Comparison

Earworms vs WordTheme

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Earworms

Learn languages effectively using the "earworm effect" with catchy music and lyrics. This method anchors foreign language words and phrases into your long-term memory through engaging, brain-based audio-visual lessons. Improve vocabulary and grammar with bite-sized tracks and native speaker pronunciation.

Highlights
  • Learn languages with music and lyrics
  • Brain-based learning technique
  • Audio-visual experience with karaoke lyrics
  • 6-9 minute learning tracks
  • Content-rich language based on CEF
  • Native speaker pronunciation
Features
Read full description

Do you know what “earworm effect” is? Experience it while you learn languages with catchy music and lyrics that you just can't get out of your head. This highly effective award-winning learning technique uses music as the medium to transport words and phrases of a foreign language into your long-term memory. Start your language learning now! Learn Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Italian, Mandarin, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, Maltese, Dutch, Greek, Russian, Arabic, or Turkish and improve your vocabulary and grammar using the power of music. Earworms plant the words of a foreign language into your head with easy language courses. Try our language learning with music lyrics demo for free. THE EARWOMS METHOD 1. Brain-based: The Earworms method not only provides the words, phrases and grammar that you need for language learning, it also actively anchors them into the auditory cortex of your brain! It’s much more than language courses, it's language learning! Learn French, Spanish, English, Italian, German or Dutch listening to music lyrics. 2. Music is the key: Using music as the medium to learn languages is not only fun, it is also effective. Firstly, music puts the learner into the optimum state of consciousness for learning different languages. Secondly, music lyrics learning allows repetition (a prerequisite for language learning). On top of that, music engages and stimulates both hemispheres of the brain, unleashing more learning potential. 3. Chunking: Instead of language learning in terms of individual words and grammar, the Earworms approach immerses the learner in real-life dialogues and expressions with lyrics. These are broken down into bite-size chunks, practiced rhythmically with music and then reconstructed into full sentences. This gives the learner a strong sense of how real language courses are constructed and learning French, Spanish, German, Italian, English and other different languages and their vocabulary becomes easy. IMPORTANT FEATURES * Developed by language teaching experts. * Convenient. 6-9 minute tracks. Listen and learn track by track, any time, anywhere. * Audio-visual experience with 'karaoke-like' live lyrics feature. * Specific unambiguous goals. 200+ optimally selected sets of words and phrases for language learning. * Measurable. Easy tracking of progress of your language courses. * Target language spoken by native speakers - so correct pronunciation is acquired automatically. * Relevant. Carefully chosen content-rich language. Based on the CEF (Common European Framework) and immediately useful to the learner. * Time-bound. The musical memory method enables real rapid progress. E.g. you can learn to count up to 999 in Mandarin in an hour (!) or retain and recall words, phrases and structures in one language level within a couple of weeks. * Educational discounts are available. Visit https://www.earwormslearning.com/edu LANGUAGES CURRENTLY AVAILABLE French + German + Italian + Spanish (European) + Spanish (Lat. American) + Mandarin + Cantonese + Japanese + Arabic + Portuguese (European) + Portuguese (Brazilian) + Russian + Greek + Turkish + Polish + English + Dutch LEVELS There are 3 learning levels available, which will take you up to intermediate level (CEF level A2). * Volume 1. Within a few hours of listening to this volume, you'll have enough vocabulary knowledge of a language to be able to deal with real-life situations like taking a taxi, at the hotel, at the restaurant, requesting, polite phrases, finding your way, numbers, dealing with problems and so on. * Volume 2. This language course will soon have you talking about yourself, chatting and even flirting! * Volume 3. Here you learn more useful everyday situations while going more into the structure, the grammatical rules of the language while improving your vocabulary. NB. The app includes a demo album, full tracks of all languages available – and is free to download. You can then in-app purchase full courses.

About

WordTheme

Organize and study vocabulary lists for language learning or specific topics. Add words with translations, listen to pronunciation, and categorize them into themes. Create custom dictionaries, associate images and definitions, and utilize various study games.

