# Kanji Lookup — user reviews

> 90 indexed App Store user reviews of Kanji Lookup by telethon k.k., rated 4.70/5 from 3,025 ratings.

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kanji-lookup/id973780102/reviews
- App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kanji-lookup/id973780102.md
- Rating breakdown: 5★ 2,446 · 4★ 315 · 3★ 136 · 2★ 41 · 1★ 87

## What do users think of Kanji Lookup?

Overall sentiment: positive

**Pros**

- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Accurate kanji recognition
- 💡 Comprehensive kanji information
- 👍 Helpful for learning Japanese
- 👍 Useful for travel to Japan

**Cons**

- 🐛 Occasional recognition issues
- 💰 Ads can be intrusive
- 🐛 Camera function not reliable
- 🔋 Drains battery quickly

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Kanji recognition not always accurate
- Camera function doesn't work consistently
- App crashes or freezes occasionally

**Most requested features**

- Add audio pronunciations
- Improve camera function
- Provide more customization options
- Implement kanji quizzing/testing

## Newest reviews (17 of 90)

### 4/5 — Good

*2026-07-27, version 2.3.16*

Good App

### 4/5 — One of a Kind

*2025-06-27, version 2.3.10*

One of a Kind App. It definitely has some flaws and I wish it had quiz-like features with the words you favorite. However, it is the only app I use for looking up Kanji because its drawing feature is the most accurate I have found. It also offers extensive vocabulary and descriptions about each Kanji. I have not seen any other app match their level for Kanji Lookups.

### 5/5 — Readings, stroke order, video—it’s got it all

*2025-06-27, version 2.3.10*

Returning to recover my reading skill after many years out of the country, this app has been a godsend. It will find what you’re looking for no matter how sloppy your writing is. To learn kanji you have to write them properly, though, and the animated stroke feature is terrific for that practice. The example words are well chosen, too, and the sample sentences are great.

### 3/5 — This app is great for Kanji learners

*2025-06-19*

This is a really good app if you’ve been in Japan for a well quite a long time and know a couple of kanji’s as it just deepens your knowledge to kanji’s and understand and learn the other meaning

### 5/5 — Good App But Too Many Ads

*2025-05-28, version 2.3.10*

The content of this app is great for Japanese learners, but it’s wild to make users watch a 30 second ad to look up a single Kanji

### 5/5 — とても重宝しています

*2025-04-15*

漢字に弱い私には本当に有り難いアプリです。
使いやすくて重宝します
読み方だけじゃなく使い方や意味まで丁寧に教えてくれます　大きく表示することも出来るのでごちゃごちゃした漢字でも見やすくて助かります
何気に1番使い続けてるアプリです

### 3/5 — Audio?

*2025-04-10, version 2.3.8*

This is basically a good app, but adding the ability to pronounce the kanji would really bump it up a level.

### 5/5 — 漢字の検索についての意見

*2025-04-10*

わかりやすいと思いますが、だいたいの漢字は検索できますが、検索しても出てこない漢字もあります。全ての漢字が見れたら嬉しいです。複数の漢字の検索も出来たら良いですね。これをみたら、どんな漢字でもわかるようになればいいですね！

### 2/5 — okay so it crashed. cool

*2025-03-21, version 2.3.8*

tried scanning the exact kanji shown in the app store example picture and it hung on “recognizing…” for minutes at a time (the “new, inn, ward, duty, place”) and wouldn’t scan.

tried getting it to analyze an image and it kicked me back out to the app’s main menu. tried doing it again and then it crashed.

loving this so far.

### 5/5 — Outstanding!!!

*2025-03-17, version 2.3.8*

This is the most useful thing I’ve ever used for kanji lookup and practice. So thorough. Great examples.  Amazing!!! Thank you!!!

### 5/5 — Excellent app

*2025-03-08, version 2.3.8*

This app does not only provide the lookup of each kanji and the meaning, it also provides the readings and a lot of sample statements. It helps so much in understanding the kanji. The only improvement I can suggest is to provide a function to delete the individual kanji in the history and favourite tabs, and not having to delete all of them without choices.

### 5/5 — Very good

*2024-11-03*

Easy to use and lots of kanji to learn. He is good for foreigners or like me who can’t read kanji. And it’s easy to do research when you don’t know the kanji.

### 5/5 — Excellent app for learners

*2024-10-15, version 2.3.5*

It’s a quick way to identify kanjis and the common words associated to them. Other resources are either incomplete or take up too much time when i try to read a text. Also useful that there are no ads blocking you except when looking up how to write a kanji.

