Oxford Russian Dictionary Reviews

Deficiencies in current version

Ray3202302

The Oxford Russian Dictionary follows nouns and verbs with one or more inflected endings, with the stressd syllable indicated, so that users can see how each verb conjugates, as well as whether the stress is on the stem or the ending of verbs and nouns. This information has been omitted from the current version of the app. Users will need to buy the paper dictionary in order want to learn how to use these words. Mobile Systems needs to correct this deficiency asap because the existing app is unacceptable as a learning tool for serious students of the Russian language.

Total garbage. The free apps are better.

Ddach431

Given all the shortcomings and issues that were present in the previous version as it stood, you decided to put them on the back burner and concentrate on an ugly UI update! Super smart. How about you work on bringing back the declension tables, audio pronunciation, and verb conjugations that used to make this app worth any money. This is so overpriced it’s sickening. This is especially true considering how great it used to be just a few years ago until you all destroyed it. Thanks for nothing.

Lack of content and terrible price

Driggs1234

This version is missing all the word usage examples, all the audio pronunciations, and even the simplistic flash card feature from the prior version. I upgraded hoping for improvements, and wound up with over 90% of the old content missing. At this price, it's an outrageous ripoff.

Charged $20 at least twice

Mikeclarkusa

This Oxford Russian app always worked well. I have not tried the latest version. My complaint pertains to incorrect billing for the app, not its functionality. I originally purchased the Oxford Russian app several years ago for about $20. Recently, I updated to Win 10 version. This update failed multiple times without explanation. Suddenly and quite accidentally, I saw a new charge on my credit card for $21+ for this app. I will try to get a refund. And I will try to search my credit card receipts for other charges for previous updates of this app.

A Russian language learner's best friend

CCSlove24

I recommend this to all English speaking Russian learners and Russian speaking English learners. Best, most reliable dictionary out there, and having it as an app is super convenient.

So many great reasons to hate this app

enthuser

Oxford has broken all the rules with their English-Russian dictionary. First, you don't charge old customers more money for reduced functionality. Second, you don't set up a new app that strips away all of the user preference data so that language learners lose their capacity to track progress. And third, you don't advertise features that don't exist. There were some bugs in the old app. It loaded slowly and its orientation was somehow restricted whenever switching between apps. But its basic functionality was much more adequate than the current version. Oxford ought to refund all its app sales from this app, sell it for $5 or less, and then increase the price when a meaningful feature set has been implemented. Now, in the new app, the app nags repeatedly for a review. So, here is a review. I use it. I hate it.

Major issues with the new GUI

ThatGoofyGuy

UPDATE: as of version 8.2.2 all the problems listed below are still not dealt with, but several new problems have emerged since then. The app harasses you for 5 star review constantly, hiding the definitions of words. This is a major annoyance, especially as it can not detect that I already gave a review some months back. Even after this edited review, I suspect that I will still have to shoe away the popup window demanding a 5 star review on a daily basis. There is no option in the settings to turn off the review popups. In addition, stability and usability have gotten worse. The screen freezes when you enter in two letter search queries like "от" and won't let you select headwords from the drop down list. I cannot tell you how much I wish I could rate this app negative stars! I don't know what Oxford University Press is doing with these developers. The app has become worthless. The new GUI that's been introduced as of the latest update is pretty problematic and clunky. When typing in a desired term, if an exact match is found, it will be listed alone as an exact match with another list of suggestions. The labels "match" and "suggestions" take up a lot of screen space, and an option to not have a separate suggestions list would be appreciated so that any terms that start with the entered search term will be listed alphabetically. Speaking of screen real estate, the latest update has introduced large buttons at the bottom of the main screen with advertisements for other apps made by the developer. For such an expensive app, this is nothing short of an insult to the customers. There is no reason to not move the advertisements off of the main screen. It needs to be done so more of the space is available for the returned matches for search queries. Another flaw is that when one is scrolling through the definitions in a term's page, the search bar will disappear and trying to get it to reappear is more trouble than it should be. The search bar should remain visible at all times, and it should be reduced in size slightly, to give more room for the definitions. One feature that is missing, that I would suggest to the dev team behind the app is to introduce bidirectional search queries so that one does not need to specify which language is being searched for the entered term. It would add ease of use and reduce clutter.

Shame on Oxford

chemiazrit

How despicably, shamelessly awful this once-great app has become is easily demonstrated by the fact that I've been compelled to keep one of my iOS devices forever in iOS 7.1 just so it can run the proper earlier version of the dictionary done by Paragon software. This version is an utter embarrassment: extremely slow, glitchy, and with only a small fraction of the features that were once available. Until this is resolved, I will be boycotting all OUP books and products.

Good but needs improvement

jefffafa123

I like how this dictionary has a satisfactory amount of words ranging in the hundreds of thousands, and I like that they have different sections in the definition of a word so one can see how to use the word in different contexts and generally see how it is used. I also love how they added a pronunciation feature so now I can hear how the word is prounounced. That being said, they need to do more work on defining the distinctions between similiar words. For example, посещать and навещать both mean "to visit", but there is still a slight shade of difference between these words. посещать is usually used when saying you are visiting a museum or someone you are not that close with, while навещать is used when visiting people who are close friends or family. There are a lot of words like this in Russian, so when the dictionary just has the same definition for both words and doesn't define in what situations you can use each of them, it makes things difficult. Words like либо/или. Also, words that don't have an English equivalent need a big explanation. Like тоска, which is written as "melancholy/anguish", but is actually a complex Russian emotion of dissatisfaction that has a large scale of shades ranging from boredom to heartache.

Use interrupted by demands for 5-star rating

Dave McA

Every time you open the app, a pop-up interrupts your work by asking you to give the app a 5-star rating. I'm sick of it.

Oxford Russian Dictionary Reviews – Page 2