Highlights
  • Add/modify words with translations
  • Listen to word pronunciation
  • Organize vocabulary into themes/categories
  • Create hierarchical categories
  • Associate images and definitions
  • Study games (flashcards, crosswords, etc.)
  • Google Drive synchronization
Features
Read full description

You want to learn a foreign language, or study a specific topic, and you are looking for an application to help you organise and study your vocabulary lists? This application allows you to: - add / modify words or sentences with their translation - listen to the pronunciation of those words - arrange your vocabulary lists in themes/categories - create a hierarchy of themes/categories (a theme can have sub-themes) - move a group of words to another theme/category - create several dictionaries - search a word in your personal dictionary - associate an image to a word - associate various texts to the added words (definition, conjugation, declensions, examples, etc.) You can also use this application as a lexicon or glossary, on the theme you want (mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, cooking, psychology, philosophy, justice, etc.). This application is also very useful if you want to create a constructed language (or conlang). To facilitate the sharing between devices, WordTheme allows the dictionaries to be saved, imported and synchronized via Google Drive. Games are also available in the application: - Flashcards - Match the words - Find Translation - Find Word - Mixed Letters - Write word - Spelling - Find Translation (from sound) - Crosswords All the games can be used with languages written from right to left (Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, ...) Additionally, this application allows you to : - save your personal dictionary - export your personal dictionary to share it with a friend, or to make a distant backup of it - import a new dictionary or a list of words into a dictionary (with the interface inside the application) - export or save your list of words in an Excel file If you have a suggestion or if you see a bug on the application, please send me a mail at soregainochi@gmail.com. It will help me make the application better. This app doesn't use AI.

Screenshots

Earworms4 screens
WordTheme4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: WordTheme at every 3 weeks against Earworms's every 5 months. WordTheme also leads on review sentiment (91% vs 71%). Earworms's advantage is ratings volume (357 vs 52) and iOS requirement (12.4 vs 16.0). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Earworms sells 16 one-off in-app purchases and WordTheme sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Earworms against 4.8 for WordTheme. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Earworms has 357 ratings behind it against 52, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 71% of Earworms's written reviews are positive against 91% of WordTheme's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Earworms ships an update every 5 months, WordTheme every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Earworms versus WordTheme: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEarwormsWordTheme
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (357 ratings)4.8 (52 ratings)
Positive reviews71.2% of reviews91.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings357 — better52
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.4 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size48 MB23 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerearworms LtdJean-Marie Moriceau

Customer experience

Earworms

All ratings357 ratings
Positive94.1%
Neutral2.8%
Negative3.1%
Written reviews73 reviews
Positive71.2%
Neutral11.0%
Negative17.8%

WordTheme

All ratings52 ratings
Positive96.2%
Neutral3.8%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews23 reviews
Positive91.3%
Neutral8.7%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Earworms

Reported bugs

11 issues
  • App crashes every few minutes on iPhone
  • Network error on startup despite internet connection
  • Infinite loop on initial setup screen
  • App closes unexpectedly during playback
  • Restore purchases feature not functioning
Show 6 more
  • Activation code cannot be claimed in app
  • Tracks download corrupted or fail to load
  • Text display shows English instead of native script
  • Phrase book download button subscribes to email instead
  • App no longer works after OS updates
  • Category selection feature removed in newer version

Requested features

11 requests
  • Additional volume levels for existing languages
  • More lessons and expanded content library
  • Autoplay feature for continuous listening
  • Repeat single track functionality
  • Ability to select specific lesson categories
Show 6 more
  • Business-focused lesson modules
  • Emergency/medical/police interaction lessons
  • Grocery shopping and tradesperson lessons
  • More Cantonese, Maltese, Hindi, and Finnish content
  • Improved booklet formatting and accessibility
  • Direct email contact option for support

WordTheme

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

16 purchases

Earworms

One-time16
  • Try before you buyFree
  • Essayez avant d’acheterFree
  • Álbum de demostraciónFree
Show 13 more
  • French Vol. 1$11.99
  • Italian Vol. 1$11.99
  • Spanish Lat. Am. Vol. 1$11.99
  • Portuguese Vol.1$11.99
  • French Vol. 2$11.99
  • Dutch Vol. 1-2$19.99
  • Japanese Vol. 1-2$19.99
  • Spanish Lat. Am. Vol. 1-3$27.99
  • Bundle deals, French Vol. 1-3$28.99
  • Bundle deals, German Vol. 1-3$28.99
  • Bundle deals, Italian Vol. 1-3$28.99
  • Bundle, Spanish Eu. Vol. 1-3$28.99
  • Portuguese Vol.1-3$28.99
4 purchases

WordTheme

One-time4
  • Offer a coffee!$0.99
  • Offer a piece of cake!$2.99
  • Offer a pizza!$4.99
Show 1 more
  • Premium features$6.99

Questions

Is Earworms free?
Earworms is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is WordTheme free?
WordTheme is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Earworms or WordTheme?
Earworms and WordTheme are both rated 4.8 out of 5 on the App Store, from 357 and 52 ratings respectively.
Do Earworms or WordTheme have ads?
Neither Earworms nor WordTheme shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Earworms or WordTheme?
Earworms ships an update every 5 months, and WordTheme every 3 weeks. Most recently, Earworms was updated on September 19, 2026 and WordTheme on September 23, 2026.

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