Vocabee
You already use 42,000 words. English has 171,000.
The difference is not jargon. It is ordinary, precise, slightly old words that good writers still reach for — the ones that say in a word what otherwise takes a clause.
Vocabee gives you one of them a day, and then makes sure you keep it.
Reading a word is not learning it.
You forget most of what you read within a day. Vocabee schedules each word with FSRS, returning it at the moment the memory starts to go — and then leaving longer gaps as it holds.
Words you clearly know stop appearing. Nothing to grind through, no streak to protect.
Three beats, every day.
The whole app is one loop. It takes about four minutes, and Mel is there for all of it.
A word arrives
Mel brings one real English word: what it means, a line that shows it working, and where it came from.
You play it back
A short lesson turns the word into taps — pick the sense, finish the sentence, hear it said. You start with five hearts; a wrong answer costs one, and honey buys them back.
It comes back
The word returns on the day you would have forgotten it, then at longer and longer gaps. Your streak counts the days you showed up.
Every word arrives from somewhere.
Each entry carries its origin: the roots, the borrowings, the drift of meaning over centuries. Knowing where a word came from is most of what makes it stay.
Halcyon is a kingfisher. The bird was said to nest on the winter sea and to calm it while it did — which is why a halcyon day is a still one.
What one day looks like.
Every entry is built the same way: the sense first, then the sentence, then where the word came from.
halcyon
/ˈhælsiən/ hal·cy·on adjective
Idyllically calm and peaceful; suggesting happy tranquillity.
From Middle English Alceoun, from Latin halcyōn, from Ancient Greek ἀλκυών — a kingfisher. The bird was said to nest on the winter sea, and to still it while it did.
Today's word, before you open anything.
Put Vocabee on your lock screen or home screen and the word is simply there — on the way to the camera, on the way to a message. Most days that is the whole lesson's head start.
One quiet reminder in the morning, at a time you pick. Nothing red, nothing urgent, no badge screaming at you.
Questions
Is this for learning English?
Not really. Vocabee assumes you already speak English well and want the vocabulary that good writing draws on. If you are learning the language itself, a grammar app will serve you better.
What is spaced repetition?
A schedule that shows you a word again just before you would have forgotten it, spacing reviews further apart as the memory holds. Vocabee uses FSRS, a modern and well-studied version of the idea.
Where do the words come from?
Senses come from the Open English WordNet, an open lexical database. Example sentences and the etymological notes are written by hand.
What are hearts and honey?
Hearts are your room for mistakes in a lesson — five of them, and a wrong answer costs one. Honey is what you earn for finishing lessons and keeping a streak, and it buys hearts back. Neither one is sold for money.
Do I need an account?
No. There is nothing to sign up for. Your saved words and review history live on your iPhone.
What does it cost?
Vocabee+ is a subscription: the whole library, unlimited lessons, and the widgets. The price appears in the app before anything is charged.