“In the end he decided to bite the bullet and phone his sister.”
From a highlight with your note · sample book
What does bite the bullet mean here? Answer in your head, then check.
For Kobo readers learning English
Words you meet, words you keep.
Wrygloss turns the highlights and saved words on your Kobo into study cards. Each expression comes back in your own sentence, with its meaning in Italian.
Free and open source. No password: we email you a sign-in link.
Try a card
This is what you study
Four sample cards, made from the kind of things you save while reading. Read the front, answer in your head, show the answer, then grade it.
- Front: the Term inside the sentence you highlighted.
- Back: the Meaning, its Italian translation, an example and your Note.
- Again or Good: Wrygloss picks the day it comes back.
Sample cardSample 1 of 4 · nothing is saved
How it works
One sentence, from the page to a Card
Follow a single highlight through the four steps.
- Step 1
Highlight it on your Kobo
Read as you always do. Highlight a passage, add a Note if you like, or save a word to My Words.
- Step 2
It syncs when wifi turns on
A small agent on your e-reader sends new highlights and saved words to Wrygloss every time it connects. No cables after setup.
- Step 3
Enrich it with your own LLM
Choose what to study and start Enrichment. Your LLM writes each Meaning with an Italian translation and an example. You decide when.
- Step 4
Review a few minutes a day
Each Meaning becomes a Card. Answer Again or Good, and Wrygloss schedules the next review for you.
Why it works
Spaced, not crammed
Recalling a word just before you would forget it, and answering before you see the back, works better than rereading a list in one go. Wrygloss schedules each Card with FSRS, an open spaced-repetition algorithm.
In the sentence you read
Expressions like "bite the bullet" are studied whole, inside the sentence where you met them, so you also learn how they are used.
One meaning at a time
When a word has several meanings, each one gets its own Card, and they are introduced on different days so they don't blur together.
What you need
Three things, and one way to start without the third.
A Kobo e-reader
Tested on the Kobo Clara BW with firmware 4.46. Other models and firmware may work too: Wrygloss tells you when yours is untested, and lets you go ahead.
A computer, once
To copy the agent onto your e-reader over USB. To uninstall it later, you drop one file on the e-reader.
Your own LLM key
From Gemini, Anthropic or OpenAI. A free Gemini key is enough. If anything costs money, you pay your provider directly, never Wrygloss.
No key yet?
You can still start. Highlights where you wrote a Note become Cards without any LLM. Add a key later for everything else.
Privacy and trust
What happens to your data, plainly
You are installing software on your e-reader. Here is exactly what it does.
The agent reads
- your Highlights and their Notes
- your Saved words
- the titles of the books you cite
- the firmware version and model
It never reads or sends
- your Kobo account, tokens or cookies
- analytics or the serial number
- the rest of your library
- the database file itself: it is never uploaded
Your key stays with you
Your LLM key is stored encrypted in your browser and never reaches Wrygloss. Your browser calls your provider directly, and the text of your books is never sent.
Nothing watching
No analytics, no trackers, no third-party scripts.
Stored, said plainly
Your Captures are stored unencrypted on the server, kept separate for each account, because the server has to read them to clean and merge them. You can revoke a device's token at any time.
Yours to take or delete
Export everything as JSON at any time. Deleting your account is immediate and total. If the service ever shuts down, you get 30 days' notice.
Free and open
MIT-licensed, with the code of the app and the agent public. Read About and privacy.
Questions
Does it change my e-reader?
It adds a small agent and a rule that starts it when wifi connects. Your books, settings and Kobo account are untouched, and the original database is never modified: the agent reads a copy and deletes it. To remove the agent, drop one file on the e-reader.
What if a firmware update removes it?
An update can remove the agent's rule, and syncing stops. If Wrygloss hears nothing from your e-reader for 14 days, it warns you and shows how to reinstall. Reinstalling is quick and safe to repeat.
Which languages?
For now you study English, with translations and explanations in Italian. The interface is in English.
Why do I need my own key?
So Wrygloss can stay free and never sees what you send to the LLM: your browser talks to your provider directly. A free Gemini key is enough to start, and Highlights with a Note work without any key.
Is it really free?
Yes. No ads and no paid plan. It runs on free hosting tiers, which is why sign-ups can be capped for a while. The code is MIT-licensed.
I'm on my phone.
You can sign up and look around on your phone, but installing the agent needs a computer and a USB cable. Wrygloss can email you the link so you can continue on a computer.
Your next book is full of expressions. Keep them.
Free and open source. No password: we email you a sign-in link.