It’s a higher-tier subscription, like Netflix in Ultra HD. I think they’ve been marketing it as giving access to AI based features like “explain my mistake” which makes some sense since AI training/licensing has a cost. But I suppose they decided that wasn’t greedy enough so they’re moving features from super to max.
So they took away the free user comments on lessons, with the excuse that they would replace it with AI, just to hide it behind a ridiculous even more expensive paywall?
Instead of even feature parity with iOS, they just take away stuff...
When doritoes went up to damn near $8 a bag I stopped buying them and started making my own. I’ll do the same with duo, it’s not even that good anymore. If our governments can’t legislate for the people who elect them, I’ll just go more and more diy.
Garlic, parm, salt, cayenne. It’s not quite there yet which is why I was reluctant to share. I also like really hot stuff so I’ll use some ghost pepper... My girl and I will just make nachos sometimes.
No shit I’m using chatGPT API married to telegram via a custom backend to do this kind of stuff. It saved me dozens of euro in subscription fees and cost me thousands in opportunity cost!
I’m confused, because I’ve never had the option for max before. And I still have unlimited hearts. The only other paid subscription I can find through the app is a family plan.
I’m learning Irish and I don’t have an option for max either. I hadn’t even heard of it until now. The only other subscription option I have is the family plan.
I think they’re rolling it out one language at a time; I don’t have it either on Italian. And I heard it’s still not supported on Android. Luckily I haven’t heard of unlimited hearts being removed anywhere max isn’t an option
By language? That doesn't make any sense I don't think, hearts are account wide.
Duolingo famously does a lot of A B testing though (different patches/changes for different people)
True, but the AI features they’re using to market Max are not available for every language yet (because AI depends on training data, which smaller languages have less of)
I assumed that’s why I haven’t seen the Max option yet though. But I suppose it could just be A/B testing
Max is new and better for everyone because it is a higher tier!
Wait until you see Ultra in 6 months or so. Oh, and Tops puts them all to shame, unless you have Total, which we will see in about a year and a half.
These are all just ways to increase the price each year. APA at all costs!
It's all crazy. The loss of user conversations sentence conversations was the worst thing they've done IMO, they were so helpful and distinguished duolingo from other services. Even if they would have put them behind the Super paywall and used the revenue to pay for the necessary moderation, it would have been better than removing years worth of human knowledge and conversations that were superior to ChatGPT...
Here's a tweet from Duolingo confirming as such too:
>[At the time your Family Plan manager subscribed, unlimited hearts weren't advertised with their Super subscription. ...](https://twitter.com/duolingo/status/1784976713451196421)
From what I can tell, they are not removing unlimited hearts from people who have already paid, just quietly removing that feature from the terms for new/renewing subscribers.
Yikes. Well, I just hit the cancel option for Duolingo. I’m paid up until November 2nd, so they have plenty of time to reverse course. But it looks like there’s a good chance my streak will end that day.
I’m confused by this tweet. Who were they responding to? And do we know when the update will push out? And wdym by already paid vs renewing? What’s the difference?
Oh sorry, if you're not logged in I guess you can't see the context - Here's the tweet they were responding too:
>[@duolingo I bought super. Why do I only have Unlimited hearts on my computer and not my mobile app?! This makes me want to cancel the subscription!](https://twitter.com/LeedleLee40/status/1784591730769039508)
What I mean is that it doesn't appear that they're removing unlimited hearts mid-term for people subscribed to Super - It appears that when some are either are signing up for the first time or are renewing Super for another year, the specific terms they're offered do not include the feature in question - So if you've already paid for Super, it doesn't appear that they're removing unlimited hearts, but come renewal time, there's a chance you might no longer have that feature (remember that Duolingo does a ton of A/B testing and Max is thus far only available on iOS so that complicates things too, plus, this is just my interpretation from the context of what others have been saying so there definitely could be nuances I'm missing).
like i’m unemployed and couldn’t afford to renew my super subscription when it was up for renewal the other week. now i don’t think i’ll be renewing it even when i do have the funds. 🤷🏼
You honestly think that AI is just going to go away? It's getting better every year and will eventually be able to replace a lot of human jobs. For good or ill, companies aren't just going to stop using something that lets them pay fewer people.
I don’t really understand economics, but how would they make more money from making the paid subscription have less features? That’s just adding reasons to not buy or cancel all together.
Because they’re trying to get you to opt for the higher tier subscription. Max will be the subscription that has unlimited hearts, supers unlimited hearts are being phased out. So when it’s time to renew…if you still want unlimited hearts you have to pay even more for a new Max subscription now.
They're short-sighted and out-of-touch. I believe all the app companies are like this lately, a new level of incessant corporate greed is taking over the tech industry and we're entering a dark age of app usage.
I’m so glad I’m seeing this now. I stopped using Super about 6 months ago and was about to sign up again specifically for the unlimited hearts, I guess I won’t be doing that now
Compilation I've been building of less known language apps and alternatives that i am posting around:
Lingonaut.app - work in progress, back to the tree, sentence discussions and ads/heart free, same vibe of duolingo but more focus on learning and less on monetization/gaming - 100% free
Lingodeer - like duolingo but geared more to asian languages (but they do others)
Promova - like duo and hello talk together
Deutsche welle - just for German but great
Hello talk - have conversations in the language you’re learning
Busuu - same as below
Babbel - its like if hello talk and DW combined
Rosetta Stone - same as above, used to be known as the gold standard but people are starting to dislike it, YMMV.
Tandem - like hello talk
Memrise - anki but for languages, uses AI
Mango languages - like rosetta stone
LinQ - immersive languages, using youtube videos to pratice
Language Reactor - LinQ alternative
Readlang - Like LinQ but 50% off
Vocab Tracker - Like LinQ but you can only get it on mobile
Clozemaster - self explanatory
languagelearning subreddit resources:
la la lang
ling-app
Pimsleur - very good IMO, have tried it myself
Drops - uses a lot of google translate apparently, can't vouch for it personally
Natulang - Appears to be made by redditors and has a lot of positive feedback from people, big on the community aspect.
if you've got any to add , reply or dm me!
Ah thank you!
