Comparison

Shakespeare vs Interactive IPA

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

“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.

About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

Shakespeare4 screens
Interactive IPA4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Shakespeare versus Interactive IPA: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShakespeareInteractive IPA
PriceFree — better$3.99
Rating4.8 (3.5K ratings) — better3.2 (34 ratings)
Positive reviews74.0% of reviews — better47.1% of reviews
Number of ratings3.5K — better34
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 79 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS16.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size416 MB10 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPlayShakespeare.comPaul Meier Dialect Services, LC

Customer experience

Shakespeare

All ratings3,500 ratings
Positive96.2%
Neutral1.9%
Negative1.9%
Written reviews308 reviews
Positive74.0%
Neutral6.8%
Negative19.2%

Interactive IPA

All ratings34 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral8.8%
Negative41.2%
Written reviews34 reviews
Positive47.1%
Neutral5.9%
Negative47.1%

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

27 purchases

Shakespeare

One-time27
  • Modern Translation (AYLI)$1.99
  • Modern Translation (Sonnets)$1.99
  • Modern Translation (AWEW)$1.99
Show 24 more
  • 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
None

Interactive IPA

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Shakespeare free?
Shakespeare is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Interactive IPA free?
Interactive IPA costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Shakespeare or Interactive IPA?
Shakespeare is rated higher. Shakespeare averages 4.8 out of 5 from 3.5K ratings, while Interactive IPA averages 3.2 from 34 ratings.
Do Shakespeare or Interactive IPA have ads?
Neither Shakespeare nor Interactive IPA shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shakespeare or Interactive IPA?
Shakespeare ships an update every 3 weeks, and Interactive IPA every 79 months. Most recently, Shakespeare was updated on October 12, 2026 and Interactive IPA on October 7, 2026.

Other comparisons