French Dictionary App Reviews

How can you guys destroy a perfect dictionary with this buggy update? The brand Larousse means a lot either for French speakers worldwide or folks who learn this language. So, fix those bugs asap.

The pronunciation feature doesn't work. The graphical design is so awful and amateurish that ruins your motivation to learn French. Also, iOS 10 keeps prompting me that "this app may slow down your device and the developer should update the app".

For example I didn't find "puce" in the sense of "computer chip".

Thank you for being so fast with the 'update fixer'! This great program is now even better!

I expected to get the same accuracy and completeness that Larousse was used to provide. This app is not better than other free French dictionnary apps. No phonetic, no origin, missing definitions when there are more than one (example "sain"), difficult to navigate between words...

You always have to go back to square one to use this app (not continuous, not flowing). You have to type every word entry (no word links). This dictionary needs audio pronunciations that do not require internet access (because the internet can slow things down to a halt especially in a monopoly; that's why I haven't bought the audio Larousse app which seems to lack the very same features I'm talking about). This app needs something very important for all dictionary apps: a random word button -- which takes away the tediousness of learning a whole load of vocabulary and which also makes learning continuous and not boringly alphabetical. The fonts are tiny.

Great hypertext function, huge vocabulary base, great examples-- it's hard to ask for more. There is even an etymology section, a very welcome addition. For the price this is far better than other dictionaries. Such an improvement over (the virtually unusable) version 1.

Je l'aime surtout la prononciation

The new update is stuck in portrait mode. Please fix!!

Sinonyms Antonyms Pronunciation w sound Expressions Super complete

The dictionary looks promising but the pronunciation feature doesn't work. There is no sound. When I try to go to Ap support, there are only commercials.

This is an excellent monolingual dictionary, useful for language learners at at least an intermediate level. Search is much faster than with a paper dictionary. Much detailed information is provided for each word, including audio pronunciations of each word, and complete conjugations of all verbs. You can click on any word in a definition to get the definition of that word, and keep going this way, and then backtrack to the word you originally looked up. There is also a history of all recently looked up words which you can use for review. Note that this dictionary does not include the illustrations or the proper nouns from the paper Larousse. Also it frequently crashes, but can be quickly restarted when it does so.

I just downloaded the new version today. The interface gets stuck in the portrait mode, leaving content off the right side of the screen. Keyboard is vertical and sideway, blocking the dictionary. These are serious bugs. It also crashed several times within 15 minutes. If you are, like me, using iPad 2 with iOS 6, do not update to this version. It is NOT usable. I hope Larrouse will have these problems fixed as soon as possible. The low rating is for the bugs of the new version. I have not used the dictionary to rate its content. So far, I think it is quite good. I like the audio for the pronunciation. It'd be great if the IPA is included. Wayne

Je ne peux pas utiliser la dernière actualisation. Fixez-le, s'il vous plaît! I cannot use the latest upgrade!!!!!

This is a superb all-French dictionary that almost never lets me down, even for very obscure words and expressions. I keep hoping that Larousse will offer its all-Spanish counterpart based on the Pequeño Larousse Ilustrado. That would be linguistic heaven.

Initial bugs now fixed (not so "mineur" as the announcment had it, since trying to use the verb conjugations crashed the whole thing), this app can now really be used. And it's very good, like the Larousse hardbound dictionaries, which are miles ahead of their competitors.

Very good, but I wonder if the app is going to be updated?!

I think I can put away my Petit Larousse now! :) It is almost everything I need in a French dictionary. If one could look up idioms directly, it would be perfect.

C'est vrai! Je ne peux meme pas avoir une seule conjugaison! In need of a quick upgrade!

Un grand dico, mais des problèmes d'affichage sur des définitions, scrollbar sur une petite surface et lecture à 1/3 au lieu pleine. Une mise à jour rapide SVP. On retrouvait le même problème, entre autre, sur la version français/anglais (même base!). 3 à cause des bugs, sinon qualité (hors bugs) / prix à 5! A faire connaitre.

Please consider having the 'x' for deleting an entry in the text box present whenever text is present. Would be much more convenient. Also, if possible, disallow Apple's text correction which is, in this app, useless and annoying (but useful elsewhere). Perhaps one day computers will become clever enough to speak multiple languages at the same time. For the rest of you: yes, this is the best French dictionary available. L'achetez!

Thank you for fixing the problem with the update and also for removing the application from the app store in the meantime, thus avoiding more frustrated and angry users. The dictionary is back again with a new face and all the fancy issues that I love.

Pas génial, pour l'instant. Écoutez la prononciation de "chantonner" - pas beau! Très peu de synonymes - c'est la raison pour laquelle j'avais acheté cette app en pensant: Larousse, ça doit être bien. Ben, non!

