Amazing so far!
I don’t have a ton to say other than the reader is a phenomenal tool. I adore the color coding, and I really love the flashcard integration.
I mainly use Anki but I’m having a lot of fun reviewing cards in both apps. I just keep them separate and figure there will be overlap here and there. But that’s just helping to reinforce my vocabulary anyway.
I grabbed the 1 year subscription and I feel like there’s a lot of value to be had here. I am massively looking forward to the manga support update, and I will be recommending this app to my friends (we’re planning a group trip to Japan in a couple of years!)
I mainly use Anki but I’m having a lot of fun reviewing cards in both apps. I just keep them separate and figure there will be overlap here and there. But that’s just helping to reinforce my vocabulary anyway.
I grabbed the 1 year subscription and I feel like there’s a lot of value to be had here. I am massively looking forward to the manga support update, and I will be recommending this app to my friends (we’re planning a group trip to Japan in a couple of years!)
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Abandoned?
The app is useful but sometimes bugs out. no updates in a year?
Very helpful for Japanese reading
Thank you for creating such a helpful app. I use it to read Japanese EPUB books, and it has been a great support in my Japanese learning journey.
I really appreciate having an iOS app that makes it easy to read Japanese books and news articles. One issue I’ve noticed is that on my iPad, the app sometimes freezes and becomes unresponsive.
I also understand that adding flashcards to Anki is limited to subscribers. While I understand the reason for that, I wish free users could have at list for adding new words.
I really appreciate having an iOS app that makes it easy to read Japanese books and news articles. One issue I’ve noticed is that on my iPad, the app sometimes freezes and becomes unresponsive.
I also understand that adding flashcards to Anki is limited to subscribers. While I understand the reason for that, I wish free users could have at list for adding new words.
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Response from developer
Hi, I’m glad you like the app and find it useful in your studies. I have a hotfix nearly ready which resolves the responsiveness issues. Thanks for your patience and support -Alex
Awesome app with some nitpicks
This is a super handy app for Japanese lookups! It even works on any web page so you can read whatever you want. That being said, my first impression of the app was kind of soured by the fact that I was instantly greeted with a subscription popup before I even had the chance to try anything. Also I’m not sure if there is a setting somewhere I’ve missed, but is it possible to view alternate definitions instead of whatever gets parsed first? I find this can be a problem with certain verb forms, like 変わってる gets parsed as “to be unusual” rather than a form of 変わる. Anyhow, really like the app and keep up the good work!
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Response from developer
Hi, thanks for the detailed feedback! I'm currently working on a full redesign update with many quality improvements. I've added the verb form issue to my list. If you find other such issues, please reach out by email or Discord and I will be sure to follow up on them in an upcoming update if not the next update. I am also redoing the onboarding experience so that the full app functionalities are demonstrated and given a chance to be used and learned interactively. I hope I can push the app to a 5 star experience for you soon enough. Don't hesitate to reach out with any other feedback, it's very helpful. Meanwhile I am glad to hear it is helping your studies. Cheers -A
Wonderful app!
Found this app after searching for other resources on reddit r/learnjapanese and cant be happier! This app has so many useful features and the developer is working hard to add even more exciting ones!
Fills a gap for Japanese learners on mobile
This has completely changed my approach to reading in Japanese. As an intermediate learner, I’ve known for a while it’s been time to get involved in reading more native content, but the process of looking up readings and meanings from physical books is honestly really tedious. And I can never seem to get my hands on material that captures my interest with furigana, especially because I’m more interested in nonfiction.
I am aware of some tools that work with web browsers, websites that add furigana to text, and workflows for desktop/laptop users but as a primarily iPhone user those workflows didn’t work for me. And while furigana automation is great, nothing brought it all together like this app. All this is just to say I think this app fills perfectly a need I’ve had for years and I wish I found it sooner!
I would honestly use it if it JUST displayed furigana with dictionary lookups when you tap the word. When I found out it also keeps track of your vocabulary and you can browse the web with it, I was blown away. This app immediately became a part of my regular study on a weekly basis now.
