Tuesday 3 June 2014

Lexicum releases a native iPhone app

As you all know, Lexicum started as a desktop web site but we've known from day 1 that the smartphone is going to be a key platform for learning vocabulary. Thus, mobile apps have been central to our vision and we've had a mobile web app since March. We have now backed this with native app which will provide for a smoother experience for iPhone and iPad users. If you own any of these devices feel free to give it a try: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lexicum/id869779000
Lexicum is a cloud service, meaning that your vocab book is shared across all your devices - you can add words on your computer and then do a quiz on your smartphone, and vice versa. One particular scenario that we believe will be popular is to add words on dekstop when you read or surf the web and then practice the words on the go with the mobile app. And did we mention that it also works offline? Yes, you can totally do the quiz on the tube in London or during any other commute without network coverage - just make sure you open the app while connected so that it fetches your pending words from the server.
Note however that this is an early version and we'll be adding a lot more to it in order to realize its full potential as the definitive mobile vocab book. Still, it already has the key features that set Lexicum apart from other language learning tools:
1) it translates new words,
2) it keeps build your personal word list and
3) you can do a quiz on the go.

The next features we'll be adding to the app are as follows:
- Automatic lookup of words copied in the clipboard - you won't need to actually go to the app
- Login with google or facebook (yeah, it's annoying to have to type on the on-screen keyboard but at least you need to do it just once)
- Various improvments of dictionary lookup quality and usability

Additionally, we'll be providing apps for Android and Windows Phone, too. Our intention is to first polish the iPhone app and then port to other platforms but in case you own one of these and would like to have it sooner - feel free to express your outrage on our support and feedback forum; thoughts about features you'd like to see first are also always welcome.
Thanks for all the comments and feedback and stay tuned for more exciting stuff from Lexicum!

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