Comparison

Learn Arabic Script! Premium vs Nuqtara

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

Head to head
About

Learn Arabic Script! Premium

Features
Read full description

This is the premium version which is ad-free. This app can teach you to read and write basic Arabic. Scroll through the letters and study their shapes and sounds. Practice tracing each one until you're familiar-- then quiz yourself on the letters!{"\n"} After familiarizing yourself with the letters, learn how to use the Harakaat (short vowel marks). Then, follow each lesson to learn how to use the new letters you've learned in common words. In the word games section, you can find word scramble and typing games to go along with each lesson to help you practice building words.{"\n"} To start, you just need to know a few basic facts. 1) Arabic is written right-to-left. 2) Each letter has four forms: independent (on its own), initial (at the beginning of a word), medial (in the beginning of a word), and final (at the end of a word). They change shape slightly depending where they come in the word. 3) The dots above and below change the sound the letter makes. 4) Short vowel sounds are written as optional accent marks.{"\n"} Arabic is a semitic language spoken across the Arab world which generally comprises the Middle East west of Iran and North Africa. It is the official language of 26 countries and 1 disputed territory -- making it the third most common official language after English and French. It is estimated to have 362 million native speakers and 274 million second-language speakers. That would make it the 6th most spoken language in the world.{"\n"} While every Arab country teaches standard Arabic in school, in their daily lives people speak a dialect specific to the place they live. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is largely derived from Classical Arabic (CA), and both are commonly referred to as FusHa (ููุตุญู‰) meaning "The most elegant language." Local dialects are variously referred to as 3ammiyya or daarija (ุนุงู…ูŠุฉ ุฃูˆ ุฏุงุฑุฌุฉ) meaning "general speech" and "current speech" respectively. The term Darija is more common in North African countries west of Egypt. Specific dialects are typically called by the country or city they are specific to-- for example, Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA) or just Egyptian, or Masry (ู…ุตุฑูŠ) which just means Egyptian in Arabic. At a more granular level, dialects within Egypt could be called Cairene, Alexandrian, Saidi (the southern region) etc. This can make learning Arabic seem like a daunting task -- what you should focus on largely depends on your learning goals. To be a truly competent Arabic speaker, one should study both MSA and the dialect of your choice. If you are only learning for the purposes of reading (literature, the news, religion), you may only want to learn FusHa. If you are learning to connect with family, planning a visit to a specific country, you may want to focus more on the dialect of that place. Dialects are mutually intelligible to a certain degree, especially between countries that are closer together. If you know standard Arabic and a dialect well, you should be able to easily communicate with most people. Regardless of your goals, learning the alphabet is a great starting point! The words and sentences in this app are Fus7a but should be useful to you in any case. There is still a great deal of overlap between Fus7a and dialects.{"\n"} The Arabic script is also used (currently and historically) for a huge number of other languages: Urdu, Farsi, Uyghur, Pashto, Kurdish, Ottoman Turkish, Balochi, Brahui, and many more.

About

Nuqtara

Features
Read full description

Arabic letters finally make sense. Nuqtara teaches the Arabic script through calm, focused practice: shape families, dots, joining rules, the four forms, guided tracing, vowel marks, and first reading words. Start with four free letters, then unlock the full Arabic alphabet, connection practice, review mode, and daily letter widgets. Everything is local-first, works offline after install, and does not require an account. Designed for absolute beginners, heritage learners, travelers, and Quran-motivated learners who want to recognize and write the script with confidence. Terms of Use (EULA): https://nuqtara.app/terms

Screenshots

Learn Arabic Script! Premium4 screens
Nuqtara4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Nuqtara at Free against Learn Arabic Script! Premium's $1.99. Learn Arabic Script! Premium's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Nuqtara is free to download; Learn Arabic Script! Premium costs $1.99 up front. Nuqtara sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Learn Arabic Script! Premium asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 3 level
Learn Arabic Script! Premium versus Nuqtara: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLearn Arabic Script! PremiumNuqtara
Price$1.99Free โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 โ€” better16.4
Further details โ€” not scored
Size8 MB80 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEthan HartzellANDRES JESUS DIAZ SANTOS

In-app purchases

None

Learn Arabic Script! Premium

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Nuqtara

One-time1
  • Nuqtara Lifetime$44.99

Questions

Is Learn Arabic Script! Premium free?
Learn Arabic Script! Premium costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Nuqtara free?
Nuqtara is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Learn Arabic Script! Premium or Nuqtara have ads?
Neither Learn Arabic Script! Premium nor Nuqtara shows ads.

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