PlayLingo Guide
How PlayLingo works
Step-by-step guides to every feature: finding videos, bilingual subtitles, Lingo’s explanations, practice modes, flashcards and your subscription.
Getting started
- About PlayLingoPlayLingo turns any YouTube video into a language lesson — watch with bilingual subtitles, understand every line with Lingo, practice right in the video and review the words you saved.
- First stepsYour first session in PlayLingo: answer a few questions, pick a video, choose a mode, look up words and save them for practice.
- Onboarding and your levelThe questions PlayLingo asks when you first open it — learning language, native language, CEFR level, goals, name, daily time — and how to change them later.
- Devices and languagesWhich devices PlayLingo runs on (iPhone, iPad with iOS 18+, Mac with Apple Silicon), why it needs internet, and which languages you can learn.
Catalog and search
- Explore catalogHow the Explore catalog works in PlayLingo — curated shelves for each language, Start here and short videos, level badges and level filters.
- SearchHow to search YouTube inside PlayLingo, translate a search query into the language you learn, and open a video by pasting its link.
- Add a YouTube videoOpen any YouTube video, playlist or channel in PlayLingo — paste a link, share it from the YouTube app or search right inside the app.
- Video pageWhat you see before a video starts in PlayLingo — Saved, Description and Similar tabs, the mode and subtitle rows, and the Watch button.
- Following channelsHow to follow YouTube channels and playlists in PlayLingo, find their new videos on the Following page, and unfollow.
- Home and historyThe Home page in PlayLingo: your watch history by day, progress on each video, saved-word and practice badges, and how to remove videos.
Player
- Subtitles and translationWatch YouTube with two lines of subtitles — the original and a translation into your language — and switch the translation or original on and off.
- Subtitle tracksHow to pick the subtitle language and track type for a YouTube video in PlayLingo — Enhanced, Auto and Channel — and report bad subtitles.
- Word explanationsTap any word or select a phrase in the subtitles, and Lingo explains what it means in this exact sentence — then save it to review later.
- Chat with LingoOpen a chat with Lingo from the player to ask about a word, a line or the video itself — with quick shortcuts and answers in your AI language.
- Deep diveOpen a deep dive for a word, phrase or whole line — overview, examples, grammar, how common it is, word forms, background and related words.
- Pronunciation above wordsShow how each word is pronounced right above the subtitle line — IPA, furigana, pinyin, romanization, stress marks and more, depending on the language.
- Part-of-speech highlightingUnderline nouns, verbs, adjectives and other parts of speech in colour right in the subtitle line, and choose which ones to mark.
- Saved words highlightingPlayLingo highlights words and phrases from your vocabulary in the subtitles of every video. Here is how to turn it on or off.
- Playback controlsPause, step line by line, repeat a sentence, auto-pause after each line, loop a phrase, slow the video down and hear a line read aloud in PlayLingo.
- Subtitle appearanceCustomise how subtitles look in PlayLingo — colour themes, text size, fonts for subtitles and translation, alignment, width, karaoke cursor and more.
- Video settingsAdjust the video frame in PlayLingo — Immersive or Manual, frame size and aspect ratio, YouTube controls and captions, full screen in landscape.
- Keyboard shortcutsControl the PlayLingo player from a hardware keyboard on iPad or Mac — play and pause, move between lines, repeat, auto-pause, loop, slow mode and microphone.
- Session summaryWhen PlayLingo shows a summary after you close a video, what it counts — saved words, assembled and spoken lines, minutes — and the exercise summary.
Practice modes
- Modes overviewWatch, Understand, Listen, Build and Speak — PlayLingo’s modes turn the same video into listening, sentence-building and speaking practice. Here’s when to use each.
- Watch modeWatch mode in PlayLingo shows the line and its translation with no pauses. Watch at your own pace, tap words you don’t know and save them.
- Understand modeUnderstand mode hides the translation and pauses after each line, so you work out the meaning yourself and check with Show Translation.
- Listen modeListen mode covers the subtitles so you follow the video by ear. Reveal a word with a tap or the whole line with the eye button.
- Build modeIn Build mode the video stops after each line and you put its shuffled words back in order. How chips, sessions and free daily lines work.
- Speak modePractice speaking with shadowing in PlayLingo — the video pauses after each line, you repeat it out loud, and on-device speech recognition checks every word.
- Reverse modesWith a subtitle track in your native language, PlayLingo switches to Read, Build, Speak and Translate — you work with the translation in the language you learn.
- Exercise settingsEvery option in Exercise Settings for Build and Speak — lines per session, skipping short or long lines, translation, words per line — with defaults.
- Microphone and speech recognitionHow PlayLingo uses the microphone in Speak mode — permissions, on-device recognition, speech model downloads, error messages and voice settings.
