Support and frequently asked questions

Install Linota on your iPhone from the App Store and sign in with Apple or with your email address: Linota emails you a six-digit code, so there is no password. Choose your German level and what you are learning German for.

Then open Home each day. Read the word of the day, a news story or the Reading room, and tap any German word you do not know to see its meaning. Save the ones worth keeping: they go to Knowledge. A study note explains a word in depth for 1 credit. Then play Today's practice in Practice: a puzzle and a short round with your own words. To see the tour again, open Profile and tap Take the tour.

Yes, on every plan. Sign in with the same account on as many iPhones and iPads as you like, and your saved words, study notes and practice progress are there too. On a computer, the Linota extension for Chrome saves to the same account; up to 10 browsers can be connected at a time.

Add Linota to Chrome from the Chrome Web Store. It also works in Edge, Brave and other browsers built on Chrome. Then connect it to your account from the iPhone app: open Profile, Settings, Browser extension and tap Connect a browser. The app shows an eight-character code. Click the Linota icon in your browser's toolbar, enter the code and choose Connect. Connecting turns on sending the words you save to your account; you can turn it off in the extension.

Select German on a webpage, then right-click. Save to Linota · free meaning if found saves it with a free English dictionary meaning when there is one, and Save and create Linota note · 1 credit adds a study note. The result appears on the page, and the word appears in Knowledge in the app.

Only text you deliberately select and save is added to your account. Radar reads visible page text on your device only when you start a scan. Form fields, editable text, private windows and restricted browser pages are blocked.

In the app, open Profile, Settings, Browser extension: it lists your connected browsers with when each was last active. Tap Disconnect next to one. The extension in that browser stops sending words at once; words already saved stay in Knowledge. Removing the extension from the browser also deletes what it kept there.

Not yet. The iPhone app comes first, and on a computer the Linota extension for Chrome saves German from websites to the same account. Linota on the web is on the way. Until then, this website has Linota's blog, this Help page and the legal pages.

Tap any word in a German text in the app: the Reading room and the word of the day on Home, the news, your own readings and listening episodes. You see its free dictionary meaning straight away; choose Save to keep it, or create a study note for 1 credit.

Add a word in Knowledge: type or say a German word, or start from English, type or say it, and Linota puts it into German on your iPhone so you keep the German. Under More ways to add German on the same screen:

From a website opens Linota's own browser with German news, Wikipedia and over 200 more German sites; tap any word on the page, and see the words you saved highlighted. Scan a page (Basic and Pro) reads the German in a photo or a screenshot. Read a book or PDF (Basic and Pro) opens an ebook (EPUB), a PDF or a text file. Transcribe audio (Pro) turns a German podcast or voice message into text on your iPhone. Import a list (Pro) brings in words with translations, or a CSV file. In every text you bring in, each word can be tapped, and only the text is kept, never the file. From your browser explains the Linota extension for Chrome, which saves German from websites on a computer to the same Knowledge.

From other apps: select German in Safari or any other app, tap Share, then Save to Linota. Not in the row of apps? Scroll the row to the end, tap More and turn Save to Linota on. The word arrives in Knowledge with its dictionary meaning and the sentence around it. A photo, a file or a recording can be shared to Linota the same way.

Over 200 German news, regional and knowledge sites, from national papers to Wikipedia. Choose one from the list or type the address of a German site. Read in Linota shows a page's article in Linota's reader. A link to any other site opens in Safari; to keep German from there, select it, tap Share, then Save to Linota.

Knowledge is your private vocabulary list: every word you collect from Home, a text, Add a word, a website, a scan, a book, Share or an imported list appears there. Search, filter and sort it; Basic and Pro can put the words German speakers use most first. Press and hold a word for its actions.

A saved word can have a free dictionary meaning, your own translation, or a study note. A study note adds an English explanation and learning details for 1 credit. It is optional: you can make a review card from a saved meaning without creating a note.

In Knowledge, press and hold a word and choose Add to review, or choose Add to review inside a saved word or study note. The word needs a saved meaning or a completed note. This creates a question-and-answer card; saving a word alone does not create a card.

In Practice, open Review cards, try to remember the meaning, reveal the answer, then rate how well you remembered it. Cards you found hard come back sooner and easy ones later, so your time goes to the words that need it. “Due” means its scheduled review time has arrived. Adding and reviewing cards use no credits, and review cards keep working without a connection on every plan: your ratings are sent once you are back online. Mark learned moves the word to the Learned list in Knowledge; it does not delete the word.

