Comparison

Onymera vs LingLock

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

Head to head
About

Onymera

Learn new words daily with this app that displays a different word on your lock screen every minute. It offers extensive vocabulary lists in nine languages, complete with definitions, example sentences, and pronunciation guides. The app works offline and allows for personalized word selection based on your needs.

Highlights
  • Daily word display on lock screen
  • Extensive vocabulary in 9 languages
  • Definitions, example sentences, and pronunciation
  • Offline functionality
  • Customizable word selection
  • Word history and saved words
Features
Read full description

A new word, where you already look. Onymera puts a word on your lock screen and changes it about once a minute, so you meet a different one almost every time you glance at your phone. Not a notification. Not a feed. Nothing to open, nothing to remember, no streak to keep alive. NINE LANGUAGES, 32,000 WORDS AND COUNTING, ALL FREE • Korean - 5,965 words: the complete National Institute of Korean Language learner list, beginner through advanced, with Hanja origins where they help. • Japanese - 3,984 words: JLPT N5 and N4, and N3 well under way. Every entry carries its kana reading and romaji. • Chinese - 4,571 words: HSK 1 to 5, and the start of HSK 6, with pinyin. Simplified characters. • English - 4,295 words across four tiers, from everyday to genuinely rare. • Spanish - 2,709 words: CEFR A1, A2 and B1, with IPA so you know where the stress falls. • Portuguese - 2,592 words: A1, A2 and B1. Brazilian: ônibus, trem, celular, você. • French - 2,708 words: CEFR A1, A2 and B1, with IPA for everything the spelling hides. • German - 2,699 words: CEFR A1, A2 and B1, from the Goethe-Institut's own examination lists. • Italian - 2,697 words: CEFR A1, A2 and B1, with open and closed vowels marked. The word lists follow the official curriculum for each language where one exists, and every entry passes the same validator before it ships. Pick a language and the whole rotation follows; your history and saved words are kept separately for each one. EVERY ENTRY HAS A SENTENCE A definition in plain English, under 140 characters. An example sentence where the meaning is obvious from context, with a translation. Tap the widget for the pronunciation, the definition and the sentence, with the last five words you were shown underneath, so a word you half caught is never lost. TELL IT WHAT YOU'RE HEADING INTO Say, in plain English, what words you want to see: "a week in Seoul", "my first job in a Berlin office", "nothing beginner" - and the rotation follows. Thousands of words per language means even a very specific request comes back with a real list. This is the one optional purchase; everything else is free and complete without it. DOWNLOADS ONCE, THEN WORKS WITH NO SIGNAL A language is fetched the first time you pick it - a few hundred kilobytes - and from then on it lives on your phone. No account, no sign-up, nothing to fetch on a plane. The lists keep growing, and each language updates itself the next time you use it: new words arrive without an app update. A LIBRARY THAT FILLS ITSELF Your history is rebuilt from the rotation itself, so it is complete whether or not you opened the app. Save the ones you want to keep. Search by the word, by how it sounds, or by what it means in English. Accents and umlauts are optional: "manana" finds mañana, "schon" finds schön. LOCK SCREEN AND HOME SCREEN A rectangular and an inline widget for the lock screen. Small and medium widgets for the home screen: the small one is a glance, the medium one brings the example sentence with it. All free, and the app shows you how to add them the first time you open it. OPTIONAL: PERSONALIZATION - $2.99, ONCE The steering described above, plus the pace: slow the widget down to one word an hour, or one a day to sit with, rather than a new one every look. Your selection follows you to any device you sign in on. One payment. No subscription, ever. Nothing recurring anywhere in the app. — iPhone, iOS 17 or later. Privacy: onymera.app/privacy

