American Heritage Dictionary 5 Reviews

New Apple update rendered AmericanHeritageDictionary5 inoperable. As requested, I sent full purchase details & history, so they could "get me up & running" again. Then they just stopped responding. Don't waste your money on an app that will stop working, from a developer who just doesn't care enough to support it.

Update, August 2021
So now several months later, the developer responds that AmericanHeritageDictionary5 works fine, that support always answers emails, that I must have purchased a different version (??), and that maybe I didn't use the right email address. In other words, somehow it's my fault that, after working fine for years, the Apple iOS update was incompatible with AmericanHeritageDictionary5 . All my info was sent, twice, but somehow it's not enough, or not the right info, or sent to the wrong place. I have deleted AmericanHeritageDictionary5 & purchased the version from MobiSystems, which works just fine. Life is too short to waste time on a company that just doesn't care very much.

In general, this should be the finest dictionary app in the Apple App Store. It is a wordsmiths’ joy. AmericanHeritageDictionary5 developer and the customer service team, while historically, up to par and can find a way to resolve the issues that their dev team creates, have fallen off a cliff. Date to iOS 14.5 AmericanHeritageDictionary5 is not worth the amount of money they charge for it even if they paid that amount TO you.

avoid. Avoid. AVOID.

App crashes before I can do anything with it. Will stay open for about 6-8 seconds and then close. Tried deleting, repowering the phone, doing both, reloading AmericanHeritageDictionary5 , etc. using the latest iPhone model, and fully up-to-date on the operating system. Will check back later and see if you get any updates that will keep AmericanHeritageDictionary5 open long enough to be able to activate it.

I have had AmericanHeritageDictionary5 on my iPhone and iPad for a decade. It stopped working on my iPad a year ago and now no longer updates to work with current iOS. I got a new iPhone a month ago and now AmericanHeritageDictionary5 doesn’t work. In-app restore doesn’t work and developer will not respond to repeated emails. I initially got AmericanHeritageDictionary5 by buying the physical dictionary. Developer reset codes when problems arose years ago. Too bad this is no longer supported.

AmericanHeritageDictionary5 will not copy a definition to the clipboard. When you try, AmericanHeritageDictionary5 copies the following to the clipboard: [object HTMLDocument]. Consequently, one cannot annotate another document using this dictionary. I contacted tech support with a precise description of the problem two weeks ago. Crickets. Not a very satisfying solution for an app that costs 20$

Review update: I finally got a developer response, which was, “We don’t see the behavior, but try the next update and see if that fixes the problem.” It did. AmericanHeritageDictionary5 is working exactly as advertised. That moves my rating to a three (3) stars as an average. Five (5) stars for AmericanHeritageDictionary5 and one (1) star for customer service.

I’d like to see more in-depth definitions, with sample sentences that employ the meaning of the word being researched.
Antonyms could be listed at the bottom of each completed entry as well…with more sample sentences, as well.
I miss the old-school dictionaries, (American Heritage, Oxford), that employed this expanded format. Allow the nuances of words to be understood.

In an update previous to 4.3, an error in history was introduced and 4.3 didn’t resolve . You can no longer delete history entries individually or in groups.
This must use feature is seriously broken.
I have been a happy user of AHD5 which I use many times daily.

Revised review
Hallelujah! An update to AMD5 in download this AM has repaired this edit problem in history.
I enthusiastically welcome back the best dictionary (pronunciation!) I have experienced.

This is the only authoritative source for definitions of English words. I have been severely disappointed with other dictionaries, don’t waste your time with them, this is the only one you need.

The core or indo European roots are too hard to reach. Make a link at the point of every etymology. I got this for etymology and I usually need to use the outside websites to reach my word meaning origin goal. Nonetheless I got this book in print too! What’s up.

I had the older version a long time ago. The database is superb and has never failed me even once. Regarding the support team, they helped me get my purchase back in no time. I am so happy and highly recomment this great dictionary!

