4.1.0
2024-03-07
Removed the magic wand. Nobody's using it and questionable pedagogic value.
Also figured out how to make reading mode free. Enjoy dark mode
4.0.7
2023-10-20
Better word reminders
- Support for older iOSs
- Longer flash time
4.0.6
2023-10-12
Show publish date for videos
4.0.5
2023-10-07
Bug fixes
- Crash on sign in
- Tap not working on certain sites
4.0.4
2023-10-02
Support for iOS 17
4.0.3
2023-09-26
- Filter vocabulary by source (news, videos, etc)
- Tap to open the original content during review
4.0.2
2023-09-07
Fixes for M1 and M2 Macs
- Video captions
- Asset sizes
4.0.1
2023-09-04
Camera mode
+ Fix review reminder
4.0.0
2023-09-01
Camera mode
3.9.13
2023-08-24
- Tap tab bar to scroll to top
- Youtube fixes
3.9.12
2023-06-22
Bugfixes
- Make the word reminder work even if already on the highlights tab
- No more hanging when you're reading a book and turn your phone
3.9.11
2023-06-15
Added a reading voice for Mexican Spanish
3.9.10
2023-05-02
- Fixes Look Up for pdfs
- Doesn't stop your music anymore
3.9.9
2023-04-15
Support iOS 16.4.1!
- Bring back the context menu
- Get text-to-speech working in dark mode
3.9.8
2023-03-26
New word reminder design!
3.9.7
2023-02-09
- Less stark reading view
- Select between natural and default reading voice (Helm)
3.9.4
2022-11-07
- Support for speakers of Akan, Assamese, Aymara, Bhojpuri, Bambara, Dogri, Dhivehi, Ewe, Guarani, Goan Konkani, Iloko, Krio, Ganda, Lingala, Mizo, Maithili, Manipuri, Northern Sotho, Oromo, Quechua, Sanskrit, Sorani, Tigrinya, Tsonga
- Keep your spot in videos when switching apps
- Fix some interface glitches in iOS 16
3.9.3
2022-11-01
Fixes a bug with reading mode in iOS16.
3.9.2
2022-09-04
- PDF language selector
- Better handling of large # of PDFs
- Fixed some sites that broke in 3.9.1
- Article flagging now works right on iPad
3.9.1
2022-08-24
Long press an article to flag it for review
3.9.0
2022-08-04
From this release Reading Mode will become a Helm feature to support its build-out. Please message support if this troubles you.
Reading Mode updates:
- Support for many more sites
- Cleaner page parsing and page layout
- Follow links
- Fine grained text size control
- Indicator when reading mode available
3.8.9
2022-07-28
This release replaces the videos following tab with a channel list.
3.8.8
2022-07-21
This release replaces the news following tab with a site list. Try it out and let me know what you think.
3.8.7
2022-07-13
This release disables tap-to-speak entirely while using text-to-speech.
3.8.6
2022-07-05
- Basic support for custom dictionaries -- create an array of dicts with "term" and "definition" keys, save to a .json file, and copy to the app
- Combined notes and translation sections so that they take up less screen space
- Fixed a bug that was causing the URL of some highlights to get cut off
3.8.5
2022-06-29
- Removed ads for helm users, check in the share menu to turn them back on
- Low-quality video translations were pretty useless so pulled them out and app size is tiny now
- Fixed a crash bug with interacting with PDF highlights
3.8.3
2022-06-22
When adding a highlight, copy the translation into the notes.
