GoKawiilMatt Horne / Android Authority
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Even as one of the last remaining Duolingo holdouts on the team, I can see how much worse Duolingo has become in recent years. The once-motivating gamification certainly appears to have been kicked up a few notches, and it’s the free users who’ve had it much worse. On the free plan, you’re bombarded with adverts for Super Duolingo and third-party games that you can’t skip for several seconds. Even worse, the heart system that allowed you to keep practicing until you made five mistakes was replaced by an energy bar that runs down even if you’re nailing the answers.
That’s why I was excited to learn about a very simple trick that returns you to a simpler version of Duolingo — one with the hearts system, no ads at all, fewer clicks between lessons, and less gamification.
Have you tried the the Duolingo web app? 2 votes Yes, and it's better than the normal app 50 % Yes, but I don't think it's better 50 % Not yet, but I will 0 % No, I'm happy with the normal app 0 % I don't use Duolingo 0 %
Thanks to a Reddit post by user OverallPlatypus9880, I learned that you can create a Duolingo web app to do just that. That Redditor is a Super Duolingo subscriber like me and saw some benefit from this hack on that tier. I went a step further by trying the web app on my account and on a free account, and comparing the experience with using both on the standard Duolingo app.
Our Platypus friend is on to something — the Premium version is less gamified and requires fewer between-lesson clicks — but the real benefits are much more apparent for free users. I’ll explain how you can try this trick for yourself, the range of upsides I found, and the trade-offs that, in my view, are certainly worth it.
How to set up a Duolingo web app
A web app is essentially a website that you install so that it behaves more like a regular app. Instead of opening Duolingo in a browser tab every time, you get a dedicated icon on your home screen and can launch it in its own window. Under the hood, though, you’re still using the web version of Duolingo, which you’d be forgiven for not knowing actually existed.
Setting the web app up is very easy. On Android, open Chrome and head to Duolingo.com, then sign in to your account as normal. Tap the three-dot menu in the top-right corner, select Install and create shortcut, and then choose Install. Chrome will add a new Duolingo icon to your home screen. If you use a different browser on your phone, the steps will be very similar, but the options might be named slightly differently.
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