This is a fantastic dictionary with a huge number of entries. Just be aware that the Larousse is French-French only and consequently best suited for advanced students of the language. In addition to the definitions, the Larousse provides idiomatic expressions (e.g. if you look up 'faire' you will also find "s'en faire," "se faire," etc., which is incredibly helpful), synonyms, usage notes (difficultés), word origins, and, where applicable, quotations containing the word you're looking up. Finding words is easy even if you don't know the exact spelling, as the app offers a list of possible matches as soon as you begin typing a few letters in the search field. A truly amazing plus is that this list will include reflexive forms, which can differ greatly in meaning, so once you look for 'facher,' the dictionary will list 'se facher' as a separate entry. For every verb, full conjugation tables in all tenses are also included. Whether you're reading Charlie Hebdo or Maupassant, you will find every word you need here. If you don't, chances are it's either misspelled in your source or a recent neologism. Internet access is required for the pronunciations, but if you are at the level where a monolingual dictionary is useful to you, chances are you no longer need them all that often. All other features are available off-line. An incredibly deep resource for only a few bucks more than your average app.

Overall the definitions look good but this app lacks a pronunciation key that should be in any complete ditionary. For native speakers this might not be a big problem, but because there are exceptions to French pronunciation rules, guidance for non-native speakers is essential.

Whenever I try to play the audio for a word on the iPad I keep getting a message saying audio playback failed! Needs to be fixed! Basically doesn't do what it's advertised to do in that case.

why?

The app is not usable - it gets stuck in portrait mode and does not want to turn.

This latest update fixes all of the previous problems and this app is now a fast, lean version of the paper dictionary - exactly what you would want it to be. This is a great reference tool for French speakers and wannabe French speakers. What a great world that we live in that not only can you carry around a definitive language dictionary on your phone, but it is only $5.99!

What did you do??? I want my old version !!!!!! This is not acceptable !!!!

Great app all around. While I have not used it to look up pronunciation, I have found every word searched and found elaborate and informative definitions. In addition, it is so practical to have definitions and conjugation tables in the same location. My favorite feature of this app is that it records a history of searched words, and has a favorites list where you can save definitions. Fantastic way to learn and remember new words - I speak French and English fluently, and still do this for words to expand my vocabulary. Thanks for this high quality app, Larousse!

I've always found an appropriate definition for the word I looked up, and I've been using this app for a year. I find Larousse to be the best of the Fre-Fre or Fre-Eng applications. I've tried others. Get both Larousses - they're great! Some of the low-rating reviews on here must be made by people who either have a faulty download or don't know enough French to be ready for a Fr-Fr dico. I have had this app for about a year and love it. To answer the negative reviews below: * "sain" and "sain/saine" - they're both on here and correctly defined. * "puce" - its sense as computer chip is on here. * crashes - old version hardly ever crashed; new version hasn't crashed once, yet. * etymologies - the new version has them. Sometimes you have to go to the root word to find it, but most dictionaries direct you to the root word, anyway. * audio - it's on here. * word links - they're on here, too. This dictionary has so many great features with expressions, synonyms, homonyms, and even quotes, that for its price it is a real deal. For my own Fre-Fre needs, this has provided everything, and at a great price! I write this review because I love my Larousse apps. I've been using them for a full year. I have no connection to Larousse whatsoever.

I've used the dictionary for about six months and I was happy with it until last update, which renders the dictionary unusable. The app is stuck in portrait mode with half of the app outside the visible area, just like other reviews mentioned. DO NOT BUY OR UPDATE until it gets fixed.

UPDATE: Thanks for the update. There was nothing minor about the known problems, but they're gone, now, and this is a wonderful app--lovely and functional. I would love to love this app. It's precisely what I was looking for, a pure French dictionary. Unfortunately, it crashes when loading words--verbs, mostly, random inasmuch as the words that crash it, but consistent in said words crashing it. Furthermore, the home page shows arrows with no text at their sides, which by no means matches the home screen in the sample image, the one where the arrows are followed by claims of vocabulary volume. Please test and correct. I'll revise my rating and ammend my review when stability is restored and the product does what it's advertised to do.

Bad UI (too much graphics and bad sizes) and no option for offline pronunciation.

I just shake my head at this update. Why would the designers take a perfectly good app and transform it into a such convoluted one? There is no landscape ability. The colors are horrible. Larousse, I am disappointed.

