Comparison

Brill vs False Friends

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

Head to head
About

Brill

Learn languages effortlessly with a minimalist widget that displays new words on your home screen throughout the day. This app focuses on natural vocabulary absorption without reminders or pressure, fitting seamlessly into your daily routine.

Highlights
  • Learn without opening an app
  • One word at a time display
  • Minimalist home screen widget
  • Supports 28 languages
  • Customizable Pro features
  • Light, dark, and clear styles
Features
Read full description

You don’t need more study time. You need better exposure. Brill helps you learn languages at a glance. New words appear directly on your Home screen, so learning happens naturally as you go about your day — no streaks, no reminders, no friction. Add a beautifully minimal widget and start absorbing vocabulary without thinking about it. WHY BRILL WORKS • Learn without opening an app • One word at a time, shown throughout your day • Designed to build real habits, not guilt SUPPORTED LANGUAGES Choose from 28 languages and explore essential, high-frequency vocabulary — perfect for beginners and casual learners. Available in: Japanese, Korean, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese (Mandarin), Chinese (Cantonese), Chinese (Hokkien), Russian, Turkish, Thai, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Dutch, Swedish, Polish, Greek, Ukrainian, Romanian, Hungarian, Danish, Filipino, Malay, Hebrew, Mongolian, & Bulgarian DESIGNED TO FIT YOUR SCREEN • Clean, distraction-free widget • Light, dark, and clear styles • Home Screen and Lock Screen support GO PRO TO CUSTOMIZE YOUR LEARNING • Add your own words • Filter vocabulary by topic • Blur translations to strengthen memory • Control how often words refresh • Unlock Lock Screen widgets No accounts. No streaks. No pressure. Just language learning that fits into your life. Your next language starts with one glance. Our full Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions are available on our website. They clearly outline the data Brill collects, how we use it, and how users can manage their information. Privacy Policy: https://www.brillapp.com/legal/privacy-policy Terms & Conditions: https://www.brillapp.com/legal/terms-and-conditions

About

False Friends

Learn to distinguish between words that look similar but have different meanings in French, Spanish, and Italian. This app provides quizzes with explanations, tracks your progress, and offers pronunciation guides.

Highlights
  • 250 false friend pairs per language
  • Bilingual quizzes
  • IPA pronunciation and example sentences
  • Multiple-choice quizzes with explanations
  • Progress tracking
  • Unlockable word tiers
Features
Read full description

Some words look exactly like ones you already know — and mean something else entirely. In French, "librairie" looks like "library" but means "bookshop". Those are false friends, and they are the mistakes that stick. False Friends drills exactly those words. WHAT'S INSIDE • 250 false friend pairs for each language: French, Spanish and Italian • Both directions — read the foreign word and answer in English, or the other way round • The real meaning, the lookalike it gets confused with, IPA pronunciation and example sentences • Tap a word to hear it spoken QUIZZES THAT EXPLAIN THEMSELVES Short multiple-choice rounds where the trap is always one of the options. Answer, and you get a short explanation of why the lookalike is wrong — not just a red cross. BUILT TO PROGRESS Words are grouped into four tiers, from the traps you meet every day to the genuinely subtle ones. Clear the common words to unlock the rest. Track your accuracy, your streak, and the words still worth reviewing. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT No accounts, no ads, no analytics, no third-party SDKs. Your progress stays on your device and syncs through your own iCloud account. Optional daily reminders keep the habit going. Works with VoiceOver. The interface is available in English, French, Spanish and Italian.

Screenshots

Brill4 screens
False Friends4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: False Friends at 5.0 against Brill's 4.3. False Friends also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 4) and review sentiment (100% vs 86%). Brill's advantage is ratings volume (27 vs 3) and iOS requirement (17.6 vs 26.0). On price, ads and device support 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. Brill sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. False Friends asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

False Friends holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Brill has 27 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of Brill's written reviews are positive against 100% of False Friends's.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Brill versus False Friends: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBrillFalse Friends
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (27 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews85.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings27 — better3
Update frequencyWeekly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.6 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size67 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAddison SchultzEdliss LLC

Customer experience

Brill

All ratings17 ratings
Positive94.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative5.9%
Written reviews14 reviews
Positive85.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.3%

False Friends

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Brill

Subscriptions4
  • Brill Pro Monthly$0.991 Month
  • Brill Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Brill Pro Annually$9.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Brill Pro Annual7 Days trial$24.991 Year
None

False Friends

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Brill free?
Brill is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is False Friends free?
False Friends is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Brill or False Friends?
False Friends is rated higher. Brill averages 4.3 out of 5 from 27 ratings, while False Friends averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Brill or False Friends have ads?
Neither Brill nor False Friends shows ads.

Other comparisons