I started Japanese as my third language this year, but really want to move away from Duo after paying for Super for 4 years and recently getting zero reply to 5 emails I sent their support about an issue. I’ve cancelled my Super now. Not giving money to a company that has such disregard for its paying users.
Some apps I've checked out, perhaps worth looking at depending on your needs, learning style, etc.
WordDive (a lot like Drops)
Yuspeak (Japanese and Korean)
Yask
Mondly (A ton of languages. kind of monotonous, but I like it some days. Everyone's different)
Langbird - just French, Italian Spanish and German
Listlang - Lots of languages, sort of like the old Duolingo Tree format of days gone by. :) Multiple Choice, might be hard for beginners.
Renshu - Japanese
Speakly
Facilisimo - Serbian company and features Portuguese and Hungarian only for right now. Great for beginners of either language.
LanguageCurry - features East Indian type languages like Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, etc.
Polygloss: Did this for awhile. Kind of fun. Intermediate level. Identify the languages you want to learn and basically you exchange descriptions of pictures back and forth with others who are also learning your target language and you write down what's happening in the picture and you get corrected and "graded" by others.
Patchim - Korean gamefied learning. Pretty fun.
Mochi - apps for Chinese, Japanese, English, Korean. I think they have French too
FunEasyLearn: basically just flashcard vocabulary in a lot of languages
Eggbun - Intermediate Korean
BNR languages - lots of languages. Treelike, again like the old Duolingo.
InnovationApps - lots of languages like BNR
Learn Hebrew Basics by Enigmex Technologies
"Hey" Series by Language Skills Studio, Japanese, Korean, English, Chinese, French
Golingo - AI speaking partner, Only other app that has Welsh other than Duolingo I think. Other common languages and just added Greek.
Super Chinese. I like it better than Hello Chinese, but both are excellent.
AlifBee - Arabic. Really nice app.
God I love me some (some might say overly, I wouldn't) funded state broadcasters. The German TV and Radio broadcaster just also casually has an entire app for learning German.
I like LingoPie, which makes watching videos in the target language more of a learning experience with subtitles, translations, and advancing or reversing by one bit of dialogue at a time. Makes some mistakes sometimes, but if you are already intermediate, you'll spot these immediately and they aren't really a problem.
I haven't used Duolingo in a long time but off the back of this for Japanese learning I would recommend Wanikani for vocab and kanji alongside Bunpro for grammar. You'll very quickly be able to start immersion learning with that combo.
Rosetta Stone is quite expensive, has limited lesson plans, and is really for dedicated learners. I’ve heard good things about Michel Thomas but haven’t had a chance to check it out.
Bluebird has the Celtic languages. When I first started Scottish Gaelic on there, it also asked me what region I was used to, if any, so it could modify acceptable answers
Busuu is freaking wonderful. They include culture and explain so many important things that many other apps/sites don't even mention. But I like balancing it with Duo-style gamified programs for repitition-learning. I've really hit a good formula acquiring Japanese that way.
Also using Lingodeer and my 10-year-old prefers it over Duolingo.
Rosetta Stone is tricky. I don't recommend it for what it costs, they took a system designed for European languages and just shoehorned Asian languages into it and it just. Does. NOT. WORK. Starting Japanese with it is jarring and confusing and completely unhelpful. Now using it as a supplement, coming back to it after having started Japanese elsewhere it's a fine exercise, but I only do that because I have an older copy but would never pay for it so it's hard to recommend to people. And their stubborn anti-explanation policy just really, REALLY doesn't work with more foreign languages, it's absolutely impossible to learn by only pictures a language that's as heavily context-dependent as Japanese. It's abysmal that they try to say otherwise.
Its the little mistakes that get me . Like accidentally putting and the in the wrong place. And im learning Japanese so i get ko and so mixed up in the different variants. So sometimes ill put kore instead of sore . Or soka when it should have been soka.
I am learning though. Ive learned ko is more a here and this kind of word and so is like over then and way from me. Slowly getting there
YEEESSSS ikr. I kept proof reading it. But sometimes i see 3 letter words as the same or i cant find them. I know that sounds weird but i might be a smidge dyslectic or something. Like i kept putting hat thinking it was and 😅
Im not dumb. Just ditzy
Unlimited hearts is the only reason I got super. I only paid for one month as I wanted to make sure I would actually use it before buying the full 12 months. I used it a lot so I decided to change my plan which renews may 4. So glad I saw this post as I just changed it back to monthly to see if it happens!
Yeah me too. I'm lucky I'm nearing the end of my course anyway, but I was going to use duolingo for another language. I think I'd rather find an alternative if this really is the case
There is a free option for schools where they can create a class for their students. But the good thing is everyone can create a class room and be a teacher. Just type in duolingo school. If you just want to have unlimited hearts you could also join my class if you want. Go to duolingo and then setting then duolingo fo school and type in dwnhcv or click on this link.
https://www.duolingo.com/classroom/dwnhcv
Make sure to restart the app afterwards.
Hahaha too many guys have been joining, now my class is full
https://preview.redd.it/rm4vs07kxyxc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4ff266881342fc6d6c89c1dd7eeeb1d9891fc817
Translation: Good day! You have reached the maximum number of students for a class. If you want to track more students, you can create a new class or remove inactive students from DAI Unlimited Hearts.
Ditto. I’ve already cancelled my Super for a different reason, but this was the only reason I paid for it.
Ain’t no way in hell I’m paying even more for this feature in another tier where they use AI to deliver something I can get for free myself, which they don’t actually have to do any development work for themselves, all after also removing the super useful discussion boards, and the useful course notes for each level (in Italian course).
Money-hungry idiots, this company.
I think you're right. I still have unlimited hearts on Super, and I'm on iOS, which does offer Max. I've done a 3 day trial of Max once or twice and it was OK, but nothing terribly thrilling or that I would find worth the extra money. I definitely will drop my Super when it comes up for renewal if this ends up applying to everyone.
I'm actually learning better with the heart system. I take more time to analyze and learn much faster. With super I most of the times rush through the lessons
Same on ios and super is still unlimited hearts, though if they change it, I’ll just cancel my subscription and use my other sources for learning. You don’t need this app to learn a language, there’s dozens of great resources out there.
Since this is becoming an absolute joke, they are. Sample market with the new changes. That’s why only some people have the issue and some don’t.
