How to Build a Vocabulary Mobile App

There are various ways to learn foreign languages, each catering to the needs of diverse student groups. However, one approach that stands out for its versatility is the use of vocabulary mobile apps. The demand for such solutions, along with their presence on app marketplaces, continues to grow. This makes the idea to build vocabulary app highly promising.

However, to succeed, it is essential to ensure that your solution meets market expectations and stands out from the array of similar products.

In this article, we will explore exactly how to create a vocabulary learning app that captures the hearts of users and meets their needs effectively.

A vocabulary mobile app can be defined as a digital solution designed to help users improve and expand their vocabulary in an interactive way. Such apps are available for smartphones and tablets. This means that users can practice and learn new words just on the go, anytime and from any location.

In July 2024, the leading language learning applications managed to generate $46.4 million in in-app purchase revenues. With $33 million, Duolingo accounted for more than 70% of the total amount.

In September 2024, the most popular language learning apps saw approximately 25 million downloads.

However, it’s worth mentioning that the popularity of such applications is greatly impacted by seasonal changes. For example, people usually are more motivated to enhance their language skills in January or during the back-to-school months.

The interest of learners in such solutions is explained by the benefits that they can enjoy.

Here’s what makes them like this way of learning new words.

• Convenience. It is possible to learn at any time and from any place without the necessity to have any physical books at hand.
• Personalized learning. Modern apps can tailor lessons to match your skill level, goals, and pace.
• High engagement. Such solutions can offer various quizzes, flashcards, and challenges that make the learning interesting and involving. Moreover, regular reminders and notifications can motivate consistent practice.
• Efficient retention rechniques. Apps can offer much more than just lists of words. They often provide spaced repetition, visual aids, audio pronunciations, and contextual sentences. These features are designed to enhance understanding and retention.
• Diverse learning modes. Just one app can provide multiple formats: reading, listening, speaking, and writing exercises.
• Cost-effectiveness. A lot of apps offer free versions or affordable subscriptions compared to traditional classes and resources.

Skillful use of technologies allows developers to build feature-rich mobile apps that ensure a seamless learning experience. For those who want to launch a custom application from this category, it will be helpful to consider the following list of app’s elements and tools.

• Word database. Your app may include thousands of words in foreign languages. These lists can be enriched with words’ meanings, synonyms, antonyms, and usage examples. Quite often, it could be sensible to group lexical units by topics and/or their parts of speech.
• Interactive learning tools. Even if your main target group will be adults, interactive elements will help to increase the efficiency of learning. You can create multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, matching, and other quizzes to test retention. Flashcards are known to be a good option for memorization and quick review. Moreover, engaging word games like crossword puzzles or word searches will add extra fun.
• Gamification. Apart from learning games, it would be a good idea to motivate users via gamification. For example, you can use points, badges, in-app bonuses, and leaderboards to encourage users to practice more. Another efficient option is to launch challenges. You can offer users to compete with friends or other learners in vocabulary contests.
• Audio pronunciations. Native or AI-generated pronunciations will help users learn how different words should sound.
• Offline mode. We strongly recommend you allow users to interact at least with some part of the app’s functionality without an internet connection. For instance, word lists, flashcards, and quizzes can be made available even when users are offline.
• Social features. Enable learners to share their progress on social media directly from your app. It can be not only a valuable feature for users but also a helpful feature for your business. Their posts on social media platforms can inspire new learners to download your app. Moreover, you can add such features as forums or chats. They will help users to connect and exchange their learning experiences.
• Personalization. Today a lot of apps of this kind have AI-powered features to offer personalized experiences to users. Such applications adapt to the user’s skill level and learning pace, as well as offer customized content. This approach significantly increases the efficiency of learning efforts.

The development of an app to improve vocabulary requires an integrated approach. It includes multiple steps from planning to post-launch support and maintenance. Based on our experience, we prepared a row of practical recommendations. They will help you organize the entire process in the most feasible and result-oriented way.

Start with setting your goals

To begin with, you should define the purpose of your app. You have to identify your target audience and people’s needs that your app will address. For example, your app may be designed for students who are preparing for exams or for language enthusiasts who like learning new things. Depending on this, you will be able to define the core features of your future application.

