Comparison

Talk Dim Sum vs GuildSomm

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

Head to head
About

Talk Dim Sum

Navigate Chinese and Chinese-adjacent cuisine with confidence. Hear pronunciations in Cantonese or Mandarin, search dishes in English or Chinese, and discover over 500 restaurants. Practice your speaking with speech-to-text and AI dish recognition.

Highlights
  • Cantonese and Mandarin pronunciation
  • English and Chinese search
  • Save favorite dishes
  • AI camera dish recognition
  • Speech-to-text pronunciation practice
  • Over 500 US restaurants listed
Read full description

Love dim sum, but don't know what to order or how to order? Bring this app, find what you like, and tap the speaker icon to hear the dish pronounced in Chinese (Cantonese or Mandarin) using iOS text-to-speech. I made this app after visiting Hong Kong and trying to crash course learn Cantonese in the food courts. The early focus was just on dim sum and Cantonese text-to-speech and my favorite restaurants, but has since expanded (based on user tips and requests and my own interests) to more broadly cover Chinese and Chinese-adjacent food (over five hundred dishes) and include features such as Mandarin (traditional and simplified), search (English and Chinese), saving favorites, AI camera recognition of dishes, speech-to-text pronunciation practice, basic phrases, and over five hundred restaurants in the US (sorry, I gave up on trying to list every restaurant in the world, it's just not feasible). Tips: If the voice is stuck in Cantonese or Mandarin even after switching the tabs in the Practice screen, go to the Settings app, select Accessibility then Spoken Content and check the Chinese voice. If it's not one of the Siri voices, try selecting Siri in Mainland China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan. If you don't hear the Chinese speech 1) check the mute switch on your iPhone and make sure it isn't on. 2) text-to-speech for a particular voice sometimes seems to require an internet connect, at least on initial use (same with speech-to-text, the microphone practice button). 2) sometimes a device will have trouble accessing the text-to-speech voice (it's the Hong Kong Chinese voice used for Accessibility in Settings), so try turning your device off and on. Tapping the speaker icon plays back the Chinese pronunciation at half speed to help you learn. Tap the microphone icon to bring up more options, including adjusting the playback speed, switching between Cantonese and Mandarin, and practicing speaking (the speed and language settings are also in Settings). Aside from the default speed, the speech may sound not quite natural because the app does not play back recorded speech but instead uses iOS text-to-speech functionality, which utters one character (i.e. one syllable) at a time, which may not match how an entire compound word or phrase is normally pronounced (you can hear this effect when using Siri). The home screen shows categories of dishes. Tap each category to see the dishes. Or tap on the Search button at the top left (some vocabulary items like "takeout" are not in categories but available in via search). Talk Dim Sum is developed with: The dim sum icon from Stock Image Folio on Iconfinder.com. The technicat logo designed by Dakota Snow. Restaurant link icons from Simple Icons. Photos from many dim sum excursions. Regional map images from Wikipedia (Creative Commons License from Wikimedia). Swift open source packages: AlertToast, ImagePickerView, LinksKit, Qgrid, SQLite.swift, SwiftUIPager, and SwiftyJSON.

About

GuildSomm

Access a comprehensive database of wine and beverage knowledge offline. Study on the go or quickly find facts during service. Includes regional laws, appellations, climate data, cocktail recipes, and more, with customizable display modes.

Highlights
  • Offline Compendium Access
  • Regional Wine Laws
  • Appellation Information
  • Climate and Production Data
  • Viticulture & Vinification References
  • Cocktail Recipes
  • Dark/Light Mode
Features
Read full description

The GuildSomm Compendium at your fingertips, whenever you need it! The GuildSomm App provides offline access to the full resources of the GuildSomm Compendium. Perfect for studying during your commute or quickly looking up a fact during service. The database includes regional wine and appellation laws, lists of wine regions, classifications, climate and production data, viticulture and vinification references, cocktail recipes, and much more. The Compendium can be viewed in either a dark or light mode. Users who are not GuildSomm members may purchase an auto-renewing monthly subscription ($7.99/month) that will give them access to the Compendium only. Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, at the rate of $7.99/month. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period. Privacy Policy: https://www.guildsomm.com/p/privacy GuildSomm Terms of Use: https://www.guildsomm.com/p/terms Apple Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ ABOUT GUILDSOMM GuildSomm is a nonprofit membership organization that promotes wine education and community. Through our website and in-person events, we help our members broaden their knowledge of the wine world, enhance their beverage and service skills, network with other wine professionals, and keep up with industry news and trends.

Screenshots

Talk Dim Sum4 screens
GuildSomm4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Talk Dim Sum at 70% against GuildSomm's 21%. Talk Dim Sum also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.0) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 months). GuildSomm's advantage is iOS requirement (13.4 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Talk Dim Sum sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and GuildSomm sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Talk Dim Sum holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Talk Dim Sum has 345 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of Talk Dim Sum's written reviews are positive against 21% of GuildSomm's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Talk Dim Sum ships an update every 3 days, GuildSomm every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 9, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Talk Dim Sum versus GuildSomm: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTalk Dim SumGuildSomm
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (345 ratings) — better3.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews70.4% of reviews — better21.4% of reviews
Number of ratings345 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.013.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size115 MB32 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperTechnicat, LLCGuildSomm International, Inc.

Customer experience

Talk Dim Sum

All ratings345 ratings
Positive95.9%
Neutral2.9%
Negative1.2%
Written reviews27 reviews
Positive70.4%
Neutral7.4%
Negative22.2%

GuildSomm

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews28 reviews
Positive21.4%
Neutral21.4%
Negative57.1%

Bugs and requests

Talk Dim Sum

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • App freezes when tapping on food pictures
  • Speech function has no sound
  • Cantonese voice pronunciations are incorrect
  • Wrong word usage and pronunciation (Mandarin vs. Cantonese)
  • Audio recordings are laughably bad
Show 2 more
  • All dishes displayed in Mandarin instead of Cantonese
  • Sound not working, even when highlighted

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add Boba names and rituals
  • Add conversations for ordering
  • Add more Chinese food items
  • Add various teas

GuildSomm

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Talk Dim Sum

One-time1
  • Talk Dim Sum Pro$0.99
1 purchases

GuildSomm

Subscriptions1
  • Compendium Access$7.991 Month

Questions

Is Talk Dim Sum free?
Talk Dim Sum is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is GuildSomm free?
GuildSomm is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Talk Dim Sum or GuildSomm?
Talk Dim Sum is rated higher. Talk Dim Sum averages 4.8 out of 5 from 345 ratings, while GuildSomm averages 3.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Talk Dim Sum or GuildSomm have ads?
Neither Talk Dim Sum nor GuildSomm shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Talk Dim Sum or GuildSomm?
Talk Dim Sum ships an update every 3 days, and GuildSomm every 2 months. Most recently, Talk Dim Sum was updated on September 9, 2026 and GuildSomm on September 29, 2026.

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