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Article in App of the Week category.
Vocabulary Helps You Expand Your — Well, You Know!
If I was being truly honest with myself, I don’t think I’d give a vocabulary app a lot of confidence in its design. Why would…
If I was being truly honest with myself, I don’t think I’d give a vocabulary app a lot of confidence in its design. Why would a vocabulary application be at all adept at crafting an engage, eye-pleasing app that also takes copious advantage of native iOS functionality. But developer Monkey Taps has excelled, and has helped my lexicon burgeon.
I love the pastel hues employed throughout the Vocabulary app which gives me this feeling of reading a book. The default has a cream-like color with soft blue and red accents. That said, there is a host of themes also available to apply. There are ones that look like the interiors of a historic library, some that mimic a tranquil outdoor landscape, and some that just highlight your favorite colors.
As far as like, learning new words goes, you can search randomly or you can choose a specific category. There are some for technology, travel, food, adjectives, among others. If you read a word and you like, you can add your own to have them included in future flashcards or you can favorite words you see that you can go back to at your leisure.
My favorite way to use Vocabulary is via the native iOS widgets. There are widgets both for your Home Screen, as well as the Lock Screen. These widgets, which comes in different sizes, show off different words at regular intervals. A new word of the day, complete with its part of speech and definition helps you grow and learn. If there is one you really like and have the urge to share your favorite newfound vocable, you can use the built-in Share Sheet. This populates the text and graphic you can send in a message or share on social. It lets you hide the watermark or leave it, which I appreciate. I’m all about spread awareness, but sometimes I may not want that plastered on the image.
Finally, Vocabulary is also available on Apple Watch. It does lack the fun colors, instead leaning into the battery-friendly black background many watch apps use with white text. There are watch face complications with new words and the ability to share or favorite different words.
As a writer, I do love expanding my knowledge base of usable words and I’ve tried the usual word of the day calendars but to no avail. They just weren’t engaging and lacked the staying power to transform a word from some letters on a page to something I use in my work and daily life. Vocabulary looks great, works perfectly, and has earned its place on my iPhone Home Screen.
But enough about other people's apps.
