# iLearn Chinese Characters Lite — Read and Write Chinese

> Learn Chinese characters by understanding their pictographic origins and practicing writing. (iPhone/iPad app by YOYASOFT LLC.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ilearn-chinese-characters-lite/id349253256 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [YOYASOFT LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/325345561)
- Category: Education, Books
- Price: Free
- Rating: 4.40/5 from 42 App Store ratings · 68 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 13.0 · 11 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2010-01-07
- Data updated: 2026-08-25
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ilearn-chinese-characters-lite/id349253256/reviews.md

## What is iLearn Chinese Characters Lite?

This app introduces Chinese characters to non-native speakers or young kids in a fun and intuitive way: to understand their origins as pictures of the objects they represent.

For example, the Chinese character for sun was originally a circle with a dot in its center. It has evolved over the history, but you can still find traces of its original shape. 

Besides explaining the picture meanings, this application also demonstrates the correct way of writing the characters and even let you practice on your iPhone side by side with the demonstration. You'll find that you will be able to read and write dozens of Chinese characters in no time!

Please rate or write a comment of this free application. Your feedback is greatly appreciated!

About the Full Version

The full version covers hundreds more featured characters with history, pronunciation, stroke order demonstration and writing practices. It also includes a Progressive Study section that let users learn and test their understanding of characters with the most common ones first. In addition it has an index/search utility for quick lookup of characters.

## Key features

- Pictographic origin explanations
- Writing stroke demonstrations
- On-screen writing practice
- Intuitive learning method
- Character history

## What do users think of iLearn Chinese Characters Lite?

Overall sentiment: positive

**Pros**

- 👍 Great for beginners
- 💡 Explains characters well
- 💡 Visual breakdowns helpful
- 💡 Stroke demo useful
- 💡 History and etymology engaging
- 💡 Good organization
- 💡 Progressive study mode effective
- 💡 Covers basics and advanced usage
- 💡 Practice writing characters
- 💡 Informative and detailed
- 💡 Makes Chinese less intimidating
- 💡 Useful for reviewing characters
- 💡 Addictive learning
- 💡 Good for visual learners
- 💡 Clear pronunciation
- 💡 Well presented
- 💡 Easy to remember
- 💡 Stable app
- 💡 Good features

**Cons**

- 🎨 App is a little ugly
- 🎨 Needs a facelift
- 🐛 Some freezes
- 🐛 Stroke recognition issues
- 🐛 Writing practice bugs
- 🐛 New updates make modes unusable
- 🐛 Misses plenty of characters
- 🐛 Animated writing too slow
- 🐛 Sound does not work on iPad
- 🐛 Font size too small
- 🐛 Touch strokes sensitivity can be improved
- 🐛 Does not teach stroke order (in some reviews)
- 🐛 Some characters lack explanation/writing demo
- 🐛 Organization in index mode painful

**Commonly reported bugs**

- New updates make it unusable in some modes
- Animated writing is too slow
- Sound does not work on iPad
- Stroke recognition issues
- Writing practice bugs
- Touch strokes sensitivity can be improved
- App freezes
- Missed characters
- Some characters lack explanation/writing demo
- Organization in index mode painful

**Most requested features**

- More advanced lessons and tests
- Tests for writing characters
- Include traditional characters
- Include ancient pictograms
- Quizzes with drawing characters
- Audio for example sentences
- Search function
- Section on measure words
- More categories
- Add more characters
- Add Chinese grammar characters
- Better looking pictures
- Option for writing speed
- Discussion of grammar considerations
- Add compounds, idioms, and sentences
- Expand meanings of characters
- Make full version free
- Add traditional characters
- Add search function
- Add measure words section
- More categories
- More characters
- More grammar characters
- Better pictures
- Option for writing speed
- Grammar considerations
- Compounds, idioms, sentences
- Expand meanings
- Make full version free

## Recent user reviews (10 of 68)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ilearn-chinese-characters-lite/id349253256/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Such a useful and pleasant to work with app

*2019-09-01*

Thank you, developer!!!
For a few years I am coming back to this app and found it so helpful to review characters.

### 5/5 — Great for teaching

*2015-02-08*

My husband is very visual and prefers understanding the visual breakdowns of the characters. He is absorbing so much better. Thanks!!

### 4/5 — Good app, room for improvement

*2014-12-22*

I really love the way this app explains Chinese, and it's a really good app for learning the language. However, i do agree that the app is a little ugly and I do want there to be more advanced lessons and tests, and also tests that quiz your ability to write the characters as well as read and comprehend. Overall great app!