### 5/5 — 直ぐに出て来てありがたいです😎。

*2024-10-14*

寝室で本を読んでいると、読めない漢字が出て来ます。　いちいち辞書を引けないので、何かいい方法がないかと思っていましたが、偶然見つかりました。
　これからは、このアプリを有効に活用したいと思います。　ありがとうございます😭。

### 5/5 — ほぼ完璧に近いアプリ

*2024-09-12*

欲しい情報や機能、UI、レスポンスなど全体的なアプリの完成度はほぼ完璧に近いと思います。

ただ少し我儘を言わさせて頂けるなら以下の点を改善して頂けると嬉しいです。

・漢字を書く枠の大きさをもっと大きくして欲しい（やや小さく書きづらいため）
・検索後に表示される漢字をもっと大きく表示して欲しい（表示を大きくするために書き順をタップしているため）

### 5/5 — Super useful

*2024-09-03, version 2.3.4*

When I traveled to Japan this was incredibly useful, you can use it with no wifi. The draw pad accurately recognises kanji and you can make words with them too. Always a good tool for studying kanji as it gives you a video on how to draw each kanji for free.Overall a very easy and incredibly useful app, I recommend to anyone studying Japanese.

### 5/5 — The Best Kanji App

*2024-08-27, version 2.3.3*

There are many Kanji Apps, but this one is the best. It is easy to look up words if you can write Japanese.

## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated)

### 1/5 — I can’t open the app…

*2026-01-01, version 2.3.13*

I downloaded it and it said this app is compatible with my phone, but the app closes every time I try and use it. I think this is a bug

### 1/5 — TOO DAMN EARLY

*2024-10-10*

Stop asking within the first minute pf testing the app if i like it. Of course i can’t like it if i can’t try it first…

### 1/5 — Great app very useful for my efforts trying to learn japanesei

*2024-08-14, version 2.3.3*

I find this app very very useful.

I would buy the pro version because I think the developer deserves it except that I’m worried after looking at its description that it won’t work the same way and I’ll what I have with this.

So if your reading this devs imo it would be better to have purchasable upgrade in the free app rather than having to buy a separate pro version.

### 1/5 — Pretty okay

*2023-10-09*

So when I first used this app it was really good but now I’ve been using it for like months and it’s kinda got harder to use

### 1/5 — Great app ruined by invasive ads

*2021-01-20*

I understand that ads within free apps are a necessary evil if you want them to stay free, but there needs to be be a better balance. Why even offer a free version of your app if the constant ads make it practically unusable ?

### 1/5 — Payed to remove all advertisements but they’re still there!?

*2020-12-14, version 2.0.7*

I payed to have all the advertisements removed but the google adds are still constantly on my screen???

You can’t advertise it as “pay to remove all advertisements from Kanji Lookup” and not actually “remove all advertisements” when we pay you to do so!

### 1/5 — Utterly useless

*2020-08-13, version 1.9.10*

1) the camera wants to read horizontally rather than vertically 
2) it doesn’t actually recognize anything, even in clear black and white print, not hand written 
3) the drawing feature even gets very simple kanji wrong, always assuming you mean something more complex than you do 

Real shame. An important tool and there seems to be none which actually function.

### 1/5 — Confused

*2020-04-19, version 1.8.8*

It’s confusing

### 1/5 — Can’t find word

*2020-02-21, version 1.8.6*

Doesn’t detect characters nor have word that I am looking for.

### 1/5 — Doesn’t work at all

*2020-01-14, version 1.8.4*

This app is terrible. Doesn’t recognize a single kanji character. Even with testing with 1 or 2 stroke characters it doesn’t detect it at all

## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated)

### 5/5 — Absolute must have

*2026-07-19, version 2.3.16*

Whether you just visit or really want to master Japanese, without being able to know what the kanji means you will be lost. Restaurants, streets, shopping. I love this app, use it everyday and my understanding of the language is really improving.

### 5/5 — Exactly what I was looking for

*2026-06-07*

Thank you !

### 5/5 — Good but can get better

*2026-05-12*

This is a very handy app and worth paying for. One small problem is the audio. The button is too close to the information button and it’s hard to press. Also, the audio is a little bit slow. But hopefully the developers will fix this. If you’re learning Kanji, this is a great app to have next to you when you are reading. I’m highly recommending it to any student. Hopefully they fix the small audio issues.

### 5/5 — Genial

*2026-05-07*

Beste Lese- und Lernhilfe

### 5/5 — New kanji when reading

*2026-02-23, version 2.3.13*

Very helpful in finding out the definition and reading of a kanji by writing the kanji out.

### 5/5 — Japanese

*2025-11-19, version 2.3.12*

I swear by it…The Japanese..!

### 5/5 — I love this app

*2025-11-14, version 2.3.12*

So helpful and easy to use….

### 5/5 — 手放せない！魅力

*2025-10-20*

もう、還暦を迎え、今まですらすらよめたりかけたりしていましたが、最近は、思い出せないことが多く、ほんと、助かっています。絶対手放せないアプリです。いつも、ありがとうって感じです。

### 5/5 — Best app to look up kanji

*2025-09-18*

This is great. The only app I’ve used for 3 years. It’s the best.

### 5/5 — Brilliant

*2025-09-01, version 2.3.10*

I use every day! Brilliantly organized, easy to use, comprehensive down to the radical, useful examples, easy to look things up… I wish I had this available to me 30 years ago when I first started studying Japanese! Excellent job!

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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 2026-09-09.*