About

LingLock

Features
Read full description

Learn to speak a new language without studying. LingLock puts one useful phrase on your Lock Screen, so every time you pick up your phone, you learn something you can actually say. No lessons. No streaks to protect. No time to set aside. Just the words locals really use, a few seconds at a time. HOW IT WORKS 1. Pick a language and what you're learning for: a trip, chatting with people, work, or a bit of everything. 2. Add the LingLock widget to your Lock Screen or Home Screen. 3. Glance. A new phrase appears every 3 hours, about 4 new ones a day. 4. Tap the speaker to hear it said, right from the widget. 5. It sticks. Phrases you're learning come back at spaced intervals until you've got them. Tap Got it and they'll give way to new ones. SAY IT LIKE A LOCAL Most apps teach the textbook version. LingLock teaches what people actually say in that country: casual Spain Spanish, everyday Brazilian Portuguese, Gulf Arabic, mainland Mandarin. Every phrase comes with an easy sound-it-out guide, so you can speak Japanese, Thai or Hindi from day one without learning a new alphabet. Some words change depending on who is speaking, like obrigado or obrigada. LingLock teaches you the version you would say. 13 LANGUAGES, EACH AS SPOKEN IN ONE PLACE • Spanish (Spain) • French (France) • Italian (Italy) • Portuguese (Brazil) • German (Germany) • Dutch (the Netherlands) • Japanese (Japan) • Korean (South Korea) • Mandarin Chinese (mainland China) • Thai (Thailand) • Hindi (India) • Gulf Arabic (UAE and the Gulf) • Georgian (Georgia) Switch languages anytime. Your progress in each one is kept. PHRASES YOU'LL USE ON DAY ONE Hello, thank you, where's the bathroom, the bill please, how much is it, I don't understand, one more please. About 200 everyday phrases per language across basics, small talk, food and drink, getting around, shopping, numbers, work, and health and emergencies. Your goal decides what comes first: planning a trip? Food, transport and emergencies arrive before small talk. WIDGETS THAT TEACH • Daily Phrase: a new phrase every 3 hours on your Lock Screen or Home Screen. • Quiz Me: see the English, try to recall it, then tap to reveal the answer. • Trip mode: set any widget to one topic, like Food or Health & emergency, to cram the right phrases before you fly. • Tap to hear: the speaker button plays the phrase without opening the app. WHEN WORDS FAIL, SHOW IT Tap Show and the phrase fills the screen in the local script, big and clear, ready to hand to a taxi driver, waiter or shopkeeper. WATCH YOURSELF PROGRESS The Today screen shows what's on your Lock Screen now, today's phrases, and your next milestone, like Café-ready: "2 more and you can order, pay and say thanks anywhere." MADE FOR BUSY PEOPLE • Learns in the background of your day, in the seconds you already spend on your phone • Search any phrase in English or your chosen language • Save favorites and pin one to your widget for the day • Short culture tips on when and how to use a phrase • Works offline. All phrases are built in FREE AND PRIVATE LingLock is free, with no ads, no subscription and no account. There's no tracking, and your progress stays on your iPhone. Perfect for travelers, expats, anyone with a partner or family who speaks another language, and anyone who has started a language app and stopped. Add the widget once, and your phone does the rest. Download LingLock and learn your first phrase in the next two seconds.

Screenshots

Onymera4 screens
LingLock4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: LingLock at none against Onymera's 1. Onymera's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 4 days). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

Both are free to download. Onymera sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. LingLock asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Onymera ships an update every 2 days, LingLock every 4 days. Both last shipped on October 9, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Onymera versus LingLock: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOnymeraLingLock
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterEvery 4 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperConvoyaAnannyashree Sharma

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Onymera

One-time1
  • Onymera Full Unlock$2.99
None

LingLock

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Onymera free?
Onymera is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is LingLock free?
LingLock is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Onymera or LingLock have ads?
Neither Onymera nor LingLock shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Onymera or LingLock?
Onymera ships an update every 2 days, and LingLock every 4 days. Most recently, Onymera was updated on October 9, 2026 and LingLock on October 9, 2026.

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