Your app can be targeted at several categories of users. In this case, it will be vital to design dedicated features and/or learning plans and materials for them.

Already at this step, you should think about the ways to monetize your solution. Based on this, you may need to create some special features. For instance, you can offer subscription plans or a freemium model. Another popular option is to place ads on your app.

Hire professional developers

When you are planning to launch your custom app to learn vocabulary, it’s crucial to cooperate with a professional development team. Quite often, companies, especially startups, do not have in-house specialists with relevant skills and expertise. If this applies to you, it doesn’t mean you need to restructure your company and hire in-house developers. You can find a reliable tech partner, like Cogniteq, that will be able to take responsibility for the realization of your project.

Where can you look for a development team? The easiest way is just to rely on Google. However, we also recommend you check some professional platforms like GoodFirms or Clutch. On these resources, you can find not only detailed information about different companies but also their rankings and verified client reviews.

What positions should your project team include? The answer to this question will depend on your specific needs. But as a rule, the following experts are involved in app creation:

• A project manager;
• A business analyst;
• A UI/UX designer;
• A frontend developer; 
• A backend developer;
• A mobile app developer (iOS, Android, or cross-platform);
• A QA engineer.

You may also need to invite content creators who will prepare and edit word lists, definitions, and examples.

Build an MVP

The launch of a minimum viable product will help you to avoid the risks of serious money losses. The idea of an MVP presupposes that initially, you need to build a basic version of the app only with the most essential features. This approach allows you to evaluate the product concept without substantial financial and time commitments.

You will need to provide access to your MVP to a small audience to gather feedback. Based on users’ opinions, you will be able to identify areas for improvement and plan future updates.

Design and develop a full-scale solution

When you are satisfied with the results of the MVP launch, it’s time to build a full version of your application. At this step, your team will need to create all user interfaces and features in accordance with your requirements.

The functionality of your app will depend on your idea and the needs of your target audience. But we strongly recommend you make it as flexible and scalable as possible. The tech world is very dynamic. Users’ expectations may greatly change. It means that you should be ready to adapt your app to the evolving conditions.

Test and launch your app

Testing is a very important step of any software development project. You need to verify that all features and tools work and interact with each other as expected. There are different types of tests (unit, integration, performance, usability testing, etc). Some of them are performed in parallel with development. But after all updates are implemented and all bugs are fixed, you should conduct regression testing. It is essential to ensure that recent changes have not adversely affected the existing functionality.

When everything is ready, your app should be added to the relevant marketplaces.

Monitor and improve your app for learning new words

The app is launched. But you still have a lot to do. It is required to track its performance and security to timely react to all issues and vulnerabilities. Moreover, you need to monitor user feedback to understand their thoughts on your solution. This will help you find out how you can improve it to achieve higher user satisfaction.

Together with the hired developers, you will need to find the right technologies to use for creating your app. The list of tools should correlate with the features you want to introduce. Moreover, the choice of some technologies will depend on your specific needs and requirements for your future solutions.

One of the first things that you need to decide is whether you want to build a cross-platform app or a native solution for iOS and/or Android. 

Cross-platform development

Cross-platform development allows you to use a single codebase to build apps for both iOS and Android, enabling faster deployment and reducing project costs. This approach is particularly effective for apps with straightforward functionality or when targeting multiple platforms quickly. However, it may not be the best option for complex applications, as it can provide limited access to platform-specific APIs and hardware capabilities, potentially impacting performance.

Modern frameworks like Flutter, React Native, and Xamarin offer robust tools for cross-platform development, with Flutter standing out for its near-native performance and extensive UI capabilities.

Native development

For apps requiring high performance, heavy graphics, or complex animations, native development is the preferred choice. This approach ensures seamless responsiveness and allows deep integration with device-specific features, such as offline functionality, voice recognition, or adaptive learning algorithms. Although it typically involves higher costs and longer development times, native development ensures the highest quality for resource-intensive applications.

Use Swift or Objective-C for iOS apps and Kotlin or Java for Android to leverage the full potential of each platform's tools and APIs.

