Comparison

Webster’s College Dictionary vs Webster1844

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

Head to head
About

Webster’s College Dictionary

This comprehensive dictionary offers over 160,000 entries with clear definitions, synonym notes, and usage guidance. It includes extensive Americanisms and terms from various fields, with advanced search and learning tools for an enhanced vocabulary experience.

Highlights
  • Over 160,000 entries
  • Clear definitions and synonym notes
  • Extensive Americanisms
  • Advanced search tools (autocomplete, keyword, camera, voice)
  • Spelling correction and wildcard search
  • Customizable themes
  • Usage and style guidance
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Webster's New World® College Dictionary is the most useful and authoritative dictionary you can own. More than 4,700 entries and senses have been added, including terms from the areas of arts, sports, science, medicine, food, business, law, politics, computers and the Internet. Thousands of revisions have been made to existing senses, to reflect current usage. About 12,000 Americanisms have been included to extensively cover the words, phrases, and senses first used in the United States. This dictionary features advanced word definitions, complimented with abundant synonym notes, full-page tables and charts, drawings and authoritative guidance on usage and style points, all well-organized in a clear and accessible style. * Clear, readable definitions that provide instant understanding * More than 160,000 entries with abundant synonym notes, full-page tables and charts, and authoritative guidance on usage and style points * Over 800 illustrations, biographical photographs and maps * 12,000 specially identified Americanisms * 4,700 terms from the areas of arts and sports, science and medicine, computers and the Internet, food, business, politics and law * Thousands of well-revised examples of current word usage Webster's New World ® College Dictionary, 5th edition is selected by leading newspapers as their official dictionary of choice. It is a favorite of newsrooms and copy editors nationwide and it is the official dictionary of The Associated Press Stylebook. LATEST APP UPDАТES:  • Learn in style with any of the four colorful new themes – The colorful layout will turn your learning experience into an enjoyable routine. Customize your dictionary and benefit from the cheerful mood your favorite color brings you.  • Dive right into the intricacies of the language - With new and convenient Home page, sleeker and more intuitive visual layout, as well as innovations in the speed of searches, you can get to the desired entry faster than ever.   SEARCH TOOLS - quickly find words with the clear, functional, and easy-to-use interface. Designed to provide the most comprehensive search experience, the dictionary combines several search tools to match or predict what are you looking for, including:  • Search autocomplete helps you find words quickly by displaying predictions as you type.  • Keyword lookup allows you to search within compound words and phrases.  • Camera search looks up words in the camera viewfinder and displays results in seconds.  • Voice search helps you find an entry when you don’t know how a word is spelled. Looking for a specific word but don't know how it's spelled? We've got you covered with our automatic ‘Fuzzy filter’ to correct word spelling, as well as ‘Wild card’ ('*' or '?') to replace a letter or entire parts of a word. LEARNING TOOLS - engaging features that help you further enhance your vocabulary. Designed to give you freedom to structure your studies, the dictionary combines several learning tools to help you be more organized, including:  • ‘Favorites’ that allow you to create custom folders with lists of words.  • Recent list which helps you to easily review looked-up words.  • Swipe-to-delete functionality in the Recent and Favorites menus.  • Word-of-the-day option to teach you a new word every day. Feel excited by the new word or definition you just learned? Share your discovery with friends on social media, email or any other option available on your device.

About

Webster1844

Features
Read full description

Webster 1844 brings Noah Webster’s 1844 American Dictionary to your iPhone and iPad. SEARCH ON DEVICE Find headwords fast. Browse structured definitions, etymology, and citations. Core lookup works offline. LOOK UP FROM OTHER APPS Select a word while you read (Safari, Books, Mail, and more), open the share sheet, and choose Webster 1844 under Actions. Don’t see it? Tap Edit Actions and turn it on. THEN & NOW (OPTIONAL) Compare an 1844 entry with a modern Merriam-Webster gloss, then—when Apple Intelligence is available—read an on-device note about how the sense may have changed. The 1844 text stays primary and is never replaced. Uses the network only when you tap Compare. SIRI & SHORTCUTS Ask Siri or use Shortcuts to define a word with Webster 1844. PRIVACY No accounts. No ads. No tracking. 1844 lookups stay on your device. Optional Then & Now sends the word to Merriam-Webster. Details: https://webster1844.morganize.com/privacy SUPPORT Webster 1844 is free. Optional donations help Morganize LLC keep it that way: https://webster1844.morganize.com/donate 1844 text from Akai Tsurugi’s Webster’s Dictionary 1844 project (CC BY-SA 4.0). Modern glosses via Merriam-Webster when you use Then & Now.

Screenshots

Webster’s College Dictionary4 screens
Webster18444 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Webster1844 at Free against Webster’s College Dictionary's $14.99. Webster’s College Dictionary's advantage is chart position (#190 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 18.0). On ads, in-app purchases 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

Webster1844 is free to download; Webster’s College Dictionary costs $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Webster’s College Dictionary versus Webster1844: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWebster’s College DictionaryWebster1844
Price$14.99Free — better
Rating4.5 (257 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews80.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings257 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 9 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
Best chart rank#190 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS9.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size113 MB108 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMobiSystems, Inc.Morganize LLC

Bugs and requests

Webster’s College Dictionary

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Tapping non-root word forms in definitions returns no results
  • Word games unavailable in split view with error message
  • Search suggestions for alternate spellings don't work
  • Menu items stack improperly in search view
  • Display too light, causing eye strain
Show 1 more
  • App interface not intuitive after recent redesign

Requested features

12 requests
  • Audio pronunciation of words
  • Example sentences for word usage
  • Search by derived terms, not just root words
  • Better phonetic search functionality
  • Word etymology information (some users noted lack of this)
Show 7 more
  • Ability to copy definitions
  • Swipe navigation between alphabetical entries
  • Multiple consecutive entries visible on single screen
  • Back button navigation to search screen
  • Dark mode or improved display contrast
  • Improved spelling suggestion for misspelled words
  • Disable Word of the Day notifications

Webster1844

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Webster’s College Dictionary

No in-app purchases

None

Webster1844

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Webster’s College Dictionary free?
Webster’s College Dictionary costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Webster1844 free?
Webster1844 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Webster’s College Dictionary or Webster1844 have ads?
Neither Webster’s College Dictionary nor Webster1844 shows ads.

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