Spanish/app_features.md

Spanish Conjugation Apps — Feature Comparison

Side-by-side feature analysis of Conjuga (this project), ConjuGato, and Conjuu ES, based on App Store screenshots, extracted app data, and this repository's source.

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Conjuga (this project)

Platform: iOS 18+ (iOS 26 required for Foundation Models features) Monetization: — Tech stack: SwiftUI + SwiftData (dual local / CloudKit stores), SharedModels Swift Package, Foundation Models, Vision, Speech, WidgetKit

Practice Modes

• Six core conjugation modes — flashcards, typing, multiple choice, handwriting (Apple Pencil + finger), sentence builder, full table (all persons at once)
• Focus modes — weak verbs (SM-2 SRS), irregularity drills (spelling / stem / unique, selectable), common tenses
• Quick answer review with per-form irregular-span highlighting
• Vocab SRS Review — spaced repetition over course vocabulary with Again / Hard / Good / Easy rating
• Cloze practice — fill-in-the-blank with distractor generation from vocab pool
• Listening practice — listen-and-type + pronunciation scoring via Speech framework, word-by-word match
• Lyrics practice — search Spanish songs, translate line by line
• Conversational practice — on-device AI chat partner (Apple Foundation Models) with 10 scenarios, tappable words that open dictionary or on-demand AI lookup
• AI short stories — generated stories with tappable words + comprehension quiz

Verb Reference

• 1,750 verbs, 5 levels (Basic / Elementary / Intermediate / Advanced / Expert), 209 K pre-conjugated forms
• 20 tenses with character-level irregular-span highlighting (spelling / stem / unique)
• Irregularity filter — All / Any Irregular / Spelling Change / Stem Change / Unique Irregular — combinable with level
• Per-verb detail with per-form English translations and tense-grouped table
• Text-to-speech on any conjugated form

Grammar & Content

• 20 tense guides with usage rules and examples
• 20+ grammar topic notes (ser/estar, por/para, preterite/imperfect, subjunctive, personal a, suffixes, irregular yo forms, stem-changers, etc.) each with 100+ practice exercises
• Grammar exercises — interactive quizzes for 5 core topics
• Course decks — weekly vocabulary with example sentences, week tests, cumulative checkpoint exams
• Stem-change toggle on Week 4 decks (E-IE, E-I, O-UE, U-UE) with inline present-tense conjugations
• Textbook reader — 30 chapters of Complete Spanish Step-by-Step with 251 interactive exercises (keyboard + Apple Pencil), 931 OCR'd vocab tables rendered as paired Spanish→English grids (~3 100 cards)
• Textbook extraction pipeline — XHTML + answer-key parsers, macOS Vision image OCR, PDF page OCR, bounding-box vocab pair extractor, NSSpellChecker validator, language-aware auto-fixer

Offline Dictionary

• Reverse index of 175 K verb forms + 200 common words, cached to disk
• Tappable-word lookup in chat bubbles and stories; falls back to Foundation Models @Generable ChatWordInfo when a word isn't in the dictionary

Progress & Sync

• SM-2 spaced repetition for verb review
• Streaks, daily goals, accuracy stats, achievement badges
• Study-time tracking per day (foreground time)
• CloudKit private-database sync — review cards, user progress, test results, daily logs, saved songs, stories, conversations, textbook exercise attempts
• Background app refresh for widget data

Widgets

• Combined dashboard (word of day + stats)
• Word-of-day standalone
• Both refresh daily and on app backgrounding

Settings & Filters

• Selectable verb level and enabled tenses
• Include vosotros toggle
• Auto-fill verb stem toggle for Full Table practice
• Feature reference page in Settings documenting every feature and which settings affect it

Data (in repo)

Asset	Count
Verbs	1,750
Verb forms (pre-conjugated)	209,014
Irregular span annotations	23,795
Tenses	20
Tense guides	20
Grammar notes	20+ (each with 100+ exercises)
Textbook chapters	30
Textbook exercises	251
Textbook vocab pairs	~3,118
Offline dictionary forms	175,425

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ConjuGato

Platform: iOS (iPad-style app via Mac Catalyst) Monetization: One-time purchase, no subscriptions Tech stack: .NET MAUI (Xamarin), SQLite, MvvmCross

Practice Mode

• Flashcard-style quiz — shows English meaning, infinitive, tense tag (Presente/Subjuntivo), random pronoun
• Tap to reveal answer below the blank line
• Daily goal tracker — progress bar at top (e.g. 25/100)
• Self-rating — rate answers as Easy/Hard after reveal (no typing)
• Spaced repetition — tracks conjugation ratings with star system (1–5 stars) and heart indicators
• Practice history — shows today/yesterday verb performance with star ratings

