# Kaeru - Learn Japanese & Kanji — JLPT N5-N1, SRS & Handwriting

> All-in-one Japanese language learning app for writing, grammar, pronunciation, and JLPT prep. (iPhone/iPad app by Rozemyne Ltd.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kaeru-learn-japanese-and-kanji/id6740145807 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Rozemyne Ltd](https://appshunter.io/developer/1743023957)
- Category: Education, Utilities
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 3.90/5 from 29 App Store ratings · 18 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 18.6 · 177 MB
- Languages: American English, Korean, European Spanish, Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan)
- Released: 2025-12-29
- Data updated: 2026-08-28
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kaeru-learn-japanese-and-kanji/id6740145807/reviews.md

## What is Kaeru?

Kaeru teaches Japanese writing, grammar, and pronunciation in one app. No juggling five tools. No guessing which resource covers what. You open Kaeru and study.

WRITE KANJI FROM MEMORY
Most apps show you a character and ask you to pick the right answer. You pass the quiz and feel confident. Then you face a blank page and draw nothing.

Kaeru puts you in front of that blank page from day one. You draw each character stroke by stroke, building recall that transfers to real writing. 13,108 kanji with correct stroke order. Every character includes native audio, readings, and meanings.

iPad users: Apple Pencil turns your screen into a kanji notebook.

GRAMMAR THAT EXPLAINS ITSELF
828 grammar patterns from N5 to N1. Formation rules, context, example sentences, and audio for every pattern. Browse by JLPT level or search for a specific construction.

You read は vs が in 50 different patterns instead of one confusing chart. Particles click when you see them used, not described.

SRS THAT ADAPTS TO YOU
Skip two days with most SRS apps and you return to 200 pending reviews. The pile grows. Motivation drops. You quit.

Kaeru's spaced repetition tracks your memory for each item and schedules reviews before you forget. Strong items space out. Weak items repeat sooner. Miss a few days and the system adjusts instead of punishing you.

DAILY JAPANESE STORIES
A new story every day, matched to your JLPT level. Native audio at adjustable speed. Tap any word to translate. Grammar breakdowns for every sentence. A comprehension quiz at the end.

Stories put your kanji and grammar into real context. You see characters used, hear them spoken, and test yourself.

PRONUNCIATION SCORING
You study for months, open your mouth, and the words come out flat. Nobody corrects you.

Kaeru's AI coach listens. Record yourself and get scored on pitch accent, fluency, and accuracy. Feedback after every attempt. Fix pronunciation problems before they become habits.

JLPT N5 THROUGH N1
Curated decks for every JLPT level covering kanji and vocabulary. Each deck maps to your target exam. Track your progress toward a specific level so study hours count on test day.

BUILT-IN DICTIONARY
Search by romaji, hiragana, kanji, or English, Spanish, Korean. Every entry shows readings, meanings, JLPT level, and stroke count.

ONE APP INSTEAD OF FIVE
Grammar reference. Kanji handwriting. Vocabulary decks. Spaced repetition. Pronunciation scoring. Daily stories. Dictionary. Progress tracking. One subscription covers everything.

Stop splitting your study across a kanji app, a grammar app, a flashcard app, and a pronunciation tool you opened twice.

Who uses Kaeru: learners who know hiragana and katakana. JLPT test preppers from N5 to N1. Anyone tired of recognizing kanji without being able to write them.

All features require a subscription or one-time purchase.
Privacy Policy: https://kaeru-jp.app/privacy-policy
Terms of Use: https://kaeru-jp.app/terms-of-use

## Key features

- Kanji handwriting practice with stroke order
- Comprehensive grammar explanations (N5-N1)
- Adaptive spaced repetition system (SRS)
- Daily Japanese stories with audio and quizzes
- AI-powered pronunciation scoring
- JLPT level-specific study decks
- Integrated Japanese dictionary

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kaeru Plus: Annual | $89.99 | per year |
| Kaeru Annual | $89.99 | per year |
| Kaeru Plus: Weekly | $5.99 | per 7 days |
| Kaeru Plus: Weekly | $5.99 | per 7 days |
| Kaeru Plus: Monthly | $12.99 | per month |
| Kaeru Plus: Montly | $12.99 | per month |

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kaeru Pay Once | $299.99 | one-time |


