Sololearn: Learn to Code Reviews

by Brotherofgunns

Learning Python for a side project, and this seemed like a good way to practice/learn while away from my computer, so I decided to download the “Learn Python” app (as that’s all I needed), and it was great!

Eventually however, it decides to inform me that I need to download a new app, full of features that I don’t want, need, it care about. So I decide to use Sololearn (out of necessity) and it allows me to continue where I left off. That’d be all well and good if it didn’t waste my time in the first place!

Waste of time, stuffed full of unnecessary features that I feel are useless, and carefully reminding me that there’s a nice little button to make the ads (that weren’t present in the first app) go away, for 4 dollars a month. I’ll admit that that price is more than fair however, as Sololearn seems to be good for learning or at the very least, brushing up.

by Lm767901

I have no problem paying for apps or information. Apple should have a section that describes what in app purchases are available and at what cost. Sololearn has good information. Some of the prompts may have too little of a description for some learners but for me it was fine. That being said I’m tired of using Sololearn with the constant ads and pop ups asking you to subscribe. I’m not into 2 week trial deals that auto charge after after the trial period. I’m a busy guy and forget and that’s what they are counting on. I didn’t even get to use Sololearn enough to see if I want to pay for it before I got too frustrated by the hobbled app and constant ads. Further aspects hidden behind pay walls don’t help.

by AgentF0x

Okay, so I guess the reading portions of the lessons are free, which is nice, but most people learn by doing. I hadn't even gotten through the third Javascript lesson yet before I got an alert saying that I'd run out of free practice. You could say just to go to my PC where there are more free resources available, but if I was readily able to do that, I wouldn't have bothered to find an app to help me learn. I have an infant who wants to be held at all times (and doesn't seem to like my office chair), and a requirement to learn Javascript for my job, so an app is how I'm attempting to make both work.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a big believer in supporting the developers of apps that serve me well, and Sololearn does look like it *might* be quite helpful to me. It's just hard to properly rate an app's usefulness when some of what I find to be essential parts of it are locked behind a paywall, so I don't know if I can properly evaluate it for purchase. While I know that there's a free trial, I know that I will be auto-charged upon that trial's expiration, and I don't know if I'll want to pay yet. I'd be okay with the free trial if it didn't involve consenting to pay upfront, rather than waiting until the trial's conclusion to ask me about it.

by Gnometorule

I used to play with Sololearn about a year ago when it was fun for what you can expect from it. Coming back, not only are the basic pages cluttered in ads (fine, you need to make money), but you will be subject to invasive ads between the very short (doable in 1 to a few minutes) sections. Several of these ads don’t have obvious areas to click to remove them. Having understood this, I find myself randomly clicking areas on the add until it goes away - if the random clicking doesn’t have you follow the advertiser.

Even these more invasive ads would be ok with me, but to not have clear crosses, or such, you need to click to get them to vanish and continue learning, instead hoping that users will follow advertising links for more $, is extremely annoying.

by Gbmyt

If you’re here purely for content then Sololearn is probably for you. Goes over various coding languages and provides quizzes to test your knowledge.

Having said that, be prepared to keep to yourself unless you enjoy being attacked. Guidelines state that you should search the QA forum for answers to your question before posting, however since the search feature doesn’t work properly you’re likely to post anyway and then be attacked by moderators or senior members who have heard the question before, but apparently don’t understand that the search feature is BROKEN. I don’t know about you, but I have no desire to be shamed for my eagerness to learn. Either fix your app so we can search up the resources we need, or manage your moderators and trolls. I’ll be on Freecodecamp until then.

