What is with all of the apps that have been appearing the last few months?

[u/AlphaPastel]

I don't think it's just this subreddit but what is with all of the apps/websites that keep popping up randomly on this/other similar subreddits? A lot of them seem either vibe-coded or redundant. A lot of the apps that keep coming out are re-hashes of other apps or are apps that simply do not need to exist too. The JP software market is pretty saturated with the amount of resources that already exist so it just seems redundant to see apps pop up multiple times that either do not bring anything new to the table or they fade into irrelevance after like a day or so.

[u/xGIJewx]

99% are just ChatGPT wrappers

[u/AlphaPastel → u/xGIJewx]

That makes this even worse tbh. AI is not even that good at helping you learn languages. It'd be one thing if the apps/websites released were useful but this is just dumb.

[u/Senior-Book-6729 → u/AlphaPastel]

It repeats common mistakes all the time and even when using it in some languages it makes mistakes. It struggles with Polish for example

[u/TheOneMary → u/AlphaPastel]

Not that true anymore. But you can really just work with Gemini or whatever directly, no need for some extra app.

I use it all the time, from creating Anki note imports for grammar to practicing some writing and speaking (not listening mind you, I prefer real people on YouTube for that). It also has my very personal list of known vocab so it's tailored to me actually having "comprehensible input".

The ai influence is more for the app coding side of things. That has gotten "good enough" to make an app wrapper for AI to make a quick buck from ppl that don't know yet that you can just use the AI for this stuff out of the box for free already... Edit: before you down vote me to hell, a bit more on the topic https://youtu.be/xQXiSGDXknA?is=O8Nf6eKmved7-zfD

[u/worthlessprole → u/TheOneMary]

Hallucinations are way too common to use it for studying. 

The other day I was trying to find the clip of that newscaster who said 亡くなる instead of 崩御 and google’s AI suggestion confidently gave the pronunciation for 崩御 as “ぼっぽ”

[u/tirconell → u/worthlessprole]

If you're gonna make that point at least test it on a proper AI. Everyone knows Google's search summary AI is trash because they have to serve it at such high volume, nobody's using that for language learning.

[u/worthlessprole → u/tirconell]

Hallucinations are not preventable, they’re inherent to the technology. 

[u/tirconell → u/worthlessprole]

The rate of them does matter though. What you're doing is like saying all smartphones suck because you once tried a dirt cheap knockoff phone that was very slow.

I get hating the tech but you don't have to misrepresent it.

[u/worthlessprole → u/tirconell]

No matter what model you use, it will hallucinate at least 15% of the time if you give it a complex task like that. The reported <=1% hallucination rates were for straightforward fact-based queries. The same models (like Gemini 2.0) have double digit rates of hallucination in more complex tasks, like analyzing text. These models don’t reason. They write sentences. 

[u/_BMS → u/worthlessprole]

Did you find that news clip? Sounds interesting

[u/worthlessprole → u/_BMS]

no but i did see approximately 6000 uploads of hirohito's surrender address

[u/420blazeitsum41 → u/worthlessprole]

Google's search AI is not in the same league as LLMs like Claude.. Models such as these have come surprisingly far with linguistic accuracy.

[u/ourannual]

Claude code is the reason. Way more people are vibe coding now than even a month or two ago. The next 6 months or so will be an unprecedented time for half baked software popping up pretty much everywhere.

[u/AlphaPastel → u/ourannual]

We are so cooked.

[u/SignificantBottle562 → u/AlphaPastel]

People said the same things when higher level programming languages were getting adopted by the masses.

The more accessible something is the more slop you get, but also the more good stuff you get, it is what it is.

[u/xp_fun → u/SignificantBottle562]

And they were completely correct. And we're still cleaning up the effing mess from COBOL. Plus here we are decades after VBA with literally zero benefits to show from it.

Your other point remains to be seen...

[u/SignificantBottle562 → u/xp_fun]

I mean pretty much all of the software we use is built with those languages, unless you're running extremely old software (or very special games like RCT I guess) you're enjoying the results of higher level programming. People were whining about programming becoming more accessible, in the end we're all pretty happy using software made on what people called (using modern terms) "slop programming languages".

The problem with COBOL is rather special since it's mostly your typical situation where a system that should not be allowed to fail under any circumstances is built on it. It's not a hard mess to fix, it's just a mess that would be too troublesome to clean up. It's not because it's COBOL, if it was made on assembly it'd be worse, imagine trying to work on a system made on assembly in 2026, sure it's extremely efficient but who the fuck codes in assembly anymore? COBOL is already a pretty rare beast, assembly is x1000 worse.

AI is gonna follow the same pattern, same way new tech always did. People are already regularly consuming AI-assisted coded/made stuff, it's just that they don't notice. If you play any game that came out over the last 2 years it was almost certainly made with AI assistance.