The creator also reached out and interacted with me on reddit to ask about feature improvements and requests which gives me a huge relief that this isn’t one of the many abandoned apps, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store next.
I am aware of some tools that work with web browsers, websites that add furigana to text, and workflows for desktop/laptop users but as a primarily iPhone user those workflows didn’t work for me. And while furigana automation is great, nothing brought it all together like this app. All this is just to say I think this app fills perfectly a need I’ve had for years and I wish I found it sooner!
I would honestly use it if it JUST displayed furigana with dictionary lookups when you tap the word. When I found out it also keeps track of your vocabulary and you can browse the web with it, I was blown away. This app immediately became a part of my regular study on a weekly basis now.
The creator also reached out and interacted with me on reddit to ask about feature improvements and requests which gives me a huge relief that this isn’t one of the many abandoned apps, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store next.
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A great sentence mining option for iOS
I have used a few different options since switching to iOS including Migaku but Manabi just flows better and with direct to Anki mining is perfect for getting extra reading in when out and about.
With manga integration planned I’m excited to see where this app will go in the near future!
Thank you for your hard work!
With manga integration planned I’m excited to see where this app will go in the near future!
Thank you for your hard work!
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Exactly what I was looking for
I wanted something that would allow me to not only look up words in any web page that I was reading but also had the ability to send those words to Anki. There was nothing on mobile that seemed to fit this until I found Manabi. Now I can build out my vocabulary deck anywhere, anytime! Thanks for a great app!
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Never ending crashes
Every time I try to open it, it crashes
Great resource
I’m beyond grateful, 学び has been with me since the start of my taking up kana a few months ago
An app in need of a user experience
After opening the app, I’m immediately met with two poorly laid out upsell dialogs (terrible whitespace and margins, unfamiliar macOS design patterns, etc.), back-to-back, before I even understand what value I’d get in purchasing them. Like an app that asks for push notifications without a clear reason before requesting them, this comes off as nothing more than an upfront cash grab, regardless of actual intent.
Once past the dialogs, the first-time user experience is an utterly confusing list of random items. What does the app DO? There’s a tiny “getting started”… list? (the second item, “Mark paragraphs as read”, doesn’t seem to do anything when clicked) that first points me to “look up a word”, but clicking the link takes me to a list of “feeds” that are, at newest, 9 months old. What am I looking up? What is the app trying to get me to accomplish?
I try checking the “Help” menu bar item, and am told, “Help isn’t available for ManabiReader”. No kidding.
I love trying novel ways to improve my language proficiency, but this seems like an app for people who have prior information about what it does, and how it does it, built by a developer in need of a user experience designer.
Once past the dialogs, the first-time user experience is an utterly confusing list of random items. What does the app DO? There’s a tiny “getting started”… list? (the second item, “Mark paragraphs as read”, doesn’t seem to do anything when clicked) that first points me to “look up a word”, but clicking the link takes me to a list of “feeds” that are, at newest, 9 months old. What am I looking up? What is the app trying to get me to accomplish?
I try checking the “Help” menu bar item, and am told, “Help isn’t available for ManabiReader”. No kidding.
I love trying novel ways to improve my language proficiency, but this seems like an app for people who have prior information about what it does, and how it does it, built by a developer in need of a user experience designer.
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Incorrect furigana
Incorrect furigana. If you make it so that only the furigana from the book is displayed, it does not appear correctly
Excellent
Wonderful app.
Excellent and does exactly as promises.
Even when I had a brief billing error the developer was to quick to help and fix it.
Updating in 2025: genuine thanks to the developer who continues to improve this app. I have downloaded many Japanese study apps and dictionaries over the years. By far, one of the best.
Excellent and does exactly as promises.
Even when I had a brief billing error the developer was to quick to help and fix it.
Updating in 2025: genuine thanks to the developer who continues to improve this app. I have downloaded many Japanese study apps and dictionaries over the years. By far, one of the best.
