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Scratch 2.0
Release Date	5/9/2013
Programming language	Flash
	« 1.4

Custom Blocks

The Vector Paint Editor

Cloud variables

Scratch 2.0 is the second major version of Scratch. It features a redesigned editor and website, and allows you to edit projects directly from your web browser.

It went into public beta on January 28, 2013,^[1] and was officially released on May 9th, 2013. The 2.0 beta site and the old 1.4 site were both taken down from May 6th to May 8th so the Scratch Team can move the projects across.^[2]

History

Scratch 2.0 was announced by andresmh on the Scratch Forums in January 2010.^[3] The first released experiment by the Scratch Team as part of 2.0's development was the Experimental Viewer, in August 2010.^[4] Later, in 2011, a beta Flash Player was released for projects, which logged-in users could choose to use. In 2012, this was replaced by a version of the alpha editor; this version was made the default for all users that October.

In May 2011, the first known version of the project editor, the prealpha, was released to a limited audience at Scratch Day @ MIT. A little while after this, the Scratch Team started posting updates, called Scratch 2.0 Progress Reports, to their blog. The new website and redesigned project editor, by then in the alpha stage (at alpha.scratch.mit.edu), were premiered for a few days to the public for Scratch Day 2012, a year later. Over the rest of 2012, people were brought in to test this version: community moderators and selected educators; Collab Counselors, former curators, Scratch Design Studio curators, TBG moderators, and a group of 500 volunteers.

In December 2012, the public beta was announced to begin on January 28, 2013. It was available at beta.scratch.mit.edu from then on until its full release, upon which it replaced the previous website.

New Features

Scratch has been completely rewritten in Adobe Flash for version 2.0, but it will still run projects from older versions of Scratch. It's still completely free and free of ads.

Confirmed Features

It has the following new features:

Custom blocks^[5]
Cloning
Cloud data (variables stored on the website)
Sound Editor
Video sensing
Vector graphics, as well as bitmap graphics
A backpack for copying objects from other people's projects
Better ways to credit users
Follow users to subscribe to their projects (replaces the friend system)^[6]
Galleries renamed studios, and can now have multiple curators
Customizable user pages
Redesigned comment replies: @username shows who you're replying to
Use @username in a comment to link to a user's profile

New blocks

Current time
Username
Show or hide lists using the show variable & hide variable blocks
When Backdrop Switches to ()

Possible Future Features

The following are being discussed as possible features for Scratch 2.0 and versions beyond:

Cloud variables that can store strings
Cloud lists
Custom reporter blocks^[7] (they can currently only be stack blocks)
The ability to receive information from other websites, such as Twitter
New formatting and text layout features
Better collaboration, to help groups work on projects together
A library of user-made custom blocks
A "media center", which connects to sites like Scratch Resources, Wikimedia, and OpenClipArt
An HTML5 viewer for mobile devices, like iOS devices which do not support Flash^[8] (See Scratch on Tablets for unofficial viewers.)

Gallery

See also: Category:Scratch 2.0 Images

Scratch 2.0 Images
A screenshot from the pre-alpha at Scratch Day @ MIT in 2011. Many Scratchers disagreed with the new look.^[9]
An alpha version of the Scratch 2.0 project editor/creator.
An alpha version of the Scratch 2.0 website project page.
The Front Page of the prototype.
A Scratch 2.0 search mockup by Gaia (Scratch Team member).
An example of a project playing with the increased size online.
A procedure and its usage, in the Scratch Day 2011 pre-alpha.
Using a custom block (procedure) named "jump" in the main script of a sprite to make it jump, move, and jump again.
A procedure in the Scratch 2.0 beta
The Scratch 2.0 sound editor