Hi ๐ I'm David, co-founder of Hilokal. I'm here to explain features in Hilokal Premium and the problems they solve. So read on and then decide for yourself if it's worth it!
Language Learner's problems
Hilokal wants to give you speaking practice with real people. However there are 3 major problems that stand in the way of getting speaking practice:
Problem 1: Too shy to speak out / not sure what to say
Problem 2: Can't find the right language partner
Problem 3: Get bored and stop
All language learners encounter these problems when trying to get speaking practice. Hilokal Premium solves each of them.
You might be thinking, "but why would I buy Hilokal premium when the free version already solves all 3 of these problems?" While it's true Hilokal will help you overcome these 3 problems and get quality speaking practice, Hilokal Premium will just make it easier, and more fun.
In the following chart, you can see the average speaking time per day of Premium vs. Non-Premium users. Who will get fluent faster? ๐ค
Features
Read through all the benefits of Hilokal Premium.
1. Hilokal Badge
The Hilokal badge helps you feel confident because you're verified and you'll signal to others that you're a serious learner. This will help with your confidence and to help you find language partners.
Not only do you get a gold shiny badge next to your name, but all of your chat messages are highlighted orange which gives you further visibility.
With the gold badge, you'll be at the top of the listener section in a table. In search results, and discovery pages, premium holders will get more exposure.
You can see that the premium badge is more than just a badge. It's about being a serious learner, and getting the visibility, and exposure that serious learners on Hilokal deserve.
2. More language partners
On the free version of Hilokal you can start 10 new conversations per day. With Hilokal Premium you get 30.
As you move through the audio tables in Hilokal, you'll see people you want to talk with. You may want to talk to them because they are a native speaker in your target langauge, the same MBTI as you, or you just like their personality. These 10 chats get used up pretty quickly, so the increased limit helps you make a special connection with that game changing language partner.
3. GIFs
They say a picture is worth a 1000 words. If that's true, then a GIF is certainly worth a million. Hilokal premium includes GIFs because it's more fun chatting with friends when you can nail the right GIF.
Keeping things light with your language partner is more important than you may think. Language learning is a marathon, not a sprint. When language learning is not fun, we give up. When it is fun, we keep going. It's as simple as that.
In Hilokal, you can tap the GIF icon while sending a group chat or a direct message. You'll have access to millions of GIFs. You can search them in over 45 languages so you can get the perfect GIF for the moment to make your friends laugh or express yourself.
4. Premium Reactions
Similar with GIFs, reactions at live audio tables are super fun and useful. When your partner is speaking and you don't want to interrupt, you can tap the perfect reaction that will express how you feel. Reactions are a great way to break down the culture barrier you might experience when meeting people from different countries.
With Premium reactions you get access to 100+ hand drawn characters, expressing all kinds of feelings. You also unlock all standard emojis, so you can be extra original and choose the perfect emojis for any given moment ๐ธ๐๐๐
Premium reactions are easier to use because you unlock the 'recently used' and 'favorites' tab. These mean just like what they sound. All recently tapped reactions will go into the first tab, and you can favorite reactions to appear in the second tab. This way you can find the perfect reaction for the moment at the speed of your thumbs!
5. Premium Filter Feature
This is the most popular premium feature. With this advanced filter you can search for language partners by region, native language, target language, level, and gender. With the 'Nearby me' button, you can even search for people in your same city.
The key advantage to the premium filter is it searches other people speaking at tables this very moment. That means you don't need to send a prospective language partner a message and wait for them to respond. You can join the table they are speaking at and start listening or speaking with them right away.
To use the premium filter, tap the filter icon on the home screen, choose your filters, and tap search. You'll see an orange circle around every person's profile that matches your search. You can give it a try right now for free. Non-premium users get 1 free search.
If you search and there is no one online that matches, you'll get a list of people that match your search and have recently been online, but have logged off for the moment.
6. Adjust speaker seats from 1 to 12
The free version of Hilokal allows for 8 seats at an audio table (including the host). With Hilokal Premium, the host can adjust the seats from 1 seat, up to 12.
Sometimes 8 seats just isn't enough. With 12 seats you can up the mood into a party and get a whole different dynamic.
If you're not a person who likes to host tables, you can always gift premium to your favorite host. That way, the host can adjust the number of seats at the table, and you still get the benefit of a larger table.
To use this feature, as host, tap the chair icon while at a table and you'll get a slider to adjust the number of available seats. You can allow just 1 other speaker all the way through to 12.
7. Set a background image to your table
This is great for making your table stand out and setting the tone for other language learners when they join your table. It's just a way to make things fun, and to stand out. There are many different backgrounds to choose from and more are on the way!
If you don't like hosting, don't forget that you can gift Hilokal Premium to a friend by tapping on their profile, hitting 'gift' and then sending them a Premium membership that they can start using right away.
To use this feature, tap the '+Add BG Image' while at a table. Then choose a background image, and you're done. The background to your table, and your table on the homepage will both have the new image.
