diff --git a/app/src/main/java/helium314/keyboard/latin/DictionaryCollection.java b/app/src/main/java/helium314/keyboard/latin/DictionaryCollection.java
index 7496f86f1..35d4bc034 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/helium314/keyboard/latin/DictionaryCollection.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/helium314/keyboard/latin/DictionaryCollection.java
@@ -6,30 +6,35 @@
 
 package helium314.keyboard.latin;
 
-import helium314.keyboard.latin.utils.Log;
-
 import helium314.keyboard.latin.SuggestedWords.SuggestedWordInfo;
 import helium314.keyboard.latin.common.ComposedData;
 import helium314.keyboard.latin.settings.SettingsValuesForSuggestion;
+import helium314.keyboard.latin.utils.Log;
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.Locale;
-import java.util.concurrent.CopyOnWriteArrayList;
 
 /**
  * Class for a collection of dictionaries that behave like one dictionary.
  */
 public final class DictionaryCollection extends Dictionary {
     private final String TAG = DictionaryCollection.class.getSimpleName();
-    private final CopyOnWriteArrayList<Dictionary> mDictionaries;
+    private final ArrayList<Dictionary> mDictionaries;
+    private final float[] mWeights;
 
     public DictionaryCollection(final String dictType, final Locale locale,
-            final Collection<Dictionary> dictionaries) {
+            final Collection<Dictionary> dictionaries, final float[] weights) {
         super(dictType, locale);
-        mDictionaries = new CopyOnWriteArrayList<>(dictionaries);
+        mDictionaries = new ArrayList<>(dictionaries);
         mDictionaries.removeAll(Collections.singleton(null));
+        if (mDictionaries.size() > weights.length) {
+            mWeights = new float[mDictionaries.size()];
+            Arrays.fill(mWeights, 1f);
+            Log.w(TAG, "got weights array of length " + weights.length + ", expected "+mDictionaries.size());
+        } else mWeights = weights;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -38,19 +43,19 @@ public final class DictionaryCollection extends Dictionary {
             final SettingsValuesForSuggestion settingsValuesForSuggestion,
             final int sessionId, final float weightForLocale,
             final float[] inOutWeightOfLangModelVsSpatialModel) {
-        final CopyOnWriteArrayList<Dictionary> dictionaries = mDictionaries;
+        final ArrayList<Dictionary> dictionaries = mDictionaries;
         if (dictionaries.isEmpty()) return null;
         // To avoid creating unnecessary objects, we get the list out of the first
         // dictionary and add the rest to it if not null, hence the get(0)
         ArrayList<SuggestedWordInfo> suggestions = dictionaries.get(0).getSuggestions(composedData,
                 ngramContext, proximityInfoHandle, settingsValuesForSuggestion, sessionId,
-                weightForLocale, inOutWeightOfLangModelVsSpatialModel);
+                weightForLocale * mWeights[0], inOutWeightOfLangModelVsSpatialModel);
         if (null == suggestions) suggestions = new ArrayList<>();
         final int length = dictionaries.size();
         for (int i = 1; i < length; ++ i) {
             final ArrayList<SuggestedWordInfo> sugg = dictionaries.get(i).getSuggestions(
                     composedData, ngramContext, proximityInfoHandle, settingsValuesForSuggestion,
-                    sessionId, weightForLocale, inOutWeightOfLangModelVsSpatialModel);
+                    sessionId, weightForLocale * mWeights[i], inOutWeightOfLangModelVsSpatialModel);
             if (null != sugg) suggestions.addAll(sugg);
         }
         return suggestions;
@@ -93,22 +98,4 @@ public final class DictionaryCollection extends Dictionary {
         for (final Dictionary dict : mDictionaries)
             dict.close();
     }
-
-    // Warning: this is not thread-safe. Take necessary precaution when calling.
-    public void addDictionary(final Dictionary newDict) {
-        if (null == newDict) return;
-        if (mDictionaries.contains(newDict)) {
-            Log.w(TAG, "This collection already contains this dictionary: " + newDict);
-        }
-        mDictionaries.add(newDict);
-    }
-
-    // Warning: this is not thread-safe. Take necessary precaution when calling.
-    public void removeDictionary(final Dictionary dict) {
-        if (mDictionaries.contains(dict)) {
-            mDictionaries.remove(dict);
-        } else {
-            Log.w(TAG, "This collection does not contain this dictionary: " + dict);
-        }
-    }
 }
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/helium314/keyboard/latin/DictionaryFactory.kt b/app/src/main/java/helium314/keyboard/latin/DictionaryFactory.kt
index 29b416a5d..4fc9c6859 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/helium314/keyboard/latin/DictionaryFactory.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/helium314/keyboard/latin/DictionaryFactory.kt
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import java.util.Locale
  * @param locale the locale for which to create the dictionary
  * @return an initialized instance of DictionaryCollection
  */
+// todo: this needs updating, and then we can expose the weight for custom dictionaries (useful for addons like emoji dict)
 fun createMainDictionary(context: Context, locale: Locale): DictionaryCollection {
     val cacheDir = DictionaryInfoUtils.getAndCreateCacheDirectoryForLocale(locale, context)
     val dictList = LinkedList<Dictionary>()
@@ -36,7 +37,7 @@ fun createMainDictionary(context: Context, locale: Locale): DictionaryCollection
     // add extracted dicts to list (after userDicts, to skip extracted dicts of same type)
     extractedDicts.forEach { checkAndAddDictionaryToListIfNotExisting(it, dictList, locale) }
     if (dictList.any { it.mDictType == Dictionary.TYPE_MAIN })
-        return DictionaryCollection(Dictionary.TYPE_MAIN, locale, dictList)
+        return DictionaryCollection(Dictionary.TYPE_MAIN, locale, dictList, FloatArray(dictList.size) { 1f })
 
     // no main dict found -> check assets
     val assetsDicts = DictionaryInfoUtils.getAssetsDictionaryList(context)
@@ -57,7 +58,7 @@ fun createMainDictionary(context: Context, locale: Locale): DictionaryCollection
     // If the list is empty, that means we should not use any dictionary (for example, the user
     // explicitly disabled the main dictionary), so the following is okay. dictList is never
     // null, but if for some reason it is, DictionaryCollection handles it gracefully.
-    return DictionaryCollection(Dictionary.TYPE_MAIN, locale, dictList)
+    return DictionaryCollection(Dictionary.TYPE_MAIN, locale, dictList, FloatArray(dictList.size) { 1f })
 }
 
 /**