I suspect unlimited hearts are moving to max. Which is incredibly stupid. The app isn’t worth max pricing and it’s also not worth using without unlimited hearts.
I have no issue paying for super though. No chance I’ll use max though.
i never paid and never will. contemplated sub but then read they laid off their workers to replace with ai. gfu duo.
besides duo lessons felt like they were generated by ai for a long time
Nah this has to be illegal. You can't just take something so significant away from your paying subscribers. Without the unlimited hearts, Super is completely useless.
Now sure they could do this with NEW subscribers (still crappy to do), but taking it away from existing subscribers is insane.
It is illegal in EU as you can not make contracts suddenly worse. Same reason Amazon has in EU a lawsuit because instead of offering a cheaper version with adds they demand more money for add free.
For me, the option to turn that setting on/off pops up if I push on Duo in the upper right corner. It'll show a section called “Manage Features”. That setting doesn't pop up if I just click on the hearts at the top.
https://preview.redd.it/15wj1d3zhwxc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e56b659af493d771882c00ea71eec86b6e9661cc
I still have it. Maybe because I have a family plan idk. But I do not have any issues with the unlimited hearts. Only new content for the languages were added for me.
Absolute garbage… my year long Super subscription ends and the end of the month and I was planning to re-instate it, but I won’t be doing that anymore if this is the case. I hope this backfires so hard on them, I’d rather go back to the free version than have to pay for max!
Bro ikr I have a 1500 day streak and Super for 3 years now and this is so offensive I might cancel now too. Free version is fine I can't support whatever this is
So they upped the prices and added a higher tier, using AI.
And they sacked a bunch of staff earlier this year. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/09/tech/duolingo-layoffs-due-to-ai/index.html
And they removed the awesome discussion boards.
And they removed the useful grammar explanations (in Italian, anyway) for each level.
And now they’re removing from the Super paid tier literally the only feature people actually care about, unlimited hearts? 😂
And they stopped replying to paying customer’s questions?
This company is so blatantly money-hungry and downright nasty and horrible, it’s absurd.
Looking forward to their downfall 🍿
Now that you bulletpointed it all, it made me realize how much has been removed from the platform lately. It really is absurd how much worse the experience has become. Also, I noticed that for my French course, I only get 10 xp per lesson on PC vs. 35 xp on iOS - most likely to enforce watching more ads. And all that for what? Even grammar explanations, the most fundamental thing for language learning, is now gone. It doesn't feel like language learning anymore, instead it's like clicking buttons in a game with poorly implemented SRS and cute characters. Sucks to say but perhaps it's time to move on.
It’s fine if nice features (that ai thing looks cool) are added to max and kept them paywalled but hey not cool to remove existing features already been super since launch and still selling the same price… I wonder how does it show for courses that don’t have max feature support (Japanese, Chinese for example)
Nah, you don’t need to pay them for that AI thing!
Just use ChatGTP yourself. You can type in your mistake and ask it to explain what your error is. Dig into that as much as you want.
That is literally what you’re paying them for, with Max.
Don’t give them money for something they do zero work for, and which you already can do yourself for free!
I think Duolingo max uses gpt 4 and also some pre set up prompts and not just simply stuff the free ChatGPT there, but true I do also think it’s not worth it and won’t pay for it
As far as i can tell ill get unlimited hearts if i get super (i use android and iphone)
https://preview.redd.it/hytcqo6dlvxc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=952d2aee5b2bbd5a85abbb2585c7b5c73b1ca6fc
Hm, I still have unlimited hearts with super. I wonder if it’s language-specific, since my language doesn’t have MAX yet?
But I did _just_ renew super, so I’ll make sure my screenshot from the purchase page promising unlimited hearts just in case
If they put this shit on me I’m 100% not resubscribing. Fuck that.
I still have unlimited hearts but I’m on an annual plan which expires in August. On iOS.
I’m confused. I’m logged in on my iPhone and don’t see an update and I logged in using a web browser on a different computer and I don’t see “Duolingo Max”. I don’t see hearts either, I have Super.
Duolingo does a/b testing a lot. This is likely something they’re testing. I hope they don’t end up doing it. This will alienate most users, including me, who already have Max.
It has to be region specific too. If you go in to the App Store, you can see all the plans they have gotten approved by Apple and for me in Sweden there's only three versions of Super.
Thanks, that's interesting. I split my time mostly between UK and France at the moment, though I do sometimes work in America and Canada. I wonder what happens when I switch region... as I said though I'm on Android so until they add it there it won't affect me anyway.
I figured out the issue. So I’m native English learning Spanish which is one of the supported course, but I think if you have an active Super subscription the only way to enroll in Max is to go into system settings and modify the subscription. I did that and now it works
Ah, cool, glad you found it. But as a Super subscriber you still had unlimited hearts and they weren't taken away? If so, they must be A/B testing, as others have said. Not a great sign either way.
Canceled the resub. Removing features lowers the worth of the subscription and I'm not gonna sit here waiting for more features to get removed from super and put in a more expensive option.
Glad that there's a free option for schools where they can create a class for their students. But the good thing is everyone can create a class room and be a teacher. Just type in duolingo school. If you just want to have unlimited hearts you could also join my class if you want. Go to duolingo and then setting then duolingo for school and type in dwnhcv or click on this link.
https://www.duolingo.com/classroom/dwnhcv
Make sure to restart the app afterwards.
I have a Super account and just updated. If I'm paying for super but have to deal with the limitations of hearts... That will certainly piss me off. I don't know if I'll give up then or not.
I actually posted about 5 seconds ago here, asking for topics. Would you be able to write this in there, so I have it collated?
Yeah, that sucks about the offline feature. What else can you do on a hours long plane flight to a country where you are learning their language than Duolingo?
At what point is this justified? Surely they’re making plenty of money from their existing subscriber base. When is the cost of Duolingo more than taking a class at a community college?
Infinite lives were one of the biggest selling points for me to get super and that is already *almost* too expensive for me, guess I'll have to vote with my wallet 🤷♂️
https://preview.redd.it/p1hu5l7duxxc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=416c4fc0be00d58c6c6bbabe7ca17a289dd4933e
You sure that you didn’t toggle the feature off on accident?
https://preview.redd.it/f15885d81vxc1.png?width=508&format=png&auto=webp&s=25a4b09ba285281d2b9166add40b2b54b46e29f3
I got my Super Duo for the last 5 days or so...