I'll write this review in English, assuming that the majority of the customers of Apple's US App store are Anglophone, or are at least English-competent. I've been using the Larousse French monolingual dictionary since its release in the US app store. Depending on how one might count the app versions, this might be considered the third major version of the app, or — really more realistically — the third app being sold under the same product name. The first one had significant and frustrating weaknesses, but the second was much better. Both of them were based around a superb underlying dictionary. This third version is a very disappointing step in the wrong direction, I think. The underlying dictionary is smaller, with fewer words, and much more abbreviated definitions. In effect, it's the sort of "pocket dictionary" one might buy at the airport before visiting a new country, or a dictionary which might suffice in one's second semester of a foreign language at university. Given the existence of strong competition, such as Robert's "Le Petit Robert" and "Dixel" products, this version of the Larousse is unfortunately not even a starter, in my opinion. A dictionary which limits its definitions to the complexity of a single line is not a product which can be recommended, I don't think. You can get definitions of that quality without paying for them. I'll describe first what I think is the only area of improvement in the app's functionality: there is a true browse mode. There's a list of "A to Z" tabs, or buttons, on the left side of the screen, which can be used to jump to a section of the dictionary beginning with that letter. Any substring typed into the search box which begins with that letter at that time will move the displayed portion of the dictionary appropriately. This is good; from there, one can browse through the entries as one might with a paper dictionary. Unfortunately, the browsing capability is implemented in a very inconsistent manner; if one begins with a search, rather than by tapping one of the letter tabs, or if one types a search string which doesn't begin with the currently-chosen letter, then one is in a search mode, with no way of using the context one has just established to move in a synchronized way to a browse view of the dictionary. In general, the program seems to have a browse mode and a search mode, but doesn't give us a clear conceptual model of how the mode change takes place, nor allows us to establish the context of the browse mode from a successful search operation. The history mechanism is mysterious and incomplete. There are arrows, which when touched, confusingly sometimes seem to mean "previous and next" in a temporal sense, but other times will move up and down the currently-displayed list. There is also a "history" tab, which lets one return to an entry one has seen in the recent past. However, sometimes words are added to the history list, but sometimes they're not. The display of the history list is buggy, too, with mysterious strings of 1s and 0s displayed next to many of the elements. The program doesn't behave well with multitasking gestures, sometimes changing the display upon a 4-finger left-to-right swipe before crashing. That's just a bug; bugs can be fixed. However, poor basic architectural decisions, or the choice of a crippled underlying dictionary... not so easy. Some criticisms I'm made of previous versions of the app have remained unaddressed. Mysteriously, there is still no support for lemmatize searches. For instance, a search for "est" or "sommes" will fail to present "être" as a possible match. (In contrast, that works just fine in the Robert dictionaries, the Ultralingua dictionaries, and several others for which I tried the experiment.) In addition, and importantly, there is no textual phonetic representation provided — there is only a loudspeaker icon next to the words. The pronunciation facility thereby indicated depends on a network connection to work. This obviously won't work in a airplane, or if one is traveling outside of one's cellular data service area. In addition, even if one has network connectivity, it's not always polite to have one's device chattering away, and it's impossible to hear it in a noisy environment anyway. (More bugs here: if there's no network connectivity, a dummy error message is displayed, at least when the system language is set to English.) The inclusion of an IPA representation of the pronunciation of each word would be useful in all circumstances, not just a few. I've reviewed all the previous versions of this app, have given them all 5 stars, and have ended each of those reviews with a suggestion that you, the reader, purchase both this app, and the Robert dictionaries. I can no longer make that recommendation. I don't see any reason to suggest the purchase of this one. If you want a monolingual dictionary of the scale of a "pocket" or "traveler's" dictionary, there are better choices. If you want a dictionary of the scale of a good collegiate, this isn't it, although it used to be. So — who is this dictionary for? Who is the target buyer? I can't imagine, frankly. I've been trying to decide who might think that this is just what they're looking for, but I can't think of anyone. Maybe a bright collégian; but even au lycée, a better dictionary is called for. Personally, in a week, I'm traveling to my second home in France for the next 3 months; during that time, I don't think I'll launch this app even once. It's too bad; I used to like to compare the definitions from my Larousse and my Robert to get a more complete understanding of an unfamiliar word. However, this dictionary has been dumbed down enough that the exercise is no longer worth doing.

Significant improvement over the first version. Definitions are (still) great. Now has hyperlinks so one can easily get definitions for words in other definitions, making exploration easier. Auto-completion of searches is also much improved. The main problem is the pronunciation, which is only via audio files. First, when I'm connected to the internet these still fail to work. In any case, written pronunciation is better: it's faster, it doesn't require an Internet connection, and one can easily use without disturbing others. Larousse, please fix this and I'll give you 5 stars! The actual definitions are the best on the iPhone.

Gets stuck in portrait mode displaying only half the screen. I am amazed that Larousse would release an update without testing it.

Conforme a sa description

Problems have been corrected. I wholeheartedly recommend the app.

I have long used this dictionary on my first generation iPod Touch. Suddenly the new version requires iOS 4.0 or better, so I can't use this app that I have purchased. Is there any reason for the limitation to iOS 4 ?