Shakespeare vs Interactive IPA
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Shakespeare
Access the complete works of Shakespeare, including plays, sonnets, and poems. Features include a powerful search, integrated glossary, note-taking, and customization options for a rich reading experience.
- Complete works of Shakespeare
- Powerful search and concordance
- Integrated glossary with definitions
- Add and share personal notes
- Customizable reading experience
- Scene breakdowns and character descriptions
- Modern translations and lexicons
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“It’s really great!” —Kenneth Branagh, actor and director “I can't remember a time it wasn't on my iPhone. So feature rich!" —Stephen Fry, actor and writer “‘The app’s the thing.’ Hamlet was almost right. Great to see Shakespeare Pro superplaying with Shakespeare’s plays.” —David Crystal, linguist and author of Shakespeare's Words “The Shakespeare Pro app is simply terrific and filled with loads of wonderful information!” —Ken Ludwig, Tony and Olivier Award Winning Playwright Shakespeare Pro® includes the complete works of Shakespeare (41 plays, 154 sonnets and 6 poems, including apocrypha) and search the concordance to find the exact word or phrase you’re looking for (with “relaxed” searching to find words close to your search term). Shakespeare Pro is packed with these impressive features: ••• QUALITY TEXTS are a top priority and our team spent years compiling and editing the best references available. In the updated editions, the text is even more clear and each individual character is uniquely identified. ••• FIRST FOLIOS AND QUARTOS in original spelling show the works as they were originally published in Shakespeare’s time. ••• AN INTEGRATED GLOSSARY, based on the bestselling lexicon by David & Ben Crystal, Shakespeare’s Words™ is included. Simply tapping on a word will display its definition in context (not just a general definition). ••• ADD YOUR OWN NOTES AND SHARE THEM with your students, classmates, friends, and colleagues. Organize your notes into notebooks for use in the classroom, theatre, or just to remember key facts. Then share them via email or AirDrop. ••• POWER SEARCH THE WORKS by customizing multiple parameters like gender, genre, work, language, line form, soliloquies, and more. ••• CUSTOMIZE YOUR READING EXPERIENCE by choosing from a variety of color themes, change the font family and size, display long or short character names, jump around to different scenes, and view line numbers (*read the note below about line numbering). ••• BOOKMARK YOUR FAVORITE PARTS in addition to remembering the last page you viewed. Even copy/paste that great line. ••• DETAILED SCENE BREAKDOWNS give you an overview of the scenes within each play, their locations, and the characters present in each. ••• CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS help you better understand the actions and motivations of every character—all 1,155 of them. ••• MODERN TRANSLATIONS and lexicons to help you better understand Elizabethan English (extra add-ons). ••• GET THE FACTS by reading up on Shakespeare’s life, view data and chronology about his works, and an overview of scansion terminology or rhetoric. Character Arc Visualizers show individual character arcs or allow for comparison of multiple characters. ••• SHAKE YOUR DEVICE for Shakespeare himself to display a random memorable quote or insult. Or get a new random quote every day. ••• BROWSE THE GALLERY of famous Shakespeare portraits. ••• TEACHER CURRICULUM makes it easy for teachers to introduce students to Shakespeare's works. ••• COMPLETE APOCRYPHA is the most comprehensive breakdown of 14 plays Shakespeare may have had a hand in. ••• BARDFIND™ is the easiest way to find a Shakespeare theatre or venue anywhere in the world. These are just a few highlights of the great things in Shakespeare Pro. If you’re a student, professor, actor, or just plain love the Bard, this must-have app ensures you have the complete works at your fingertips. Like the new features? Having trouble and need support? Let us know at support@playshakespeare.com or at http://support.playshakespeare.com.
Interactive IPA
Explore the International Phonetic Alphabet with an interactive demonstration. Click any symbol to hear its pronunciation and learn more about it, enhancing your understanding of phonetics. Features official IPA charts and a unique chart of English diphthongs and triphthongs.
