# Pleco Chinese Dictionary — user reviews > 1,191 indexed App Store user reviews of Pleco Chinese Dictionary by Pleco Inc., rated 4.70/5 from 1,902 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pleco-chinese-dictionary/id341922306/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pleco-chinese-dictionary/id341922306.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 1,665 · 4★ 114 · 3★ 34 · 2★ 25 · 1★ 64 ## What do users think of Pleco Chinese Dictionary? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 🚀 Extremely helpful and useful - 👍 Comprehensive and detailed dictionary - 🔍 Excellent search and lookup features - 💡 Customizable and personalized experience - 🎓 Essential tool for learning Chinese - 🔊 Clear audio pronunciations **Cons** - 💰 Expensive add-ons and bundles - 🐛 Occasional bugs and freezing issues - 🔍 Cluttered interface and navigation - 🌐 Lack of cloud sync and backup **Commonly reported bugs** - Handwriting recognition not always accurate - Inconsistent performance on older devices - Occasional issues with iCloud sync and backup **Most requested features** - Improved flashcard management and organization - More language options beyond Mandarin and Cantonese - Better integration with other learning apps and platforms - Ability to filter and prioritize common/essential vocabulary ## Newest reviews (19 of 1,191) ### 4/5 — Peak *2026-07-07, version 3.2.82* I use this in school. Very 67. No ads. Wayyy awesomer than google translate. More accurate too. 很好很好👌 ### 3/5 — Problem updating to 3.8.2 *2026-05-12, version 3.2.82* Unable to update to 3.8.2. Device keeps updating to this version but version number never changes. ### 4/5 — Best Chinese dictionary I’ve used for 2026! *2026-05-02, version 3.2.81* If you don’t know how to write or read use this app! 如果你没很会看和写中文的话用这个app。真的很好 it really is good! I hope you can use this app . It is very good for quick search. Better than google translate and stuff. ### 4/5 — Overall good *2026-04-20* Disadvantages: Somewhat counterintuitive UX and a lot of repetitive words and expressions ### 5/5 — Very helpful *2026-04-08, version 3.2.81* Awesome tool for Chinese learners. I love that the free version doesn't have ads. I ended up getting the add-on bundle to get more dictionaries and the stroke order feature. I have tried the flashcards feature, and while it's very quick to create cards, it's not very straightforward to configure. There are so many settings, and it's not clear what some of them do, so you would need to read the manual. I'm going to stick to Anki for flashcards because it's just more straightforward. Also, I wish the app was available on Macs because I don't do a lot of studying just on my phone. ### 3/5 — Good application but … *2026-03-27, version 3.2.80* This application is good if you want to find a word but when you want a sentence with the word, they always put hard sentences so it’s very hard to find the word in an easy sentence to try to understand more and how to use the word, if you can change that and put easy sentences to understand how to use some words it’ll be perfect ### 3/5 — The Mandarin Pronunciation is broken *2026-03-22, version 3.2.80* Other than the fact the Mandarin pronunciation is broken the base app is fine. Wished the developers picked up on how it doesn’t pronounce words anymore. ### 5/5 — thanks!!! *2026-03-11* 謝謝 ### 5/5 — Realmente útil *2026-03-08, version 3.2.80* En lo general la app es muy buena,lo único es que todo está en inglés y no entiendo del todo las opciones aún así no le quita que es de los mejores diccionarios :) ### 5/5 — 👍👍 *2026-02-20, version 3.2.80* Excellent UI. Everything responsive but not excessively, does what I would expect or hope it to do. Zero buggy or funny behaviour. Can search for pretty much anything. Imaginative and useful example sentences. ### 5/5 — The best app I have ever has!! *2026-02-12, version 3.2.80* A Great Job ### 3/5 — missing stroke info *2026-02-04, version 3.2.80* Stroke sequence in Pleco App Why do some characters in Pleco show stroke order while others don’t? I use Pleco to learn how to write characters, but I noticed the Stroke tab only appears for some entries. Does anyone know why stroke order isn’t available for all characters, and whether there’s a setting or add‑on I need to enable to view it consistently? Like 公 has the stork tab menu, and show stroke sequence. But 坏 doesn’t show the stroke tab menu. ### 5/5 — 很好用 *2026-01-28* Really good ### 5/5 — Love this app *2026-01-25, version 3.2.80* I was born in America, though Chinese. I use this app sometimes when translating fancy English terms to Chinese for my parents, and for studying the Dao De Jing. Purchased the Outlier Essentials to support this app's efforts. ### 5/5 — Learning Cantonese *2026-01-19, version 3.2.80* My Thai professor showed me this app when I was abroad and I’m just now coming back to it porque yo quiero enseñar Cantonese :) ### 5/5 — 對外國學中文超好用 *2026-01-18, version 3.2.80* 英文解釋超棒！非常適合外國人來學習中文 ### 5/5 — Nothing better *2026-01-15, version 3.2.80* I used to carry around bulky dictionaries. Then I discovered Pleco. I often amaze Chinese people with my ability to find obscure words and phrases using this app. I use it almost everyday here in China, and wouldn't leave home without it. ### 3/5 — Basic *2026-01-14, version 3.2.80* This app is helpful but has limitations. It’s best for single words and has trouble with some phrases. Also the sample sentences lack alot. I use this for single words but for sentences/grammar issues I use other apps ### 4/5 — The goods of pleco dictionary *2025-12-29, version 3.2.80* This dictionary app was great. Because look up at this dictionary app you will see thousands of characters, entries,... Conclusion, this app was useful and confortable. Thank you very much! ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Clunky *2026-07-03, version 3.2.82* I don't understand why this dictionary has such a high rating. The search functionality is total junk. E.g., try searching for "Monday" with Outlier dictionary. You won't get anything despite that word being present in the dictionary. ### 1/5 — Scam *2025-12-11, version 3.2.80* They promised a mac app more than 10 years ago. GFY ### 1/5 — Crashes out continuously *2025-09-06, version 3.2.78* The app is good when it doesn’t crash out especially in reader mode - the dictionary setting in reader mode doesn’t work - even if you have latest update ### 1/5 — Keyboard impossible *2025-08-07, version 3.2.77* This app used to be usable until the developers tried to make it all things for all people, and it became complatly unmanageable. Once Chinese handwriting input is selected, it seems there is no way - short of uninstalling and reinstalling - to get back to a keyboard style input. What the app calls "keyboard input," is just some sort of handwriting or radical-selection input, and english character input seems not possible. VOICE is selectable, but once selected, it seems to always interpret the English words as Chinese, and fals apart from there. What a shame - this used to be a nice app. Now I'm left with only Google Translate or Apple Translate, both of which thankfully work reliably and understand what a keyboard really is. ### 1/5 — Difficult for write Hanzii. *2025-06-18, version 3.2.77* Difficult to use. ### 1/5 — I loved Pleco before *2025-02-14* Before Pleco always hit the mark on translations. Now every time I encounter Chinese people I use this for translation and they say the vocabulary is archaic **Developer response:** Sorry, we haven't changed anything about that recently - by any chance are you missing some add-on dictionaries you installed previously? ### 1/5 — Langue *2025-01-27* C’est pas en français ### 1/5 — Lxs *2024-12-28, version 3.2.75* 为什么我们要用这软件？ 不好用 👎 ### 1/5 — No Mandarin Audio *2024-12-12, version 3.2.75* After upgrade iPhone iOS 18, only Cantonese and Thailand speaking. Please follow up. Thanks ### 1/5 — traditional characters *2024-10-17, version 3.2.75* im having hard time using this app speciallly if im looking for traditional chinese characters. i cant find the store or just give me a work but cant select the one i want just give translation. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — The best! *2026-08-18, version 3.2.83* Pleco is solidly reliable and I’ve been using it for years. ### 5/5 — Indispensable app for learning Chinese *2026-07-20, version 3.2.82* This app is packed with features that I now find indispensable for learning Chinese. The dictionary alone has so many features, including the ability to search from a handwritten character to showing you the stole order to write it. The flash card system is really well written as well, allowing you to organize in great detail and manage additions and moves. It’s really smartly designed. The biggest weakness seems to be the optical character recognition; I’ve never managed to get this to work reliably from live images; you have to hold the phone really still and even then its touch and go. Apart from that, I can’t live without it 😅 ### 5/5 — Pleco *2026-07-14, version 3.2.82* The handwriting search mode is very useful👍👍👍 ### 5/5 — Best Dictionary App!! *2026-06-12, version 3.2.82* This app has been amazingly helpful! As a native English speaker trying to learn Mandarin this is so good and powerful. It gives so many more details and information compared to translate apps. I use it as my primary form of review for flashcards, and the other tools like the built in pronunciation and stroke order are so helpful. For sure best purchase I’ve made. Amazing app. ### 5/5 — The best Mandarin dictionary app! *2026-06-02, version 3.2.82* It is the best Mandarin app out there. The best! ### 5/5 — Amazing for learning *2026-05-28, version 3.2.82* Im learning Chinese and this app has been such a help! ### 5/5 — Download with confidence 👍 *2026-05-28, version 3.2.82* When I studied and learnt Mandarin, late 80’s, there was no internet, so no apps. If I’d had this app back then, it would be my *go to* reference, and made learning so much easier. This app will : ✅ save countless hours ✅ make the whole process much faster ✅ vastly improve comprehension ✅ vastly improve understanding ✅ vastly improve character learning and meanings Even now I use it to look up unfamiliar words or expressions; breakdown the characters and their meanings; PLUS I get to hear them, see the stroke order, see the radical and it’s meaning...all at the touch of a button. Absolutely brilliant app that’s been researched and developed to perfection 👍👍👍👍👍 To the few who give bad reviews, try looking up a character using a traditional Chinese dictionary, a dictionary with paper pages. What radical is it? How many strokes? This app makes characters a breeze. All we had was “top to bottom, left to right, closing stroke last”. Brilliant. I’d give it 10 stars if I could. This is one of the most professionally designed apps available so kudos to the developers. It’s brilliant, and far ahead of anything else. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ### 5/5 — Good *2026-05-19, version 3.2.82* App rất hữu ích ### 5/5 — Thank you so much this is very helpful and helpful to my family and daughter who has homework *2026-05-06, version 3.2.81* When I write a Chinese character I usually don’t do it neatly but the phone always gets it right. It is funny that when I write the character a lot of times it always shows up with the word a lot of times ! ### 5/5 — In praise of Pleco *2026-04-21, version 3.2.81* I’m using John DeFrancis text books. Pleco enables me to learn simplified Chinese simultaneously. I admit to using Google Translate as well. Wonderful source of learning. Thanks. --- *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 2026-08-29.*