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More effective than Anki! A bit buggy
I love this app! For me, it’s been more effective than Anki in increasing my comprehension, because there’s more of a tangible connection to topics that I care about. I highly recommend it for intermediate Japanese learners on a self-study path. I’ve used many Japanese study apps and found that their usefulness and/or interest expires pretty quickly. Not so with Manabi!
I’m not very diligent/disciplined with studying, but I find myself using Manabi daily just because it’s fun and easy to read Japanese blogs with it. I tend to read blog posts from note.com and unfortunately Manabi crashes semi-frequently on that site. But the reading functions are so practical and handy that I use Manabi constantly despite the crashes.
The Scan feature works great when I’m reading physical media. My kanji recognition is noticeably improving by using the “Familiarity” marking function. I use the “export to Anki” option to build decks; LOVE that the sentence context is included in that export!
Future feature idea: I would love to see simple Japanese definitions of the words I select, instead of the English translations of words; this would make the app usable for AJATT method.
But anyway, using this app regularly is expanding my vocab and grammatical understanding considerably. I’m even learning fun cultural tidbits, because the content I’m reading isn’t filtered through a lens of English translation. Manabi is such a great tool! It was obviously designed by someone with a deep understanding of what it takes to acquire Japanese language skill. :)
I’m not very diligent/disciplined with studying, but I find myself using Manabi daily just because it’s fun and easy to read Japanese blogs with it. I tend to read blog posts from note.com and unfortunately Manabi crashes semi-frequently on that site. But the reading functions are so practical and handy that I use Manabi constantly despite the crashes.
The Scan feature works great when I’m reading physical media. My kanji recognition is noticeably improving by using the “Familiarity” marking function. I use the “export to Anki” option to build decks; LOVE that the sentence context is included in that export!
Future feature idea: I would love to see simple Japanese definitions of the words I select, instead of the English translations of words; this would make the app usable for AJATT method.
But anyway, using this app regularly is expanding my vocab and grammatical understanding considerably. I’m even learning fun cultural tidbits, because the content I’m reading isn’t filtered through a lens of English translation. Manabi is such a great tool! It was obviously designed by someone with a deep understanding of what it takes to acquire Japanese language skill. :)
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Wonderful App!
this is a really useful app developed by japanese learners for japanese learners! reading immersion is very important and helpful in studying, and there is no better app to use than manabi! this specific app also has a sister app, which is a flash card app that allows you to import words and phrases that you have found in manabi reader and create cards for studying them! it is great for mining, and the two apps pair together almost seamlessly. very nice and involved developer, i am highly impressed!!
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Manabi Reader
I’m pretty much a beginner reader of Japanese. I love the range of reading levels and topics offered by Manabi Reader. The associated app Manabi Flashcards is super helpful for building my Japanese vocabulary skills.
Very good app
Excellent app for Japanese learners at any level. I wish the dev would update some of the news/blog sources, but other than that it’s by far the best solution for iOS and macOS. I would give this app ten starts if I could.
Nice resource
Pretty good with one or two bugs but overall positive. The premium is cheap and the integrated flashcards is great. Not all the articles are good though, and the translation can be off, but I’ve had the most success with uploading my own epub books and using those.
Extremely good
Extremely nice and intuitive UI. Feature rich. Dev is an old school one person maintainer who instantly fixes any bug you tell him about. Very valuable work for language learners, I hope this grows to be huge!!!
Perfect for reading practice
I’ve been needed more convenient ways to get reading practice in for the JLPT. This app works perfectly for NHK news sites! I do a lot of studying on my computer, but this is my go to for finding a spare 5-10 minutes to read an article.
I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of its features so far, and I hope to use it more.
I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of its features so far, and I hope to use it more.
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Response from developer
I’m glad to hear it’s serving you well! Stay tuned for more soon. I will also be simplifying the UI together with the release of iOS 26 in order to make its many features easier to discover and use. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any requests or issues in the future, too. Cheers -A
