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Duolingo makes a big change: it moves from the hearts in favor of a new “energy” mechanic. The idea is to shift from a system that punishes errors on a system that aims to feel more stimulus – and more a little.
Under the old system, you will lose a heart if you make a mistake while you are a lesson. To earn hearts again, you can do things like watching an advertisement, paying the price of full filling with the Gems Duolingo coin, or wait for hearts to update them.
Under the new system, one power unit will spend to complete the exercise, and the error will cost one energy. But you will also get an additional energy at a random price to complete multiple lessons in a row. As a result, users should be able to do more lessons, and this is shown in data, as Moussa Wayne, the chief engineer engineer in duolingo, tells, freedom.
“We feel that this is a way in which we can motivate you to focus on the things you get right instead of punishing the things you commit,” says Wayne. He also says, “We wanted to find a way to cancel the experience a little more.”
The full power bar is 25 units of power (compared to five hearts). Wayne says the energy is renewed over time, as the hearts do. You can also buy more energy with gemstones, subscribers to Super Duolingo and Duolingo Max will get unlimited energy, similar to how subscribers at those levels have unlimited hearts, according to Duolingo Monica Earle spokeswoman.
Wayne notes that, under the Hearts system, you may fail from the first lesson of today. “In the energy world, this will not really happen because we no longer punish you for mistakes anymore,” says Wayne. Duolingo’s total scales show that, in general, people can involve “much more” with Duolingo now than before.
The change is first changed on iOS over the coming weeks and months, and the goal is to bring it to Android later this year. If you are playing duolingo via iOS and Android at the moment, you will stick to your Android application with hearts, while the iOS application will adhere to energy; Wayne says they will not coincide.