# WordReference iPhone app (iOS 7 update)



## varonsf

In the new update I now have to do all this clicking to go between English and Spanish?  What happened to the tabs on the bottom I just clicked to switch my dictionaries?  If this is how it's going to be you lost me as an app user


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## nicholasMTL

Hi WR, 

New forum member, longtime WR user. 

I use WR on my iPhone several times a day. This evening, when I opened the app, I was presented with the latest, iOS 7 inspired version — auto-updated thanks to iOS 7.

I am very concerned by the new layout. I sent the following email to Michael Kellogg (listed on the About page), but I thought it might be useful to have a central place for community members to comment on the new update. See my email (slightly amended), below.

Please. Please please undo the iOS 7 update to wordreference. This is the worst update to maybe my most used app. I love wordreference in a big gushy way. I use the English-Spanish and English-French dictionaries several times a day.​
​The four tabs on the bottom of the old version were the quickest, most functional design I have ever encountered for a multi-lingual dictionary. Especially for those of us going between more than two languages. Not to mention the wonderful data behind that ideal interface.​
​This new interface is much, MUCH less functional. Not like, "oh it's okay, and I see why they did what they did" less functional. More like "is this a joke or some kind of hacked together third party client for what must be one of the more prominent multi-lingual dictionaries" kind of way.​
​Even the icon is lower resolution! I was just about to buy the ad free version -- was waiting for iOS 7 version in case you replaced it with an all new app -- and now even that is gone.​
​I am a teaching assistant. I teach French. This semester, in the first lesson, I told all the students to get WR for their smartphones. This was the only instruction I gave them. It's the quickest way to get vocabulary. I'm convinced of it. With this new interface, lookups are slow to the point that I will need to stop suggesting WR — to be clear, no other app approached the functionality of the old version. It was the only dictionary I mentioned. I'm not sure what I'll tell my students now.. The current WR for iOS 7 is nearly unusable.​
​Please, for language learners everywhere, please reinstate the tabs, or find an equally good system for accessing multiple dictionaries quickly. An all text list is not the answer — especially not a list where the order of the dictionaries is not in the user's control. A slide out panel from the left MAY work, but I still think it's slower to process visually than the tabs at the bottom.​
​Nicholas​


With much love for WR,
Nicholas


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## Hector9

I am waiting for the Android update as well.

Be patient.


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## note erate

I just registered to comment on the IOS7 update, and totally agree with the previous posts.

Warning! Don't update!!!

The IOS7 version just killed what was a great app. It is less useful now, and the design looks awful, terrible!, so amateur-ish. Even the icon looks bad.

I used it daily, now I'll delete it. Can't we back to the previous version? It was great the way it was!


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## mkellogg

Sorry folks. We wee forced to do an update to a new version of the app before we wanted to by the requirements of iOS7.  We are working hard to get a new version approved by Apple in the next few days.

So, please be patient.


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## Asturiana07

I have been using WordReference for a couple of years now on my Mac and was delighted when I found the app for my phone. It was so easy to navigate between English to Spanish, Spanish to English and the verb conjugator with a single tap at the menu at the bottom of the screen. I could tap on a verb in the definition portion and be directed to the conjugation. Now the previously easy search is more difficult and the absence of back arrow navigation has frozen up the screen several times when the search failed and the only way to clear this up is to turn off my phone and restart it. Example: To test the new format I searched a  simple verb,walk. The definitons popped up in Spanish but only one option, andar, would link to its conjugation page. I entered “caminar” directly in the conjugator and the screen went blank and remains so. 


I used the previous version of this app on a trip to Spain last month and it was wonderful. It has been invaluable for my conversational Spanish class because of the ease of use and quick returns on searches, necessary when the pace is quick. It is by far the best translation help on the internet - and even the Spaniards agree with that. Today I see on the App Store update page  a message saying not to update, that there are bugs. Is there any way to reload the previous version of this app which was SOOO much better? If not, will there be an update to fix the problems very soon?


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## Asturiana07

Thank you for the old version back!


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## note erate

Thanks indeed


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## Asturiana07

Has anyone downloaded version 3.0.2 yet? If so, what's it like?


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## ostrica

The new update is still bugged, the search bar is on the top of the phone, behind the clock!!
Please fix it.


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## mkellogg

I had thought it was fixed in this update. 

Immediately upon hearing that this problem is still there, I got a new version created and submitted to Apple. Hopefully, it will be approved by the end of the week.


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## ostrica

Thank you, I'll let you know.


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## Hector9

mkellogg said:


> I had thought it was fixed in this update.
> 
> Immediately upon hearing that this problem is still there, I got a new version created and submitted to Apple. Hopefully, it will be approved by the end of the week.



And what about the android update, mkellogg?


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## mkellogg

Android?  Once things quiet down about the iPhone app, I'll start thinking about where we go next with Android.  We might get an update before the end of the year.


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## Hector9

Thanks mkellogg for the information.

I wait for it anxious.


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## note erate

Apparently, you guys keep trying to ruin what was a great app on first place. New update 3/2014 is just bad. 

Why do you have to remove the bottom bar? It was great. Why do we need to learn to use the new app? I just don't get the new menu system, and have no idea how to set it up.

I wish I didn't update, and recommend everyone to not to do so.


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## Hector9

Are you talking about the iOS update? Because I see no updates on android to the date.


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## Asturiana07

I haven't downloaded the 3/2014 iOS update because it said "completely new interface" and we know how well that worked last time that was tried. I agree with note erate that you have ruined a great app. The navigation bars at the bottom are so easy to use. Why do you want to make a user unfriendly app?


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