Comparison

Shady vs mellow

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

Head to head
About

Shady

Features
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Make the short videos you already enjoy part of your language-learning routine. Save a YouTube Shorts link and Shady turns it into a lesson with captions, useful phrases, and sentence-by-sentence shadowing practice. Listen, speak along, and revisit the expressions you want to remember. LEARN WITH SHORT VIDEOS β€’ Save a Shorts link to keep a video in your study library. β€’ Create captions and review useful expressions from a video. β€’ Practice listening and speaking one sentence at a time. β€’ Save phrases and sentences to revisit later. Shady supports learning with English, Japanese, and Chinese videos. Some features may require a subscription. Availability and pricing can vary by country. Use videos you love to build a language-learning habit, one short lesson at a time.

About

mellow

Features
Read full description

Practising a language is rarely a question of time. It is a question of starting. mellow turns that around: instead of opening an app, you answer a call. The call comes to you Eight in the morning, seven on the way home β€” pick the days and the hour, and the phone rings then. Answer and the conversation is already under way. There is no moment left in which to decide whether today is the day. 8 languages, 19 friends English, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese and Korean, each with friends who have their own personality and way of talking. Help in your own language The app, in-call translations, hints and learning reports come in your language. Stuck for words? A hint shows two things you could say next. A real call Voice, not typing. Your friend speaks, you answer, and it answers back without waiting for you to finish typing. It runs at the pace of a real call, which is the part that is hard to practise anywhere else. Each friend talks differently Each one talks differently. One waits while you find the word; another keeps the pace up. Pick whoever suits the day. Set the scene Write the situation you want β€” ordering at a cafΓ©, introducing yourself in an interview β€” and the conversation goes there. What you keep A report arrives when the call ends: where you got stuck, and how the sentence would have sounded more naturally, line by line. The corrections become review cards, and they come back around when you are about to forget them. Free to use Two calls a week, five minutes each. They come back every Monday. Subscribe if you want to talk more: 300 minutes a month, up to 60 minutes a call. Worth knowing Your conversation partner is an AI, not a person. Your voice and conversation are sent to OpenAI for speech recognition, conversation and learning feedback. AI replies and review expressions are sent to OpenAI or Google Gemini for speech synthesis; replies may contain your name or conversation details. The app asks for your consent before calls or scheduling. Decline and non-call features remain available. Subscription mellow Membership is a monthly or yearly auto-renewable subscription; prices are shown in the app. Payment is charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase. It renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the current period ends. Manage or cancel it in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Terms of service: https://www.mellowcall.com/en/terms Privacy policy: https://www.mellowcall.com/en/privacy

Screenshots

Shady4 screens
mellow4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: Shady at 3 against mellow's 1. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Shady sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and mellow sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shady ships an update every 2 weeks, mellow weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference Β· 5 level
Shady versus mellow: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShadymellow
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksWeekly β€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod β€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.1 β€” better16.4
Further details β€” not scored
Size64 MB129 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperHyeonwoo KimNullge

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Shady

Subscriptions9
  • 쉐디 Premium μ›”κ°„ 24μ‹œκ°„ νŠΉκ°€3 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • 쉐디 Premium μ›”κ°„ 재방문 νŠΉκ°€3 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • 쉐디 Premium μ›”κ°„3 Days trial$9.991 Month
Show 6 more
  • 쉐디 Premium μ›”κ°„ μƒμ‹œ 할인$9.991 Month
  • 쉐디 Premium μ—°κ°„ 24μ‹œκ°„ νŠΉκ°€3 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • 쉐디 Premium μ—°κ°„ 재방문 νŠΉκ°€3 Days trial$44.991 Year
  • 쉐디 Premium μ—°κ°„ 볡귀 νŠΉκ°€$49.991 Year
  • 쉐디 Premium μ—°κ°„ μƒμ‹œ 할인$59.991 Year
  • 쉐디 Premium μ—°κ°„3 Days trial$69.991 Year
2 purchases

mellow

Subscriptions2
  • mellow Membership Monthly$7.991 Month
  • mellow Membership Yearly$59.991 Year

Questions

Is Shady free?
Shady is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is mellow free?
mellow is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Shady or mellow have ads?
Neither Shady nor mellow shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shady or mellow?
Shady ships an update every 2 weeks, and mellow weekly. Most recently, Shady was updated on November 7, 2026 and mellow on November 6, 2026.

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