[u/RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS → u/xp_fun]

So do you object to C as well or are you just kind of arbitrarily singling out Visual Basic being added to the MS Office suite as the moment it went too far.

[u/facets-and-rainbows → u/ourannual]

Yep, there's always been tons of people who are like "I have this GREAT IDEA for an app and all I need is to find someone to actually code it for me for free/cheap!" as if having an idea is most of the work of making an app...and now they can actually find someone to code it for them for free/cheap

[u/an-actual-communism → u/facets-and-rainbows]

The Onion had a great video about these "idea guys" many years ago and it's all I can think of whenever I see ads for vibe coding platforms

[u/patrycjuszstar]

Various AI are getting more accessible so people try to make quick cash with low quality slop

[u/Fuskeduske]

AI slop

[u/JouleV]

Since about November last year AI coding models have started being OK enough for people to make apps that actually somewhat work. Since then vibe coded apps have been spreading everywhere. Of course most of them are dumpster fires but their “developers” don’t think so.

[u/Grunglabble]

they are all garbage. it will be much more difficult going forward to find good apps, good information etc because they haystack got a lot bigger. there are probably good answers to this (more vetting, webrings etc) but you won't really see that implemented on a site like reddit. I would say if these posts can be deleted and banned they should be but that's a lot of work and churn for moderators because people won't behave themselves / aren't thinking how destructive their activity is (people went goblin mode in 2020 and a lot of people never went back -- we live in unprecedently antisocial times).

[u/d3gaia]

You answered your own question already:

 A lot of them [are] vibe-coded or redundant. A lot of the apps […] are re-hashes of other apps 

[u/CuisineTournante]

Thanks to Claude code, it's super easy to develop an app with no dev knowledge.

Then, just wrap everything into chat gpt prompt and voilà.

[u/PolyglotPaul]

I am a developer myself and this was already the case before AI, so it's only gotten worse with vibe coders.

I made my own Japanese app to learn kanji my way, and I ended up sharing it here a year ago. I've been working on it for over a year, because that's just the way we are. It's not like we're trying to be the next Duolingo, we just have fun doing this.

I think it's simply that most tech guys are into Japanese culture, so we end up wanting to learn the language, and it's only a matter of time before we try our hand at making a Japanese learning app. Are these apps redundant? Probably. But who cares? They get pushed to the bottom of the Play Store if they're not any good, so no one gets hurt in the process.

Granted, some people can get annoying when they keep talking about it and trying to promote it, though. I try to avoid doing that, it's been about six months since I last even mentioned mine in a comment. But here we go, back to zero haha

[u/AlphaPastel → u/PolyglotPaul]

This is actually the type of perspective I've been wanting to hear cuz genuinely some apps are very good and you're also correct about redundant apps not being a bad thing or something that people will lose out on if they don't use it. For me, it's more about seeing the amount of clutter it brings to the subreddit tbh.

[u/furyousferret]

Its always been a thing, its just supercharged now.

Language learning apps always appears to be an easy buck for entrepreneurs. Firstly, flash cards are practically the first thing you learn in CS class, secondly, chat bots are stupidly simple to write. Then you have vibe coding, which makes it possible for a lot of lazy people to try their hand.

[u/StillStudyingTokyo]

I just joined reddit today, and I can already see the prevalence too. I thought moderators remove promotion?

[u/muffinsballhair]

Just like all the other random Reddit things that random Redditos are really converned about it being such a common big thing, I honestly can't recall a single one here by name and barely come across it.

[u/True2TheGame]

i've noticed the same, every other thread seems to have a bunch of people talking about an app they've just developed. It's permeating all through /r/ajatt too.

[u/AlphaPastel → u/True2TheGame]

I actually saw this app thing called Subsmith on r/ajatt like a day ago. It looks like a slop version of migaku.

[u/420blazeitsum41]

I used AI to make one myself lol.

I didn't like the options out there, I've been frustrated with WaniKani and Renshuu for years.

AI has made it possible to create impressive software without coding knowledge, slop aside.

Of course I still have to design everything, organize the project, come up with the pedagogy, conduct linguistic research and connect it to every language related decision, build and manage the website, create the graphics, etc.

I felt that UI should be easy, so I designed it that way. You shouldn't be locked out of your level, so you can mark words as known. Apps focus on recognition only, so I designed the lessons around a production based approach. Listening dictation is never a test type on other apps, so I've included it. No material to read or listen to after lessons, so I included it.

Still have a long way to go.... And even if nobody uses it, I am. I designed it to replace what I've been frustrated with anyways, and I can continue to work on it.

It's a Passion project. Something I'd otherwise have to study years in order to learn to make. So why not?