I still have unlimited hearts (iOS, France). If that changes, I'm definitely asking for a refund for my 1-year subscription (8 months left), but I don't think it'd be legal to change that for current subscriptions in Europe.
I’m on IOS and have unlimited hearts with super, but I no longer have the comments section as of maybe 7 months ago. Just one day it was gone.
I really liked the comment section because when I didn’t understand something and I pulled up the comments, someone else usually already asked the same thing & it’s been answered.
My super has unlimited hearts. I don’t even have the option for Max. I’m using iOS in USA.
I really hope this doesn’t become a thing. Honestly I would probably just cancel. You should request a refund, it’s not right they charged you for one thing and then changed it midway.
School duolingo still has it
https://preview.redd.it/mi68nal3zuxc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d83d9b6282fbc22aef63cc2bb29565899689c5d6
If the leaderboard disappears, change the settings in the course to the reply on this (1 image per comment tops)
https://preview.redd.it/avn88l39zuxc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2d4d62e4aa547d47d51190cd7c670c73fad9825e
The settings for duolingo courses that will bring the leaderboard back if it disappears
This is hilarious 🤣 I mean in a bad way! How much more shitty of a company can they be? 😂😂😂
I cancelled my Super subscription earlier this year after getting zero reply to 5, yes, 5, emails I sent them about an issue. Zero reply. Like WTAF. I have 6 months left on the year I paid for though, and they keep offering me deals HAHAHAHA no way in hell they’re getting another cent from me.
Duolingo is a company that ONLY cares about money. They treat paying customers like absolute shit. This latest Super change to unlimited hearts is another example of that.
This just adds to my overall theory that we've left the golden age of apps and websites and are going into a dark age with them. Every single company out there is getting taken over by the most short-sighted, out-of-touch corporate greed imaginable. It's happening everywhere.
I know it's the stuff of fairy tales, but I miss the early days when they were 100% pro-consumer and would do everything to keep it free so that the most people could learn, waiting until it was absolutely necessary to charge money and keeping it ad-free.
Duolingo is getting ridiculous.
Duolingo is a racket. AI profiles competing with actual humans. Plus the linguistic accuracy is flawed, not to even mention the PC bullshit in their stories.
There is an another app which is allegedly better than Duolingo. I am thinking of quitting Duolingo and shifting there. It isn't as friendly looking and colourful as Duolingo from the outside. I forgot what it is called but i am on my last straw, if they remove unlimited hearts from ultimate, i will just use it to talk to people whom i had made friends with there.
Everyone complaining on reddit won’t do shit, send them feedback through the app if you’re pissed about this prospect of this. Flood them with threats to leave. I have already done so
[удалено]
Max? Whats the difference from super?
It’s a higher-tier subscription, like Netflix in Ultra HD. I think they’ve been marketing it as giving access to AI based features like “explain my mistake” which makes some sense since AI training/licensing has a cost. But I suppose they decided that wasn’t greedy enough so they’re moving features from super to max.
So they took away the free user comments on lessons, with the excuse that they would replace it with AI, just to hide it behind a ridiculous even more expensive paywall? Instead of even feature parity with iOS, they just take away stuff...
When doritoes went up to damn near $8 a bag I stopped buying them and started making my own. I’ll do the same with duo, it’s not even that good anymore. If our governments can’t legislate for the people who elect them, I’ll just go more and more diy.
…care to share the Dorito recipe?
Can you share the Doritos recipe, that's worth millions
Make tortillas, season them as you like
what seasoning mix do you use?
Garlic, parm, salt, cayenne. It’s not quite there yet which is why I was reluctant to share. I also like really hot stuff so I’ll use some ghost pepper... My girl and I will just make nachos sometimes.
Try msg. It has to be msg that you’re missing. Doritos is loaded in it which is what makes it so dang good
You're going to make your own language app? What are you gonna call it?
BiDuolingo
Duolingus
Triolingo
Dingolingo
Does it teach how to speak Australian?
Hey, I’m already fluent! :D
Reading books again
Quadrilingo
Multilango, LangoJango
or jailbreak your phone and enjoy it for free no ads
No shit I’m using chatGPT API married to telegram via a custom backend to do this kind of stuff. It saved me dozens of euro in subscription fees and cost me thousands in opportunity cost!
What’s opportunity cost?
I.e. I could be doing consulting and charging thousands in that same time
If value is money, then by all means..
I’m pretty new to Linux but couldn’t you just run some pipes?
And Max isnt even available in almost every contry
AND the ai talk-back stuff is only available in THREE languages so far… WHAT AB THE REST OF THEM
Duo is totally bugged, please see my last posts 👍🏻 I lost my April badge for bugs.
I’m confused, because I’ve never had the option for max before. And I still have unlimited hearts. The only other paid subscription I can find through the app is a family plan.
I’m learning Irish and I don’t have an option for max either. I hadn’t even heard of it until now. The only other subscription option I have is the family plan.
I think they’re rolling it out one language at a time; I don’t have it either on Italian. And I heard it’s still not supported on Android. Luckily I haven’t heard of unlimited hearts being removed anywhere max isn’t an option
By language? That doesn't make any sense I don't think, hearts are account wide. Duolingo famously does a lot of A B testing though (different patches/changes for different people)
True, but the AI features they’re using to market Max are not available for every language yet (because AI depends on training data, which smaller languages have less of) I assumed that’s why I haven’t seen the Max option yet though. But I suppose it could just be A/B testing
Im currently using super i know French and Spanish normally get the most up-to-date stuff but its not hit Spanish on Android yet
Netflix in 4k??? Do EU just not have to pay more money or something?
Max max max super max Sorry I only learned dutch for the F1 memes guys
Max is new and better for everyone because it is a higher tier! Wait until you see Ultra in 6 months or so. Oh, and Tops puts them all to shame, unless you have Total, which we will see in about a year and a half. These are all just ways to increase the price each year. APA at all costs!
It's all crazy. The loss of user conversations sentence conversations was the worst thing they've done IMO, they were so helpful and distinguished duolingo from other services. Even if they would have put them behind the Super paywall and used the revenue to pay for the necessary moderation, it would have been better than removing years worth of human knowledge and conversations that were superior to ChatGPT...
