Most language apps try to do everything. Thirty languages, spread thin. Streaks that nag you into opening the app. Grammar quizzes dressed up as games. Designed to keep you subscribed rather than to teach you.
We wanted the opposite.
Madeleine is an iPhone app for learning French. That's the whole product. One language, one curriculum — audio and content made only for it.
It has been on the App Store since June 18, 2026.
The course is about a thousand of the most common French words, plus hundreds of everyday phrases, ordered by how often you actually hear them. Not by textbook chapter. Not by whatever keeps you subscribed. The words that come up in real French, first.
Every card pairs the written word with native audio. There are four native voices to choose from. Press and hold to reveal the meaning and check yourself; Madeleine grades from how you respond — you never rate yourself.
The engine is FSRS-6, the modern spaced-repetition algorithm. Solid words stretch further apart, shaky ones come back sooner.
We skip grammar drills on purpose. Grammar and conversation are what tutors, classes, and time in France are for. Madeleine's job is narrower. Arrive already knowing the words.
There are no streaks, no points, and no leaderboards. A session is about five to ten minutes, and it ends on its own. No daily goal, and nothing to catch up on if you miss a day. There is no account and no server. Progress stays on the iPhone.
If you want a reminder without opening the app, there are home-screen widgets: today's practice, and a French word of the day.
Madeleine is iPhone-only, on purpose — so it can stay fully on-device, with nothing to sign in to. There is no web or Android version. It requires iOS 26 or later.
It's a subscription — $9.99 a month or $49.99 a year — with no free trial. We'd rather say that plainly than hide it behind a countdown. The subscription is the whole business: no ads, no upsells, and no data to sell.
Aesso built it. They're the design and engineering studio in the Lore portfolio.
Madeleine: Learn French is on the App Store now.
Get it on the App Store (opens in new tab)