# Readibu - Chinese novel reader — user reviews > 27 indexed App Store user reviews of Readibu by Lingyi Chen, rated 4.80/5 from 152 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/readibu-chinese-novel-reader/id1474518982/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/readibu-chinese-novel-reader/id1474518982.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 137 · 4★ 10 · 3★ 1 · 2★ 2 · 1★ 2 ## Newest reviews (9 of 27) ### 5/5 — Just what I was looking for! *2022-03-31, version 1.9.0* I never write reviews but I was so pleased to find this that I just had to! There are a few features I think would be nice to have which I mention at the end. I speak basic Chinese with my parents but my vocab and reading/writing is abysmal, and I’ve been trying to improve for the past two years through flash cards or finding things to read. My problem was that either the reading material for my reading level was so boring I’d drop it immediately, or if I found an interesting web novel, it would be too advanced to have pinyin or word definitions so I’d also drop that. I love that I can import web novels to this app and have both pinyin and definitions ready at a single tap. I also love that I can save vocab to review for later. For future improvement it would be nice if there was a quick button to toggle between showing/hiding pinyin, instead of needing to open up the menu to do it. Otherwise sometimes I find myself too invested in the story that I cheat and just use pinyin all the way, which doesn’t help my learning. Also it would be nice if the saved vocab section had pinyin over it and another column with the English def so that you don’t need to click into the word to see what you actually saved. Otherwise this is great and keep up the good work! ### 5/5 — Love this app! *2022-02-19, version 1.9.0* This app has changed the way I learn and read! I’m no longer dependend on graded readers or the content that comes with other apps, but can now read webnovels that I want to read anyway! I just wish there was a way to delete characters from the word list (if there is one, I haven’t found it). Otherwise it’s perfect! ### 5/5 — 不错 *2021-12-10, version 1.9.0* 非常有用，你可以阅读许多小说 ### 5/5 — It’s pleasurable to use *2021-09-09, version 1.9.0* I personally like most of its free features although we can only get full access with premium version. I also use Du Chinese and Mmandarin for Chinese reading short stories and novels. However, this app is also underrated app. So I think you don’t have any drawback to download it ### 5/5 — A Chinese learner’s DREAM *2021-06-04, version 1.9.0* I’m so glad to have found this app; it is literally a dream for someone who’s interested in learning Chinese through reading web novels. Any feature I could dream of this app having, it has that and more. You can not only pick from the novels inside the app, you can also load links to web novels you find online (and there are links to pretty much any Chinese web novel for free lol) and the app loads it as a reader version. You can read with pinyin or without, and it’s so easy if you don’t know a word—just tap on it. (The app even recognizes idioms.) There’s traditional or simplified, you can star vocab to review, and the app saves your last reading place. I was literally blown away by how perfectly this app met my needs, as someone wanting to learn Chinese through reading. Thank you so much to the developers for taking the time to create this app!! ### 5/5 — Amazing *2021-05-19, version 1.9.0* This app is like LingQ but with actually interesting content, a pleasing interface and non-intrusive learning features. You just learn by reading, and you can get a list of the words you’ve looked up at any time if you want to study them. I’ll be trying this app for an extended period and look forward to seeing the results. ### 5/5 — Good app to learn Chinese while reading webnovels *2020-02-02, version 1.4.0* I’ve been trying to find a less tedious way to learn Chinese. This app is great because you can read online webnovels and pressing on the character gives you the meaning of the word. Love it! ### 5/5 — Nice app *2019-12-23, version 1.3.0* Nice app, I enjoyed it a lot. Seriously, that’s the best one I found online for reading Chinese ### 5/5 — Great for Chinese reading practice *2019-09-04, version 1.1.0* Found this by coincidence browsing the Chinese language reddit, and its just perfect for my current reading level. Loads a bunch of web comics in an accessible layout with a built in dictionary. Also allows me to switch to Simplified or Traditional characters. Just perfect. Only thing I would suggest is the ability to import searched words on the history tab maybe to a dictionary like Pleco, where I can save the words as flashcards for later study. Oh and also a feature to bookmark my progress in the chapters. Sometimes I can’t finish reading the entire chapter in one sitting, and would like to save. