Duory

Note-taking is the core of Duory. Every phrase you save can carry its translation, transliteration, and a voice recording in the same card. Because the app leans on Apple's on-device language APIs, much of this works offline, which matters when you're studying on a plane or in a spotty signal area.

Duory pulls phrases in from a textbook, a Duolingo session, a photo, or an RTF/PDF document. The camera scans text directly, so you don't retype anything. For learners who study from printed material, this removes the most tedious step: manually copying vocabulary into a second app.

The app translates inline and adds transliteration, including Hiragana for Japanese and Pinyin for Chinese. That last part matters most for scripts you can't yet read, since it gives you a pronunciation bridge without leaving the note. Translatable coverage spans 40 target languages.

You can record your own pronunciation of any phrase and play it back later. This voice recording stays tied to the note on the free plan. Paying for Duory Plus turns those recordings into playlists, and you can control playback from the Lock Screen or Control Center.

Playlists turn your saved phrases into audio you can run in the background, which is what makes hands-free practice possible. Widgets push recently learned words onto the Home and Lock Screen, giving you passive reinforcement every time you glance at your phone.

Duory Plus syncs notes and journals to iCloud so the same notebook follows you across devices. The app also hooks into Apple's Journaling Suggestions, which nudges you to write short entries in your target language. Both features are designed to keep a study habit alive rather than to store data for its own sake.