Best for Characters
I prefer the flexibility of Anki for most things but if you’re looking to learn to write characters Skritter is awesome.
lag greatly improved
In the past there were issues with this otherwise excellent app lagging and failing to load. These seem to have been mostly fixed and I’ve renewed my subscription. If you want to learn a large number of hanzi, there’s no better app. And I appreciate the integration with dictionary entries in Pleco, the overall most essential app for Chinese learners. Thanks!
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Pretty good, minor drawbacks
This app is pretty good for learning how to write or read Chinese. I like it cause it gives you the option to choose between traditional and simplified. One of the drawbacks is that it automatically defaults to HSK 2.0, even though it has HSK 3.0. Another thing is that’s it’s pretty pricey for what it’s worth. The worst thing for me is probably the font it’s in. In the real world in China they use a more blocky font (Heiti, Songti, Mingti) and the one skritter uses is very calligraphy like, where there are nice angles and such (Kaiti), but in the real world instead of that specific angle they just do a 90 degree turn, or maybe just smush everything down so everything is even. An example of this is the word 哪 , in the app the Kou portion is sitting comfortably up in the top left corner. In heiti font it’s thin and reaches from top to bottom. The second part, 冄 , in skritter is pretty evenly spaced. And probably the one that was most difficult for me was 阝, in Skritter (Kaiti) it hangs below the rest of the character, in real life (heiti) it doesn’t. Heiti likes everything evenly spaced. Maybe add like a feature where you can add the font that’s used in mainland China so you can get used to it, cause it’s kinda difficult adapting. Like maybe show it right below the Kaiti font when on the reading and definition, and you can maybe like choose which one (Songti, Mingti, or Heiti). Cause I do understand you need to use Kaiti to learn how to write. But even when trying to learn to read. I’ve been living in China for the past month, and have only been able to recognize maybe a dozen characters due to the real world using Heiti. For comparison it’s like a foreigner in China learning how to read English by learning to read founding father style cursive, but when they actually go to an English speaking country, they realize the world is dominated by Arial and Helvetica. This is not just a problem for the real world, this is also a problem because all formalized online testing systems use Heiti, some of these exams include AP Chinese Language and Culture, HSK, and even AAPPL. Overall pretty good app though. (Edit, changed to 4 stars since the developers actually responded, and it seems like they actually care about feedback compared to some other apps ahem Duolingo, it seems that most of the reviews are responded to, so it’s nice to see that they actually care about their work!🙂)
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Response from developer
Thank you so much for the 3-star review, and for taking the time to share your feedback! I will share your feedback with the development team. If you ever have any questions, you can reach us at team@skritter.com
obsessed
Can’t stop won’t stop
Pretty good, minor drawbacks
This app is pretty good for learning how to write or read Chinese. I like it cause it gives you the option to choose between traditional and simplified. One of the drawbacks is that it automatically defaults to HSK 2.0, even though it has HSK 3.0. Another thing is that’s it’s pretty pricey for what it’s worth. The worst thing for me is probably the font it’s in. In the real world in China they use a more blocky font and the one skritter uses is very calligraphy like, where there are nice angles and such, but in the real world instead of that specific angle they just do a 90 degree turn, or maybe just smush everything down so everything is even. Maybe add like a feature where you can add the font that’s used in mainland China so you can get used to it, cause it;s kinda difficult adapting. Overall pretty good app though.
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Best ever way to study and review 中文！
Started studying Chinese in 1966. After many different classes and programs Skritter hits the sweet spot.
Response from developer
Thank you for the 5-star review, we appreciate it! We are collecting user-testimonials and would love to learn more about how Skritter is helping you. If you want to share more about your experience, you can let us know at team@skritter.com.
Great app
Great app, but I’m just waiting for the iPad writing capabilities before buying it (at a reasonable size, not huge like at the moment)
Yay Skritter!!!
The only app I think I’ve ever written a review for because this is truly so legit!!! It’s exactly what I’ve been looking for for SO long as a child of Taiwanese immigrants to the US, who grew up speaking and listening to Chinese but stopped going to Chinese school at a young age and so am basically illiterate 😂 I have been recommending it to my sister, cousins, and friends who are all in the same boat.
Also, as someone who went through medical school, I am super familiar with the spaced repetition algo from Anki and I think it is perfectly applied here, bravo!!!!
Also shout out to Fiona and Iona, I have been really enjoying the content by them! Especially the Pikmin Bloom, poetic colors and Taiwanese comics videos!
I do wish there was a social function to see how my friends and family are progressing in the app. A little motivation via friendly competition! But also totally fine without it!
Also, as someone who went through medical school, I am super familiar with the spaced repetition algo from Anki and I think it is perfectly applied here, bravo!!!!
Also shout out to Fiona and Iona, I have been really enjoying the content by them! Especially the Pikmin Bloom, poetic colors and Taiwanese comics videos!
I do wish there was a social function to see how my friends and family are progressing in the app. A little motivation via friendly competition! But also totally fine without it!
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Response from developer
Thank you so much for the 5-star review and for taking the time to share your feedback! Also, thank you for recommending our app to friends and family. We truly appreciate your support. If you ever have any questions, you can reach us at team@skritter.com
make the chinese character larger please
It's problematic that the chinese characters are rather small when reviewing words in spite of them being what students are trying to learn to recognize. A lot of apace is being wasted on iPad that could be utilized to make these characters much larger, indicating that the app is not adequately being redesigned for larger screens. Other than that the app is good, with a wide range of decks being offered. The new HSK seems to be available for Levels 1-3, while the old HSK can be studied up to level 6. I suspect this will be expanded soon.