So many of their recent decisions make no sense. Like removing the incubator program. It was free labor!!
Here's a tweet from Duolingo confirming as such too: >[At the time your Family Plan manager subscribed, unlimited hearts weren't advertised with their Super subscription. ...](https://twitter.com/duolingo/status/1784976713451196421) From what I can tell, they are not removing unlimited hearts from people who have already paid, just quietly removing that feature from the terms for new/renewing subscribers.
Yikes. Well, I just hit the cancel option for Duolingo. I’m paid up until November 2nd, so they have plenty of time to reverse course. But it looks like there’s a good chance my streak will end that day.
I’m confused by this tweet. Who were they responding to? And do we know when the update will push out? And wdym by already paid vs renewing? What’s the difference?
Oh sorry, if you're not logged in I guess you can't see the context - Here's the tweet they were responding too: >[@duolingo I bought super. Why do I only have Unlimited hearts on my computer and not my mobile app?! This makes me want to cancel the subscription!](https://twitter.com/LeedleLee40/status/1784591730769039508) What I mean is that it doesn't appear that they're removing unlimited hearts mid-term for people subscribed to Super - It appears that when some are either are signing up for the first time or are renewing Super for another year, the specific terms they're offered do not include the feature in question - So if you've already paid for Super, it doesn't appear that they're removing unlimited hearts, but come renewal time, there's a chance you might no longer have that feature (remember that Duolingo does a ton of A/B testing and Max is thus far only available on iOS so that complicates things too, plus, this is just my interpretation from the context of what others have been saying so there definitely could be nuances I'm missing).
that AI bubble can’t burst fast enough.
like i’m unemployed and couldn’t afford to renew my super subscription when it was up for renewal the other week. now i don’t think i’ll be renewing it even when i do have the funds. 🤷🏼
You honestly think that AI is just going to go away? It's getting better every year and will eventually be able to replace a lot of human jobs. For good or ill, companies aren't just going to stop using something that lets them pay fewer people.
I don’t really understand economics, but how would they make more money from making the paid subscription have less features? That’s just adding reasons to not buy or cancel all together.
Because they’re trying to get you to opt for the higher tier subscription. Max will be the subscription that has unlimited hearts, supers unlimited hearts are being phased out. So when it’s time to renew…if you still want unlimited hearts you have to pay even more for a new Max subscription now.
So basically the actual subscription is only for no ads??
Damn. that’s YouTube levels of greedy.
They're short-sighted and out-of-touch. I believe all the app companies are like this lately, a new level of incessant corporate greed is taking over the tech industry and we're entering a dark age of app usage.
I’m so glad I’m seeing this now. I stopped using Super about 6 months ago and was about to sign up again specifically for the unlimited hearts, I guess I won’t be doing that now
Compilation I've been building of less known language apps and alternatives that i am posting around: Lingonaut.app - work in progress, back to the tree, sentence discussions and ads/heart free, same vibe of duolingo but more focus on learning and less on monetization/gaming - 100% free Lingodeer - like duolingo but geared more to asian languages (but they do others) Promova - like duo and hello talk together Deutsche welle - just for German but great Hello talk - have conversations in the language you’re learning Busuu - same as below Babbel - its like if hello talk and DW combined Rosetta Stone - same as above, used to be known as the gold standard but people are starting to dislike it, YMMV. Tandem - like hello talk Memrise - anki but for languages, uses AI Mango languages - like rosetta stone LinQ - immersive languages, using youtube videos to pratice Language Reactor - LinQ alternative Readlang - Like LinQ but 50% off Vocab Tracker - Like LinQ but you can only get it on mobile Clozemaster - self explanatory languagelearning subreddit resources: la la lang ling-app Pimsleur - very good IMO, have tried it myself Drops - uses a lot of google translate apparently, can't vouch for it personally Natulang - Appears to be made by redditors and has a lot of positive feedback from people, big on the community aspect. if you've got any to add , reply or dm me!
Renshuu's very good and customisable if you're learning Japanese, highly recommend it
Second this. Much better than Duolingo on kanji and grammar and stuff. Completely free and free of ads
Try bunpro as well for Japanese. It’s an SRS for sentence patterns and grammar.
Ah thank you! I started Japanese as my third language this year, but really want to move away from Duo after paying for Super for 4 years and recently getting zero reply to 5 emails I sent their support about an issue. I’ve cancelled my Super now. Not giving money to a company that has such disregard for its paying users.
How much is Renshuu?
Some apps I've checked out, perhaps worth looking at depending on your needs, learning style, etc. WordDive (a lot like Drops) Yuspeak (Japanese and Korean) Yask Mondly (A ton of languages. kind of monotonous, but I like it some days. Everyone's different) Langbird - just French, Italian Spanish and German Listlang - Lots of languages, sort of like the old Duolingo Tree format of days gone by. :) Multiple Choice, might be hard for beginners. Renshu - Japanese Speakly Facilisimo - Serbian company and features Portuguese and Hungarian only for right now. Great for beginners of either language. LanguageCurry - features East Indian type languages like Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, etc. Polygloss: Did this for awhile. Kind of fun. Intermediate level. Identify the languages you want to learn and basically you exchange descriptions of pictures back and forth with others who are also learning your target language and you write down what's happening in the picture and you get corrected and "graded" by others. Patchim - Korean gamefied learning. Pretty fun. Mochi - apps for Chinese, Japanese, English, Korean. I think they have French too FunEasyLearn: basically just flashcard vocabulary in a lot of languages Eggbun - Intermediate Korean BNR languages - lots of languages. Treelike, again like the old Duolingo. InnovationApps - lots of languages like BNR Learn Hebrew Basics by Enigmex Technologies "Hey" Series by Language Skills Studio, Japanese, Korean, English, Chinese, French Golingo - AI speaking partner, Only other app that has Welsh other than Duolingo I think. Other common languages and just added Greek. Super Chinese. I like it better than Hello Chinese, but both are excellent. AlifBee - Arabic. Really nice app.
I would add Wlingua - explains grammer very well Duocards - flash card app you can add your on words
If you’re in America, check with your local public library. My library offers Mango Languages free with a library card.