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Doesn’t work *2023-08-31* All the servers with book are down. Don’t waste your time and money for this app. ### 2/5 — Great concept but…. *2024-01-20, version 1.9.0* ….most of the stories don’t even load. I love the concept as someone who speaks Chinese fluently but lacks reading and writing skills. Most Chinese lessons and apps are boring and are aimed at people who are completely new to Chinese. The idea for this app is exactly what I’m looking for, however most of the stories don’t even load and there isn’t as much variety as I’d like. Are the devs still monitoring this app or is it abandoned? ### 2/5 — Doesn’t work *2022-05-26, version 1.9.0* None of the stories load. Will update if they fix. ### 4/5 — Нельзя использовать одну учетку на другом устройстве *2025-06-27* Отличная читалка, но не без недостатков ### 4/5 — Pretty good for serious learners *2025-01-01, version 1.9.0* The UI and built in dictionary makes translating easy. I would’ve bought the pro version if the offline mode worked. Also, it would be great if there was a greater variety of reading materials, or if users were able to upload our own books. ### 4/5 — This app is nearly perfect *2023-10-30, version 1.9.0* Few suggestions for the devs. 0. An option to automatically play audio when clicking on a word (probably shouldn’t be default) 1. Flash cards for words frequently clicked on 2. Stories for HSK3 and below 3. I find I have to click slightly to the left to click on the right character 4. When selecting a whole sentence the pop up can obscure the text below ### 4/5 — Extremely useful *2022-03-07* I love this app it’s great for intermediate and higher Chinese learners to improve your reading in an enjoyable way. Sometimes the identification of names in premium is a bit iffy. Also the app has a real problem with explicit content translation so if you are reading a sec scene in a novel it can get confusing. A direct way to link to JJWXC novels would be great or inclusion of Danmei novels in the in built library. ### 4/5 — Perfect App Except For a Tiny Issue *2021-06-21, version 1.9.0* This is a great app! The app works smoothly, doing exactly what it is intended to do; however, it does not support Airpods. My Airpods work perfectly fine, but they do not function on this app. I’ve tested it on other Chinese learning apps and the audio is great but whenever I go to Readibu, my phone changes and the audio comes out through the iPhone’s speakers. But overall, beautiful app! This is the only flaw this app has. I wish I could give this review 4.5 stars instead of just 4 if only the App Store had that feature. ### 5/5 — Amazing. Read out loud and to yourself. *2026-06-19, version 2.2.1* I wish this was talked about more, I would have had an easier time learning mandarin. No AI slop, and using publicly available stories/articles, with options for zhuyin and pinyin (and traditional or simplified). The subscription is very affordable so I may give it a shot, but the free version is extremely usable, unlike most things I’ve tried so far. I hope readibu gets a bigger user base. ### 5/5 — Amazing app, can still improve *2026-03-07, version 2.2.1* I really enjoy the idea of this app and it works very well. I can already feel my reading comprehension and motivation going way up, it’s amazing for learners. You can import your own materials, and it provides easy to access sites with more, the best of both worlds. However, the audio doesn’t work for me, dictionaries won’t play it back. Also, this is not necessary, but I’d like stronger support for the site Archive of our Own which is an American fanfiction site but with a lot of Chinese language works. In general, though, it’s a highly useful, fun, and well-designed app. ## Most praised reviews (8 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — PDF/ePUB Feature Request *2026-03-01, version 2.2.0* Instead of web urls, I hope the app can also support PDFs and ePUBs as well. ### 5/5 — Amazing Chinese Reader *2025-12-14, version 2.0.10* I love this so much thank you for making it so easy to use and applicable for all sorts of Chinese content ### 5/5 — Fantastic App *2025-11-01, version 2.0.7* I used this app to progress from my HSK4 plateau to easily mastering HSK5. I’m a big fan of 武侠小说，after reading about 50万汉字 I’ve found my sense of tones has completely changed. My reading speed has increased several fold, and my listening comprehension is also far greater. The most important factor is just read for pleasure, and make sure to click on any word you don’t recognize AND any word you are not crystal clear of the tones on. Great and useful app, plus the definitions I find are more accurate than even Pleco’s! ### 5/5 — Not half bad *2025-04-23, version 1.9.0* It's really good with a lot of interesting stories at varying levels which I found helpful. There are a few paywalls but they mostly improve the experience rather than leaving the app unusable. Was really helpful personally, and the best Chinese reading app I found by far ### 5/5 — Really excellent for learning *2025-02-23, version 1.9.0* The built in links are great, but the best feature is the ability to point it to a search engine and read any webpage. There should be a URL bar on the home screen! It does a good job at parsing words and the HSK ratings for built-in readings are nice, too. Definitely a good learning tool. ### 5/5 — Great for Chinese learning *2024-05-15* Excellent way to find and read short stories graded appropriately. Very helpful to be able to tap words or phrases for a quick definition. Exporting tapped words is a helpful feature too! ### 5/5 — Excellent at what it needs to do *2024-04-04, version 1.9.0* If you’re one of the people that is at just the right stage to need this, it works really well ### 5/5 — So many features in a free app *2022-07-22, version 1.9.0* Great for HSK 4+ Will let you easily find hundreds (thousands?) of webnovels. Pro’s +Pinyin on/off +Google Translate feature +Word definitions +Endless content +Easy to navigate Suggestions -The app does not run well in the background and I have to go back to the page of the novel I’m reading (app does not remember the page, only the novel) -When next page is clicked within the reader you have to open it again in the reader -No way to mark/filter already read content --- *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 2026-08-17.*