Verb Reference

• 1,750 verbs ranked by frequency/popularity
• Searchable verb list sorted by popularity
• Full conjugation tables per verb with Indicative/Subjunctive/Others tabs
• All 6 persons — yo, tú, él/ella/Ud., nosotros, vosotros, ellos/ellas/Uds.
• 27 tenses including progressive forms and compound tenses

Grammar Explanations

• Visual conjugation breakdown — shows stem + ending decomposition (e.g. habl- → drop ending → +o)
• Color-coded irregular highlighting — each span of an irregular form colored by change type (spelling, stem, unique)
• Irregularity classification — each form labeled as Regular (green), Spelling change, Stem change, or Highly irregular
• Star ratings — ★★★ regular, ★★ stem change, ★ irregular
• Similar forms listed — shows other verbs that follow the same pattern (e.g. "Similar forms: satisfago, deshago")
• Tense guides — explains what each tense is used for with:
  • Usage rules in plain English
  • Mnemonics (e.g. "apply the movie rule: Imperfect = setting, Preterite = plot")
  • Example sentences with Spanish + English + audio
  • Tips for avoiding common confusions (e.g. Preterite vs Imperfect)

Mnemonic Rhymes

• Rhyming verb groups — groups verbs that sound alike for memorization (e.g. picar, pecar, pegar, pagar, pasar, pisar, pesar, pensar)
• Dedicated Rhymes tab in bottom navigation

Audio

• Tap to pronounce any conjugation in the verb table
• Auto-pronounce answers option in settings
• Audio on tense guide examples
• Uses iOS text-to-speech (no bundled audio files)

Settings & Filters

• Tense filters — toggle individual tenses on/off: Present, Preterite, Imperfect, Conditional, Future, all Subjunctive forms
• Show progressive forms toggle
• Show tense names in Spanish toggle
• Verb ending filters — practice only -AR, -ER, or -IR verbs
• Conjugation difficulty filters:
  • Fully regular
  • With spelling changes
  • With stem changes
  • Highly irregular
• Hide "vosotros" conjugations
• Auto-pronounce answers
• Verb count display — shows how many verbs match current filters (e.g. "848")

Navigation

• 5 tabs: Practice, Rhymes, Verbs, Settings (bottom bar)
• "Get Pro" tab for upgrade

Data (extracted)

Asset	Count
Verbs	1,750
Irregular verb forms	14,163
Irregular span annotations	23,795
Irregularity bitmasks	627 verbs
Example sentences	separate SQLite DB
Translations	8 languages

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Conjuu ES

Platform: macOS native + iOS Monetization: Free tier (25 Basic verbs) + paid unlock Tech stack: Native Swift/Obj-C, Core Data

Practice Mode

• Typing-based quiz — fill in all 5 person forms (yo, tú, él, nosotros, ellos) for a given verb + tense
• Full-table entry — type all forms at once, then tap "Answer" to check
• Progress counter — "1/5" in top-left shows quiz position
• Session-based practice — complete a set of verbs per session
• Keyboard input — full keyboard with Spanish character support
• Hard/Easy self-rating after each answer

Verb Reference

• 621 verbs with frequency rankings
• Searchable verb list
• Full conjugation tables — all 6 persons × 20 tenses
• 4-language translations — English, Japanese, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional
• Regularity labeling — ordinary, irregular, regular, orto (orthographic change)

Grammar Explanations

• Tense guide popups — full-screen modal with:
  • Conjugation ending table showing -AR/-ER/-IR patterns side by side
  • Color-coded endings (stem in white, ending in colored text)
  • Numbered usage rules
  • Example sentences with Spanish + English translations
  • "GOT IT!" dismiss button
• 7 usage categories for Present tense alone:
  1. Current actions and situations
  2. Abilities and descriptions
  3. Habitual actions
  4. Absolute and universal truths
  5. Actions in the near future
  6. Recounting historical events
  7. Conditional sentences

Tense Selection

• 20 tenses organized by mood:
  • Indicative: Presente, Perfecto, Imperfecto, Pluscuamperfecto, Pretérito, Pretérito Anterior, Futuro, Futuro Perfecto
  • Subjunctive: Presente, Perfecto, Imperfecto I, Imperfecto II, Pluscuamperfecto I, Pluscuamperfecto II
  • Conditional: Presente, Perfecto (listed under Indicative in UI)
  • Imperative: Afirmativo, Negativo (listed under Subjunctive in UI)
• Checkbox toggles — enable/disable each tense for practice
• All visible at once in sidebar panel

Study Lists & Difficulty Levels

• 8 built-in levels:
  • Basic (25 verbs)
  • Elementary 1–3 (83 verbs)
  • Intermediate 1–4 (112 verbs)
  • Advanced (344 verbs)
• "All verbs" option (621 verbs)
• Custom lists — "My Lists" section with ability to create personal lists
• Pinboard — save specific verbs for focused review
• Study/Review toggle — switch between learning and review modes