3.8.2
2022-06-01
- Listen to highlights to get the pronunciation right
- Take a screenshot and send it to idiom to extract the text (Save to Idiom)
3.8.1
2022-04-22
- Better UI flows around translating highlighting and review
- Crash bugfixes
3.8.0
2022-03-25
- Shuffle useful languages up top when selecting page language
- Show previous highlights of the same word
- Some crash fixes
3.7.9
2022-02-18
Usability fixes
- See size of book before downloading
- Consistent spacing in menus
- x to clear when editing notes
3.7.8
2022-01-24
Hello new users. Thank you for putting the app through its paces. Fixed:
- Crash sometimes when removing a highlight from a pdf
- Crash sometimes in SRS vocabulary review
- Removed the wonky support for downloading a epubs/pdfs in the article viewer (use Books -> Add -> Files instead)
- Removed swipe to get to next video -- flick that transcript to your heart's desire
3.7.7
2022-01-12
This release adds support for speakers of Tagalog
3.6.3
2021-10-20
- Show review reminders more often
- Show progress when exporting highlights
- More help the first time you open the app
3.6.2
2021-09-22
- Review reminders (look in settings)
- iOS 15 ready
3.4.5
2021-01-12
- Adds translations when exporting highlights
3.4.3
2020-12-31
- Enables the online dictionary multi-word expressions
- Better interface for finding & following video creators
3.4.1
2020-12-10
New:
- More line spacing for reading view (makes it easier to tap words)
- Made it a littler easier to follow creators
- Siri Shortcuts
Fixed:
- The SRS review screen didn't look quite right in dark mode
3.4.0
2020-12-04
Follow video channels you like.
3.3.8
2020-11-26
This release speeds up audio on tap.
3.3.7
2020-11-20
Better video controls
- Repeat Mode
- Mashing the back button works now
- Hit forward to skip over the intro
3.3.6
2020-11-13
- Long press to edit bookmarks on the News screen
- Support for running Idiom on the new Apple Silicon Macs
3.3.5
2020-11-05
This release
- Starts up a little faster
- Fixes a crash when trying to share highlights from an iPad
- Stops the articles from turning into a stack of pancakes
Bon appétit
3.3.4
2020-10-26
This release fixes the handful of crash reports sent in over the past couple weeks (thanks)
3.3.3
2020-10-14
Help finding videos: See popular channels for the languages you're learning
3.3.2
2020-10-10
Keep your place when switching between news, books, etc. This release gives you another tab to work with.
Fixed: Video captions were broken on iPad.
Fixed: Deleting items from the reading list would sometimes crash the app.
3.2.9
2020-09-15
This release makes it possible tap on the subtitles while watching youtube. Paste in a video URL to get going.
Fixed: The review tab would sometimes crash when removing a highlight.
Fixed: Web dictionaries were not showing in dark mode. They are now.
Fixed: Automatic news feeds - new articles now show at the top.
3.2.8
2020-09-05
This release adds new spoken dialects for learners of English and French. Now available:
• English - United States, United Kingdom, Australia, India
• French - France, Canada
Select your speaker at Read -> Profile -> Voice.
Fixed: Some cookie confirmation dialogs were extending off the bottom of the screen.
Fixed: Offline translation models were taking up too much storage space.
Fixed: Now you can edit the hint directly from the review screen.
3.2.7
2020-08-28
This release refreshes the interface for
+ Article previews - now easier to pick
+ Fidgeting with highlights - now on their own tab
Fixed: Popup in the wrong place on some retro devices (remember the iPad 2?)
Fixed: Always show the web dictionary
3.2.6
2020-08-21
This version adds a brand new phrase dictionary for learners of German
Fixed: Removed some animations that were making people queasy
Fixed: No more crashes when translating across sentences in books
3.2.5
2020-08-14
+ Automatic feeds - This puts you in group with people with similar interests, and creates a feed from what everyone in the group is reading (think: TikTok)
+ Phrase translations - Now phrase translations show right up top, no need to scroll
+ More smooth - Some elbow grease to make the reading interface feel better
Fixed:
- Setting 0 learning languages used to make the home screen hang on refresh, oops
- Crashes sometimes when using a remote (car etc) to control text-to-speech
- Spanish word definitions when reading Portuguese content
3.2.4
2020-08-07
Filter highlights by (# of correct answers) - (# of incorrect answers). Some uses:
+ See stats on review progress
+ Just export the items you don't know well yet
Fixed:
+ The sticky reading view toggle wasn't working so well, so it's not sticky anymore.
+ The vocabulary maze in Settings -> Highlights wasn't so useful, so now it's just simple tap to look up.
3.2.3
2020-08-01
This version adds a button for exporting highlights. Export to CSV and load with Excel, Anki, etc.
3.2.2
2020-07-26
Fixed
+ Audio would sometimes play again after closing a pop-up -- no more
+ Get the language directly from a book instead of trying to detect it
+ Reading view support for more sites
3.2.1
2020-07-16
This version adds text-to-speech for reading view.
