deft
i needed a vocab app that worked offline with spaced repetition built in. the options out there either required an internet connection, didn't have spaced reptition, or has ads. deft ships the entire English Wiktionary (~1.1M words) on-device. the raw Wiktionary dump is ~18GB of JSONL — i stripped it down to just the basics (glosses, parts of speech, related words) and compressed it into a ~220MB SQLite database for definitions and a ~34MB Tantivy search index. next release should bring the total size down to ~100MB, just finalizing that. search runs three tiers via Rust: full-text search…
deft launched on February 2, 2025 with 12 votes, #1,365 of 5,999 launches that month and more than 75% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 1 year on.
What it does
Deft is a dictionary and vocabulary builder app with built-in flashcards. It's free and available on iOS and Android devices.
Deft is a dictionary and vocabulary builder app with built-in flashcards. It
a dictionary and vocabulary builder app with built-in flashcards . Searches happen offline, on your device. Meaning, they're quick and reliable even when your phone is in airplane mode. Build your vocabulary naturally as you go. Add words that you want to remember to your collection, complete with definitions. Sort your words into lists to steadily expand your vocabulary. Review words with flashcards, all using spaced repetition system, shown to help. While you read, look up words instantly and add them to your library. Point your camera at any page, sign, or menu and tap a word to see its definition on the spot. Switch between light and dark themes to suit your environment. Whether you're…from deft.so
In the maker’s words, at launch
i needed a vocab app that worked offline with spaced repetition built in. the options out there either required an internet connection, didn't have spaced reptition, or has ads. deft ships the entire English Wiktionary (~1.1M words) on-device. the raw Wiktionary dump is ~18GB of JSONL — i stripped it down to just the…
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