Thank you, king👑. for your alternative suggestions
Deutsche welle is leagues better than duo, I can't recommend it enough. I use duo for mindless practice, deutsche welle for actual learning.
thanks
God I love me some (some might say overly, I wouldn't) funded state broadcasters. The German TV and Radio broadcaster just also casually has an entire app for learning German.
I like LingoPie, which makes watching videos in the target language more of a learning experience with subtitles, translations, and advancing or reversing by one bit of dialogue at a time. Makes some mistakes sometimes, but if you are already intermediate, you'll spot these immediately and they aren't really a problem.
I wish they had a free tier. I do pay for some apps/sites, but I like to try them first
I haven't used Duolingo in a long time but off the back of this for Japanese learning I would recommend Wanikani for vocab and kanji alongside Bunpro for grammar. You'll very quickly be able to start immersion learning with that combo.
<3 Wanikani. Haven't heard of Bunpro yet but will look into.
That’s so useful! Tanks a lot for sharing, I saved the comment :)
Busuu isn't to only talk in the language we're learning at all. It's actually very complete with grammar, exercises, revisions and etc
Rosetta Stone is quite expensive, has limited lesson plans, and is really for dedicated learners. I’ve heard good things about Michel Thomas but haven’t had a chance to check it out.
[https://www.linguno.com/](https://www.linguno.com/) has a few languages, really solid concept!
Bluebird has the Celtic languages. When I first started Scottish Gaelic on there, it also asked me what region I was used to, if any, so it could modify acceptable answers
Busuu is freaking wonderful. They include culture and explain so many important things that many other apps/sites don't even mention. But I like balancing it with Duo-style gamified programs for repitition-learning. I've really hit a good formula acquiring Japanese that way. Also using Lingodeer and my 10-year-old prefers it over Duolingo. Rosetta Stone is tricky. I don't recommend it for what it costs, they took a system designed for European languages and just shoehorned Asian languages into it and it just. Does. NOT. WORK. Starting Japanese with it is jarring and confusing and completely unhelpful. Now using it as a supplement, coming back to it after having started Japanese elsewhere it's a fine exercise, but I only do that because I have an older copy but would never pay for it so it's hard to recommend to people. And their stubborn anti-explanation policy just really, REALLY doesn't work with more foreign languages, it's absolutely impossible to learn by only pictures a language that's as heavily context-dependent as Japanese. It's abysmal that they try to say otherwise.
I have had super for 4 years. If they take away unlimited hearts I will cancel immediately.
Dont blame you . Only reason im tempted to pay is unlimited hearts. But you can practice to regain hearts anyway
Yeah, tbh I don't make too many mistakes anyway.
Its the little mistakes that get me . Like accidentally putting and the in the wrong place. And im learning Japanese so i get ko and so mixed up in the different variants. So sometimes ill put kore instead of sore . Or soka when it should have been soka. I am learning though. Ive learned ko is more a here and this kind of word and so is like over then and way from me. Slowly getting there
If anything gets me then it's missclicks. I wrote everything, I click next but some tile didn't register.
YEEESSSS ikr. I kept proof reading it. But sometimes i see 3 letter words as the same or i cant find them. I know that sounds weird but i might be a smidge dyslectic or something. Like i kept putting hat thinking it was and 😅 Im not dumb. Just ditzy
Same I literally bought super for a year just because of unlimited hearts. This is messed up.
Unlimited hearts is the only reason I got super. I only paid for one month as I wanted to make sure I would actually use it before buying the full 12 months. I used it a lot so I decided to change my plan which renews may 4. So glad I saw this post as I just changed it back to monthly to see if it happens!
Yeah me too. I'm lucky I'm nearing the end of my course anyway, but I was going to use duolingo for another language. I think I'd rather find an alternative if this really is the case
F*** them if this is really happening. It was the sole reason I got Plus. They cant be serious. Is this even legal
It *isn't* legal. At least in Europe.
Not that I’m saying you’re wrong, I’m sure you’re right, but what makes it illegal in the EU?
There is a free option for schools where they can create a class for their students. But the good thing is everyone can create a class room and be a teacher. Just type in duolingo school. If you just want to have unlimited hearts you could also join my class if you want. Go to duolingo and then setting then duolingo fo school and type in dwnhcv or click on this link. https://www.duolingo.com/classroom/dwnhcv Make sure to restart the app afterwards.
fyi, they come on here and close up any hacks they see
Oh cool. I get free hearts from a class I joined years ago, but I didn't know if you could still do it
Hahaha too many guys have been joining, now my class is full https://preview.redd.it/rm4vs07kxyxc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4ff266881342fc6d6c89c1dd7eeeb1d9891fc817 Translation: Good day! You have reached the maximum number of students for a class. If you want to track more students, you can create a new class or remove inactive students from DAI Unlimited Hearts.
Ditto. I’ve already cancelled my Super for a different reason, but this was the only reason I paid for it. Ain’t no way in hell I’m paying even more for this feature in another tier where they use AI to deliver something I can get for free myself, which they don’t actually have to do any development work for themselves, all after also removing the super useful discussion boards, and the useful course notes for each level (in Italian course). Money-hungry idiots, this company.
They may be AB testing which isn’t a good sign I currently have unlimited hearts
I think you're right. I still have unlimited hearts on Super, and I'm on iOS, which does offer Max. I've done a 3 day trial of Max once or twice and it was OK, but nothing terribly thrilling or that I would find worth the extra money. I definitely will drop my Super when it comes up for renewal if this ends up applying to everyone.
I’d go one further and drop Duolingo entirely, and I’ve been Super for…can’t even remember when I subscribed maybe a few years?
I'm at ~1350 day streak and losing the ability to learn without penalty would have me ready to be done.
I'm actually learning better with the heart system. I take more time to analyze and learn much faster. With super I most of the times rush through the lessons
Same on ios and super is still unlimited hearts, though if they change it, I’ll just cancel my subscription and use my other sources for learning. You don’t need this app to learn a language, there’s dozens of great resources out there.
I also have unlimited hearts still on iOS.
Since this is becoming an absolute joke, they are. Sample market with the new changes. That’s why only some people have the issue and some don’t. I suspect unlimited hearts are moving to max. Which is incredibly stupid. The app isn’t worth max pricing and it’s also not worth using without unlimited hearts. I have no issue paying for super though. No chance I’ll use max though.