Backend technologies

The choice of backend technologies for a vocabulary app depends on your specific requirements, such as real-time interactions, scalability, and integration with advanced features like AI-driven recommendations or analytics. Here are some practical options:

• Node.js: Ideal for applications with real-time features, such as multiplayer quizzes, live chat, or collaborative learning tools. Its non-blocking architecture ensures high performance even under heavy user traffic.
• Django (Python): A great choice for content-heavy apps with complex user management and secure APIs. Python's versatility also allows seamless integration with machine learning models for features like personalized word recommendations or adaptive learning paths.
• Flask (Python): A lightweight alternative to Django, perfect for simpler apps that need flexibility while incorporating AI-driven functionalities, such as voice recognition or natural language processing.
• Ruby on Rails: Offers rapid development and scalability, making it suitable for apps that focus on delivering rich content and evolving features over time.
• Firebase (Backend-as-a-Service): Ideal for MVPs or smaller apps, Firebase provides real-time database capabilities, user authentication, and analytics out of the box, reducing development overhead.

Other popular technologies like .NET, Java, and PHP can also be considered depending on your team’s expertise and the project’s requirements. For high-performance use cases, Go or C++ might be necessary, but these are generally overkill for most vocabulary apps unless complex processing is involved.

When selecting a backend technology, prioritize ease of integration with features like AI/ML algorithms, real-time updates, and user management systems. Scalability is also key, as a growing user base may require efficient database solutions and cloud-based architectures.

Databases

Сonsider the structure of your app’s data and how it will grow over time:

• If your app focuses heavily on user engagement and personalized learning, combining PostgreSQL or MySQL for core data with Redis for caching can enhance performance.
• For apps incorporating AI or handling unstructured data, MongoDB or Firestore are good choices.
• If your app prioritizes offline-first functionality or collaboration, Firebase Firestore is worth considering.

Scalability and ease of integration with your backend stack are also critical factors. Collaborate with your development team to evaluate the best fit for your app’s long-term needs.

APIs

The use of APIs enables seamless integration of features, services, and third-party functionalities.

• Dictionary APIs: Solutions like Merriam-Webster or Oxford Dictionaries provide access to word definitions, synonyms, antonyms, and usage examples, helping demonstrate words in context.
• Speech-Related APIs: APIs like Google Cloud Text-to-Speech (TTS) or Amazon Polly can generate audio pronunciations for vocabulary words. To enrich your app with AI-powered voice recognition, you can rely on Google Speech-to-Text or SpeechRecognition, enabling users to practice pronunciation.
• Translation APIs: Services like Google Cloud Translation or Microsoft Translator Text ensure the translation of vocabulary words between languages and offer multilingual support for non-native speakers.
• Contextual APIs: To help learners understand word usage in real-world scenarios, you can leverage the OpenAI API. It can generate contextual sentences for words, suggest synonyms, and even power word association games.

For more than 15 years, our company has been successfully building and delivering various types of mobile apps, including products built for eLearning projects.  At Cogniteq, we do our best to track all the modern trends in this field. And we know how to use emerging technologies to ensure a unique learning experience for different categories of users.

But real actions always speak louder than words. To better understand what solutions we can build for you, you can look at our portfolio. One of the projects that we worked on was the development of a mobile application for learning Spanish words. 

It helps users enrich their vocabulary through interactive lessons, including flip-card exercises and conjugation lessons. The cross-platform application is powered with a database of 15,000 frequently used Spanish words. They are grouped into different categories based on the part of speech they belong to. All of them have an English translation and sample sentences for context. Verbs are also accompanied by all their conjugation forms.

Despite the potential complexity of this solution, we managed to make it simple and intuitive.  The app has a text-to-speech feature. It lets learners listen to the correct pronunciation of each word. Also, it is enriched with haptic feedback and gamification elements, like progress bars.

To monetize the app, it was decided to introduce a subscription model with a free 14-day trial period.

After the launch, the solution is continually updated with new words and thematic groups.

If you also have an idea for a vocabulary learning app, we are always at your disposal. At Cogniteq, we offer flexible cooperation terms. And we are sure that we will be able to make our interaction comfortable and pleasant for businesses with different needs. To learn more about our experience and services, do not hesitate to contact us.