Language learning apps
Missing capability and ad load, not a workflow anyone would switch for.
What people complain about
| Complaint | Share |
|---|---|
| Missing capability | 13.9% |
| Ads & upsell pressure | 11.3% |
| Reliability — crashes, freezes, “doesn’t work” | 10.4% |
| Billing & cancellation | 5.4% |
| Price & value | 2.8% |
| Complexity & onboarding | 2.4% |
| Slowness | 2.1% |
| Customer support | 1.8% |
| Capability removed | 1.7% |
In their words
“I am extremely disappointed in Duolingo's customer service. Despite being a loyal user for many years and holding a family subscription for six members, my recent experience has been frustrating. Ten days ago, I reported a bug that resulted in the loss of my 985-day streak. Unfortunately, I've only received automated responses with no resolution or meaningful assistance. i didn't cancel my subscription because the members of my group would have been affected. (Otherwise the app is great.)”
Duolingo: Language Lessons · 3★ · 149 votes
“I like many aspects of this app but the speaking component is terrible. At first I thought I was a bad speaker because everything was marked incorrect, but then I got my partner to try (native speaker) and she was also marked incorrect for nearly everything. I'm talking simple words like "pom". That's not good enough for a paid language learning app. Also there are far too many repetitive elements of lessons, like spelling the exact same phrase ad nauseam until it just feels like a chore.”
Babbel - Learn Languages · 3★ · 128 votes
“Busuu will introduce 5 new words & a new type of conjugation all at once, explain nothing, quiz you on it *once*, & then move on without giving you time to absorb anything. And reviewing lessons doesn't even count towards your streak! Phrase translations are often missing, no option to pause and resume lessons (which are sometimes 10m long), and the ads for premium are INCESSANT. Clean UI, some great features, and the progress tracking is clear and satisfying, but I'll be looking elsewhere.”
Busuu: Learn & Speak Languages · 3★ · 118 votes
“There's a privacy policy on the section about being recorded when I speak, and for whatever reason when I go to read it, "something's wrong" message comes up and I'm unable to read it. Everything's updated. Everything else works on the app except that part, no error messages anywhere else. I NEED TO READ THAT POLICY BEFORE AGREEING TO MY VOICE BEING RECORDED AND STORED ON YOUR PLATFORM. THANK YOU!”
Babbel - Learn Languages · 2★ · 49 votes
Payer pressure 0.08 clears the gate, but the complaint pattern is diffuse price resentment rather than an unsolved workflow a small team could out-execute. Recorded rather than pursued.
What this study cannot tell you
- About 41% of substantive reviews are not matched by the taxonomy, so every percentage here is a floor, not a true rate. The miss rate is roughly uniform across niches, so comparisons between them still hold.
- App-store reviews over-represent the daily user. Buyers complain on G2, Capterra and in churn calls, and those sources are not represented.
- No recency weighting: a complaint from 2021 counts the same as one from last week, so some cited failures may already be fixed.
- Coverage is uneven between stores; where an app is iOS-only in practice its share is computed from Apple data alone.