Today's practice, at the top of Practice, is a daily puzzle, Verbindungen, followed by a short round of the games you can play with your own words. It takes about five minutes and uses no credits.

Quick quiz asks about the meanings of your words and der, die, das. You do not need to add review cards first. The quiz is on every plan, uses no credits, and does not change your review-card schedule.

Both practise your words inside whole sentences, on Basic and Pro, with no credits. Fill the gap shows a German sentence with one saved word missing; type it in, with umlauts as ae, oe, or ue if you like. Say it yourself shows the English; you say the German sentence aloud or type it, then compare with a model answer and rate yourself. When you speak, your iPhone's own speech recognition writes out what you said; Linota never receives the audio.

The sentences are not generated for the exercise: they are the example sentences already written into your study notes, so you need at least two notes whose example contains the word. New sentences appear as you create more notes. Opened from a situation, they use that situation's sentences instead.

Verbindungen is a daily puzzle: sixteen German words, four groups of four. Blitz asks about your own words against a clock that only right answers refill. Both are on every plan. On Basic and Pro: Endungs-Poker deals your nouns in short sentences: play the article and the adjective ending, or the missing words; Kreuzworträtsel lays your words out as a crossword with their meanings as the clues; Galgenmännchen gives you one of your words by its meaning to find letter by letter; and Die Bäckerei is a week behind a bakery counter, with trays, bags, tables, the till and the odd difficult guest, all in German. None of the games use credits.

Open Practice, then Missions. A mission is a short game in a real situation, against the clock. There are five: a cancelled train on the way to a friend's dinner, the Bürgeramt before it closes early, a call to the doctor's practice, returning a broken kettle, and a flat viewing with three rivals. Every move costs minutes on the clock, and a wrong platform, a fine or a lost temper costs a strike. You pass if you get there in time with fewer than three strikes.

Every plan can play the example mission. Its lines are fixed and you choose each reply from three options, so it uses no credits. Its progress is kept on your device only.

On Basic and Pro you can start your own missions at a German level from A1 to C1. Linota prepares each game around saved words that fit naturally and marks them in the characters' lines. You answer in your own German, typed or spoken, and the characters react to what you actually say. After each reply you get short English feedback and a corrected German version. If you fail, the debrief shows what went wrong and a reply that would have passed, and you can save its key phrases to Knowledge. You can retry from a checkpoint up to three times, and every one of your missions you pass earns a stamp in your passport. The voices are AI-generated, and the timetables, ticket rules and office procedures are fictional; check real requirements with the office itself. Scores are practice feedback, not a language-level assessment.

One of your own missions uses 8 learning credits once it is prepared. All replies and retries of that game are included, up to a fixed limit. Failed preparation uses no credits. Resume or review a game in Profile, Saved, without paying again.

In Practice, open Prepare a situation. Choose something coming up, like a doctor's appointment or a call to your landlord, and choose your level. You get what to say first, the questions to ask, what you may hear and how to answer, the words you need, a short sample conversation and a few tips. Where some of your saved words fit the situation, With your words gives a sentence with each; often none fit, and the preparation then uses Linota's own words. Every German line can be heard and saved. It uses 4 credits, only once the preparation is ready. Requests that are not a real situation are declined and cost nothing.

Places is its own tab: seven everyday places to walk through in 3D, the supermarket, a doctor's practice, a café, a flat viewing, a train station, an office and a home. Tap a thing or a person to see what you might think, say, ask and hear there, and save the words you want. On Free you can open two things in each place; Basic opens every thing and person in the supermarket, the café, the station and the home, and Pro in all seven, with listening. Places use no credits.

Open Practice, then Listening episodes. Every plan can listen to the free pilot episodes of Nebenbei, a short German show with the hosts Mia and Jonas. On Pro, pick an interest and a level: Linota writes and records an episode of three to five minutes that uses words from your Knowledge, including one or two from an earlier episode so you meet them again a few days later.

The transcript follows the audio. Tap a line to jump to it, tap a word for its meaning, and save it or create a study note. The voices are AI-generated. A new episode uses 20 learning credits, charged only once the audio and transcript are saved; failed attempts use none. Replaying is free. Meeting a word in an episode does not mark it as learned or change your review schedule.