3.2.0
2020-07-09
This release adds about 100 books.
3.1.9
2020-07-04
This release adds support for about 25 new dictionaries.
3.1.7
2020-06-18
Having trouble getting through review? Maybe this will help:
+ Just sit back, listen, and fill in what comes next
+ All the tries you need until you get it right
3.1.6
2020-06-16
+ Reading View for epubs
+ Faster page loads
+ Patches for iOS 13.5.1
3.1.5
2020-06-14
When learning new language sometimes it helps to focus on the text. This release adds a Reading View, accessible from the ⋯ menu.
3.1.4
2020-06-05
Black Lives Matter
3.1.3
2020-05-29
Bugfix release
+ The audio jog used to sometimes restart play when you didn't want it to. It doesn't do that anymore.
+ The popup used to take over the screen in landscape mode. It's smaller now.
+ Added support for the Arabic comma when reading Arabic. اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ
3.1.2
2020-05-15
A smörgåsbord of interface and other improvements for listening to websites. Some favorites:
+ Smooth native controls that make it easy to jog around the page
+ Mode toggle to adjust for content difficulty and attention level: read one sentence / repeat one sentence / read continuous
+ Continuous reading keeps the screen on, aka movie mode
But wait you say, isn't that the same as 3.1.1 which went out less than a day ago?
Yes. And we liked that version so much, and still wanted to push a patch for iOS 13.4.1, so there it is again!
\( ﾟヮﾟ)/
3.1.0
2020-05-07
+ Better internet dictionaries for compounds and phrases
3.0.9
2020-05-05
+ The pop-up now knows how to translate arbitrary text -- no more translation errors or visual glitches
+ Improved support for learners and speakers of Hindi
3.0.8
2020-04-30
Review upgrades:
+ Long-press sentence text to look up words during review
+ Searchable highlights (look in settings)
3.0.7
2020-04-25
+ Browse complete articles while news selecting feeds
+ High-quality subscriptions available without signing in
3.0.6
2020-04-09
Usability improvements
+ Automatically use the best available translations and voice quality (no more heading to settings to toggle)
+ Page language selector, for pages with text in multiple languages
+ Moved the play control out of the browser window, so that it stops covering up content
3.0.5
2020-04-06
+ Quality over quantity: The app is going to stop automatically saving tapped words. Instead, use the + button to explicitly save words you'd like to learn. You can still revert to the old behavior in settings menu, if you like.
+ Languages: Better support for learners of Norwegian.
3.0.4
2020-04-02
Whether to show a hint during review is now a toggle.
3.0.3
2020-03-29
+ Access to information: First steps toward a PDF reader. Requires iOS 11.0 or newer.
+ Pedagogy: 100% in-language cloze tests. They hint is still available, if you tap.
3.0.2
2020-03-03
+ New common expression dictionary -- provides more nuance for those tricky words
+ Review extra -- now you can just keep going (if you like)
3.0.1
2020-02-21
Crash bugfix
3.0.0
2020-02-13
Kicking off 3.0.0 with upgrades to flashcards & review
+ Quick per-language access from the home screen
+ See how many items are due for review
+ Get previous cards mixed in while reviewing new ones
(The full list with filters now lives on the Settings screen.)
2.9.9
2020-02-05
There was a quite a lot of stuff getting crammed into that pop-up, so we simplified it and re-ordered it to be more useful. Hope you like it.
+ Also a small fix for people reading books having trouble turning the page.
2.9.8
2020-01-16
Better free resources for speakers and learners of Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Greek, Kurdish, Persian, and Turkish.
2.9.7
2020-01-15
Bugfix release.
2.9.6
2020-01-13
Better dictionary coverage for speakers of Arabic, Farsi, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian, Malay, Myanmar, Thai, Turkish, and Vietnamese.
2.9.5
2020-01-05
Go quicker. These are now a single tap:
- Translate the whole sentence, instead of a short excerpt
- Update the hint to match the translation [Helm & Abroad]
2.9.4
2019-12-31
Fix: Learn mode sometimes used to ignore translation edits. It doesn't anymore.
