Dictionary.com 'Devastated' Paid Users By Abruptly Deleting Saved Word Lists

Dictionary.com abruptly deleted all user accounts and saved word lists from its premium apps without notice or refunds, leaving long-time logophiles "devastated." "The company deleted all accounts, as well as the only ways to use Dictionary.com without seeing ads -- even if you previously paid for an ad-free experience," reports Ars Technica. From the report: Dictionary.com offers a free dictionary through its website and free Android and iOS apps. It used to offer paid-for mobile apps, called Dictionary.com Pro, that let users set up accounts, use the app without ads, and enabled other features (like grammar tips and science and rhyming dictionaries) that are gone now. Dictionary.com's premium apps also let people download an offline dictionary (its free apps used to let you buy a downloadable dictionary as a one-time purchase), but offline the dictionaries aren't available anymore.

About a year ago, claims of Dictionary.com's apps being buggy surfaced online. We also found at least one person claiming that they were unable to buy an ad-free upgrade at that time. Reports of Dictionary.com accounts being deleted and the apps not working as expected, and with much of its content removed, started appearing online about two months ago. Users reported being unable to log in and access premium features, like saved words. Soon after, Dictionary.com's premium apps were removed from Google Play and Apple's App Store. The premium version was available for download for $6 as recently as March 23, per the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.

Surprised!

[registrations_suck]

I have to say, I never would have imagined, ever, that anyone would pay for the things described in the summary.

Learn something new every day.

There truly is something for everyone in this world.

Sorry to hear those dictionary lovers all got fucked over....also can't say I'm surprised.

Maybe I missed it, but I didn't see anything in the summary as to WHY this happened.

Re:Surprised!

[parityshrimp]

Maybe I missed it, but I didn't see anything in the summary as to WHY this happened.

The developers ran out of story points.

Re:

[registrations_suck]

Hahahhahahah!

Nice (;

Re:

[buss_error]

Maybe I missed it,

You missed it:
After careful consideration, user accounts within the Dictionary.com app have been discontinued.
Not informative, but it's there.

As a result, users are no longer able to sign in to their accounts, and any saved word lists are no longer available.
Oh. Seems like they didn't want to spend money to fix their API framework. My observations on this point in a bit.

Unfortunately, since the coding technology that was used in the previous app version is different from what is used in the new app, it is

Re:

[registrations_suck]

None of that is in the summary.

Re:

[Gideon Fubar]

I love* it when upper management explains that they didn't know who to ask about how to actually do that work, and don't have the skills to determine which consultants are engaging with the technology and which are just trying to upsell them.

Re:

[HiThere]

Definitely "if you can't make a backup, don't rely on it". For things that are trivial enough, I may not bother to backup, but if I *can't* backup, then just forget it. It's not worth ANY investment of time or effort.

Response from dictionary.com

[parityshrimp]

Per TFA, someone reached out to dictionary.com support and received this response:

After careful consideration, user accounts within the Dictionary.com app have been discontinued. As a result, users are no longer able to sign in to their accounts, and any saved word lists are no longer available.

Unfortunately, since the coding technology that was used in the previous app version is different from what is used in the new app, it is not possible to recover word lists.

This change was part of our recent app update to improve the design, speed, and functionality of the Dictionary.com app. While we understand that this changes how you use Dictionary.com, we are hopeful that you will find the overall improvements provide faster search, additional content, and a better design.

Sounds like a code rewrite. That's a great way to get an upgrade with fewer features than the original.

that is of course complete BS

[v1]

Unfortunately, since the coding technology that was used in the previous app version is different from what is used in the new app, it is not possible to recover word lists.

Oh it's most definitely possible, but they have no convenient place to put them since users can't login anymore, and so they're just going to label it as "impossible" to get people off their back. (data conversion is relatively easy to do, I do it occasionally)
And if they honestly are saying they think it's "impossible", some PHB is bei

Re:

[nanoflower]

Especially if they were just recently allowing people to pay for the "lifetime" service. Then taking it away with no warning is very likely to get someone to decide to sue them.

Fail

[davidwr]

recent app update to improve the ... functionality

Fail.

AI needed more space. whoops gone.

[m3t00]

just a guess. may as well blame AI. nobody else left to blame. mgmt

Is "devastated" really the term to describe them?

[SeaFox]

Perhaps it was more they felt lost, ravaged, or demolished.. their psyches shattered or broken, with their site experience now ruined... or wrecked.

Re:

[registrations_suck]

Have you seen Karen freak out videos?

People become devastated over the most ridiculous shit.

Personally, I am ...

[PPH]

... at a loss for words about this.

Re:

[RitchCraft]

LOL, where are my mod points when I need them?

Goldendict

[innocent_white_lamb]

I recommend http://www.goldendict.org/ [goldendict.org]

Word lookups both local and online dictionaries and thesauruses.

It's an indispensable aid for writing.

"Pay for" != "Own"

[jenningsthecat]

Everybody here already knows this, but it bears repeating because it needs to be pointed out - over and over and over again - to non-techies. If the data is not on storage media in your physical possession, then YOU DON'T OWN IT, no matter how much you paid.

I simultaneously sympathize with the people who lost stuff that's important to them, and shake my head in wonder at their foolishness. Keeping irreplaceable data only in the cloud, on someone else's hardware, is a recipe for all kinds of hurt. I think pe

If you do not have your own, offline backups

[gweihir]

You may as well assume that data will vanish some day. Seems like people need to learn that again and again and again.