In Knowledge, open Collections, then Situations (Pro). Linota sorts your saved words into real-life situations where they are used together, such as a doctor’s appointment, and keeps words with very similar meanings apart. Each situation has a goal and, the first time you open it, example sentences built from your words. A grouping costs 8 learning credits once it is saved, including those sentences; failed attempts do not. Practising a situation with Quiz, Fill the gap or Say it yourself is free.

Patterns (Pro), in Collections next to Situations, finds prefixes your saved words share (such as ver- or ab-) and noun endings that tell you the article (nouns ending in -ung are feminine: die). Patterns uses no AI and no credits.

Word twins, next to Patterns, are pairs of saved words you might mix up, found when you create situations, each with a sentence on when to use which. Opening them and their quiz use no credits.

Everything Linota creates for you is in Profile, Saved: grammar tips from Pro notes, custom readings, listening episodes, writing tasks with their corrections, and missions. Reopening saved results uses no credits.

On Basic and Pro, Linota emails you every Monday with last week’s saved words, study notes and practice, plus the oldest words still in your learning list with their meanings. It is on by default. Turn it off in Profile, Settings, Email, or use the one-click unsubscribe link in any summary. Sign-in and account emails are not affected.

For one notification a day to review your words, open Profile, then Daily reminder. The reminder is scheduled on your iPhone itself.

A new custom reading (Basic and Pro) or writing task (Pro) uses 5 learning credits only when it is successfully saved. Writing feedback is included in the task price, even when you finish later or retry failed feedback. Saved texts and writing reports are free to open again, and failed attempts use no credits.

In Practice, Basic and Pro members open Custom reading and choose a topic, a level from A1 to C1, and a format: a short German article or a few everyday sentences combining their saved words. Sentences include English translations you can reveal. You need at least 3 saved words or short expressions with meanings. Natural German matters more than using the entire list, so a text uses the words that fit.

Tap any word in the finished text for its meaning. Readings remain private and available after a plan change: open them again in Profile, Saved. Deleting one does not refund its credits. Custom readings are generated learning material, not verified news or professional advice.

On a Pro study note, open Add to this note and choose Combine with my words. It creates a few everyday examples using that word together with other words or short expressions in your Knowledge, with English translations. Save at least one different item with a meaning first. A successfully saved addition uses 0.5 credits. It stays private with your note and is free to read again.

On Pro, open a study note. In Add to this note, choose Add more detail for more examples, grammar detail, alternatives, or common mistakes. Individual verbs also offer a table covering all six persons in the present, simple past, and perfect tenses. Each successfully saved addition uses 0.5 of your monthly credits. Reading a saved addition again is free, including after a plan change. Failed attempts do not use credits.

Yes. For individual German words found in Linota’s dictionary, the basic English meaning is free to view, save, and practise. This uses no learning credits. A dictionary meaning is a general translation; it may differ from the meaning in your sentence. You can also save your own translation.

Everything that writes something new for you uses one shared learning-credit balance. In credits: study note 1; addition to a note (Pro) 0.5; custom reading or writing task 5; mission from your words 8; prepare a situation (Basic and Pro) 4; situations (Pro) 8; listening episode (Pro) 20. The example mission uses none. Dictionary meanings, review cards, the quiz, the games, Places, rereading and replaying use no credits.

Credits are used only after Linota successfully saves the result. If something cannot be made, nothing is charged: a failure on our side or a topic Linota cannot write about uses no credits. Opening a saved result again is free. Updating an older note to your new plan’s level of detail uses 1 credit.

The failed attempt does not use a learning credit. Your saved word stays in Knowledge, so you can try to create the study note again later.

Free includes 20 starter learning credits in total; they do not renew. Basic includes 60 credits each month, and Pro includes 120. Monthly credits renew on the first of each month at 00:00 UTC and do not roll over. Credit packs of 50 or 150 credits, bought on the Plan screen, never expire and are used after your plan’s own credits. Your remaining credits are shown in Profile and on the Plan screen.

In the app, open Profile, then Plan. Basic and Pro are monthly or yearly subscriptions, sold and billed by Apple through the App Store with your Apple account. The App Store shows the price in your currency, including VAT, before you confirm. A subscription renews automatically unless you cancel it at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Linota never sees your payment details.

Pro yearly can start with a free trial of 7 days, with every Pro feature open and 10 more credits to try them, on top of any Free starter credits you have not used yet. Pro’s 120 credits a month start with the first payment. Credit packs work during the trial too. Cancel at least a day before the 7 days end and you pay nothing; otherwise Pro yearly continues at the yearly price shown when you started the trial.

