# Mandarin

> Bilingual Chinese dictionary with pinyin and character support. (iPhone/iPad app by softhub.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mandarin/id412881185 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [softhub](https://appshunter.io/developer/400014908)
- Category: Education, Travel
- Price: Free
- Rating: 4.00/5 from 1 App Store ratings · 8 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 6.1 · 23 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2011-01-07
- Data updated: 2026-06-05
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mandarin/id412881185/reviews.md

## What is Mandarin?

'Mandarin' is a simple dictionary for Chinese language students. The built-in database of several thousand words can be searched for in both directions, from English to Chinese and from Chinese to English. Chinese words can be entered in pinyin notation or using the Chinese keyboard layout. Both traditional and simplified characters are supported.

The Chinese dictionary lookup uses the free CEDICT dictionary from http://cc-cedict.org/.

## Key features

- English to Chinese dictionary
- Chinese to English dictionary
- Pinyin input support
- Traditional and simplified character support
- Built-in database of thousands of words

## Recent user reviews (8 of 8)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mandarin/id412881185/reviews.md

### 2/5 — Poor translations, delivered quickly

*2013-04-05*

My girlfriend's a native Mandarin speaker and I've used this app probably ten times for various words. It has nearly always delivered results that missed the mark. Her little handheld unit is much better. But the app is responsive at least. Just not useful.

### 2/5 — Scratching my head...

*2012-12-04*

Type in "apple" and get "pingguo" ... But type in "pingguo" and get "no results."

**Developer response:** The reverse is a bit tricky. It helps if you separate the words by blanks like 'ping guo' or, if you know the tones, add them as numbers like in 'ping2 guo3'. BTW, this is a great way to practice the 4 tones and check if you got them right.

### 3/5 — Basic. Nice explanation screen, but..

*2012-01-02*

For 我们 it wastes 4 separate displays to give the various meanings of we, us, ourselves etc. This means the scroll list gets stupidly long (what's wrong with "we, us ..."). Very nice that trad & simple char shown on meaning page, but otherwise average to use, esp. since needs 3 separate buttons to search explicit whereas others can auto-detect what you enter!!

### 4/5 — **** Only

*2011-12-28, version 1.1*

Star 1: Offline app with no WIFI needed.

Star 2: All words and translations are correct in all contexts.

Star 3: Quick and instant translation for whatever word you request.

Star 4: Free apps always deserve at least one star.

This app lacks 1 star because it doesn't tell you how to annunciate the word that you require itself.

### 4/5 — Lacks audio support

*2011-09-30, version 1.1*

This is great as a reference as it's all stored offline and seems to have a very large lexis included. Only wish it had audio to pronounce the pinyin like Google translate.

### 3/5 — Just words -- no examples

*2011-09-11*

This is a simple English/Chinese dictionary that lets you look up words in either direction.  However, the definition includes no sentence examples and none of the words in the definition are selectable.  You can type your words in English, Chinese Pinyin, or Chinese Character, but you have to select which type of lookup you're doing.   The definitions include both Traditional and Simplified characters -- but there's no way to select which one you want to see -- it always shows both.

If you are serious about studying Chinese, get the Qingwen app.  It has great examples, and many other useful features.

### 5/5 — Great app!

*2011-05-02*

Free dictionary better than the ones that cost $5

### 5/5 — I like it (我喜欢它)

*2011-04-24*

It's a fantastic app for people all around the world wanting to learn Mandarin and Pinyin. Overall good app. 这是一个极好的软件供人希望各地学习汉语和拼音的世界。总体良好的应用程序。

## Frequently asked questions about Mandarin

### What is the learning methodology of Mandarin?

Mandarin functions as a direct translation tool, aiding language acquisition through its comprehensive dictionary database. It supports bidirectional lookups and multiple input methods to facilitate understanding of Chinese vocabulary.

### How does Mandarin track user progress?

Mandarin does not offer explicit progress tracking features. Its primary function is to provide quick and accurate dictionary lookups for Chinese words and phrases.

### Does Mandarin offer certifications?

Mandarin is a dictionary tool and does not provide any certifications for language proficiency. Its focus is on vocabulary lookup and translation assistance.

### What devices does Mandarin support?

Mandarin is available for iPhone and iPod devices. It is designed to run on Apple's mobile operating systems.

### What is the age rating for Mandarin?

Mandarin has an age rating of 4+, making it suitable for young learners and users of all ages.

### How often is Mandarin updated?

The latest version of Mandarin is 2.00, released on September 8, 2017. While updates have not been frequent recently, the app remains functional for its core purpose.

### Does Mandarin have ads?

No, Mandarin does not contain advertisements. It is a completely ad-free application.

### What is the user sentiment for Mandarin?

Based on the available data, Mandarin has a rating of 4.0 stars from 1 rating. This indicates a generally positive reception from its users.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 2.00 — 2017-09-08

This app has been updated by Apple to display the Apple Watch app icon.

Support new versions of iOS by keeping compatibility even with the good old iPhone 4. Updated the internal database to the lastest dictionary.

### 1.3 — 2012-05-14

Added words with longer descriptions to database and updated the user interface to provide more space to properly display the descriptive text.
Switching the keyboard language to a Chinese layout now also switches to translation from Chinese to English.

### 1.2 — 2012-04-16

Increased size of the database and fixed bug related to translation from Chinese to English, which caused some words to be hidden by words of lesser relevance. The result list of a Chinese to English search is now sorted alphabetically by the words Pinyin translation.

### 1.1 — 2011-07-15

The new version displays a list of recent searches when the user cancels the search. Words selected from the search result list are added to the list of recent searches.

### 1.0 — 2011-01-06

No release notes.

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## More apps by softhub

- [AeroMagic](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/aeromagic/id400014905)

All apps by softhub: https://appshunter.io/developer/400014908

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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 2026-06-05.*