Izwi
South African words, daily.
Only for iPhone
Free · In‑App Purchases
iPhone
Izwi delivers a daily South African word or phrase you probably don't know, straight to your Home Screen.
Stoepkakker (Afrikaans, a yappy porch-dog). Sgubhu (isiZulu, a groove or amapiano subgenre). Kuchela (a fiery KZN Indian raw-mango pickle). Sidl'ukotini (isiXhosa for 'dressed to impress', literally 'eating cotton'). This isn't 'lekker / braai / howzit 101.' Izwi is for South Africans who want to discover the words, phrases, sayings, and local gems they don't already know.
WHAT YOU GET
• A new word or phrase delivered to your Home Screen every day
• Home Screen, Lock Screen, and StandBy widgets
• 396+ entries across all 11 official SA languages (isiZulu, isiXhosa, Afrikaans, SA English, Sesotho, Setswana, Sepedi, siSwati, isiNdebele, Tshivenda, Xitsonga), plus Tsotsitaal, Kaaps, and heritage Cape Malay, Tamil, and Yiddish
• Full definitions with pronunciation guides, usage notes, social context, and origin stories
• Audio pronunciations with a live waveform during playback
• Region tags so you know where each term lives
• Browse by theme, region, language, or era
• Search the full archive
• Save your favourites
• Build a daily streak and replay your daily-word history
• Content maturity filter (family-safe, everyday, or all content)
• Daily word reminder notifications
SA TRANSLATOR
Paste any sentence and Izwi highlights every SA term it knows. Tap a highlight for the full definition. Perfect for decoding WhatsApp messages from your mates, or that one work email from your colleague in Polokwane.
TOURIST ESSENTIALS
A curated, shareable list of must-know SA words. Show it to any visitor and they'll thank you at the braai.
DISCOVER WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW
A Durban user discovers Joburg phrases they've never heard. A Capetonian discovers township terms they've heard in passing but never fully understood. An Afrikaans speaker discovers isiZulu-influenced slang from a completely different context.
Every entry is curated for cultural depth, regional specificity, and the "I've never heard this one" factor.
WIDGET-FIRST DESIGN
Izwi was built widget-first. Glance at your Home Screen, Lock Screen, or StandBy display, discover something new, get on with your day. Open the full app when you want to explore, search, save, or share.
ABOUT IZWI PRO
The free tier gives you the daily word, three saved favourites, three search results, and the last 7 days of history. Izwi Pro unlocks the full 396+ archive, unlimited saves and search, pronunciation audio, all theme lenses, the Test Yourself quiz, premium share cards, and the full daily history. Monthly or annual, with a 3-day free trial.
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Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Privacy Policy: https://izwi-website.pages.dev/privacy-policy.html
Subscription: Izwi Pro auto-renews monthly or annually until cancelled. Your Apple ID account is charged at confirmation of purchase.
Cancel anytime in your Account Settings on the App Store at least 24 hours before the end of the current period.
Ratings & Reviews
- This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
18 new words and phrases from across South Africa - gusheshe, stokvel, gqom, Mogodu Monday, sbwl and more. The library now tops 440 entries.
Fixes and polish:
- Clear all in Saved now clears everything, not just the last word
- No more repeated welcome pop-ups after subscription renewals
- Smoother audio playback and faster preference saving
The developer, Stewart Burton, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Stewart Burton
- Size
- 68.2 MB
- Category
- Education
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
13+
- 13+
- Infrequent
Profanity or Crude Humor
Mature or Suggestive Themes
Alcohol, Tobacco, Drug Use or References
- In-App Purchases
Yes
- Izwi Pro Annual $9.99
- Izwi Pro Monthly $1.99
- Copyright
- © 2026 Stewart Burton