I am sorry to say that some days ago. there were some changes on the Android app, and not small subtle changes like we usually see. I believe it was made more like the iPhone app, and I mostly dislike it.
The first change was the conversion of lingots, the “currency” of Duolingo, to gems. I know this used to be an iPhone thing, but now it has come here too. Along with this, the in-game “prices” of services like streak freezes has gone way up. A weekend amulet used to cost 20 lingots, which was already noticeable but not excessive. Now it is in the hundreds, so I don’t even consider it. There are more gems than there were lingots, but definitely not tenfold more.
I guess the problem was that people accumulate large sums of these lingots over the years, I certainly did, and Duolingo tried to make “sinks” to drain away some of this. But ironically they went so far that I now don’t use these services at all, except “double or nothing”, which over time actually increases my gem reservoir. Did I mention that I have a streak of over 500 now? It is not my first long streak either, although I think it is the longest so far.
The third change was the return of the hearts, and the disappearance of the dumbbells button. This was a bit confusing, but you can still train your existing skills by pressing the heart icon and choosing “+1 Heart practice”.
The hearts system, I assumed they had abandoned because it was widely hated. (If you search for “Duolingo hearts” you’ll find a veritable jeremiad of upset users). But it is actually not a bad idea, except for its demotivating, customer-quitting effect. For the remaining users, it is a good way to pace your learning so you don’t run too far ahead. Each time you make an error, you lose one of the five hearts. Once you’re out of hearts, you will need to practice earlier lessons to regain them. (As mentioned, just click on the heart icon in the top right and choose “+1 Heart practice”.)
I don’t really run into this as a problem, since I pace myself. I have been an adult for decades and slowly made such habits. So what I miss about this is having the training icon directly on the front page. (I’d also like a “next lesson” button, for pure convenience, but neither of them is strictly necessary.)
The irony here is that the people who most need an external pacing system are the ones most likely to flee from it and never come back, and also tell their friends to avoid Duolingo.
Those are the changes I have noticed. The website still uses the old system with lingots and dumbbell. It also has more in-depth explanations (well, more than the nothing you find in the apps unless you use the forum buttons actively) but more importantly, it is much harder. This is generally good for learning, but also means you have to set aside more time. Popular browsers for Android not only allow you to bookmark Duolingo, but also to place a bookmark directly on the phone’s front page like an app. So that is an alternative for those who just can’t stand the iPhone features.