Etym vs Baybayin Ancient Script
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Etym
Discover the fascinating origins of everyday words with daily, bite-sized stories. Test your knowledge with quick quizzes and save your favorite word histories. Perfect for anyone curious about language and history.
- Daily word origin stories
- Bite-sized learning
- Save favorite words
- Daily quizzes
- Vocabulary expansion
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Ever wonder where words come from? "Salary" comes from salt. "Muscle" means little mouse. "Clue" was literally a ball of thread. The words you use every day have wild, weird, fascinating histories, and Etym helps you uncover them. Every day, a handful of new words land in your feed. Tap through at your own pace, save your favorites, and take the daily quiz to make it stick. You'll learn something new in under a minute and actually remember it. WHAT'S INSIDE Daily word stories — bite-sized and genuinely interesting My Words — everything you've collected Liked — your favorites, saved for later Daily quizzes — because knowing is half the battle For word nerds, trivia lovers, history buffs, and anyone who's ever thought "wait, why do we say that?" Download etym. Your vocabulary has secrets. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://joinenthusiast.com/privacy
Baybayin Ancient Script
Learn and write the ancient pre-colonial Filipino script. Practice tracing characters, transliterate text, and hear authentic pronunciation from native speakers. Works offline with no ads or tracking.
- Trace characters freehand
- Master individual glyphs and full words
- Translate Filipino to Baybayin instantly
- Hear authentic pronunciation from native speakers
- Full glossary reference guide
- Works completely offline
- Save and share progress
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Baybayin is a free educational app for learning, writing, and transliterating the ancient pre-colonial Filipino script — brought to life for a new generation of Filipinos and friends of the Philippines. Before Spanish colonization, Filipinos wrote in Baybayin — a beautiful abugida script used across the archipelago to write Tagalog and other Philippine languages. This app puts that living heritage in your hands. PRACTICE BAYBAYIN: Trace every character freehand on a guided canvas. Practice all 17 letters — 3 vowels and 14 consonants — across their vowel variants. Switch between Character mode to master individual glyphs and Word mode to practice full words. Save your drawings to your Camera Roll and share your progress. TRANSLATE FILIPINO TO BAYBAYIN: Type any Filipino or Latin text and see it instantly converted to Baybayin script. A growing history of your transliterations is saved automatically so you can revisit your favorites anytime. HEAR AUTHENTIC PRONUNCIATION: Every character and practice word is voiced by a native Filipino speaker — not a computer voice. Hear the correct Tagalog pronunciation of all 51 syllable combinations and 11 practice words including salamat, bahay, puso, and pagibig. GLOSSARY REFERENCE: A full reference guide of all 17 Baybayin letters with their vowel variant glyphs, romanized labels, and voice playback. Tap any character to expand its full detail. Perfect for learners and curious minds alike. WORKS COMPLETELY OFFLINE: No internet connection required. No account needed. No ads. No tracking. Your data stays on your device. WHY BAYBAYIN MATTERS Baybayin is not a dead language — it is a living part of Filipino identity. It appears on the Philippine peso, in street art across Manila, in tattoos worn with pride by Filipinos around the world. Learning Baybayin is an act of cultural reclamation — a way to reconnect with a history that colonization tried to erase. This app was made with deep respect for that heritage, by a Filipino developer, for every Filipino — at home or in the diaspora. WHAT YOU CAN LEARN The 3 Baybayin vowels: A, I, U/O All 14 consonants and their syllable forms The kudlit diacritic system for vowel modification The virama (pangalawang kudlit) for final consonants Common Filipino words written in Baybayin
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Baybayin Ancient Script at none against Etym's 2. Etym's advantage is ratings volume (4 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.6). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. Etym sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Baybayin Ancient Script asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Etym against 5.0 for Baybayin Ancient Script. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 1 respectively.
Etym ships an update weekly, Baybayin Ancient Script every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Etym | Baybayin Ancient Script |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (4 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 4 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 47 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jacqueline Vidal Chang | Bryan Fernandez |
Customer experience
Etym
Baybayin Ancient Script
In-app purchases
Etym
- English$4.991 Month
- English7 Days trial$29.991 Year
Baybayin Ancient Script
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Etym free?
Is Baybayin Ancient Script free?
Which has better reviews, Etym or Baybayin Ancient Script?
Do Etym or Baybayin Ancient Script have ads?
Which is updated more often, Etym or Baybayin Ancient Script?
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