2.9.3
2019-12-28
Usability fixes for the new year:
+ Enter any website, or search the web
+ Share articles and examples with other apps
+ New listening mode: Sentence loop
2.9.2
2019-11-19
Bugfix release.
Did the app crash on you recently? Mea culpa. This release should work better.
2.9.1
2019-11-15
Interface level-up
+ Quick new home screen
+ Larger reading view
+ Tabs are now the reading list
+ Bugfixes
2.9.0
2019-11-13
Interface level-up
+ Quick new home screen
+ Larger reading view
+ Tabs are now the reading list
2.8.9
2019-11-04
No more guessing games. Now there are publication previews.
2.8.8
2019-10-31
+ Free offline translation for everyone
+ Review vocabulary in context
+ Bugfixes
2.8.7
2019-10-28
+ Free offline translation for everyone
+ Review vocabulary in context
2.8.6
2019-10-18
+ High-quality voices for Chinese, Czech, Finnish, Hindi, Hungarian, and Indonesian
+ Control listen mode with your car
+ Bugfixes
2.8.5
2019-10-13
Three modes to choose from:
• Read
• Listen
• Read & Listen
Please note that high-quality text-to-speech is moving to Helm-only. High-quality word pronunciations and onboard text-to-speech are still 100% free.
And some bug fixes:
+ Faster loading of big pages
+ Keep your spot when going back to the homepage
+ Break down some giant text chunks in Listen mode, into more manageable ones
2.8.4
2019-10-11
Three modes to choose from:
• Read
• Listen
• Read & Listen
Also high-quality text-to-speech is moving to Helm-only. High-quality word pronunciations and onboard text-to-speech are still 100% free.
2.8.3
2019-09-27
Idiom used to get kind of slow when you were reading a book with thousands of new vocabulary words marked. It's fast now.
2.8.2
2019-09-12
Remember select to translate? Well It's back.
2.8.1
2019-09-03
Last days of summer release
+ Don't like a word translation? Tap and pull down to change it.
+ Using Idiom to master your native language? Check out the improved cloze tests.
+ Forget where you found that word? Not anymore -- from here out Idiom saves the url along with vocabulary.
2.8.0
2019-08-24
Tweaks to improve the reading experience.
2.7.9
2019-08-17
Bugfix release.
2.7.8
2019-08-12
Turned the home screen design down to 9 (from where it was at 11)
2.7.7
2019-07-29
+ Replay button for play mode
+ More speed-ups for really large vocabulary lists
2.7.6
2019-07-25
There was a crash. Vocabulary added a long time ago. Then quiz, boom. It's fixed now.
2.7.5
2019-07-23
Tweaks to make things work better:
+ Drill all word forms in vocabulary drills
+ Fewer error popups and generally smoother experience offline
+ Better handling of framed webpages
2.7.4
2019-06-26
Bugfix release.
2.7.3
2019-06-23
First there was Idiom.
Then came tabs.
Then came the widget, which broke the tabs.
Now they both work.
2.7.2
2019-06-20
Too much vocabulary? There's an option to filter by month now.
2.7.1
2019-06-07
Check headlines while you fidget. Idiom's got a widget.
2.7.0
2019-05-30
+ Tap an online dictionary entry to open it fullscreen in Safari
And we stopped content from jumping around on the home screen. No jumping please, content.
2.6.9
2019-05-25
Were you squinting? Yeah we were too. So we took the bold setting and turned it up to 11. Hope you like it.
2.6.8
2019-05-22
+ Better support for non-mobile websites
+ Feeds (yay)
2.6.7
2019-05-02
+ Play mode
+ English parsing improvements
+ Support for more sites
2.6.6
2019-04-20
Were you checking out the charts and the app kept scrolling back up to the top? Well it doesn't do that anymore.
Also no-matter how much you mash the send button, now messages will get sent exactly once.
And there are some other doodads that make the app experience generally more slick.
Happy Easter
2.6.5
2019-04-16
+ Drilling vocab and find a word you don't need? Now it's easy to delete.
+ Fixed a bug where drills would sometimes be a bit wonky after syncing to a new device.