### 4/5 — The best, but room for improvement

*2014-05-14*

The organization is excellent. In 'progressive study' mode, you learn characters based on their frequency of use, and have to pass a quiz to move on to the next few (6-12) characters. Or you can look up characters based on category without taking quizzes. In either mode, you get both basic and advanced examples of how the character is used in a phrase. There's also an index organized 'alphabetically' by pronunciation. The app would be improved by placing the traditional character (and the ancient pictogram, when available) in an obvious and consistent spot on every page. It would also be cool if the quizzes gave you a definition/pronunciation and asked you to draw the character.

### 2/5 — Ok

*2013-12-14*

Great if all you're looking for is simplified. Don't download otherwise.

### 5/5 — Addictive!

*2013-11-26, version 2.2.5*

I have been looking for something like this for ages： an app (or any easily obtainable information) to help me learn Chinese characters. This app is exactly what I was hoping for! It is so addictive and has been an enormous help to endear stand the construct of characters in an interesting and addictive way! 谢谢
Xièxiè

### 5/5 — Need more apps like this!

*2013-10-05*

I've been meaning to learn Chinese for a while. Being the basics or more interestingly the characters.

After trying multiple apps, I found this to be a great resource for beginners who are passionate about learning Chinese.

It breaks the writing, history and how-to to help you start Chinese very quickly. If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can immediately enable he Chinese writing and practice some of these characters that you learn.

Great work..

### 4/5 — Very informative, but ugly

*2013-08-01*

The best information and detail I've seen so far to break down Chinese characters with their original meanings, and then contrasting simplified vs traditional.  Understanding the history and reason for the pictograms makes everything much easier to remember. 

The downside is the app is very ugly and a face lift would really do this app justice! This should be one of the top Chinese apps.

### 5/5 — Simple, understandable. Makes Chinese the rather easy language it really is.

*2013-07-25*

As a historian of ideas, I've had to learn to make my way through a number of languages, to date, I can read without over-dependence on a dictionary etc. around twelve. Like most Westerners, I was at first intimidated by Chinese because of the characters. However, I found that learning characters is no more difficult than learning any set of vocabulary and the manner this program teaches characters makes even that fairly straightforward, and it's etymological approach to explaining characters appeals to persons who see history as a wonderful type of storytelling. The fact that compared to Sanskrit and Classical Greek, Chinese grammar, such as it is could be described as either non-existent or a "cake walk" only serves to make things more easy and more enjoyable, is just an added benefit to the program's manner of treating the primary difficulty Chinese does present.

### 4/5 — Useful app to start Chinese

*2013-05-31, version 2.2.5*

Great app to start as a beginner. 
It would be good if the examples of how characters are used also had the audio to hear how the sentence is read.

## Frequently asked questions about iLearn Chinese Characters Lite

### What does iLearn Chinese Characters Lite do?

This app helps non-native speakers and children learn Chinese characters by explaining their origins as pictures of the objects they represent. It also demonstrates the correct way to write characters and allows you to practice writing them on your device.

### What are the key features of the Lite version?

The Lite version explains the pictographic origins of characters, shows correct writing strokes, and provides on-screen writing practice. It aims to make learning intuitive and fun for beginners.

### Is iLearn Chinese Characters Lite free to use?

Yes, this application is free to use. The developers appreciate feedback through ratings or comments.

### What is the difference between the Lite and Full versions?

The full version offers hundreds more characters with history, pronunciation, stroke order, and writing practices. It also includes a progressive study section and a search utility for quick lookups.

### Who is this app best suited for?

This app is ideal for individuals new to the Chinese language, including adults and young children, who want to understand the visual roots of characters and practice writing them in an engaging way.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 3.2 — 2020-11-19

- Fixes for test score card layout and test unit text color.

### 3.1 — 2020-11-15

- Fix for a few layout issues in newer devices.

### 3.0 — 2020-10-04

Overall update for the newer screen sizes and iOS versions.

### 2.2.7 — 2017-09-19

- 64 bit and iOS 11 support

### 2.2.5 — 2013-05-01

* Added a new Featured Character lesson (Animals) 
* As many users requested, the character watermark in Writing Practice screen can now be hidden (or shown if so desired later).

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## More apps by YOYASOFT LLC

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All apps by YOYASOFT LLC: https://appshunter.io/developer/325345561

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-25.*