Maktabati vs Arabic Minute
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Maktabati
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Read real Islamic books in Arabic, one word at a time. Maktabati is a quiet reading room for anyone learning Classical Arabic (fuṣḥā). Open a classical text, tap any word, and see what it means in that sentence, along with its root, dictionary form and grammar. Save the words you meet, quiz yourself on them, and earn back screen time with the reading you do. A SHELF OF CLASSICAL BOOKS • Qaṣaṣ an-Nabiyyīn, the Stories of the Prophets by Abū al-Ḥasan an-Nadwī: fully voweled and the place to begin • al-Arba'ūn an-Nawawiyyah, Imam an-Nawawī's Forty Hadith: 42 short hadith, fully voweled, for beginners • Min Akhlāq ar-Rasūl al-Karīm, on the character of the Prophet (peace be upon him): for readers ready for a moderate text Each book has its own page on the shelf and is divided into short chapters, with Qur'an verses, hadith and poetry set apart from the text. Choose from three Arabic fonts and the size that suits your eyes, and Maktabati opens on the page where you stopped. EVERY WORD EXPLAINED Tap a word to see its meaning in context and hear it pronounced. Open it further for: • its parts, such as the article al- and the stem • its dictionary form, pattern and part of speech • its meanings in plain English, each also explained in Arabic • its plural, feminine and other forms • its root, with a page for every root and the words built from it Tap an honorific symbol or a number in the text and Maktabati explains that too. KEEP THE WORDS YOU MEET Save any word to your flashcards with one tap. Each card shows the word's root and dictionary form, and earns stars as you answer it correctly, moving from new to learning, familiar and mastered. Group words into decks to study them together. QUIZ YOURSELF IN A MINUTE Each quiz picks the ten words you need most: the ones you missed, the ones due for review, and new ones. As a word earns stars, its question changes: its meaning, its sound, a gap in a sentence from the book, its root, or its Arabic explanation. Miss one and Maktabati shows you the word properly, then asks again before the quiz ends. Premium adds two games. In Root Garden you find every word from a root against the clock, and in Sentence Builder you rebuild a sentence from the book word by word. READ MORE, SCROLL LESS Choose the apps that pull you away and give them a balance of minutes. Every minute you read and every quiz answer you get right adds a minute, up to the limit you set. When the balance runs out, Maktabati can block those apps until you've read a little more. Focus uses Apple's Screen Time, and the apps you choose stay private on your device. WATCH YOURSELF GROW Keep a daily streak, see this week's reading at a glance, and follow your words mastered, roots met and quiz accuracy. Eight achievements, each with levels, mark the way. MADE FOR IPAD TOO On iPad the dictionary sits beside the page, with a sidebar to move around and keyboard page turns. MAKTABATI PREMIUM Maktabati is free to download. The free plan includes reading, the word panel, each word's dictionary form and root, up to 15 saved words, unlimited quizzes, and Focus. Premium adds full dictionary entries, unlimited saved words, your own decks, Root Garden and Sentence Builder, and requests for the next book on the shelf. Premium is an auto-renewing weekly or yearly subscription. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm the purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless it's cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for the renewal within 24 hours before that period ends. You can manage or cancel it in your Apple Account settings at any time. Privacy Policy: https://ilmtech.ltd/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Arabic Minute
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Arabic Minute is the most comprehensive way to learn Arabic. Whether you are a complete beginner or an advanced learner, Arabic Minute meets you where you are with curated vocabulary, the root letter system that makes Arabic finally make sense, and elegant tools designed by people who love the language. DAILY VOCABULARY: Start every morning with a new Arabic word. See its meaning, transliteration, root letters, morphological pattern, and an example sentence in a real context. ROOT SYSTEM EXPLORER: Arabic words are built from 3-letter roots that share a core meaning. Tap any word to see its family, every word built from the same root, all in one place. Once you see the system, Arabic stops feeling random. LETTER GUIDE: Master the 28 letters in 7 progressive groups, each organized by shape similarity. See every letter in all four positional forms (isolated, initial, medial, final), with native pronunciation. GAMES & PRACTICE: • Interactive quizzes • Flashcards with spaced repetition • Reading practice with full passages • Listening practice with native voices • Writing practice with stroke order • Sentence builder • Verb conjugation drills • Daily challenge for streak keepers CALLIGRAPHY GENERATOR: Create stunning Arabic wallpapers from classical poetry and proverbs. Choose your verse, customize the style and color, and save to your photos. HOME SCREEN WIDGETS: Add the Daily Word or Daily Proverb widget to your home screen. Beautiful hand-painted watercolor designs that make Arabic part of your everyday rhythm. PROGRESS DASHBOARD: Track your streak, see how many words you have learned, monitor your level, and celebrate milestones along the way. DIALECT EXPLORER: Compare Modern Standard Arabic with major regional dialects (Egyptian, Levantine, Gulf, Maghrebi) so you can communicate confidently anywhere in the Arab world. GRAMMAR LESSONS: Clear, beginner-friendly grammar lessons covering the foundations: pronouns, the definite article, gender, plurals, verb forms, and more. MORE: • Achievements and milestones • Personal word history • Favorites and smart filtering • Multi-level progression (beginner to advanced) • Built-in dictionary with diacritics-aware search • Daily proverbs and classical wisdom Arabic Minute is offline-first, beautifully designed, and crafted with deep respect for the Arabic language and its speakers. Begin today. مرحباً. TALK: SPEAKING PRACTICE WITH EIGHT TUTORS Chat by text or start a live voice call with Layla, Abu Youssef, Um Saeed, Dr. Karima, Scheherazade, Ibn Battuta, Ahmad Shawqi or Imru' al-Qais. Each tutor is an AI character with a native-accent voice and a register of their own, from everyday Gulf and Egyptian Arabic to classical fusha. They reuse the words you are studying, correct you gently, and give you a recap with corrections you can save and review. Two minutes of live talk and ten tutor messages a day are free; Premium gives you ten minutes and sixty messages. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://arabic-minute-ai.abdulla-saeed-alhemeiri.workers.dev/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Maktabati at every 5 days against Arabic Minute's every 2 weeks. Arabic Minute's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Maktabati sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days and Arabic Minute sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Maktabati ships an update every 5 days, Arabic Minute every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Maktabati | Arabic Minute |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 293 MB | 47 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ilmtech Limited | Abdulla Alhemeiri |
In-app purchases
Maktabati
- Maktabati Premium (Weekly)$2.997 Days
- Maktabati Premium (Monthly)$6.991 Month
- Maktabati Premium (Yearly)$39.991 Year
Arabic Minute
- Arabic Minute Premium$9.991 Month