I’m leaving 3 stars because Sololearn works okay (emphasizing OKAY because it’s been crashing constantly), but on top of all this, even some of the course content provides inaccurate/just plain wrong information and is counterproductive for people who are trying to learn a skill to advance their careers.

by Riyya

Sololearn is generally good however if you are planning to motivate yourself by the badges or trying to set a streak of days you study in a row you will be very frustrated. It doesn’t always register lessons you’ve done, it never seems to register lessons done on my computer rather than my iPad, it may change what day it credits you for your work…today it moved all my lessons from yesterday on to today and thus broke my streak for me. (This is particularly frustrating as you get a badge for a 15 day streak and today should have been day 15.) It has gotten to the point that I find it frankly demotivating - I’m thinking about switching entirely to books instead. It’s a shame because the meat of Sololearn is very good - the gamification is just bad.

by Marko269s

First, I’m not sure where it’s TELLING you that you have to pay for more lessons. I’ve been using Sololearn for multiple languages for 3yrs and it only pops up it’s premium ad. But that’s optional.

Now for my actual review:

If you’re looking for an in-depth lesson on how these languages work then this is not the place for you. The lessons are very surface level, but are good for beginners. Whatever isn’t explained well is usually explained better in the comments.

The practice projects are pretty neat. They give you the basic practical usage. Of course tho, I recommend not using the built in IDE. If you have a computer then download visual studio or the recommended IDE for your language. The built in IDE only has so many namespaces, and doesn’t have each namespace fully integrated into its system.

Conclusion:
It’s good for what it is(free). You can build some pretty cool stuff with the lessons it teaches you, so if you’re a beginner you can get a core understanding. if you want specific lessons, go to YouTube/Reddit/join a discord.

by Freaking Worth It

I really do love this app. I first came across it on my PC and saw that it was a great site to teach me programming in various languages. Therefore, I decided to get it on my phone as well. It has been a great addition to my journey in learning and it will continue to be. There's some things they could be doing differently, though.

First off, I just wish they would listen to their community more and hear what they have to say. They come up with great suggestions and ideas for this app and they just seem to be ignored/forgotten, but I understand you guys are busy. I would just try to work on that a bit more. The last negative thing is that there is no Lua course. I have already grasped the basics of Lua and I have been looking for some informative/good tutorials, but unfortunately, haven't been able to obtain any.

Overall, Sololearn and community is great as a whole. I definitely recommend it if you're a beginner to programming. It dumbs down things a lot, so it's easier to obtain knowledge. Thanks for being so great to me and many others, this app. Cheers! <3

by Dogzill54CodesCoolThings

This is an excellent app, with great courses and a very easily navigable interface. It has helped me a lot with developing new things, however there is one thing that I have to say concerning the subscription.
It often asks you to purchase the premium subscription, among others. It seems to bug you after every time you open Sololearn , and after many lessons. You miss out on great opportunities like practices without a subscription. If you could open up more practices without subscriptions, that would be great. I would love to actually retain more of what I learn. Thank you for your time, and please get back to me!

-Dogzill54

by Kaliko

Overall this is a fantastic app and a fantastic system to be able to learn any of the programming languages offered. I would highly recommend it.

The one problem, however, is that the Community Forums use a ridiculously small font size on any device, with no way of enlarging it. This makes it practically impossible to read at length, no matter whether you are using an iPhone or an iPad. I use an iPad mini most of the time and reading the forums really hurts my eyes (I am 48 years of age and I don’t wear glasses). Just look at the screenshot provided in Sololearn ’s own description! The font size in the Community Forum is tiny and there is no button or setting placed anywhere to change it unfortunately.

The reason that this is such a disabling factor is that the community forums are integral to making progress in Sololearn and are one of the most amazing and helpful things! Discussions are available for every topic and for every question and every answer. And that is just the most helpful thing you could imagine as you try to learn a new language.

