Duolingo is rolling out an important tweak to its traditional practice option on mobile devices.
Before, free users, who have to contend with the heart system on mobile, could access practice sessions at any time from the hearts menu. This included users with full hearts.
These practice sessions are short, randomly generated lessons that users can complete regardless of how many hearts they have.
However, following the recent tweak, these practice sessions are only available for free users with 4 hearts or fewer.
How Hearts Work on Duolingo
On Duolingo, hearts work as lives and only currently affect free users on mobile devices.
A user can hold a maximum of 5 hearts at once. Each mistake leads to the loss of a heart.
When a user loses all of their hearts, they can no longer complete their lessons.
When this happens, users must refill hearts, either by waiting 5 hours for a 1-heart refill, watching an ad — or, completing a practice session from the hearts menu.
Effects of the Change
Before this change, free users liked the option to practice, regardless of their heart count.
Comment
by u/yeah87 from discussion They removed my favourite feature…
in duolingo
The practice sessions were popular among users that just want a quick lesson without the threat of losing any hearts.
The change may nudge free users to subscribe to Duolingo’s premium plans, Super and Max.
Super and Max members receive a number of perks that enhance the Duolingo experience. These include unlimited hearts and complete access to the Practice Hub.
Here, they can review mistakes and recommended words, and jump into speaking and listening lessons without restriction.
Who Does This Change Affect?
This tweak to the traditional practice sessions only impacts free members using mobile devices.
Super and Max subscribers can still access unlimited practice in the Practice Hub.
Free users can still partake in the traditional practice sessions, but they will need to hop into a lesson on their learning path and lose some hearts before doing so.
Gradual Rollout
At the time of writing, it looks like only some users are experiencing this change.
The reason for this is not entirely clear, although it’s likely due to either A/B testing or a phased rollout.
What do you think of Duolingo’s tweak to the practice sessions?
Let us know in the comments.
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I wouldn’t have known about this without this article. Thank you.