What actually happened to the app
Raymond Murphy’s English Grammar in Use is arguably the most successful grammar self-study book ever written, and for years Cambridge offered an official companion app with the book’s units and interactive exercises. That app no longer exists:
- The Android version was removed from Google Play in October 2022, after its last real update in early 2020. Before removal it had been installed over two million times.
- The iOS versions — both the free starter and the “Full Edition” — have been taken down from the App Store. Their old listing links now return a “page not found” error.
- Cambridge has not released a successor app. The book itself remains in print (a fifth edition shipped in 2019), and Cambridge points app users toward its ebook platform instead.
Because the takedown was quiet, search results for “english grammar in use app” are now a mess of outdated reviews, an unofficial clone, and APK mirror sites offering the abandoned 2020 build for download.
Why the APK mirrors are a bad idea
It’s tempting to grab the old build from a mirror site, but it’s a poor deal:
- No updates, ever. The build hasn’t been maintained since 2020. Every new Android version increases the odds it simply stops working.
- Paid content may not activate. The app sold unit bundles through in-app purchase; with the app delisted, restoring or buying that content isn’t reliable.
- Repackaging risk. Unofficial APK sites are a classic distribution channel for tampered builds. A grammar app doesn’t need the permissions some of these repacks request.
- iPhone users are out entirely. There is no realistic way to sideload a delisted iOS app without a developer account and the original binary.
What the app actually gave you — and where to get each piece now
People used the Murphy app for two different things, and the best replacement depends on which one you miss:
| What you used it for | Best replacement in 2026 |
|---|---|
| Reading the grammar explanations (the left-hand pages of the book) | The printed book or the official ebook — the explanations were always the book’s content, and the book is alive and well. |
| Doing the exercises on your phone, getting instant right/wrong feedback, repeating weak units | A dedicated drill app. This was the app’s real value — and it’s exactly the category that has moved on furthest since 2020. |
The drill side, rebuilt: practising Murphy-style topics with Engsy
Engsy is a free app for iPhone, iPad and Android built around exactly the self-study loop the Murphy app handled: pick the rule you struggle with, answer short multiple-choice prompts, get instant feedback with an explanation, and repeat until the correct form is automatic.
The topic overlap with the book’s most-drilled units is large:
- Prepositions — in / on / at for time and place, plus verb, noun and adjective combinations (Murphy units 121–136 territory)
- Commonly confused verbs — make vs do, say vs tell, borrow vs lend
- Verb patterns — gerund or infinitive (stop doing vs stop to do), used to / be used to
- Tenses, short answers, tag questions, phrasal verbs — and 60+ drills in total, with new ones added regularly
Three details make it a genuine upgrade over the 2020-era app rather than just a substitute:
- Every answer explains itself. Right or wrong, you see the why immediately — the same “rule pinned to a real example” approach that made Murphy’s book work.
- Three modes push a rule from “understood” to “automatic”. Study mode teaches, Assist mode nudges, and Timer mode adds speed pressure so the correct form comes out even when you’re not thinking about it.
- It’s maintained. Regular updates and new drills — the thing the old app lost years before it was delisted.
Quick answers
Was the app removed because the book is outdated?
No — the book is current and still sold everywhere. The app was the casualty, most likely of maintenance cost, not the content.
Can I still use the app if it’s already on my phone?
If it’s installed, it may keep working for a while, but there will be no updates and no support, and a phone migration or OS update can end it at any time. Plan your replacement now rather than after it breaks.
Is Engsy a copy of English Grammar in Use?
No. It doesn’t reproduce the book’s text or units. It covers the same self-study grammar territory — the confusions and rules learners actually drill — with its own exercises, explanations and practice modes.