- Interactive IPA symbol exploration
- Hear pronunciations of IPA symbols
- Learn detailed information about each symbol
- Official IPA charts included
- Custom chart of English diphthongs and triphthongs
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There’s never been a more effective and exciting way to learn the International Phonetic Alphabet than with Interactive IPA, a unique interactive demonstration of phonetics. By allowing you to click on any IPA symbol and instantly hear it and learn more about it, this app will expand your knowledge and comprehension of phonetics. The app is brought to you, and voiced, by Paul Meier, a theatre professor specializing in voice, speech, accents and dialects, phonetics, heightened text, and Shakespeare; a renowned dialect coach for theatre and film; and a voice-over artist with many commercials and audio books to his credit. This has been his calling for more than 40 years, in his native London, in the United States where he is now based, and all over the world. He holds a first-class Certificate of Proficiency from the International Phonetic Association. Among many of the famous directors with whom Meier has worked is Oscar winner Ang Lee, who says, “Paul [is] invaluable in maintaining dialect and ensuring clean, clear speech. … He has a great feel for the language, … and Paul’s contribution [to my film] through speech, voice, and dialect was crucial.” In addition to the official IPA charts, this app presents one extra chart of Meier’s own devising: diphthongs and triphthongs of American and British English. The app is designed by Scott Means, based upon the official charts of the International Phonetics Association and an original interactive design by Eric Armstrong.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Shakespeare at Free against Interactive IPA's $3.99. Shakespeare also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.2) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 79 months). Interactive IPA's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 27) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 16.0). On 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
Shakespeare is free to download; Interactive IPA costs $3.99 up front. Shakespeare sells 27 one-off in-app purchases. Interactive IPA asks for nothing beyond the download.
Shakespeare holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Shakespeare has 3.5K ratings behind it against 34, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 74% of Shakespeare's written reviews are positive against 47% of Interactive IPA's.
Shakespeare ships an update every 3 weeks, Interactive IPA every 79 months. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Shakespeare | Interactive IPA |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $3.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (3.5K ratings) — better | 3.2 (34 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 74.0% of reviews — better | 47.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3.5K — better | 34 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 79 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 416 MB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | PlayShakespeare.com | Paul Meier Dialect Services, LC |
Customer experience
Shakespeare
Interactive IPA
Bugs and requests
Shakespeare
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes on launch or opening plays
- Scrolling and UI issues
- Incompatible with latest iOS versions
Requested features
5 requests- Add modern translations
- Include line numbers
- Improve search and navigation
- Add more content like sonnets
- Sync purchases across devices
Interactive IPA
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Shakespeare
- Modern Translation (AYLI)$1.99
- Modern Translation (Sonnets)$1.99
- Modern Translation (AWEW)$1.99
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- Modern Translation(Coriolanus)$1.99
- Modern Translation (CoE)$1.99
- Modern Translation (WT)$1.99
- Modern Translation (Othello)$1.99
- Modern Translation (Much Ado)$1.99
- Modern Translation (LLL)$1.99
- Modern Translation (Hamlet)$2.99
- Modern Translation (Macbeth)$2.99
- Modern Translation (R&J)$2.99
- Modern Translation (King Lear)$2.99
- Glossary by Alexander Dyce$3.99
- Glossary by C. T. Onions$3.99
- Schmidt's Lexicon$3.99
- Glossary by C. T. Onions$4.99
- All Apocrypha$7.99
- Course: Intro to Shakespeare$9.99
- All Apocrypha$9.99
- All Lexicons$9.99
- Course Shakespeare for Kids$9.99
- Upgrade to Shakespeare Pro$12.99
- All Lexicons$12.99
- Modern Translation (All Works)$14.99
- Modern Translation (All Works)$19.99
- Shakespeare Ultimate$59.99
Interactive IPA
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Shakespeare free?
Is Interactive IPA free?
Which has better reviews, Shakespeare or Interactive IPA?
Do Shakespeare or Interactive IPA have ads?
Which is updated more often, Shakespeare or Interactive IPA?
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