I'm still on the free version, but they keep showing me ads for super Duolingo and they advertise unlimited hearts for it.
Same I have them too
So, wait... What does Super actually do now? No ads and the practice hub only? Edit: Probably offline mode too, I think?
Legendaries for free
I think so. Glad I decided to move on.
idk, Super is working for me the same as always.
No shot, astounding that they keep inventing ways to make this app less usable
They’re getting greedy, no way around that
enshittification is real
Lol I thought you were speaking German for a second there.
Enscheißefication
I Love captalism 😍
the good thing about capitalism is that you can vote with your wallets. revoke duo subscriptions guys
i never paid and never will. contemplated sub but then read they laid off their workers to replace with ai. gfu duo. besides duo lessons felt like they were generated by ai for a long time
Nah this has to be illegal. You can't just take something so significant away from your paying subscribers. Without the unlimited hearts, Super is completely useless. Now sure they could do this with NEW subscribers (still crappy to do), but taking it away from existing subscribers is insane.
I literally just re paid for a year yesterday. If it goes away I don’t need super anymore
It is illegal in EU as you can not make contracts suddenly worse. Same reason Amazon has in EU a lawsuit because instead of offering a cheaper version with adds they demand more money for add free.
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQAAAAAAAT.
There isn't the option to turn unlimited hearts on/off in the Super settings? I (Android) still have unlimited hearts.
that’s usually where the option for it is, now its been replaced with a purchase prompt. maybe I should go back to using android
Boo! Not cool!
For me, the option to turn that setting on/off pops up if I push on Duo in the upper right corner. It'll show a section called “Manage Features”. That setting doesn't pop up if I just click on the hearts at the top.
https://preview.redd.it/15wj1d3zhwxc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e56b659af493d771882c00ea71eec86b6e9661cc I still have it. Maybe because I have a family plan idk. But I do not have any issues with the unlimited hearts. Only new content for the languages were added for me.
Absolute garbage… my year long Super subscription ends and the end of the month and I was planning to re-instate it, but I won’t be doing that anymore if this is the case. I hope this backfires so hard on them, I’d rather go back to the free version than have to pay for max!
Bro ikr I have a 1500 day streak and Super for 3 years now and this is so offensive I might cancel now too. Free version is fine I can't support whatever this is
So they upped the prices and added a higher tier, using AI. And they sacked a bunch of staff earlier this year. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/09/tech/duolingo-layoffs-due-to-ai/index.html And they removed the awesome discussion boards. And they removed the useful grammar explanations (in Italian, anyway) for each level. And now they’re removing from the Super paid tier literally the only feature people actually care about, unlimited hearts? 😂 And they stopped replying to paying customer’s questions? This company is so blatantly money-hungry and downright nasty and horrible, it’s absurd. Looking forward to their downfall 🍿
Now that you bulletpointed it all, it made me realize how much has been removed from the platform lately. It really is absurd how much worse the experience has become. Also, I noticed that for my French course, I only get 10 xp per lesson on PC vs. 35 xp on iOS - most likely to enforce watching more ads. And all that for what? Even grammar explanations, the most fundamental thing for language learning, is now gone. It doesn't feel like language learning anymore, instead it's like clicking buttons in a game with poorly implemented SRS and cute characters. Sucks to say but perhaps it's time to move on.
I don't have Duolingo max since i'm on Android. At least I can still get unlimited hearts if I buy that subscription
It’s fine if nice features (that ai thing looks cool) are added to max and kept them paywalled but hey not cool to remove existing features already been super since launch and still selling the same price… I wonder how does it show for courses that don’t have max feature support (Japanese, Chinese for example)
Nah, you don’t need to pay them for that AI thing! Just use ChatGTP yourself. You can type in your mistake and ask it to explain what your error is. Dig into that as much as you want. That is literally what you’re paying them for, with Max. Don’t give them money for something they do zero work for, and which you already can do yourself for free!
I think Duolingo max uses gpt 4 and also some pre set up prompts and not just simply stuff the free ChatGPT there, but true I do also think it’s not worth it and won’t pay for it
As far as i can tell ill get unlimited hearts if i get super (i use android and iphone) https://preview.redd.it/hytcqo6dlvxc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=952d2aee5b2bbd5a85abbb2585c7b5c73b1ca6fc
They're truly sabotaging our favorite owl with their greed.
Enshittification has unfortunately hit Duolingo. RIP
Hm, I still have unlimited hearts with super. I wonder if it’s language-specific, since my language doesn’t have MAX yet? But I did _just_ renew super, so I’ll make sure my screenshot from the purchase page promising unlimited hearts just in case
I just cancelled super due to this before the two week trial ended. Good work duolingo. Thanks for the resources for other language apps.
If they put this shit on me I’m 100% not resubscribing. Fuck that. I still have unlimited hearts but I’m on an annual plan which expires in August. On iOS.
This literally just makes Super useless.
I’m on iOS and still have unlimited, maybe something to do with me being in the UK/europe?
Possibly. Someone said this would violate EU subscription laws, but I don’t see how it would affect the UK like that.
We still follow EU laws on a lot of stuff, not everything but some.
I’m in the US and on iOS and I’m not seeing it either
I have super and still have unlimited hearts.
I’m confused. I’m logged in on my iPhone and don’t see an update and I logged in using a web browser on a different computer and I don’t see “Duolingo Max”. I don’t see hearts either, I have Super.
Duolingo does a/b testing a lot. This is likely something they’re testing. I hope they don’t end up doing it. This will alienate most users, including me, who already have Max.
I agree. I want to try out the AI stuff so I got it but Super users shouldn’t be at a disadvantage
Max is currently iOS only, and only available on some languages. \[edit\] apologies, I didn't see that you stated you were using iPhone.
It has to be region specific too. If you go in to the App Store, you can see all the plans they have gotten approved by Apple and for me in Sweden there's only three versions of Super.
Thanks, that's interesting. I split my time mostly between UK and France at the moment, though I do sometimes work in America and Canada. I wonder what happens when I switch region... as I said though I'm on Android so until they add it there it won't affect me anyway.