I was on the 17 beta, but dropped back to the regular iOS17 to see if maybe it was 17 beta breaking it. AHeD was still broken. Maybe my resetting my iOS to non-beta didn’t really take. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Anyway, I got a reply from the developer today (blaming my problems for being on the beta iOS)… 🙄 But I discovered that they actually fixed it for both iOS17 and iOS17beta!! Yay!! 👍 Good job, Enfour! Thanks! ———————————————————— Old review: As usual, Apple made 10,000 changes to iOS, undoubtedly for more twattokbook crap, that broke everything else; and the developer of the best dictionary software ever made can’t be bothered to download the developer preview iOS, and recompile its software so that it Just Works. The program still runs, it lets you type in a word, but then the screen goes blank. No definitions. Also, all my bookmarks are invisible too. At least they’re not *gone*! But come on enfour! Recompile this program, so it works properly under iOS 17!!😩

Do you yourself a favor: purchase AmericanHeritageDictionary5! Improve your spelling and pronunciation of unfamiliar words with ease. Your writing will come to life with the use of precise and rich vocabulary.

I use this electronic dictionary daily! One of the best purchases I have made ever! Highly recommended!

One feature I like is being able to highlight definitions and have it read back to you. Other developers don’t allow this. Also when doing a word search that is misspelled it gives suggestions that are better than others.

For every word you think you know (but do not, so you sort of ‘skim over’ them every time you encounter them), this is the definitive pocket app. Equally important is that it provides the word’s origin, answering the question “how did that ever come to mean that?” I find it indispensable, and use it every single day, without exaggeration.

Fantastic dictionary: the best resource for word origins I have seen; comprehensive and very contemporary word listings; easy to download on to your phone for access with or without WiFi; helpful word usage guides ; inclusive word usage panel, sophisticated word search features; and thoughtful articles on language including a table on Indo-European languages. Also reasonabley priced, with no annoying in app fees. I love this dictionary

I had purchased many English dictionary apps over the years and so far none ever comes close to AmericanHeritageDictionary5 on content and usability. The tech support is also amazing. I had two app-launch issues in the last ten years and the same support person replied my emails and resolved the issues in 2 or 3 days. 5-star rating doesn’t do it justice, this is simply the best!

I have had this for years. I prefer having a separate app as a dictionary rather than google searching. Along with great list of dictionary specific features that you would see in the printed 2000 page printed version, there are a number of features AmericanHeritageDictionary5 gives that enhances the dictionary’s use: wildcard lookup, save favorites, bookmarks & notation, usable without an internet connection, audio pronunciation, internal hyperlinks, it connects to outside meanings of esoteric and archaic words and current slang. The more I use this the more I enjoy it.

I bought AHD5 & LDOCE+(both apps are released by Enfour.) and have used them a couple of days.
Both dictionaries are good for contents, of course, but there is an issue about Link function the apps are providing.

Say that I search a word on AHD5 and touch the word to use the Link function and I touch LDOCE menu to jump LDOCE+ app. The LDOCE+ app is launched and the word I touched on AHD5 is displayed. Everything’s fine so far.

But the problem occurs after I switch back to AHD5 using app switching function Apple provides which is located upper left corner of LDOCE+ app. After I get back to AHD5, I cannot search any word on AHD5. Say that I search a basic word like ‘gain’, No entries found.

My iOS version on my iPhone is 15.4.1.
I use only one link menu on both apps - On AHD5 app, I only use LDOCE Link Menu and on LDOCE+ app, I only use LDOCE Link Menu.

What is the problem?
This is very critical problem.

Fix the problem and release a new version ASAP!!!

I thoroughly enjoy and use this dictionary almost daily. I prefer off-line dictionaries for the specific reason that they are off-line. It’s available to me all the time.

This dictionary is the best one that is available and provides me with all the details that I want. When I look up the word, I don’t want to just know the meaning I want to know a bit about it. This dictionary goes above and beyond.

The company is strongly supporting it, which makes me very happy. Recently, there was a problem that turned out to be a bug in the operating system. The company and Apple fix it very quickly and so now I have my Dictionary back. As I want to be writer, this is one of the best tools I have.

Excellent, quick reference speed for all research needs. Quality excellent. Use many times for daily research on word background information.