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Response from developer
Thank you so much for the 4-star review and for taking the time to share your feedback! I will pass this feedback on to the development team. If you ever have any questions, you can reach us at team@skritter.com
Interesting experience
I love the handwriting aspect as well as the ability to learn in traditional script. However the use of AI generated videos is a little off putting.
really good
This is honestly the best Chinese learning app I've ever used. The subscription is so worth it and it is very helpful for writing, reading, and pronunciation. Genuinely best app for learning chinese.
Good study aide
Helps me keep the characters learned fresh in my memory.
Update:
I initially used this to keep track of characters learned and for the flash cards. But the courses are also very helpful.
Update:
I initially used this to keep track of characters learned and for the flash cards. But the courses are also very helpful.
Good study aide
Helps me keep the characters learned fresh in my memory.
Great 中文 Writing App
I have been using this app for about a month now and I can definitely say that my written Chinese, as well as character recognition has improved a lot.
Buggy and poorly designed although pretty
The button to start the continuous mode just spins and spins and doesn’t let me start my lesson. The lessons with videos are cumbersome because on an iPhone I can’t open to full screen. Lastly, when I am starting a new set of cards there is no way to control the number of new cards it shows me so it’s overwhelming and I don’t get the benefit of the spaced repetition.
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Has unresolved technical issues.
A a wonderful platform for learning Chinese Characters. Unfortunately, it has unresolved technical issues. I bought a years subscription and two months into my subscription the site developed faults. I attempted to delete the app and reinstall. It wouldn’t allow me access to my previous subscription. I’ve claimed my money back by Apple subscriptions. If I rejoin in the future, I will pay monthly that way you don’t lose too much money if the site develops a fault. £120 is a lot of money to lose.
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Response from developer
We have not received any other reports about this technical issue, so this is most likely an account-related issue. We recieved your email and would like to get this issue resolved for you as quickly as possible.
Upgrade?
I really enjoy this application and find it is extremely helpful, however if there was an update / upgrade to include speech recognition and also to enter pinyin that would make this a better application.
Useful and fun
Enjoying this way more than I thought
Very good app, some extra features would make it great
As a beginner in Chinese, I am really enjoying the app and the user friendly interface. I am currently on the monthly fee and about 20% of the way through their HSK 1 course which has taught me already many of the most useful and common words. One of my favourite features is the information page for each word, where the history and radicals of the characters are explained and a little about how the word is used, as well as an example in a real sentence.
Two features I would suggest are added to make this app much more useful for learning -
- Have a way to track which words you keep getting forgetting the most, so that these can be specifically targeted for practice. When I complete a test of 100 words and then go to re-test the incorrect ones, I’d like to be able to save these to a new deck to look at later, as I don’t think it’s always ideal to just do them again over and over again straight away but to space out the repetition.
- Implement a new reversed test format in which the English word is presented to you and you have to write/remember the Chinese word. This would make the app so much more useful, as it’s one thing to recognise a word/character and another to recall it straight from English. Having been primarily using this app for my learning so far, I can already notice how much better my listening and reading is than my ability to string together sentences, as I havent practiced translating much from English to Chinese, only the other way round. I think this feature would solidify the app as not just a way to learn to write characters but to learn the language.
Thanks!
Two features I would suggest are added to make this app much more useful for learning -
- Have a way to track which words you keep getting forgetting the most, so that these can be specifically targeted for practice. When I complete a test of 100 words and then go to re-test the incorrect ones, I’d like to be able to save these to a new deck to look at later, as I don’t think it’s always ideal to just do them again over and over again straight away but to space out the repetition.
- Implement a new reversed test format in which the English word is presented to you and you have to write/remember the Chinese word. This would make the app so much more useful, as it’s one thing to recognise a word/character and another to recall it straight from English. Having been primarily using this app for my learning so far, I can already notice how much better my listening and reading is than my ability to string together sentences, as I havent practiced translating much from English to Chinese, only the other way round. I think this feature would solidify the app as not just a way to learn to write characters but to learn the language.
Thanks!
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Response from developer
Thank you so much for the 4-star review, and for taking the time to share your feedback! I will pass these requests on to our development team. If you ever have any questions, you can reach us at team@skritter.com!
Nice app, but would like to address one thing that distracts a lot
Got this app recommended by a person's review on Anki Flashcards. Decided to try. Now thinking of buying the whole version.
But one feature in the 'Learn' mode is so distracting, it seriously disrupts the flow. When you're asked to write a tone it shows the instructions in small font and the hanzi is displayed in grey just as it's asking to write strokes. I constantly try to start writing the hanji itself and miss the small font that says to just write a tone.
If I can suggest, the font can be made bigger or in other color to draw attention. Or just the grayed out hanji can be in another transparent color or on the other background so it doesn't seem like a start of writing the strokes.
I tried to find something in settings, but I couldn't. If that feature is added, the experience would be so much better.
But one feature in the 'Learn' mode is so distracting, it seriously disrupts the flow. When you're asked to write a tone it shows the instructions in small font and the hanzi is displayed in grey just as it's asking to write strokes. I constantly try to start writing the hanji itself and miss the small font that says to just write a tone.
If I can suggest, the font can be made bigger or in other color to draw attention. Or just the grayed out hanji can be in another transparent color or on the other background so it doesn't seem like a start of writing the strokes.
I tried to find something in settings, but I couldn't. If that feature is added, the experience would be so much better.
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Response from developer
Thank you so much for the 5-star review, and for taking the time to share your feedback! I will pass these requests on to our development team. If you ever have any questions, you can reach us at team@skritter.com!
