Shimo vs Ktab
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Shimo
This app provides the Book of Daily Prayers for the Syriac Orthodox Church, based on the "Shimo" rite. It includes audio playback of prayers to help users learn the melodies.
- Daily Prayers Book
- Syriac Orthodox Rite
- Audio Prayer Playback
- Melody Learning
- Offline Access
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The Book of the Daily Prayers as the rite in the syriac orthodox church, according to the same named book "Shimo". Additional functions are Playing each qolo to learn every melody of the book. Special thanks are going to the patriarchate for recording the complete book with Abun Mhalyo Philoxenos Mattias Nayis and to Samir Zako for providing us the whole book. If theres something missing, please report by Mail.
Ktab
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Studying Classical Syriac with digital tools is still harder than it should be. Ktab is built to change that. Most Syriac coursework in the Western tradition is set in Serto, while devices default to Estrangela. Ktab works in either, and switches whenever you like. Type it, look it up, drill it — a Semitic language with a vast literature in theology, history, and science, and one still in liturgical use today, finally at home on your iPhone. · KEYBOARD A built-in Syriac keyboard with two layouts. Quick maps consonants and vowel marks onto the QWERTY positions you already know, so you can start typing on day one instead of first adapting to a layout that separates vowels from consonants. Universal follows the standard separated design and covers 120 characters — everything a serious typist or scholar needs. Arabic is built for those more at home on an Arabic keyboard than on QWERTY, matching the habits their fingers already have. · DICTIONARY Enter a Syriac word and jump straight to an online lexicon for the definition. History and Favorites keep your new vocabulary in one place, and you can add your own lookup sources to link in whichever dictionary you prefer. · DRILLS Four-option quizzes on the fundamentals of Syriac grammar. Pair them with Mistakes — the questions you get wrong go into a review list, where you can read a full explanation, mark an item as mastered, or drill a selection again until it sticks. · GRAMMAR TOOLBOX Clear, card-by-card explanations of the essentials: the alphabet, pronouns, pronominal suffixes, the three states of the noun, verb conjugation, and more. Your iPhone doubles as a pocket reference. · STILL GROWING More features are on the way.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Shimo at none against Ktab's 1. Shimo also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 5 weeks) and device support (3 vs 1). On price and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Ktab sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Shimo asks for nothing beyond the download.
Shimo ships an update every 3 weeks, Ktab every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Shimo | Ktab |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 5 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 7.1 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 19 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Norbert Gabriel | 韦杭 林 |
In-app purchases
Shimo
No in-app purchases
Ktab
- 解锁完整功能$2.99