## Recent user reviews (10 of 18)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kaeru-learn-japanese-and-kanji/id6740145807/reviews.md

### 1/5 — Hard to use

*2026-08-13*

Using the paid version. Frustrating to use as this app doesn't help with reviewing the words learned and simply keeps repeating the same Kanji

### 2/5 — I wanted to love this app

*2026-08-05*

Has some potential, but the daily exercises have some inaccuracies that shouldn’t be there and the vocab training with kanji acts very strangely.  Some cards have just a kanji and no associated task or prompt.  The English translations are off and the voice readings are also frequently different than what’s written.  And some sentences don’t make sense in Japanese or English.  I also get annoyed by constantly being rated at 80% in pronunciation when my individual scores during the test are above 90%.  I’m glad I only got a month subscription.  Going back to Bunpo and Wanikani.

### 1/5 — Needs a free trial

*2026-07-15*

App requires a subscription before accessing any content. There are too many (bad and good) of these language learning apps for me to blindly throw money at one.

**Developer response:** Thanks for the feedback - totally fair point with so many apps out there. Good news: we do offer a free trial so you can try before committing, and you can cancel anytime during it. If you hit a paywall without the trial option, email support@kaeru-jp.app and we'll help sort it out. We know this model is not suitable for everyone, but if you would like to explore more please hit us up and our support team will try to come up with solution ☺️

### 3/5 — Poor Functionality

*2026-07-14*

I was happy to try the app for a bit and it was working fine but now whenever I open it, it hangs on the kanji loading page. I deleted the app and reinstalled, same issues. Consistent across my iPhone and iPad. It’s a shame.

**Developer response:** Thanks for the thoughtful feedback - sorry the kanji loading page is hanging on both your iPhone and iPad. That's not expected, especially after a reinstall. Could you email support@kaeru-jp.app so we can dig into it? Your iOS version and any error details would really help us track down the cause. 🙏

### 1/5 — UI leaves a lot to be desired

*2026-07-13*

The app has a clean interface making you think it’s easy to use but far from it. If you want to just use it as a review before you dive into your exact it’s tedious since it makes you record the word without the ability to just automatically swipe and if you skip it makes it seem like you don’t know the word. There’s no easy access to review JLPT material but rather everything is scattered across decks in one location. Organization feels sloppy despite the clean looking interface. Feels like a trick

**Developer response:** Thanks for the thoughtful feedback. Sorry the review flow and deck organization feel clunky — the "skip vs. don't know" distinction and scattered JLPT material are fair points we're weighing. If you email support@kaeru-jp.app with how you'd like to review, it really helps us prioritize. 🙏

### 4/5 — Please add kun/on yomi to kanji flashcards

*2026-07-12*

I like that everything is in one app but on kanji practice I don’t want to just learn the English translation. Similar to grammar it would be nice to see in an example sentence along with kun/on yomi rather than just the page before the flash cards. 

I like the reading comprehension exercises as well but wish there was a dedicated section for this also.

**Developer response:** Thanks for the thoughtful feedback! Love the idea of showing kun/on yomi and example sentences right on the kanji flashcards, plus a dedicated reading comprehension section. I've passed both suggestions to the team. If you have more ideas, email support@kaeru-jp.app ☺️

### 2/5 — Not great

*2026-06-14*

This app is kinda confusing, it doesn’t give the Japanese translation for the kanji and just wants you to practice the stroke order which I personally don’t find necessary. And the kanji flashcards also don’t show the Japanese translation. The pronunciation part is also not really useful - perhaps if you’re doing N5 but not after that. It doesn’t seem to intro grammar either ?

**Developer response:** Thanks for the detailed feedback. A couple of clarifications that might help: the kanji flashcards do show the English meaning — just tap the card to flip it. In the Daily Journey we deliberately focus on stroke order and meaning rather than showing a kanji's Japanese reading, because a single kanji usually has multiple readings that change depending on the word it appears in — so teaching one reading in isolation tends to mislead more than help. If you do want to study readings, the Library has precompiled kanji decks with reading previews, and you can also build your own deck from the specific kanji you want to focus on. Grammar is introduced gradually through the Daily Journey, with a more comprehensive grammar section in the Library whenever you want to go deeper. Hope that points you in the right direction!

### 1/5 — Scam

*2026-06-13*

App has no real free trial period and forces you to cash in right away after setting up profile. Tiring, unprofessional and just a money grab.

