# Japanese Graded Readers — user reviews > 33 indexed App Store user reviews of Japanese Graded Readers by White Rabbit Press, rated 3.50/5 from 32 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/japanese-graded-readers/id1223472704/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/japanese-graded-readers/id1223472704.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 17 · 4★ 2 · 3★ 3 · 2★ 1 · 1★ 9 ## Newest reviews (12 of 33) ### 3/5 — Developers listen *2026-05-16, version 1.1.3* 1st: graded readers app is awesome idea. 2nd: not enough books 3rd: your pricing model does not work for an app. Consider getting a larger catalog then charge like a 4$ subscription per month for access to all. You will earn more. Get more downloads. And be more successful. ### 3/5 — This app has great potential but falls short, too pricy, not enough content. *2021-08-06, version 1.1.3* I downloaded this app because I wanted something with very simple stories to practice my reading ability in Japanese. The first thing to note is that the free app only comes with one sample story, and it’s not the complete story. Each story costs between $3-$6 depending on its difficulty. Quite pricy for such short stories but I wanted to give it a go all the same. The stories are neatly presented with helpful pictures and also can be read by a narrator for you. I also like that it includes an option to turn on and off the furigana. Unfortunately even if you’re willing to splash out and purchase all the stories, there’s only a couple available at each reading level. Disappointing to say the least. I also had technical issues when purchasing the stories as they didn’t show up in my library. Each time I had to use the restore purchases button to have the app confirm I had made the purchase. If more books were made available at each level and the price of each lowered (or perhaps a bulk discount to buy all the books at a particular reading level), I could see myself using this app often. As it stands currently, I’ll enjoy the stories I’ve paid for and continue searching for a better reader. ### 4/5 — Nice app but did developers give up? *2020-04-08, version 1.1.3* This app is very nice - you can either read or listen to the stories, and can display or hide the furigana. However there are only a few stories for purchase on the app - 9 in total across all reader levels. It seems like the developers gave up on continuing the app. If they haven’t, please continue to add more stories! ### 3/5 — Pretty good *2020-02-01, version 1.1.3* I like this app and the stories are fun. Right now, the iPad version doesn’t support multitasking; which is a pain if you want to take notes or look up words at the same time. Looking forward to future improvements! ### 3/5 — Sound not working *2020-01-20, version 1.1.3* Sadly sound isn’t working anymore in either my iPhone 6 (iOS 12.4.2) or iPad (iPadOS 13)... ### 4/5 — Good app but needs bug fixes *2019-12-30, version 1.1.3* Quality of stories is high. Excellent resources. However the audio function is completely broken and doesn’t work at all. ### 3/5 — Needs more materials *2019-07-04, version 1.1.3* 5 stars for the app itself. Great idea great execution. 2 Stars for the lack of material. There are only a few available stories and the stories are too short. You only get introduced to one or two new words the whole story. 1 Star for the prices of the stories. The stories are REALLY short. You might be introduced to one or two new words an entire story, and they are $2-$4 for basically a 1 to 2 page story. This _could_ be a great learning and reinforcement tool, but you need to produce more content for it. Perhaps if you took some of the printed materials you own and just import them or allow people who have bought the paper graded readers to download them into this app, you would have a full 5 star product. The way it now, I feel like this was a great idea that got left behind and forgotten. ### 4/5 — I just wished... *2019-02-06, version 1.1.3* I’m loving the app. It is very easy to read japanese with it... although sometimes is easy to get lost looking for options.. anyways Id only wish there were also an option to purchase the whole levels or a complete level too instead of only book by book. Both options by story or by level are great. Honestly is an app that deserves more praise is really useful. ### 3/5 — Not great value for money *2018-11-18, version 1.1.3* Each story is about 3-5 dollars each. I felt foolish for buying one and realising that was all I was getting. Why not just read some simple Japanese text online and have dictionary like jisho.org open instead? TangoRisto is a great alternative but is based on news articles as opposed to fiction. ### 3/5 — Sound? *2018-10-16, version 1.1.3* If pressing the play button is suppose to produce sound it’s not working on my iPhone 8. ### 5/5 — Thank you for making this! *2018-08-29, version 1.1.3* I love the books and have learned a lot from them! Thank you for bringing this to the iPhone. It is a great app and the books are very high quality and worth every penny. ### 5/5 — Great App! *2018-08-09, version 1.1.0* The low level stories really help a beginner feel like they’re making progress learning Japanese. I’m very excited that you can now turn off furigana. This is a great digital feature that you can’t get with physical books. The stories may be expensive, but they do hold a lot of content and great recordings by native speakers. The higher level stories, with more content, make it feel worth the price. The quality makes all the stories worth it. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Useless *2024-11-13, version 1.1.3* The app takes my money, but then does not deliver content. ### 1/5 — Sound doesn’t work *2024-08-08, version 1.1.3* Sound doesn’t work ### 1/5 — Can’t purchase stories *2023-01-31, version 1.1.3* I’ve been trying to purchase stories and it won’t let me. It will say purchases, say I’ve spent money, then never finish “purchasing” the story so I can’t read any of the stories I’ve bought :( ### 1/5 — Not Worth the Time *2022-02-24, version 1.1.3* App hasn’t been updated in three years. Tried to purchase a book, and the process never completes, just a Processing message with an activity spinner that never stops. Support website doesn’t even exist. ### 1/5 — Purchased stories take days of buffering to actually become readable *2021-02-06, version 1.1.3* I like the app and the stories but purchasing them is a huge hassle. The purchase button buffers for literal days with no activity. And god forbid you close the app because then you have to start the process over again. Meanwhile you can’t even read your already purchased stories while waiting for the new one to download. I’d like to eventually own the entire library and actually be able to use what I paid for but until the app is fixed that won’t be possible. ### 1/5 — Broken app *2020-12-23, version 1.1.3* In app purchases don’t actually unlock anything :( ### 1/5 — Not buying again! *2018-08-05, version 1.0.3* This looks like the very same app from White Rabbit Press that I spent $27 on for the books in August 2017. It worked for 2 months until an iPad update. They never fixed the app and now if I want the books I have to buy them all over again? ### 1/5 — App doesn’t open on iPhone 6 *2018-08-05, version 1.0.3* I downloaded and re-downloaded this app several times (and it’s recorded in my purchase history), but it won’t open. I get a “No purchased stories found!” message when I open the app and try to restore purchase. ### 2/5 — Beware *2026-03-19, version 1.1.3* Downloading stories can be frustrating ### 2/5 — No sound? *2019-01-26, version 1.1.3* I’m on an iPad 6th gen, and I can’t get any sound to play on the book that’s in my library.. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Fixed issue *2021-06-22, version 1.1.3* Idk if my last review went through but I fixed my issue by pressing the ‘restore purchases’ button in options ### 5/5 — Great for beginner level *2021-06-16, version 1.1.3* It is hard to find good immersion resources for beginner level, since my vocabulary is so small and my listening ability weak. This one is great, with engaging stories, good quality audio, and well-chosen vocabulary. I only wish it had more stories available. ### 5/5 — Abandoned *2021-03-09, version 1.1.3* It’s been 2 years since any updates. I’m still giving it 5 stars because it’s great for what it is. There is no Level 4 books yet even though they mention it. Hope things will be updated soon ### 5/5 — Needs Bigger Library *2020-10-06, version 1.1.3* I wish all of there stories were available in the app so I would have a bigger selection. Right now it looks like there are only a half dozen or so stories, but their full catalog is much bigger. ### 5/5 — The best japanese reading app on the appstore *2020-09-13, version 1.1.3* Super good ### 5/5 — In love 😍 with this app *2020-02-04, version 1.1.3* This app is amazing! I was hooked from the beginning. I purchased and finished all the stories; please upload more content! お願いします🥺！ ### 5/5 — It's good to have Japanese I can read on my phone *2019-02-14, version 1.1.3* Graded readers are great when learning a language and these are good ones and the app works well. I really like the hide furigana feature. My kanji level is ahead of the rest of my ability but it's so hard to break the habit of reading furigana even when I don't need it. My only complaint is that there aren't more stories to buy. ### 5/5 — So nice to have! *2018-12-30, version 1.1.3* A great learning tool, I’m grateful it exists. A true stand-out! You can buy various stories of differing complexity by level. Highlights are: being able to turn furigana on and off (I might like it if the button was easier to access, such as having it right on the side instead of having to open a menu), fully voiced with a nice clear single voice per story (it’d be great if you there was a continuous auto-scroll feature that has the voice speaking the whole story, and not just page by page), and the carefully and uniquely designed stories (they’re designed for non-native learners of the language, not Japanese native kids who are pretty much fluent by a young age). I’ve also seen the people behind this app online being incredibly helpful and responsive when it comes to their product and feedback. I’m eagerly anticipating more stories, something nonfiction would be incredible. ### 5/5 — ヤバイ *2018-11-04, version 1.1.3* 文脈は大切ですから、レベル別の本は言語の勉強の最善の方法ですよ。文庫版も買った。デジタル書籍は振り仮名を隠せるので、後者が大好きですけど、文庫版の絵図はとても美しいから、前者も大好きです。もう全ての本を読んでしまったから、もっと本を出版してください！ Graded readers are the best way to learn a language because context is important. I also bought the paperback version from them. I like the digital version because you can show or hide the furigana, but the physical copies have such great artwork. I’ve already read all the books, so please publish more! ### 5/5 — genius *2018-08-29, version 1.1.3* just what i need. love the audio as well. Need more stories now. one feature request - if i tap a word it gives me a translation to English. --- *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 2026-07-06.*