So I pray that the developer adds the same button that is in the coding lesson text to the community forums to change font size. Then Sololearn would be perfect in my opinion and I would gladly come back and make it a five star review.

by Tomlover

Sololearn is over all I've used it to assit me in learning many languages. I admit is not my main course in learning a language but is extremely helpful to have this on hand. However, my criticism comes from the fact that the design is flawed on the iPhone Xs Max screen. It's a minor detail which is why I rated it 5 stars. The issue is that the continue buttom is so far down the screen that it is actually on th Xs "home button." So sometimes when you try to press continue you will go into multi task mode or the home screen. this can get very annoying does impede my "flow" through the course. I hopw you guys can get this issue fixed because I really want to keep using Sololearn because it really is great!

by Bbbender1741

I have asked around for a quick and pleasant way to move into Java from the VS Dev because of new system requirements. What a pleasant surprise to be able to jump in and learn on my iPad.
Spending 10 minutes in this environment gives me more feedback than spending 4 hours with a Java expert. The difference is starting you out where you need to be and not skipping over the basics.
Can’t wait to see the other learning modules as this gives you plenty of time to practice before you purchase a subscription.

by Dash3nka

Before I start my review I’d just like to say that I NEVER write reviews and that says a lot about Sololearn . I just couldn’t not share my love for Sololearn and this app itself. It’s an incredible resource for coding. It’s very informative and explanatory, the information is chunked into simple, easy to understand blocks that make the learning process very easy. The forum and users are all very friendly and Sololearn has a very nice interface. No annoying ads, everything is free, and it’s all made with care and quality (very rare for a free app!). I’m eternally thankful for this app and the developers who worked on it, I learned more in the three days through Sololearn than I did when taking a coding college course.

by Chill3333

this app is fantastic. I have taken their online courses in C++, Java, HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, SQL, Python, C, and C#, I am now in the middle of their Data Science with Python course, and I plan to take their Machine Learning course next. All the courses I have taken have been really fun and instructive. Of course you will need a lot of experience beyond the courses before you can really consider yourself to have meaningful coding skills, but the courses will give you a great start, and the community and coding challenges will help you test, practice, and develop the skills taught in the courses. Last but not least, this app has a large, active, and devoted community of friendly, helpful, and supportive users. You will learn a great deal from reading the comments of your fellow students, asking questions, and trying to help answer the questions of others, and you will make new online friends of all ages and backgrounds from all over the world.

by D4wntorment

As i go through the lessons, its amazing how every single question or information page has a section for comments, and they’re ALWAYS loaded with them. Each comment has everything, from the clueless beginner so you know you aren’t the only
one, to the master coder helping everyone out. Its quite wholesome actually, as it feels like every user is accompanying you through the journey. The questions are also so simple (sometimes TOO simple, however) that anyone could answer them. I feel this is fine though because it helps to make sure you’re paying attention. I feel like i’m learning C++ well and there are so many modules so its comforting to know it doesn't skip any topic, no matter how trivial it may seem.

by Zman32746915

I tried 4 other program training before this and just didn’t understand and was too much to take in because they were telling me multiple different ways of doing the same task and what not to do and stuff like that. I find for me it is easier to learn what not to do by experience not by memory. Also Sololearn lets you do challenges against other players and has more examples than any other app or program I have found before this. I would recommend this to any professional or beginner alike to keep learning or refresh your memory. Also they have a wide variety of supported languages, even ones that aren’t used very often, and a LARGE community of friendly users to help with any of the questions you may have. You can also do challenges with other players to test your knowledge of your language.

by Tony Durrty

I'm new to this coding thing, but I have a passion for challenging projects and logic based applications. I am hoping to transition from sales to computer programming and pursue a computer sciences degree in the near future. Sololearn is really easy since I can repeat lessons for better understanding. The comments make me feel like I'm not alone when I don't understand a certain section. It helps to know that other people have the same questions as me. It feels like being in a classroom of other beginners. I like to slow pace and the easy explanations. I feel confident that I can easily grasp several programming languages with just this one app. Thanks guys.

by BenJephunneh

I got Sololearn because I wanted to brush up on some old skills and learn new coding languages, and it’s been well worth my while. I’ve taken courses in university, Pluralsight, MVA, etc., and Sololearn has content on par with the best of them, not a simple 'Hello, world' playground. The lessons are expertly written and Sololearn , itself, makes exploration a breeze.

