Keysmith · internal research · 2026-07-12
What the stores teach us — typing & word-recall apps
Top 4 typing apps (Google Play) and top 4 word-recall apps (Apple App Store), carousels harvested with Playwright, 51 screenshots studied. Below: each app with its store carousel, what it does well, the six patterns that repeat, where Keysmith already leads, and the next three hops.
method: playwright/chromium · store listings only (no installs) · screenshots stored for internal study
The typing four (Google Play)
Typing as a race. 3D runners advance one letter per keystroke, live opponents on a ladder, a flaming speed gauge. The strongest energy in the category — and zero pedagogy: no lessons, no accuracy story, no memory of your weaknesses. Pure sugar.
The retention kit, done neatly. Five minigames, an achievements ring (0/13), a daily-streak ring (5/7), bronze/silver/gold medals per game, and a global leaderboard per minigame. This is the standard loop mobile users expect — our Day Map + streak already matches it, minus the leaderboards.
Fast Typing: Learn & PracticePLAY★ 3.8listing ↗
Sells the meter, and hints at the fusion. "Measure the typing speed and accuracy" up front — and its copy claims it "builds your vocabulary skills" while you type. The typing×vocabulary crossover is being reached for from the typing side, but nobody delivers it properly. That gap is ours.
The curriculum app, looking dated. Colour-coded finger keyboards and a dashboard of "Touch Typing Lessons / Beginner Lessons / Exercises". The right pedagogy instinct with a 2012 face — and its own copy preaches our craft rule: "Do not rush… speed up only when your fingers hit the right keys out of habit."
The recall four (App Store)
WordUp — Vocabulary BuilderiOS★ 4.8 · 14Klisting ↗
The journey, personalised. Slide 1 is award badges; slide 2 is a "Knowledge Map — discover what you need to learn next" and a giant personal counter: 13,871 words uncovered. That counter-as-identity and map-of-what's-next is exactly what our Day Map + lifetime ledger are becoming.
Pedagogy as the promise. "Study tools that teach, not tell" — 1.1M ratings say the education-first pitch scales. Their session chip (3 wrong · 13 right) is our round card; their "every subject" spread is why our banks stay in JSON.
Need-based doors. "Learn a language for what you actually need": Self-Study · Exam Prep · Speaking · Travel — four doors, one engine. That's persona routing on the first screen (our student/writer/professional angle), plus raw social proof: "All skill levels · 80M users."
AnkiMobile FlashcardsiOS★ 4.0 · 2.3K · $24.99 · #1 Educationlisting ↗
The recall moat is spaced repetition. A $24.99 app at #1 in Education, sold on one idea: the system decides when you see a card again. Our misspelling memory is proto-SRS — words return until tamed, graduate when clean. Formalising the intervals makes "your words" scientific.
Six patterns that repeat — and where Keysmith stands
1 · One promise, five words, slide one. "Boost Your English" · "Study tools that teach, not tell" · "Learn a language for what you actually need." Nobody opens with features. GAP — our story isn't packaged as a promise-first carousel yet
2 · The personal counter as identity. WordUp's "13,871 words uncovered" is the hero. HAVE — the lifetime ledger (hours · words · lines · by-ear) is live; it needs the hero treatment
3 · Streak + achievements + medals are table stakes. Typik's streak ring and medal rows are the floor for retention. HAVE — Day Map, streak flame, journey rungs, certificates (nobody in either category has certificates)
4 · Spaced repetition owns recall. Anki charges $24.99 for interval science. HALF — misspelling memory returns words by frequency; real intervals (due-today) would complete it
5 · Race energy sells typing. Type Sprint's live race is the category's best dopamine. GAP — we have zero competitive tension; a serverless ghost-race (vs your own best) captures it without infra
6 · The typing×vocabulary fusion is claimed, never delivered. Fast Typing's copy promises it; WordUp owns meaning but not typing. OPEN LANE — type the word, then meet its meaning: recall and muscle memory in one rep
Where we are heading
| Dimension | Best in market | Keysmith today | Verdict |
|---|
| Beginner path | Colour-keyboard lessons (dated) | Magic Words — glowing guided letters, tap or press | ahead |
| Daily structure | Streak rings, generic drills | 10×10 ramped session, Day Map, carry-forward | ahead |
| Metrics depth | WPM + accuracy only | + gap time, word time, slow letters, trend | far ahead |
| Recall science | Anki's intervals | frequency-ranked misspelling memory | behind |
| Fun/tension | Type Sprint's live race | fuse + streaks + confetti | behind |
| Meaning (vocabulary) | WordUp's AI meanings | words only, no meanings | open lane |
| Story/packaging | Promise-first carousels, award rows | original article (unique), no promise packaging | mixed |
| Credentials | — (nobody) | e-certificates at 5h/1000w/50l | unique |
The next three hops
Hop A · the recall engine
"Your words" become spaced repetition + meaning
Upgrade the misspelling memory from frequency-ranked to interval-scheduled (an SM-2-lite: each clean rep pushes the word further out — 1, 3, 7, 16 days; a stumble pulls it back). The Day Map shows "due today". Then the fusion nobody delivers: a meanings bank for our word pools — type a word cleanly in a drill and its one-line meaning appears for two seconds. One rep trains fingers AND recall. This closes the Anki gap and opens the WordUp lane in a single hop.
Hop B · the ghost race
Type Sprint's energy, zero servers
Record every round's keystroke timeline (we already time each stroke). In a Ghost Race round, your own best round replays as a ghost — a second fuse-bar racing yours, word by word. Beat your ghost, it gets faster. Weekly self-league: this week's card vs last week's. All localStorage, all honest, race-energy without a backend — and it makes the metrics we already collect felt.
Hop C · the promise pack
Package the story the way stores taught us
A promise-first showcase: five carousel slides for Keysmith itself ("From first letter to dictation" · the lifetime counter as hero · the Day Map · the certificate · "everything private, on your device"), rendered as an HTML strip on the hub and screenshotted by Playwright into keysmith-og.png and share cards — zero image-generation spend. The launch article gets its trust row (free · no login · private · certificate at the end). This is how the same product starts converting cold visitors.