Audio

• Not visible in screenshots (no speaker icons on practice screen)
• macOS app may use system TTS

Settings & Filters

• Tense selection panel — sidebar with checkboxes per tense
• Study list selection — dropdown for difficulty level
• Daily goal — choose practice intensity:
  • 20 verbs / ~5 min (Casual)
  • 50 verbs / ~10 min (Regular)
  • 75 verbs / ~15 min (Focused)
  • 100 verbs / ~20 min (Committed)

Navigation

• macOS sidebar with Study/Review tabs
• iOS bottom tabs: Practice, Rhymes, Get Pro, Verbs, Settings
• Study Lists in left sidebar with collapsible groups

Data (extracted)

Asset	Count
Verbs	621
Conjugated rows	12,406 (all forms pre-computed)
Tenses	20
Tense guides	20 (with usage rules + examples)
Conjugation rule templates	20 tenses × 3 verb types
Difficulty levels	8
Translations	4 languages

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Feature Comparison

Feature	Conjuga	ConjuGato	Conjuu ES
Verb count	1,750	1,750	621
Tenses	20	27	20
Practice style	Flashcards, typing, MC, handwriting, sentence builder, full table	Flashcard (tap to reveal)	Typing (fill in forms)
Input method	All four (type / tap / write / speak)	Self-rate (no typing)	Type conjugation
Daily goals	Numeric counter + streaks + study-time	Numeric counter (25/100)	4 presets (Casual→Committed)
Spaced repetition	SM-2 (verb forms + vocab cards)	Yes (star + heart ratings)	Session-based review
Grammar breakdown	Character-level irregular span highlighting	Color-coded span highlighting	Ending table + usage rules
Irregularity detail	3-level (spelling/stem/unique) + per-verb badges + filter	3-level with character spans	4-label (ordinary/irregular/regular/orto)
Tense explanations	20 guides + 20 grammar notes with 100+ exercises each	In-app guides with mnemonics	Modal popups with usage categories
Example sentences	Per-tense + per-card + per-story + in textbook	Per-tense with audio	Per-tense in guide popups
Audio	TTS on any form + pronunciation scoring	Tap any conjugation + auto-pronounce	Not prominent
Difficulty levels	5 levels + irregularity filter (combinable)	Filter by irregularity type	8 graded word lists
Custom lists	—	No	Yes (My Lists + Pinboard)
Verb filters	Level + irregularity category + tense selection + search	Ending type + irregularity + tense	Tense checkboxes + level
AI features	On-device chat, stories, word lookups (Foundation Models)	—	—
Textbook	30 chapters, 251 exercises, ~3,100 vocab pairs (OCR pipeline)	—	—
Listening / speech	Listen-and-type + pronunciation scoring	—	—
Offline dictionary	175 K forms	—	—
Lyrics	Search + translate	—	—
CloudKit sync	Yes (private database)	—	—
Widgets	Combined + word-of-day	—	—
Platform	iOS 18+ (iOS 26 for AI)	iOS (Catalyst)	macOS + iOS
Monetization	—	One-time purchase	Free tier + paid
vosotros toggle	Yes	Yes	Not visible

Unique Strengths

Conjuga excels at:

• Breadth of modes — six conjugation practice styles plus cloze, listening, lyrics, chat, stories, textbook, and vocab review in one app
• AI integration — on-device Foundation Models power the chat partner, story generator, and dictionary fallback lookup with no cloud round-trips
• Textbook reader — full Complete Spanish Step-by-Step textbook with 251 interactive exercises and 3,100 OCR-paired vocab cards, built via an in-repo extraction pipeline
• Combinable filters — Level × Irregularity × search on the verb list, with per-row category badges
• Multi-input practice — type, tap, Apple Pencil handwriting, and voice (pronunciation scoring)
• Offline dictionary — 175 K verb-form reverse index makes word lookups instant and network-free
• CloudKit sync — progress, tests, saved content, and conversations travel between devices

ConjuGato excels at:

• Breadth — nearly 3× the verbs
• Irregularity teaching — character-level color-coded highlighting showing exactly why each form is irregular
• Rhyming mnemonics — unique memorization technique grouping similar-sounding verbs
• Audio integration — every conjugation is tappable for pronunciation
• Quick practice — flashcard format is faster per verb than typing
• Tense coverage — 27 tenses including progressive forms

Conjuu ES excels at:

• Active recall — typing forces recall vs passive recognition
• Complete conjugation tables — every form pre-computed and stored
• Structured difficulty — 8 graded levels from Basic to Advanced
• Tense explanations — richer usage guides with numbered categories
• Conjugation rules — extractable ending patterns for all verb types
• Custom study lists — personalized verb collections
• Multi-platform — native macOS app with full-screen practice
• Full-table practice — fill in all 5 persons at once, not just one random pronoun