You can very quickly gain advanced and expert knowledge in one of the available languages, then put your knowledge to the test in innumerable challenges. People in the range of novice to intermediate will gain the most, as expected, but even very experienced coders are likely to learn some things from the courses.

by Tara1988

I am kind of new to coding. I had already learned HTML and CSS from another online source and then I was told about Sololearn. I absolutely love Sololearn and how the lessons are structured. They offer many different programming languages. Sololearn is great for beginners and even those who are experienced. The community is also a great part of Sololearn. Being able to post your codes, take part in challenges, and get to see codes that others have made public! Seeing others codes (especially those who are at a higher level) can give you ideas of things to create on your own and you can study there codes to see how they created different things. It’s a must download app if you want to learn different programming languages and be involved in a community of programmers.

by Im_OP!

I am new to coding and have explored various free resources and none of them come close to this. I am understanding concepts a lot easier here and planning to check out the other languages available here. If your looking for something free to get you started I strongly recommend give this a try.

Side note: I did notice there are small details left out here and there while learning but I believe it’s to keep things as simple. Always look in to other resources apart from this to get a full understanding of language your seeking to learn. Either way this does sufficient to get you going (:

Hope this helps those searching as I was in the past.

by DumbledoreIsGay

Overall, I’m a big fan of Sololearn , but it’s definitely not perfect. Some problems are extremely trivial or are literally just a repeat of the previous lesson.

However, the biggest issue for me is that some of the examples (the parts in the gray box) for a lesson does not load or is stuck loading. For example, while using the HTML lessons on Sololearn, the examples in which it shows what it would look like on an actual website is stuck loading. On the standalone HTML this app app, it loads. I am currently on the iPhone X with the latest updated this app app.
This, in my opinion, hinders from even learning at all, and would greatly appreciate the fix.

by Jurbs

Sololearn is amazing for beginner to advanced programming. If you are new to the concept It provides nearly everything you need in a simple, easy to use step-by-step process to get you going. For the advanced programmers out there It gives you the option of quickly moving forward to get to a level where you have a desire to learn more rather than starting from the beginning. What I love is the data structure examples and the amazing selection of languages that are available.

by Csylve7

Sololearn provides a great introduction or refresher to the basics of the most commonly used languages. Anyone, even without any knowledge of coding, could use Sololearn to start off their computer science career. One of the places it is weak, though, is formally providing context and background on the languages. Solo mostly relies on user-contributed comments sections for this, but they are often lacking or overly repetitive. Finally, Sololearn won’t give you the longitudinal projects (like a capstone project in college) to become fully literate in any of the languages, so you don’t get much else but the basics to early intermediate. Overall, this is a great place to start for anyone. If you some background in computer science from one language, you’ll easily dive in and pick up other languages from the well-ordered lesson plans.

by Bobbybob32134282

I used this app to learn python 3 years ago, it took about 1-2 months to complete the python course and it was very thorough and explained things as clearly as you can hope for. Whenever I need to quickly pick up on a new topic, this is one of the first places I look to. I used python for a while after that just for simple life-hacks, such as keeping track of my finances (I’ve learned that any time you need to pull out paper and pencil to figure something out, you can write a program that’ll do it in a millisecond and it’ll never forget how to do it). Anyways, now I’m a freelance python developer getting around $40/hr. Programming saves you time, makes you money, and if you’re weird like me, it’s fun!

by MarshianLUV

When I started my journey into the coding world, I had no experience! All of it seemed a bit overwhelming. I'm using multiple resources to learn but Sololearn is the only way that I seem to be able to retain the information. I have already completed the HTML fundamentals course & am now learning CSS. I REALLY like the "try it yourself" option. The quizzes along the way are also a great way to keep up with my progress. The BEST part is having the ability to add my certificates to professional profiles as soon as I achieve them.