Phrabbit Shadowing & Dictation

Dictation is here. Listen to your A/B range one sentence at a time, write it down, and compare it with the original — audio, video or YouTube, by hand on iPad.

The surest way to make a sentence truly your own — listen, repeat, and say it out loud.

Phrabbit is an A/B loop practice app for language learners. Grab any passage from an audio file, a video, a podcast, or a YouTube stream, loop it until it clicks, then speak it and write it.

◆ Shadowing · Listen to an A/B range, then repeat it in your own voice · Play your take over the original and compare the waveforms (audio files) · The passage's subtitles show on the shadowing screen, line by line as it plays (audio files) · Shadowing gap — leaves time to speak between loops, with a countdown · Shadowing also works with video files and YouTube streams · My Recordings — save your best takes and pick up on the same range

◆ Dictation · Listen to your A/B range one sentence at a time, write it down, and compare it with the original · With subtitles, differences are marked for you; without them, check against the source yourself · Audio files, video files, and YouTube streams · On iPad, write by hand — your handwriting is saved to look back at · Attempts are kept, so you can practice the same range again

◆ A/B looping right on the waveform · Set precise ranges with your fingertip while watching the waveform · Loop as much as you want, adjust speed (0.5x–2.0x) · Save important ranges as bookmarks

◆ Practice with video · Bring in video files on your device (MP4, M4V, MOV) and loop them the same way · Attach an SRT or VTT subtitle file, show it over the video, and nudge the sync if it drifts · Sentence practice — tap a sentence card, or the subtitle on the video, and it becomes the loop · No subtitles? Mark an A/B range and convert just that part with speech recognition · Fullscreen practice — turn sideways for subtitles and range controls together · Tap a word in the subtitles to save it to your wordbook with its context · Videos are referenced, not copied, so they use almost no app storage

◆ Comfortable anywhere, anytime · Background playback — loops keep running with the screen off or in other apps · Sleep timer — auto-pause after 5, 15, 30, or 60 minutes · Earphone remote — previous/next steps through sentences (or 5 seconds without a transcript) · Bookmark queue — Play All runs saved ranges back-to-back, skippable from the Lock Screen · Control playback right from the Lock Screen and Control Center

◆ Speech to text (STT) · Turn speech into sentence-by-sentence text, synced to the waveform in real time · See exactly which sentence — and which word — is playing as you learn · Type subtitles yourself — practice from your own script; typed lines stay put if you run recognition later · Apple Intelligence subtitle translation — translate a whole transcript on-device and read it beside the original (iOS 26.4+, Apple Intelligence device) · On-device processing — your audio is never sent to a server

◆ Many sources · Import audio files (mp3, m4a, and more) · Import video files (MP4, M4V, MOV) · Podcasts — browse shows curated for your language, or add one by name or RSS address · Download podcast episodes, and bring in your Apple Podcasts subscriptions · Practice any YouTube link as a stream

◆ Keep your library in order · Folders — group your material, nested as deep as you like · Favorites — mark what you open most and reach it straight from Home · Search — finds what is tucked inside a folder, and shows you where it lives

◆ Tools that help you learn · Wordbook — save words you don't know and review them · AI word explanations (Beta) — tap a wordbook entry and Apple Intelligence explains it on-device, in context · Stats — see your practice time and streak at a glance · Works on both iPhone and iPad

Start free. A/B looping, playback speed, the shadowing gap, the sleep timer, and one bookmark per file or video are free. STT, shadowing recordings, dictation, unlimited bookmarks and wordbook (with AI word explanations), background playback, podcasts, and subtitle translation come with Premium — a one-time purchase, no subscription.