LingoBar - a menu bar app for learning languages without ever opening it. No streaks, no notifications, no subscription.
https://reddit.com/link/1tiki2b/video/7jrf8nzbga2h1/player
Problem
You want to learn a language but don't have the time or discipline. You install Duolingo, do it for a week, forget. You try Anki, set up decks, abandon them. The apps that demand 10 minutes a day end up getting zero minutes a day, because sitting down to study feels like a chore on top of everything else.
The one thing you do every day, dozens of times, is glance at the menu bar to check the clock or battery.
How it works
LingoBar shows one word in your target language in the menu bar. You choose how it's displayed: with the translation shown right next to it (el gato — cat), or just the foreign word on its own (el gato) so you can test yourself first and click to reveal the translation. After a set number of minutes, a new word replaces it. Left-click also plays the audio pronunciation; right-click opens the full menu (categories, intervals, favorites, custom words). No notifications, streaks, or daily targets.
Features
- 7 languages: Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, English, Polish. You pick what you speak and what you're learning, any combination.
- 1300+ words across 20 categories (food, travel, business, health, body, emotions, etc.)
- Audio pronunciation
- Hide the translation when you want active recall, show it when you just want to learn passively
- Add your own words
- Mark words as "I know this" and they get skipped
- Per-language progress tracking
- Interval picker: 1, 5, 10, 30, 60, 90 minutes
- Favorites
- ...and more 😄
- you can check the website: www.lingobar.net (download only available trough AppStore - https://apps.apple.com/pl/app/lingobar/id6761308258?mt=12 )
Comparison
Duolingo is around gamified, designed around streaks and daily commitment. Most other vocab apps are flashcard-based - they all want you to open them and study.
LingoBar is the opposite. You don't open it. You don't schedule anything. It just sits in the menu bar and shows you a word, and you absorb it while you're doing something else. I originally made it for myself because I couldn't find anything like it.
Pricing
- Free forever: 200 words from the basics category and 10 custom slots of your own - fewer words, same app, ALL languages, all same features, no time limit.
- Premium is $1.99 paid once for 1300+ words (and growing), all categories.
I'm a solo dev from Poland. Built it for myself, decided to ship it. Happy to answer questions and take feature requests.
If you try it I'd really like to hear what works and what can be improved.