8. AI text corrections
This is probably the least known premium feature in Hilokal. Have you ever used grammarly? It's kind of like that but in your direct message in-box.
While typing a message, tap the little document-like icon next to the send button, and your message will instantly be corrected. After it's been corrected you can choose to send the message, edit your message further, or discard it.
This is super useful to check your grammar, spelling, vocabulary or punctuation mistakes before sending a message. It works in group chats and direct messages.
You can also long press any message, in Hilokal and auto correct it. That's right, the AI text correction feature is not limited to your own messages, but works on any message another user writes. This is a great way to supercharge your learning.
Currently, it's only available for English, but we will roll it out for other languages soon!
9. Ai Questions Custom Prompts (beta)
Not sure what to say at a table? No problem. Use Ai questions to generate the perfect ice-breaker for the moment. This feature uses information availabe to a super-sophisticated-amazing ai to produce a question that helps you get closer to your language partner.
Do you know how when you are talking with a friend about, for example, Nike Running shoes, and then you log onto Facebook and there are advertisements for Nike running shoes everywhere? It's kind of like that, but you have control over what you want the ai to hear. Also, this technology is used to help you learn language, and make deeper human connections, not to try and sell you more stuff you don't need!
Although ai questions is not not a premium feature, the custom prompts is a premium feature. That means you can program the ai to do what you want it to do. Don't worry you don't have to be a computer-wiz to do it, you can give it instructions in regular old language. Here are the steps:
- Tap ai questions while at a table
- Hit the drop down menu and select 'write new instructions'
- Write what you want the ai to do!
- Pay the 5 beans to get the robot working.
10. Premium Cafe
Premium users get access to the premium cafe. We always read feedback posted in the audio table that is open 24/7. We also host quick tables a few times a week to speak directly to you - the premium Hilokal member.
Join the premium table here!
11. Language Progression
With the language progression feature, you can see a detailed history of how much you spoke each day. For example, let's say you spoke for 1 hour yesterday in English and Korean. The language progression would show you what percent you spoke English and what percent you spoke Korean.
This feature is very helpful for you to visualize your progress and understand how you're spending your time.
New premium subscribers are often surprised by how little time they spend speaking their native language compared with their target language. It's a healthy reality check that helps you keep on-track and growing in your target language.
Once you get the hang of it, the language progression feature is a hack to super-charge your language learning. Personally, this feature helps me more than any other premium feature and I can't wait to see it develop even more.
12. Turn off ads
No body likes ads. Neither do we. We don't want to run ads in Hilokal, but we need to keep the lights on. If everyone in Hilokal used premium, we wouldn't need to run ads. Wouldn't that be a wonderful world? That would mean we would be building Hilokal 100% for YOU rather than trying to keep the ad buyers happy. (We like you as a customer much better).
13. Visitors (new)
The visitors feature allows you to see who checked out your profile. Simply click on 'visitors' to view the list. If you prefer, you can also hide this feature in your settings.
14. Customise text (new)
Have fun and choose your text colour! Long press on your message and click 'style'. Then choose your colour.
Premium helps support Hilokal
That brings us nicely to our last benefit of Hilokal Premium. Premium holder helps fund the vision of Hilokal.
We are building an app that connects people from different langauges, countries and cultures through language. Language exchange truly is a positive thing. By purchasing Hilokal Premium, you are supporting this vision!
How to buy premium
Buying Hilokal Premium is easy. Go to your My Page in Hilokal mobile and tap 'Get Premium'. Then you'll be prompted to complete your purchase through the Appstore if you are on an iOS device or Playstore if you are on an Android device.
The subscription is handled through the Appstore or Playstore and will renew each billing cycle. For example if you get the 1 month subscription, you'll be charged every month. If you get the 6 month subscription, you'll be charged every 6 months.
If you ever login one day and your shiny premium badge is missing, simply go to your My Page on mobile, go to settings and tap 'Restore Purchase'. That should fix it nicely.
Hilokal Premium is still less than a year old and there are many more, new and exciting changes coming. It's best to subscribe to premium now before any price increases in the future, because existing premium holders will not have a price increase.
How to gift premium
There are two ways to gift premium on Hilokal.
First, you can tap a friend's profile, then tap 'Gift premium & Beans', choose premium, then complete the purchase through the Appstore or Playstore. You can choose to add a small message with your gift to make it more meaningful.
When the purchase is complete, your friend will get a direct message from you with your message and a giftcode. They only need to copy this giftcode into the 'redeem your code page'. There's a link to this page in the message, so it's easy to find.
Hilokal is a generous community. There are A LOT of gifts going around. What's stopping you from making someone's day with an affordable and meaningful Hilokal premium gift?
Conclusion
There you have it. Hilokal Premium is designed to help you get more speaking practice in your target language. All 13 benefits are focused on helping you feel more confident, helping you find the right partner and helping you keep things fun.
If you have any suggestions you can send them to Fox. Also, you can join our premium cafe where you'll get priority access to our development team.
Happy learning!
