Lumi is Going Mobile

Hey there,

Since the launch of LumiReader, the number one ask from learners has been to make the app more mobile-friendly. I'm excited to announce that we've made significant updates to enhance your mobile experience. In order to mark the occasion, LumiReader will be free to use for the next 3 days, so share Lumi with your friends!

The Goal

Our mission at LumiReader remains the same - to help you connect with people and cultures through language, quickly and effectively. Now, we're taking that goal to the next level by making LumiReader more accessible and powerful on your mobile devices.

What's New: Mobile-First Features

1. New Mobile-Optimized Reader

We've completely revamped our reader interface for mobile devices. The new design ensures a seamless reading experience on your smartphone or tablet, with improved text rendering, easier navigation, and responsive controls that adapt to your device's screen size. Whether you're on your daily commute, lounging in a café, or reading in bed LumiReader now works comfortably in the palm of your hand.

2. Enhanced Create Book Feature

Our unique "Add Book" feature just got better.

You can now easily add books to your library by simply pasting a URL. This mobile-friendly update makes it frictionless to translate and simplify entire online books while on the go. Just copy the link, paste it into LumiReader, and watch as it transforms into your personalized language learning material.

The translations are also MUCH faster. The prior translations took about 15 minutes to complete; now it’s about 1 minute.

3. Introducing Smart Dictionary

Say hello to our new AI-driven Smart Dictionary! As far as I know, LumiReader is the first app to have an AI-powered dictionary. This feature goes beyond simple word definitions:

• Translations: Get quick translations to your native language for any language you're learning.

• Universal Pronunciation: See how words are pronounced regardless of the language.

• Grammar Explanations: Receive clear, concise explanations of grammar rules and usage.

The Smart Dictionary is like having a linguist in your pocket, ready to assist you anytime, anywhere. It's powered by AI and can evolve with your feedback!

4. Quality of Life Updates

1. We’ve added the ability to edit and delete your book names from your library.

2. For new readers, we have a nice intro to the platform. An email automatically is sent to new users giving them an overview of the platform.

3. When users “Discover” their first book, they’re recommended to start with Aesop Fables — it is filled with great short stories, easy vocabulary, and wisdom!

4. The Discover books are now ranked by popularity.

5. Audio Playback and Progress Tracking: Coming Soon!

While these features are near to my heart, we are temporarily disabling audio playback and Word Progress tracking. We aim to bring these features back in the week! When they’re back you'll be able to listen to your books on the go and see how far you’ve progressed in your language learning goals.

A Quick Update on Luna

In our pursuit of excellence, we've decided to indefinitely sunset Luna, our AI language tutor. While Luna has been a valuable part of the LumiReader experience, we want to ensure that when we offer an AI tutor, it's truly the best in the market. We're taking some time to reassess and improve this feature.

She also presented a communication challenge:

Was Lumi a reader or an AI tutor? How do you communicate the value to both if you only have someone’s attention for 15 seconds? LumiReader is one of a kind but what makes Luna unique?

Don't worry, though - we're channeling our energy into making the core LumiReader experience even more powerful and user-friendly.

If AI technology presents an opportunity or users demand Luna comes back, we’ll allocate more energy to making her the best she can be.

The LumiReader Approach: Now More Mobile Than Ever

Our commitment to the principles of comprehensible input (CI) and reading while listening (RWL) remains stronger than ever. These mobile updates allow you to immerse yourself in your target language whenever and wherever you choose, making your language acquisition journey faster and more enjoyable.

What's Next?

We're constantly working to improve LumiReader based on your feedback. You may have noticed that over the last month, we haven't had many updates. I rebuilt the infrastructure from the ground up to support mobile more effectively.

It was a heavy investment, but the question was never if but when. I knew from the beginning that we’d need to make this leap eventually. There were three reasons:

1) to improve user experience and accessibility via mobile

2) to decrease dependency on legacy Microsoft technology (which the previous reader utilized)

3) to create the groundwork for features users have been asking for... for a while

Here's a sneak peek at what's coming up on our roadmap:

• Reintroduction of audio, sentence tracking, and progress tracking

• Smart Flashcards which will be based on a Space Repetition System (SRS)

• Offline mode for reading or listening without an internet connection (Audible - we're coming for ya)

• Smart Watch will allow you to watch your favorite foreign language music videos or content creators and turn them into personalized learning material.

None of what is to come would be possible, however, without the major infrastructure changes made over the last month.

Your Feedback Matters

As always, I love hearing from you! Take a moment and try out the new reader and let me know what you think: here.

What else would you like to see in LumiReader?

Remember, if you haven't tried LumiReader.ai yet, now's the perfect time to start your language-learning journey. For the next three days, Lumi is completely free. After that, you can still access your personalized content but with restrictions.

Happy reading, learning, and exploring - from wherever you are in the world!

Jeremiah