Awkward yet Complete
The depth of words is unbeatable.
The user interface is inconsolable.
The user interface is inconsolable.
A truly superior product.
Some things, like the Periodic Table, represent some of the foremost achievements of human thought. And the OED is such a monument (even if we discount the other Oxford dictionaries). Buying a book like this for $25 is worth it to me. I expect this to provide profit and enjoyment to years to come. I offer my personal thanks to the countless people over centuries who have worked and sacrificed to produce this book. And I also send my thanks to the software engineers, and everyone else, who did the work allowing me to put this behemoth of a book into my pocket. Five stars.
Show less
This Is Not What I Expected
The user interface is unwieldy, non-intuitive and confusing. I paid for it but I’m dumping it
Why do I love the Oxford Dictionary
As an octogenarian at this stage in my life, I look back to the days when as a young school boy my dad always spoke of the “Murray’s Oxford” as the ultimate lexicon to refer to. Things have not changed. When you refer to it, you know it is the ultimate. How delighted I was when my granddaughter a few years ago, when she was still not ten, asked me for a dictionary. What did I give her. You guessed the answer correctly! Why, of course the Oxford dictionary. She is a voracious reader and refers to it all of the time.
Cyrus Kapadia.
Cyrus Kapadia.
Show less
Buyer beware!
I bought a full version of Oxford Deluxe (ODE + OTE) which is another app from this company just over a year ago on Nov 28, 2021. There was an update a month ago, then a few days ago the app stopped working with a message saying “total failure” and opening it redirected me to this app. At the same time, the old app listed an update citing “security fixes”. I waited a few days for new reviews but decided to update anyway as my app was unusable. The update was 98kb and the result was the same. So I downloaded this app, and tried to “restore purchases”. “License not found!” So basically this developer made my $37.99 app unusable, and wants to charge me another $38.99 for the same app. How is this not theft? What’s to say if I did buy this app the developer won’t decide to do this again and make it unusable to charge me yearly or monthly based on previous behaviour? I will NOT be buying this app, and I will not be buying from this company again, and I will be writing to Apple about this. How is this allowed?——————————————— Feb 28 2023 update: I was able to update my original Oxford Deluxe (ODE + OTE) app, which is not this app Oxford Deluxe (InApp), as reviewer conqtc suggested, by updating it from the past purchases section. However, I am not changing my rating as the trust is lost. I have not encountered a licensing problem with other apps. The old app at one point was deleted from the app store (“no longer live”) though at the time of writing it seems to be back. When I tried to “restore purchase” on the new app Oxford Deluxe (InApp), it didn’t work. The reason given by the developer doesn’t ring true. If it was Apple’s fault, why did the app fail? Paid for apps don’t generally need to verify their licenses to work. I suspect there was an attempt to force users of the old app to repurchase the new, otherwise why did the app fail after an update and users redirected to almost the same app apart from it requiring an in-app purchase? And why was the old app deleted from the app store shortly after (even if it’s now back)? If there was an issue with the licensing system, why couldn’t I restore my purchase on this (new) app? The old app didn’t fail straight after an update, it failed some time after. Is my old app (now apparently restored) going to go into “total failure” again some time into the future? (Forebodingly, I got a notification right after I updated both apps that I need to download a new version! Again, when both are up to date!)——————————————— Maybe the developer restored the function of the old app to avoid being banned from the app store, as whatever happened, if it wasn’t the result of Apple’s licensing system, seems to have contradicted this guideline, or at least the spirit of it.———————————————App Store Review Guideline 3.1.2(a): If you are changing your existing app to a subscription-based business model, you should not take away the primary functionality existing users have already paid for. For example, let customers who have already purchased a “full game unlock” continue to access the full game after you introduce a subscription model for new customers.———————————————If it fault really was with Apple’s licensing system, perhaps the developer could explain how things happened the way they did. As it is, I still don’t have enough trust to buy from this developer again. ——————————————— Dec 13 2023 update: No surprise, total failure has happened again to my original Oxford Deluxe (ODE + OTE) app, a few weeks before the Black Friday Sales and Cyber Monday. A new version of this app is for sale for $29.99, while my app’s page has been deleted and cannot be accessed when I click on Oxford Deluxe (ODE + OTE) from my purchased apps list. This seems like very shifty behaviour regardless of the developer’s excuses which should be investigated by Apple. I don’t expect endless updates to a one-time purchase but I can’t use the app I purchased despite not upgrading this time. It’s effectively been crippled with a hidden use-by date that’s not disclosed as the terms of purchase. Since the developer is Australian, the app sale may come under Fair Trading laws and affected buyers should look into that.
Show less
Response from developer
In more detail: Apple updated its development tool, Xcode, which quietly broke the version of the open source library OpenSSL which we use (as per their documentation) to check their license files. You can not debug iOS licenses -as they only exist for end-users, not development or testing environments. We didn't know about the issue until users brought it to our attention. To fix it, we had to change the library version and then release updates for all our apps. That is just the way things are with software. Apple recommends all apps to check their licenses. Not all do, but most InAppPurchase or subscription-based ones do. This is quite normal and a user never knows about it unless something goes wrong. If they can not find a valid license file, our apps try a number of times before they issue an update warning, then later fail and send you to a search page - just in case you actually bought a similar but different app. This is to be as user friendly as possible, while still preventing piracy. App development is a continually moving target. New hardware, OS updates and unilateral API changes all the time. There is nothing funny going on here. It just took a while to find the issue and get the updates through Apple's vetting process.
Oxford Deluxe Dictionary
Shows as a 1 time purchase yet will give one word and puts you back to the purchase screen after each word?
Response from developer
Sounds like there is something wrong with your license. Use the support email in the About section and we will find the problem for you.
Have to restore my purchase every single time
Every single time I use this app I have to restore my purchase first. If you're intent on trying this app before you buy try this version but then uninstall it and just buy the full version rather than using the in app purchase. The dictionary is absolutely worth the price, but version of the app is pathetic.
The in app purchase technology is clearly far beyond the capabilities of the illustrious intellects at Oxford.
The in app purchase technology is clearly far beyond the capabilities of the illustrious intellects at Oxford.
Show less
Response from developer
Sounds like there is something wrong with your license. Use the support email in the About section and we will find the problem for you. Anyone else has this same issue, rebooting your device should fix it.
Dictionary is great - subtracting 2 stars because of nagging after paying
The dictionary and thesaurus are both great. I'm subtracting two stars because when I'm not connected to the internet, despite me having already paid for it, it opens the nag screen telling me I need to register it and that echoing their nonsense responses in other reviews that I probably paid for a different product.
Once I restore the internet connection I then have to restore purchases and it works fine.
I'm sorry, but there is absolutely no reason why I should have to connect to their servers to confirm I paid every single time I use the app.
Once I restore the internet connection I then have to restore purchases and it works fine.
I'm sorry, but there is absolutely no reason why I should have to connect to their servers to confirm I paid every single time I use the app.
Show less
Oxford Dictionary of English, 2nd edition
This easy-to-use dictionary is so helpful as I strive to find the right word for every occasion and to understand other word to enhance the flavor of my vocabulary. Thanks for a wonderful dictionary!
Exceptional
I love this app and use it all the time. It is convenient and easy to navigate. I am grateful to have access to the wealth of knowledge so readily available through using this app.
