Kotoba Support

Kotoba shows you a new Japanese or English vocabulary word every day, right on your Lock Screen and Home Screen widgets.

Getting started

  1. Open Kotoba — today's word is on the Today tab.
  2. Add a widget: Lock Screen → Customize → tap the widget area → search "Kotoba." Or Home Screen → long-press an empty spot → + → search "Kotoba."
  3. Long-press a placed Home Screen widget → Edit Widget to set its language/reading style independently of the others. Lock Screen widgets follow Settings → Word Bank instead (see below).
  4. Customize exactly what each widget shows in Settings → Widgets → Lock Screen Widgets / Home Screen Widgets.

FAQ

Why doesn't editing a Lock Screen widget do anything?

Lock Screen widgets don't get the same "Edit Widget" screen Home Screen widgets do — that's an iOS limitation, not a Kotoba bug. Everything a Lock Screen widget shows is controlled from inside the app: Settings → Word Bank (language + pronunciation style) and Settings → Widgets → Lock Screen Widgets (which fields appear, and what tapping it does).

Can two widgets show different things at once?

Yes, for Home Screen widgets — place more than one and set each independently via long-press → Edit Widget. Lock Screen widgets all follow the same app-wide settings, since there's no per-widget editor for them.

Tapping my widget just opens the app instead of playing audio — why?

Check Settings → Widgets → the relevant page → Tap Action, and make sure it's set to "Play Audio." If it's already set that way and it's still not working on one specific widget, try removing and re-adding it — freshly placed widgets pick up settings more reliably than ones that have been sitting through several app updates.

A widget is showing an old word or an old setting.

iOS refreshes widgets on its own schedule; a change you make in Settings can take a few seconds to a couple of minutes to show up. Locking and unlocking your phone, or briefly leaving and returning to the Home Screen, usually forces an immediate refresh.

What does N3 / Advanced / etc. mean?

Tap the level badge on any word's detail page in the app for an explanation. Japanese levels (N5–N1) are the official JLPT scale, N5 easiest to N1 hardest. English tiers (Intermediate/Advanced/Expert) are Kotoba's own difficulty grouping based on real GRE study lists.

Where do the words and definitions come from?

Japanese vocabulary, readings, and example sentences come from JMDict and real bilingual sentence pairs. English definitions come from Princeton WordNet. English pronunciations are derived from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Nothing is invented — a small minority of words are missing a pronunciation or example simply because the source dictionary didn't have one.

Does Kotoba need an internet connection?

No. Every word, definition, and example sentence is bundled with the app. Kotoba works fully offline.

Contact

Email kotoba@jamesmorgan.ca — include your iOS version and a description of what happened.