[shimonabi]

As a former daily user for about 2 years I feel that Duolingo's mission has increasingly changed to maximize the time spent on the platform doing pointless tasks, when your goal should really be to minimize your learning time when learning a language.

[x0x0]

What makes you say that?

I think a more fair complaint is the content is very mediocre. Don't get me wrong, it's free, so it's hard to complain. But if you attempt to learn a language, Duo has two big flaws.

First, the content is regularly not quite right. Taking Spanish to English as an example, at the higher levels where you translate phrases, it regularly insists on English translations that no native speaker would say. This does not lend confidence to the other translations.

Second, and more importantly: when you get things wrong, it almost never explains why. Why do you use a certain mood in a place, or why is a word that should be a synonym (but maybe not? who knows?) not correct to use in the given sentence? Is it actually incorrect, or is it a shortcoming in the phrase bank? Etc.

What you really need to know is eg you mistakes in the third conditional, or you're misusing certain prepositions and what the rules are. Duolingo really only offers learning by example.

Still, it's free. And you can probably use it to get to A2 or even B1 proficiency.

[Izkata]

They've recently added gamification tasks to rapidly increase your daily score by repeatedly rehashing things you've already learned, pushing you towards staying in the same place instead of moving on to new lessons.

I find the popups and bubbles that push you towards those annoying and have been using the app less because of it.

[hkt]

What I didn't realise until recently was that Duolingo's web version contains written material on grammar that is completely inaccessible on mobile. It is very very frustrating to know that what must be their main platform receives a slightly inferior service, even for paying customers.

[x0x0]

If it makes you feel any better, the grammar material is superficial. At best.

You'd do far better to download a syllabus from a college class for your desired language, find the text, and buy Edition n-1 on Amazon for like $10.

[uniqueid]

  > Duolingo's mission [...] to maximize the time spent on the platform doing pointless tasks

  >> What makes you say that?

A clear example is the design of Duolingo's word palette.

Anyone who wanted to optimize quizzes for language-learning would alphabetize the palette, but Duolingo present words in a jumble: learners have to play 'Where's Waldo'.

By creating useless busy-work, such a design provides the illusion of language-learning. There are many other examples (eg: how effective are Duolingo's ubiquitous 'Type what you hear' exercises really?) but the word-palette design is particularly glaring.

[atg_abhishek]

In their defense, there are sometimes good explanations in the comments when you get things wrong and those end up helping. Though, I agree that it isn't content that is provided or verified by their team and it is something coming from the user community.