Just be upfront about payment
Response from developer
Hello! Sorry the first impression turned out this way. There is a free trial in the app — you can start it right on the subscription screen and try everything before paying anything. And if you'd rather we set it up for you, just write to app@laoshi.io: we'll switch on free access manually, no payment and no obligations.
Deceitful Marketing Tactics
I contacted support and requested only a refund of the difference—not a full refund—but my request was rejected, even though I have documentation showing the price I agreed to.
I would appreciate it if someone could please review this decision and honor the $55.99 price I was offered and accepted. Customers should be able to rely on the price presented to them when deciding whether to continue a subscription. I want to love the app itself, but this experience feels like a scam and reflects extremely poor customer service.
Планируете ли вы выпустить новую версию HSK?
Promised 3 day trial and instead it charged me
Response from developer
Sorry — that's a horrible way to meet an app, and we understand the frustration. The free trial is granted by the App Store, not by us, and Apple gives it only once per Apple ID. If a trial was used before — even long ago — the purchase goes through at the full price with no trial. That is almost certainly what happened here. The fastest way to get the money back is Apple's own form: reportaproblem.apple.com — sign in, find the Laoshi purchase, request a refund. They usually decide within a couple of days. If Apple refuses or anything goes wrong, write to us at app@laoshi.io. We can't process App Store refunds ourselves — that part is Apple's — but we will help you get to the bottom of it. Nobody should pay for something they only wanted to try.
Full of mistakes
Response from developer
Thank you for this — it's specific, and that makes it fixable. You're right that pinyin quality in the HSK 3 grammar section is something we need to hold to a higher standard, and a systemic issue is exactly what we'd want to catch. We're reviewing that section now. If you could send two or three examples of sentences where the pinyin is wrong or mismatched to app@laoshi.io, it would help us confirm we've found the same pattern you're seeing — and we'll write back once it's corrected.
Great Review
Невозможно бесплатно пользоваться
Misleading
Response from developer
"Free" on the App Store refers to the download — Laoshi itself runs on a subscription, and we'd rather you try it properly before judging: write to app@laoshi.io and we'll activate a free week — no payment, no obligations. On data: everything the app collects is listed on our App Store privacy card — nothing beyond it. And the reviews here are from real learners; quite a few of them started as emails to that same support address.
Очень круто
Can’t use without subscription
Response from developer
Fair point — that's real money, and nobody should judge an app blind. If you're still curious, write to app@laoshi.io and we'll switch on a free week for you — no payment, no obligations. The subscription funds the dictionary, audio and review engine — there's no ad model behind it.
Dịch sai
Лан
Not free
Response from developer
You're right about one thing — you should be able to try Laoshi before paying. And you can: write to us at app@laoshi.io and we'll activate a free week for you — no payment, no obligations. The subscription is what funds the dictionary, audio and spaced-repetition engine — a week is enough to see whether that's worth it for you.
Muy interesante
I'm irritated
Response from developer
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. If you'd still prefer not to add a payment method, feel free to email us at app@laoshi.io with the email you used to register. We’ll gladly activate a free trial for you manually with no obligations 🙂
не могу начать обучение
Лучше не найти
Крутое приложение
You need to pay a subscription to use and they don’t even tell you
An AWESOME Discovery 🙌🏻🤩
have recently discovered an AWESOME app to learn and study Mandarin and purchased the Lifetime subscription 😍
What I enjoy of this app is that is well designed and structured, helping students to build a solid foundation for later on write and speak Mandarin correctly.
This app also allows to practice strokes in order to memorize and learn Chinese characters.
There’s as well a section for studying grammar in an easy way by grasping what I would like to called “grammar chunks.”
You can also practice pronunciation, which is a plus!
Please, give a try! You won’t regret 🙌🏻
BTW, they have one of the BEST customer service EVER!
Thank you Laoshi team!🙏🏻🙌🏻❤️🫶🏻🤗Leah
Response from developer
Thank you so much for your kind words and support, Leah! We’re thrilled to hear that Laoshi is helping you build a strong foundation for Mandarin, and that you’re enjoying the design, grammar, stroke practice, and pronunciation features. Your feedback means a lot to our team, and we’re so happy to have you with us on this journey. 🙏💛