Vocabulary
- Saving wordsHow to save a word, a phrase or a whole subtitle line to your PlayLingo vocabulary while you watch, and what a saved card contains.
- Vocabulary screenWhat you see in the PlayLingo Vocabulary tab — tabs, decks by video or channel, Fresh, Tricky and Almost known collections, search and word cards.
- Editing and deleting wordsHow to fix the text or translation of a saved word, regenerate its details, or delete it from your PlayLingo vocabulary.
- How practice worksWords you save in PlayLingo come back as flashcards with the video clip, scheduled by FSRS — the spaced-repetition algorithm used in Anki.
- Practice settingsHow to change vocabulary practice in PlayLingo — autoplay audio, listening exercises, smart answer options, words to build and what to practice.
- Word status and historyHow to see when a word comes back, move it to another stage, take it out of practice or reset its review history in PlayLingo.
- Review calendarHow to open the Reviews calendar in PlayLingo to see how many words you reviewed each day and how many cards are due next.
- Export vocabularyHow to export saved words from PlayLingo as an Anki deck with links to video moments, a CSV table for Excel or Quizlet, or a printable PDF.
- Words widgetHow to add the PlayLingo “Your Words” widget to your Home Screen or Lock Screen, choose its size and pick which words and stages it shows.
Profile and progress
- Profile screenWhat the Profile tab in PlayLingo shows — your name and languages, streak, and what each number (Time, Days, Sentences, Spoken, Known) counts.
- Streak and freezesHow the PlayLingo streak works — what counts as a day of study, how Streak Freezes are earned and used, and where to see milestones.
- Learning languagesHow to add a second language in PlayLingo, switch between the languages you learn, set your level, and what removing a language deletes.
- Native, translation and AI languageWhere to change your native language, the subtitle translation language, the language of AI explanations and the PlayLingo interface language.
- RemindersTurn on the PlayLingo daily reminder, pick its time, get review notifications, and fix blocked notifications.
Settings and account
- Settings overviewEvery item in PlayLingo Settings in one list — profile, reminders, account, subscription, app options, feedback and legal.
- Account and sign inHow to sign in to PlayLingo with Apple, use the app without an account, see your devices and what happens when you log out.
- Sync between devicesWhat PlayLingo syncs between your iPhone, iPad and Mac — vocabulary, history, streak — what stays on one device, and when sync happens.
- Storage and cacheSee how much space PlayLingo’s cached images, subtitles and web data take, and clear them without losing your words or progress.
- Delete accountHow to permanently delete your PlayLingo account from the app, what data is deleted, and what to do about an active subscription.
- Home Screen quick actionsTouch and hold the PlayLingo icon to continue your last video, open Vocabulary, or tell us what went wrong before removing the app.
Free and Pro
- Free and ProWhat you can do in PlayLingo for free every day, what the daily limits are, and what PlayLingo Pro adds.
- EnergyHow energy works in PlayLingo — what uses it, what doesn’t, when it refills at midnight and what happens when it runs out.
- PlansWhich PlayLingo Pro plans exist — Monthly, Annual and Family — where to see prices and how to check whether Pro is active.
- Restore purchasesHow to get PlayLingo Pro back on a new or reset device with Restore Purchases, redeem a code, and what “Waiting for approval” means.
- Cancel subscriptionHow to cancel PlayLingo Pro bought in the app or on the website, and how long you keep Pro after cancelling.
- RefundsHow to request a refund for PlayLingo Pro — through Apple for App Store purchases, or through Paddle for purchases on the website.
Troubleshooting
- Video won’t openWhat to do when a YouTube video won’t open in PlayLingo — “Video Unavailable”, “No Subtitles”, “Sign In Required” and region restrictions.
- Subtitle problemsWhat to do when a video has no subtitles, the track list won’t load, subtitles are out of sync or the text is wrong in PlayLingo.
- Region restrictions and VPNWhat “VPN required” means in PlayLingo, why translations or videos may not work in some regions, and how a VPN or signing in to YouTube helps.
- Explanations not workingWhat to do when translations, Lingo explanations, chat or deep dives don’t load — “Daily limit reached”, “Couldn’t translate” and energy.
- App won’t start or sign inWhat to do when PlayLingo shows “No connection”, “Something went wrong”, “Old data can’t be opened”, asks for an update or can’t sign in.
- Missing words or progressWhy saved words, streak or history may be missing in PlayLingo — a different Apple ID, not signed in, sync timing or another learning language.
Help and feedback
- Contact and bug reportsHow to report a bug in PlayLingo with a screenshot, suggest a feature, or email support at info@playlingo.app with your user ID.
- Privacy basicsA short summary of how PlayLingo handles your data — voice stays on the device, what is sent for AI answers, tracking and deleting your account.
Didn’t find an answer? Contact support.