Scratch 3.0

Scratch 3.0 project page.
The Scratch 3.0 sound recorder.

**Scratch 3.0** is the third and current major version of Scratch. It was released on January 2, 2019, and is a complete redesign and reimplementation of Scratch written in JavaScript. It features a new, modern look and design, and fixed many bugs present in Scratch 2.0. It is compatible with many mobile devices and does not require Flash, enabling users to create from a wider range of locations. Scratch 3.0 is not compatible with Internet Explorer, and it does not require Flash because it was made in preparation for the end of support for Flash, which happened on December 31, 2020.

## Interface

*Main article: Scratch User Interface*
The Scratch editor is designed to make coding easier for beginners and New Scratchers. The area to edit the project is on the left, while the Stage, for viewing projects, and the Sprites Pane is on the right.

### Organization

Scratch is organized into multiple sprites, which act as multiple characters that can interact with each other using blocks. The Sprites can be accessed using the Sprites Pane in the bottom right under the Stage. Each sprite has its blocks, costumes, and sounds, and can move on its own.

### Code Area

*Main article: Code Area*
The Code Area is located on the left of the editor. where one adds and edits blocks, which are bits of code that act as scripts that run the project. To the left is the Block Palette, the area from which blocks can be dragged. Blocks are grouped into 9 sections: Motion, Looks, Sound, Events, Control, Sensing, Operators, Variables, and My Blocks. There are also multiple extensions that can be added to the project that adds new features or let Scratch interact with external devices.

### Paint Editor

*Main article: Paint Editor*
The Paint Editor is an editor where costumes for sprites can be made and edited. It has vector and bitmap (raster) versions that one can easily switch between. The Costumes Library has many premade costumes that one can use in their projects.

### Sound Editor

*Main article: Sound Editor*
The Sound Editor is an editor where sounds for sprites can be made and edited. It has several tools that can be used to edit sounds, a sound recorder, and a sound library where premade sounds can be used.

## New Features

### Blocks

* Many blocks are replaced in a different order.
* Events Blocks are the color of the Scratch 2.0 Control Blocks, and control blocks are a bit lighter than the old events blocks.
* The blocks have been slightly enlarged for mobile users.
* More Blocks has been renamed as My Blocks and is a shade of light red, closely resembling pink.
* Default inputs have been changed on some blocks.
* Music blocks, Video Sensing blocks, and pen blocks have been moved to extensions.
* New extensions: Text to Speech, Translate, micro:bit, and Lego Mindstorms EV3.
* PicoBoard and LEGO WeDo 1.0 are no longer supported.
* Scratch 3.0 introduced the following new blocks:

For extension blocks, please go to the extension pages.

### Paint Editor

*Main article: Paint Editor*
* The Vector editor is now the default.
* New color selector and eraser tool.
* Many tools have been moved
* Many options, such as deletion, going forward/backward layers, copying and pasting, and grouping are now shown by default instead of only appearing when a specific tool is selected.
* Fonts have been replaced with Sans Serif, Serif (Times), Handwriting, Marker, Curly, Pixel, 中文 (Chinese), 日本語 (Japanese), and 한국어 (Korean).

### Sound Editor

* The Edit and Effects tabs have been combined.
* Some Edit tools have been moved above the sound viewer.
* Projects can now be created on tablets and played on both tablets and phones.
* The vector paint editor is now the default editor.

### Website

*Main article: Scratch Website*
* The website has been updated with a new look.
* Some pages, such as the Ideas Page, have been overhauled.
* Internet Explorer, Opera, and Silk are no longer supported.

## Updates

On January 9, 2019, the Scratch Team released new updates for Scratch 3.0, fixing many bugs Scratchers had reported. They included projects getting stuck on the loading screen, and the love and favorites not showing up. This announcement was shown on the Front Page.

In early-mid January 2019, the front page banner was changed from "The new Scratch is here!" to "Create stories, games, and animations" and "Share with others around the world". Below the banner, there are two buttons: "Start Creating", leading to the project editor, and "Join", leading to a page to create a Scratch account. There was also a video demonstrating what you can create with Scratch.

On April 19, 2019, some more updates were released. It included the Go Direct Force & Acceleration Extension and bug fixes.

On August 1, 2019 updates to the sound editor were released. It made improvements to the sound editor, including the option to select portions of the sound, copying and pasting, and basic keyboard shortcuts to the editor.

On February 13, 2020, an update to the Paint Editor was made. It included the Costume Centering Feature. The tool allows a costume to be centered more easily.

On May 18, 2020, more updates were made to the Paint Editor. It included a feature that made it now possible to zoom out beyond the canvas and more of the Paint Editor can now be seen on different browser sizes.

## File Formats

*Main article: Scratch File Format*
Scratch 3.0 uses .sb3 file format for projects and .sprite3 for sprites. These formats are more efficient than Scratch 2.0 file formats.[*citation needed*]

## Controversy

Scratch 3.0 was criticized for its lack of new features and changes to the user interface. Some users quit Scratch because they were dissatisfied with the new design and/or did not like the changes made to Scratch.

## Gallery

* A comparison of the horizontal and vertical block layout.
* A design chart for the Move () stepsblock.
* Design charts for various blocks.
* Another design chart for some vertical blocks.
* A third design chart for some vertical blocks.
* Some of the Scratch 3.0 blocks and the block palette.
* A design chart for the horizontal Reset block.
* An old design chart for some horizontal blocks. There aren't any in the released version at https://llk.github.io/scratch-gui/
* The comments for blocks.
* New Sound Blocks introduced in 3.0.
* Editing Audio in 3.0.
* The February 6, 2017 concept sketch of Scratch 3.0.
* The paint editor of Scratch 3.0.
* Scratch 3.0 in full-screen mode.
* Music Extension Picture
* Pen Extension Picture
* The video motion extension icon.
* An early version of the Scratch Bit.
* The extensions library for Scratch 3.0.

## See Also

* Flash Player
* HTML5 Player
* Scratch 2.0
* Development of Scratch 3.0

## References

1. ↑ Development of Scratch 3.0
2. ↑ https://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/end-of-life.html
3. ↑ topic:331439 "We want to thank you all for the great feedback you’ve been giving us about Scratch 3.0! We’ve been busy reading what you have to say about it and wanted to update you about some of the work we’re doing in response to this. We designed Scratch 3.0 to be easier to build on than Scratch 2.0 was, so while Scratch 2.0 didn’t change very much, you will see Scratch 3.0 grow over time with new features and extensions."
4. ↑ topic:348127 "We wanted to give you an update on some of the things we’ve been working on since our last post."
5. ↑ topic:365737 "One thing we heard a lot of feedback on has been the Scratch sound editor and today we are excited to share an updated version!"
6. ↑ jandrewg. (2019). ""I have quit scratch because Scratch 3.0 has broken so many good projects."" users:jandrewg