Sprale for iPhone
One paragraph.
Every day.
A calm daily read that quietly grows your vocabulary. Tap any word you don’t know, see its meaning right where you read, and Sprale keeps it for you.
Today’s reading
Today
The old lighthouse keeper was a man, but his logbooks were anything but . Each evening he recorded the weather with care, noting the colours of the sky before dusk. Visitors found him ; his neighbours knew better.
Tap any word you don’t know.
Example
Auto-added to My Dictionary
My Dictionary 0 words
How it works
A few calm minutes a day.
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1
Read today’s paragraph
Each day brings one short, well-written reading. No feeds, no streak anxiety, just something good to read.
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2
Tap the words you don’t know
The meaning appears right where you read, from the dictionary built into your iPhone. The word is highlighted and saved.
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3
Feel confident, or ask for help
Finished without help? Tap Feel Confident. Looked something up? Continue, and Sprale remembers the readings that stretched you.
Look up
Tap a word.
See its meaning.
Definitions from your iPhone’s own dictionary, right where you read. No switching apps, no losing your place, and it works offline.
Highlights
Highlights that stay with you.
Every word you look up stays highlighted in the reading. Long-press any highlight to save it to your dictionary or clear it.
My Dictionary
Your dictionary, built as you read.
Every word you look up is saved automatically, with the sentence it came from. Search it, revisit it, and watch it grow week by week.
Readings
A whole library of readings.
Browse every reading and come back to the ones that stretched you. Readings where you needed help are marked, so they’re easy to find again.
Bookmarks
Keep the ones you love.
Bookmark a reading and find it again in one tap.
Before you start
Turn on a dictionary.
Sprale uses the dictionary built into your iPhone, so meanings show up instantly, even offline. If tapping a word shows no definition, download one:
- 1
Open the Settings app
- 2
Go to General › Dictionary
- 3
Tap a dictionary to download it, such as New Oxford American Dictionary, and wait for the tick
Do I need to create an account?
No. Sprale works straight away with no sign-up, email or password. It creates an anonymous ID behind the scenes so your dictionary, bookmarks and progress are kept safe.
Where do the definitions come from?
From the dictionaries built into iOS. Sprale doesn’t send the words you tap to a third-party dictionary service.
I tap a word but no meaning appears.
Your iPhone probably doesn’t have a dictionary downloaded yet. Follow the setup steps above, then come back to Sprale.
Can I stop words being added automatically?
Yes. Open Settings in Sprale (the gear on the Today screen) and turn off auto-adding. You can then use + to save a word yourself.
How do I remove a word or a highlight?
Long-press the highlighted word in a reading and choose Remove Highlight or Remove from Dictionary.
What do “Feel Confident” and “Needed help” mean?
When you finish a reading without looking anything up, tap Feel Confident. If you looked up any words, you’ll see Continue instead, and that reading is marked Needed help in your library so you can revisit it.
Why is it called Sprale?
It comes from two German words: Sprache (language) and Lernen (learn).