Dictionary Universal vs Dicty
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Dictionary Universal
Access a vast collection of dictionaries on your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. This app supports StarDict and Lingvo DSL formats, offering fast searches, morphology, fuzzy matching, and pronunciation. Organize dictionaries by language and save your favorites for quick access.
- StarDict and Lingvo DSL support
- Fast search and fuzzy matching
- Morphology support
- Pronunciation playback
- Dictionary profiles
- Favorites and history
- Clipboard lookup
Read full descriptionHide full description
Dictionary Universal is iPhone, iPod touch and iPad application for viewing StarDict dictionaries and dictionaries in Lingvo DSL format ¹. Many of these dictionaries are available on the Internet for free ². Features: * Very fast. After dictionary is indexed, minimal time is required to start before you can type text. List of matches appears without delay while you type. * Supports morphology for English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. * Fuzzy search. This functionality will help you find words if they are misspelled or when you don't know how to type word correctly. Just type in the text and hit Search button on the keyboard. * Pronunciation support. * Searching text in currently displayed article. * Profiles group dictionaries, pronunciation and morphology for quick switching. Useful if you work with several languages. * Favorites and Search History. * Ability to lookup word in clipboard when switching to the application. Copy word to clipboard and switch to Dictionary Universal to see translation. * Most complete StarDict format support in the AppStore (including images, synonyms, and various dictionary formats). * Color highlighting for better text readability (when supported by dictionary format). * Arbitrary word lookup. Tap any word in article to lookup it in loaded dictionaries. * Full screen mode support. * Compressed dictionaries and resources support. * Embedded web browser for downloading dictionaries from the Internet. ¹ Lingvo DSL format is a text format with dictionary source code. Dictionary Universal does not support compiled Lingvo dictionaries (LSD format). ² No dictionaries are bundled with the application. You will need StarDict or Lingvo DSL dictionaries to use them with the application.
Dicty
This app allows you to view dictionaries in StarDict format on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. It offers fast searching, contextual word lookup, and a dark color scheme for comfortable reading. Dictionaries are not included and must be downloaded separately.
- StarDict format support
- Fast search while typing
- Contextual word lookup
- Dark color scheme
- Clipboard support
- Share extension
Read full descriptionHide full description
Dicty is a viewer application for dictionaries in StarDict format. Thanks to Dicty, thousands of free dictionaries become available for use with your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad ¹. Features: * StarDict format support (plain text, html, xdxf). * Fast search over all dictionaries while typing. * Contextual word lookup. Tap and hold on a word in the text to lookup it in all dictionaries. * Special "Dark" color scheme. Makes the text easier to read in the dark and saves your eyes. * Clipboard support. Allows to copy last translated word to clipboard. * Portrait and Landscape viewing modes. * iTunes File Sharing support. * Share extension. Allows to translate selected words from other apps. ¹ No dictionaries are provided with the application. You can find them on the Internet free of charge and download inside the application or copy using iTunes.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Dicty at Free against Dictionary Universal's $5.99. Dicty also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 7 months). Dictionary Universal's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.3). On review sentiment, ratings volume, 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
Dicty is free to download; Dictionary Universal costs $5.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Dictionary Universal holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 26 and 31 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 85% of Dictionary Universal's written reviews are positive against 87% of Dicty's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Dictionary Universal ships an update every 7 months, Dicty every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and July 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Dictionary Universal | Dicty |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $5.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (26 ratings) — better | 4.3 (31 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 84.6% of reviews | 87.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 26 | 31 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Dmitry Zhuk | Aliaksandr Strakovich |
Customer experience
Dictionary Universal
Dicty
In-app purchases
Dictionary Universal
No in-app purchases
Dicty
No in-app purchases









