Comparison

Semivowels vs Vocab Training

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

Head to head
About

Semivowels

This app offers dynamic animations and interactive anatomy views to illustrate the production of American English consonants. It includes detailed explanations of tongue placement and jaw movements, with synchronized audio and a drawing whiteboard for annotation. Designed for professionals and educators, it aids in understanding speech articulation.

Highlights
  • Dynamic consonant animations
  • Interactive anatomy identification
  • Tongue shape and placement views
  • Synchronized audio examples
  • Drawing whiteboard feature
  • Screenshot functionality
Features
Read full description

Semivowels app, authored by Fred D. Minifie, Ph.D, provides valuable instructional/clinical tools for speech-language pathologists, otolaryngologists, speech scientists, linguists, teachers of singing and other professionals. The app includes three nasal, four non-nasal (with three /r/ variants) consonant dynamic animations with sound plus a key view for each of the tongue shape and placement for the structural movements involved in the production of the consonants of American English. • Anatomy ID: as each part is touched, the part highlights and the part name and description text changes. Description text shows or hides on demand .  ◊ Anatomy view - 26 parts, includes nose, mouth and throat structure ID. Zoom and pans. • Highlight View: key view of the tongue shape and placement for three nasal, four non-nasal (with three /r/ variants) consonants of American English.  ◊ Nasal: /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ Non-nasal: /w/, /j/, /l/, /r/ (three variants on /r/)  ◊ Includes a 3 /r/ variant overlay illustration comparing the alveolar, retroflex and velar place of articulation.  ◊ Includes a word and sentence audio example to illustrate consonant articulation for /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /w/, /j/, /l/ • Animations: each consonant shows a lateral view of dynamic movements of the jaw, lips, tongue, velum (soft palate), and larynx needed for proper articulation of that consonant. Audio for each consonant sound is synchronized with the dynamic animations. Anatomy animation included. • Two finger pan of all animations and key view pages. • Drawing Whiteboard feature:  ◊ Drawing: freeform lines in red, blue, green or black hue.  ◊ Draw and place text directly on active animation and video.  ◊ Text: 36pt, auto wrap, non-movable in red, blue, green or black hue.  ◊  Eraser: touch and rub lines and text on whiteboard to erase.  ◊ Trash: one tap deletes all whiteboard lines and text.  ◊ Screenshot whiteboard direct to Photos App for easy email and printing. • iOS 6.0+ required, designed for iPad and iPhone. Semivowels app makes learning consonants easy. See example screen shots below. Get the app today!

About

Vocab Training

This app offers a fun and easy way to learn basic English vocabulary and pronunciation. It uses flashcards and quizzes to test your knowledge, with words categorized into 14 themes. Listen to correct pronunciation and record your own speech to improve fluency.

Highlights
  • Learn everyday words
  • Pronunciation practice
  • Speech recording
  • Themed vocabulary quizzes
  • Flashcard learning
  • Leaderboards and achievements
Features
Read full description

Note: A short entertaining video will play in English at the end of each quiz for around 5 seconds. If you do not want to view these videos, just make sure that your phone is offline. Learn basic English words and pronunciation! Easy and fun! Learn easily with flashcards! Become fluent in English! • A fun game to learn English • Learn everyday words from the dictionary • Test your skills using a variety of quizzes • Learn important words for business • Listen to the correct pronunciation • Record your own speech • How did you score? • Are you on the leader-board? • Let others see your achievements! Check out the leader-board to see how you scored in the quizzes. Practice as often as you want to get a better score. ►Words are divided into a total of 14 themes as follows: • Animals • Beliefs • Body • Business • Clothing • Food • Home • Nature • School • Sport • Transport • Travel • Verbs • Work Also, all words come with a broad transcription using IPA Phonetic Symbols (Fundamentals of Phonetics, 4th Edition, by Larry H. Small) to help with pronunciation. You should be able to improve your score in both the IELTS and PTE tests if you complete all levels of this app.

Screenshots

Semivowels4 screens
Vocab Training4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Vocab Training at 97% against Semivowels's 0%. Vocab Training also leads on price (Free vs $4.99) and rating (4.5 vs 2.5). Semivowels's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 15). On 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

Vocab Training is free to download; Semivowels costs $4.99 up front. Vocab Training sells 15 one-off in-app purchases. Semivowels asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Vocab Training holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Vocab Training has 11 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of Semivowels's written reviews are positive against 97% of Vocab Training's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Semivowels ships an update every 37 months, Vocab Training every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Semivowels versus Vocab Training: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSemivowelsVocab Training
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating2.5 (2 ratings)4.5 (11 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews96.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings211 — better
Update frequencyEvery 37 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.012.0
Further details — not scored
Size37 MB74 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperBlue Tree Publishing, Inc.Bryan Rolandsen

Customer experience

Semivowels

All ratings2 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative50.0%

Vocab Training

All ratings11 ratings
Positive90.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative9.1%
Written reviews60 reviews
Positive96.7%
Neutral1.7%
Negative1.7%

In-app purchases

None

Semivowels

No in-app purchases

15 purchases

Vocab Training

One-time15
  • Theme Home$0.99
  • Theme Food$0.99
  • Theme Body$0.99
Show 12 more
  • Theme Nature$0.99
  • Theme Travel$0.99
  • Theme School$0.99
  • Theme Verbs$0.99
  • Theme Clothing$0.99
  • Theme Beliefs$0.99
  • Theme Business$0.99
  • Theme Work$0.99
  • 100 Stars$1.99
  • Themes Pack$1.99
  • 250 Stars$2.99
  • 500 Stars$4.99

Questions

Is Semivowels free?
Semivowels costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Vocab Training free?
Vocab Training is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Semivowels or Vocab Training?
Vocab Training is rated higher. Semivowels averages 2.5 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Vocab Training averages 4.5 from 11 ratings.
Do Semivowels or Vocab Training have ads?
Neither Semivowels nor Vocab Training shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Semivowels or Vocab Training?
Semivowels ships an update every 37 months, and Vocab Training every 6 weeks. Most recently, Semivowels was updated on October 23, 2026 and Vocab Training on October 22, 2026.

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