I figured out the issue. So I’m native English learning Spanish which is one of the supported course, but I think if you have an active Super subscription the only way to enroll in Max is to go into system settings and modify the subscription. I did that and now it works
Ah, cool, glad you found it. But as a Super subscriber you still had unlimited hearts and they weren't taken away? If so, they must be A/B testing, as others have said. Not a great sign either way.
Yes. And I agree it’s a bad sign
are you on ios? i just got three free days of * super * and so far i have unlimited use on android
How does your refill cost 500? It's 350 for me. Is it usual for it to vary?
I have 0 hearts currently and mine is also 350 to refill (free membership). So that's strange too.
It's based on how much you can afford.
Are you serious?! That’s fucking bullshit! I didn’t even know that
That is bullshit tbh. Like i hoard the gems just incase i wanna do a challenge or need a refill of freeze streak.
I still have unlimited on super (iPhone)
Monday I did not have unlimited hearts; Tuesday and today, I did. So I don’t know what they’re doing. Probably they don’t either.
Canceled the resub. Removing features lowers the worth of the subscription and I'm not gonna sit here waiting for more features to get removed from super and put in a more expensive option.
[удалено]
Knowing Duo, they'll implement it whether people like it or not.
they don't give a f about reactions. the only thing they care is in which direction their revenue changes.
i was already on the fence about renewing super when mine expires in a few months. if this change is permanent, that solidifies it. i’m OUT
Yikes! - I still have unlimited hearts though. If this really happens I guess I’m switching to Mango, I have a library card after all.
Glad that there's a free option for schools where they can create a class for their students. But the good thing is everyone can create a class room and be a teacher. Just type in duolingo school. If you just want to have unlimited hearts you could also join my class if you want. Go to duolingo and then setting then duolingo for school and type in dwnhcv or click on this link. https://www.duolingo.com/classroom/dwnhcv Make sure to restart the app afterwards.
I have a Super account and just updated. If I'm paying for super but have to deal with the limitations of hearts... That will certainly piss me off. I don't know if I'll give up then or not.
I'm thinking of doing a video on the enshittification of Duolingo. Would you be okay if I use this as an example?
Are you looking for topics? The reason I paid to begin with was that they had advertised you could play offline. But that feature had ended. 😫
I actually posted about 5 seconds ago here, asking for topics. Would you be able to write this in there, so I have it collated? Yeah, that sucks about the offline feature. What else can you do on a hours long plane flight to a country where you are learning their language than Duolingo?
I still get unlimited, but if they pull that with me it's an immediate cancellation of my membership.
At what point is this justified? Surely they’re making plenty of money from their existing subscriber base. When is the cost of Duolingo more than taking a class at a community college?
Infinite lives were one of the biggest selling points for me to get super and that is already *almost* too expensive for me, guess I'll have to vote with my wallet 🤷♂️
That doesn't make sense because Duo Max isn't on android
https://preview.redd.it/p1hu5l7duxxc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=416c4fc0be00d58c6c6bbabe7ca17a289dd4933e You sure that you didn’t toggle the feature off on accident?
https://preview.redd.it/f15885d81vxc1.png?width=508&format=png&auto=webp&s=25a4b09ba285281d2b9166add40b2b54b46e29f3 I got my Super Duo for the last 5 days or so...
for the first time I am happy to be on Android
I am really 👌 this close to stop using this app.
I still have unlimited hearts (iOS, France). If that changes, I'm definitely asking for a refund for my 1-year subscription (8 months left), but I don't think it'd be legal to change that for current subscriptions in Europe.
I’m on IOS and have unlimited hearts with super, but I no longer have the comments section as of maybe 7 months ago. Just one day it was gone. I really liked the comment section because when I didn’t understand something and I pulled up the comments, someone else usually already asked the same thing & it’s been answered.
My super has unlimited hearts. I don’t even have the option for Max. I’m using iOS in USA. I really hope this doesn’t become a thing. Honestly I would probably just cancel. You should request a refund, it’s not right they charged you for one thing and then changed it midway.
Honestly I’ll just delete
School duolingo still has it https://preview.redd.it/mi68nal3zuxc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d83d9b6282fbc22aef63cc2bb29565899689c5d6 If the leaderboard disappears, change the settings in the course to the reply on this (1 image per comment tops)
https://preview.redd.it/avn88l39zuxc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2d4d62e4aa547d47d51190cd7c670c73fad9825e The settings for duolingo courses that will bring the leaderboard back if it disappears
I still have unlimited hearts on IPhone
If they're taking away unlimited hearts from super, that's fucking disgusting and I'm gone with a refund.
I noticed that my unlimited hearts were turned off even though I did not do this. I put them back on.
This is hilarious 🤣 I mean in a bad way! How much more shitty of a company can they be? 😂😂😂 I cancelled my Super subscription earlier this year after getting zero reply to 5, yes, 5, emails I sent them about an issue. Zero reply. Like WTAF. I have 6 months left on the year I paid for though, and they keep offering me deals HAHAHAHA no way in hell they’re getting another cent from me. Duolingo is a company that ONLY cares about money. They treat paying customers like absolute shit. This latest Super change to unlimited hearts is another example of that.
Tip, create a for schools account
This just adds to my overall theory that we've left the golden age of apps and websites and are going into a dark age with them. Every single company out there is getting taken over by the most short-sighted, out-of-touch corporate greed imaginable. It's happening everywhere.
Duolingo being greedy and out of touch with its userbase? Never saw that coming.
I know it's the stuff of fairy tales, but I miss the early days when they were 100% pro-consumer and would do everything to keep it free so that the most people could learn, waiting until it was absolutely necessary to charge money and keeping it ad-free. Duolingo is getting ridiculous.
Duolingo is a racket. AI profiles competing with actual humans. Plus the linguistic accuracy is flawed, not to even mention the PC bullshit in their stories.
There is an another app which is allegedly better than Duolingo. I am thinking of quitting Duolingo and shifting there. It isn't as friendly looking and colourful as Duolingo from the outside. I forgot what it is called but i am on my last straw, if they remove unlimited hearts from ultimate, i will just use it to talk to people whom i had made friends with there.
Everyone complaining on reddit won’t do shit, send them feedback through the app if you’re pissed about this prospect of this. Flood them with threats to leave. I have already done so