2.6.4
2019-04-10
+ Moving custom translation to paid-only before it breaks the bank
+ Added high-quality speakers for Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese
+ Better candidate selection in drills to help speed up learning
2.6.3
2016-07-15
So there’s bad news and good news.
The bad news is the app was under-counting the number of words learned.
The good news is we've all learned more anyone knew. Congrats. The app also counts correctly now.
This version also adds some tweaks that make SRS vocabulary drills more comfortable offline and on-the-go.
2.6.2
2016-07-15
Made vocabulary review generally more fun
+ Made everything faster to help with zooming through
+ Edit glosses when they don't suit you
+ Looks less like Text Armageddon now (a little)
2.6.1
2019-03-09
Bugfixes (retro devices, app install links, book loading)
2.6.0
2019-03-08
Stop ducking the audio on every tap. We liked the "techno simulator" too but well this should be more useful.
2.5.9
2019-03-05
Bugfix release
+ UI glitches in vocabulary review and SRS drills
+ Popping up a translation when you asked for a dictionary
+ Sometimes turning whole sentences into a words
2.5.8
2019-02-22
+ Moving Translate in Context to paid-only before it breaks the bank
+ Simplified the see-more UI to make it much quicker to reach meaning
2.5.7
2019-02-15
+ UI tweaks to make reading faster and more pleasant
+ Support for more books
2.5.6
2019-02-11
+ Brand new homepage with popular content
+ Keep your position in downloaded books
+ Tap + to save a webpage for later
+ Everything working great on iOS 9 and up
2.5.5
2019-01-31
Focus. Now Idiom only shows content in the languages you're working on learning.
2.5.4
2019-01-24
+ By popular request, Vocabulary is now on the main toolbar. To get home, clear the URL or use Tabs -> +.
+ This also fixes a crash introduced in 2.5.3.
2.5.3
2019-01-17
For everyone building vocabulary:
+ The ugly black circles are gone, so just tap to save any word
+ New upgraded flow for reviewing words, optimized for learning
+ Count how many word families you've picked up
+ Fresh coat of speed paint on everything
2.5.2
2019-01-13
Added an option to filter the vocabulary list by language.
2.5.1
2019-01-09
Better support for large books.
2.5.0
2019-01-03
Use the hamburger menu to recommend a site for language learning. Content here we come!
2.4.9
2018-12-31
Better/faster support for Aozora Bunko (Japanese).
2.4.8
2018-12-22
Crushed some pesky bugs. Happy holidays!
+ Load from cache when the network is offline
+ Faster loading on BIG pages (e.g. online novels)
+ Better OCR for photos of documents
+ Keep reading position even on sites with crazy content flying around
+ Fixed a bug that would sometimes make crazylongwords
+ Support for keeping 1000s of words in vocabulary list
2.4.7
2018-12-21
Crushed some pesky bugs -- happy holidays
+ Load from cache when the network is offline
+ Faster loading on BIG pages (e.g. online novels)
+ Keep reading position even on sites with crazy content flying around
+ Support for keeping 1000s of words in vocabulary list
2.4.6
2018-12-18
+ Data Saver - Download more when on WiFi, less when on cellular
+ Dictionary upgrades in Arabic, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian, Malay, Myanmar, Persian, Thai, Turkish, and Vietnamese
2.4.5
2018-12-14
Extra boost for paid plans: Faster translation pre-loading
2.4.4
2018-12-07
Upgraded the support interface. Come drop by and say hi some time.
2.4.3
2018-12-04
+ Quiz with quick word cards when they're available
+ List up vocabulary on the page (tap the lightbulb)
2.4.2
2018-11-28
+ Quicker & more-fun vocabulary quizzes
+ Better webpage language detection
2.4.1
2018-11-21
+ Moving audio & translation download to paid-only before it breaks the bank
+ Everything else is now free
2.4.0
2018-11-17
For the language learners in us:
+ Tap-to-speak & tap-to-save upgrades (Check settings)
+ Souped up quizzes & vocabulary review
And fixed a crash that happened on some looooong pages.
Enjoy--
2.3.9
2018-11-09
Quiz upgrade: Tap to lookup!
2.3.8
2018-11-03
Fixed some of the wording to make it more clear that the new Boost plan doesn't auto-renew.
2.3.7
2018-11-01
Bugfix release.