**Developer response:** Thanks for the feedback. We understand that this setup can feel frustrating 🙏

We offer a free trial so users can try the app before paying. On the App Store, Apple may still require a payment method to activate the trial — this is handled by Apple, and we never receive your payment details.

### 5/5 — Review

*2026-05-16*

The app is great!! Straight to the point and works pretty fast 

My favorite is the fact that the app does not attack you with notifications the way DuoLingo does

**Developer response:** Thank you for your feedback! We are happy that you like Kaeru. If you have any questions or suggestions please send us a word on support@kaeru-jp.app

### 3/5 — Great idea but buggy execution

*2026-05-15*

The screen crashes when I try to write the kanji. I am asked to practice stroke but I don’t know how to say that 14 stroke kanji, so have that functionality. I will try this app for the next three months and support you in your journey of building it

**Developer response:** Hi ¥vonne_ - good news on both fronts. The writing-practice crash is fixed: it came from the initial setup getting interrupted before the kanji data finished unpacking, and the app now catches that on launch and finishes the unpack itself - no more delete-and-reinstall. The kanji's on-yomi/kun-yomi readings also show right in the deck now, where they used to be hidden, so you always know what you're writing. Update to the latest version and you should be set. Thanks again for sticking with us through it!

## Frequently asked questions about Kaeru

### What is Kaeru's learning methodology?

Kaeru focuses on active recall for kanji by having users write characters stroke by stroke. Grammar is learned through contextual examples and formation rules, while pronunciation is honed with AI feedback. The app uses an adaptive SRS to schedule reviews based on user performance.

### Does Kaeru offer progress tracking?

Yes, Kaeru tracks your progress toward specific JLPT levels (N5 through N1) for both kanji and vocabulary. This helps ensure your study hours are focused and count towards your target exam.

### What are the subscription options for Kaeru?

Kaeru offers weekly, monthly, and annual subscription plans. The annual plan includes a 3-day free trial. Pricing details are available within the app.

### Can I use Kaeru offline?

The provided data does not specify offline functionality. However, features like daily stories and AI pronunciation scoring may require an internet connection.

### How does Kaeru's SRS differ from other apps?

Kaeru's SRS adapts to your memory for each item, scheduling reviews before you forget. It adjusts to missed days rather than overwhelming users with a large backlog of reviews, aiming to maintain motivation.

### What devices does Kaeru support?

Kaeru is available on iPhone and iPad. Apple Pencil can be used on iPads for a kanji notebook experience.

### Does Kaeru have ads?

Yes, Kaeru contains advertisements. As a free app with in-app purchases, ads are part of the user experience.

### How often is Kaeru updated?

The latest version of Kaeru is 1.4.8, last updated on May 6, 2026. This indicates a relatively frequent update schedule, ensuring the app remains current.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.5.3 — 2026-07-21

Performance improvements and bug fixes

### 1.5.2 — 2026-07-09

Performance and stability improvements

### 1.5.1 — 2026-07-07

Bugfixes and performance improvements

### 1.5 — 2026-07-01

Added new voice and new pronunciation assesment engine

### 1.4.10 — 2026-06-27

A new premium voice, plus a big reliability pass on Daily Journey.

Himari, a new premium voice — a warm, natural Japanese voice in Settings → Voice. Installs pack-by-pack, so you only download what you study.
Smarter kanji review — for kanji you've written before, we briefly flash the outline and then let you write from memory, instead of leaving the tracing guide up the whole time. New kanji still get the full guided outline.
Reliable Daily Journey progress — finish a lesson later and your pronunciation, quiz, and writing results are all saved and counted correctly.
"Today" means your today — the daily journey now follows your own calendar day, so it shows up when you expect it.
Better review tracking — words you review properly advance your spaced-repetition schedule, and duplicate cards are gone.
Accurate lesson summaries and quiz answers that never show two correct-looking options.
Settings in one place — tap the gear in the Daily Journey tab to reach all your settings.
Polish & fixes — cleaner Traditional Chinese text, audio playback fixes, and a fix for a flashcard review crash.

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## Related topics

[kaeru](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/kaeru) · [japanese n5 flash card](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/japanese-n5-flash-card) · [jlpt grammar](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/jlpt-grammar)

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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 2026-08-28.*