App Review: Vocabulary Builder [Android]
Hi fellow Steemians!
I'd like to introduce another app to you guys. This one's called 'Vocabulary Builder' by Rishabh.
I thought this would be a great app to review as I've seen many international Steemians who may be interested in learning English or students who may be taking SAT or other exams. (Hopefully I didn't make this review too difficult to read for those studying English!)
It's an app with 100,000 downloads, so it's a relatively unknown app and a 4.6 star rating (out of 5) so I had high hopes before going in.
When you fist open the app, you're not greeted by a welcome page or an ad. You simple enter the main section of the app as shown below.
It has a very long list of words with meanings and examples of how to use them.
You can also listen to the pronunciation, copy the word or star them for future reference.
It has four main sections: Starred, Words, Random and Quiz.
Random simply shows you a random word everytime you tap 'Randomize'. Not the most useful feature.
Quiz is more interesting because there are two aspects of it: offline and online.
In offline (practice) mode, you test your own knowledge of the words' meanings.
In online, you're put up against other real people to compete with.
What is it good at?
It keeps everything simple. No lag at all, clean texts and background and having the dark mode as default is a very nice touch as it doesn't strain your eyes too much. There are also no advertisements which won't distract you from learning.
What is it bad at?
I'm not a student, teacher or someone who's taken SAT exams but I have my doubts about how useful these words will be. Almost all the words are those I've never come across before and never had to use them before (even in my University exams).
Verdict
This app does everything perfectly except for the part where it counts the most - vocabulary. The design is minimalistic (although slightly boring), the features are perfect and it's simply an app that I want to love. But I have serious doubts about how useful and helpful the suggested vocabulary will be in real life situations. I did some research and looked up SAT vocabs list you must know and most of the suggested words in the app did not appear in the list.
To those wanting to study for SAT or university exams, I suggest sticking with your books. To those who are more interested in learning about new and difficult words to impress others, then this app is perfect.
Will I keep it on my phone?
No.
My score:
Design: 8
Ease of use: 8
Value: 9
Performance: 9
*Usefulness: 4
Overall: 7.6 | Simple little app that does everything very well except for what it actually intends to do.
*Included usefulness due to the nature of the app.
