choice about usage statistics and crash reports?
Open the Settings tab, tap Privacy and choose Allow or Don’t allow. It takes effect at once. Details are in the privacy policy.
Do I need an account? Are there ads?
No account and no ads. The app does not use an advertising identifier and does not track you.
The Discover screen doesn’t load or a download fails.
Discover needs an internet connection. Check your connection and try again a little later. Characters you already have keep working offline.
Privacy
Your characters and drawings stay on your iPhone. Read the privacy policy for the details. Privacy and data protection questions: [email protected].