Subscriptions bought in the app are managed by Apple. On your iPhone, open Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions, and choose Linota. You can also tap Manage or cancel subscription on the Plan screen. Cancel at least 24 hours before the current period ends. After you cancel, your plan stays until the end of the period you paid for, then the account moves to Free. Your saved words, study notes, practice cards and history stay in your account. Upgrading to Pro starts right away; a switch to Basic takes effect at the next renewal.

If the Plan screen says your plan was not bought with this Apple account, write to us and we will change or cancel it for you.

Apple decides refunds for purchases in the app. On the Plan screen, tap Request a refund (for a credit pack: Request a refund for a credit pack), or ask Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com. Apple usually answers by email within 48 hours. If it refunds you, the plan or the pack’s credits go back to what you had before. The same applies to withdrawing within 14 days; see Withdrawal and cancellation.

Sign in with the same Linota account, open Profile, Plan, and tap Restore purchases. It links the App Store purchases of your Apple account to your Linota account again. If no Linota subscription is found for that Apple account, write to us with the email address of your Linota account.

On the Plan screen in the app: tap Everything it includes under Free, Basic or Pro to see the full list, grouped into collecting, understanding and learning.

With Pro, the app keeps a copy of what it loads on your iPhone: Home as you last saw it, your words, study notes, review cards and the word games, so you can practise on a train or a plane, and the app tells you when it is working offline. On Basic and Free, Linota needs a connection; on Pro, saving new words and anything that writes something new still does.

On Basic and Pro, Study PDF in Knowledge turns your study notes into a PDF with explanations, questions to test yourself, writing space and answers, to print or read offline. To download your notes as a file, open Profile, Settings, Privacy and data, Export study notes: CSV on Basic; CSV, Markdown and JSON on Pro. Creating either uses no credits.

Only the parts that write, correct or speak something new for you: study notes, missions, custom readings, writing feedback, listening episodes, situations and Prepare a situation. The first time you use one, the app asks whether Linota may use AI from OpenAI. Linota sends only what the feature needs, such as the word or text you chose or what you wrote, never your name or email. You can change your answer at any time in Profile, Settings, Privacy and data, Allow AI from OpenAI. Without it, dictionary meanings, review cards, games and reading still work.

Only if you turn it on. In Profile, Settings, Privacy and data, Share feature usage lets Linota see which screens and games you open, so it can improve what learners use. It never includes what you type or save, is kept for 13 months, and is never shared or sold. It is off unless you turn it on, and turning it off again also deletes what was kept.

The app follows your iPhone’s language when it has it: English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian, Hindi or Chinese, eight languages in all. To change it, open Profile, Settings, Language, App language. Under Explanations in you can also choose the language of meanings and study notes: notes are written in English and translated on your iPhone, and the German examples stay as they are.

Tap Report a mistake under the study note, reading, episode, preparation or writing feedback (in a mission: Report this mission on its result screen), choose what is wrong (the meaning, the German, the grammar, offensive or harmful, or something else), add a comment if you like, and tap Send. Many notes are shared between learners, so a report helps everyone; reports are read by Linota only. You can also write to us.

Radar is part of Pro. In the browser extension, it runs only after you choose to scan the current page. It matches the visible page text against your saved Knowledge on your device. Linota does not upload the full page text or use Radar to record your browsing history.

Yellow highlights are saved vocabulary. Lavender highlights with a dashed underline are up to three common dictionary words you may want to learn. Suggestions appear only when those exact words are found; not every page has a match. Click to see a free dictionary meaning, save the word, or create a note for 1 credit.

Click the Linota icon to see up to 40 recent selections on the current website, their meanings and the study notes you created. The approximate timer starts after you use Linota on that page and counts only while it is visible and focused. The summary and timer stay in this browser; they are cleared when the tab or browser closes. Clearing the summary does not delete words already saved to Knowledge.

Delete a single word in Knowledge: press and hold it and choose Delete. Everything else is in Profile, Settings, Privacy and data: export your study notes (Basic and Pro), set learning data to delete itself after 30 days, 90 days or a year, delete all learning data now, or delete the account. Deleting the account does not cancel a subscription bought in the app: cancel it first in your iPhone’s Settings, under your name, then Subscriptions. See the Privacy notice for retention and deletion details.