# Zhong - Chinese Characters — Chinese Character Learning App > Visual Chinese character and vocabulary learning app with interactive graph exploration. (iPhone/iPad app by ERIC PETERMAN.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/zhong-chinese-characters/id6794116739 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [ERIC PETERMAN](https://appshunter.io/developer/6794116741) - Category: Education - Price: Free with in-app purchases - Rating: 5.00/5 from 1 App Store ratings - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 15.0 · 120 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2026-08-24 - Data updated: 2026-10-24 - Monetization: free with in-app purchases ## What is Zhong? Zhong makes learning Chinese character and vocabulary easy by letting you explore the relationships within the language. Instead of relying on rote memorization, Zhong shows you how the language actually fits together - every character connected to its radicals, character components, and words it is contained in. Explore the graph and learn Chinese visually to expand your vocabulary and Chinese character recognition. THE 3D WORD GRAPH Explore Chinese characters visually — see how characters connect to create words, see the components and radicals they’re composed of, and the relationships between them all. SEARCH Search Chinese characters and words using Chinese, English, or Pinyin and further travel the relationships between them. Every entry includes the definition, pinyin, and audio pronunciation. GUIDED LESSONS Learn core concepts to understanding how the Chinese language works. Short lessons will help build a foundation to more quickly build your vocabulary. FLASH CARDS & QUIZZES Study flash cards using a spaced repetition system and then test yourself using the quiz system. Multiple quiz types test you from all directions, making sure you know the character, meaning, and pinyin reading deeply. HSK TRAINING PATHS Prepare for HSK vocabulary tests with HSK training paths. Each level includes the characters and words for HSK levels 1-6. HEAR EVERY WORD Every character and word includes the audio pinyin reading so you can learn how to pronounce them properly. PROGRESS WORTH KEEPING Earn XP and gems, build a daily login streak, and unlock achievements. Spend what you earn on themes, profile icons, character fonts, and premium HSK paths. 简体/繁體 SIMPLIFIED & TRADITIONAL Switch between Simplified and Traditional Chinese characters with the flip of a toggle in the settings. WHO IT'S FOR Complete beginners just starting their Chinese learning journey, HSK candidates drilling for an exam, and self-studiers who'd rather learn deeply than through rote memorization. No account required. No sign-up. Start learning in seconds. ## Key features - 3D Word Graph visualization - Search by Chinese, English, or Pinyin - Guided lessons for core concepts - Spaced repetition flashcards - Multiple quiz types - HSK training paths (1-6) - Audio pronunciation for every word ## Pricing and in-app purchases Base price: Free. **One-time purchases** | Purchase | Price | Type | | --- | --- | --- | | 200 Gems | $0.99 | one-time | | 1,100 Gems | $4.99 | one-time | | 2,500 Gems | $9.99 | one-time | | 10,000 Gems | $34.99 | one-time | ## Is Zhong safe? Not enough ratings yet to assess Zhong. ## Is Zhong legit? Zhong - Chinese Characters has limited verification signals. The AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for Zhong is 58 out of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data. ## Frequently asked questions about Zhong ### How does Zhong teach Chinese characters? Zhong visualizes character relationships through a 3D word graph, showing connections to radicals and components. It supplements this with guided lessons, flashcards using spaced repetition, and various quiz types for comprehensive learning. ### Can I prepare for HSK exams with Zhong? Yes, Zhong offers HSK training paths for levels 1-6. These paths are designed to cover the specific characters and vocabulary required for each HSK level. ### Does Zhong support both Simplified and Traditional Chinese? Yes, Zhong allows you to switch between Simplified and Traditional Chinese characters with a simple toggle in the settings, catering to different learning needs. ### What kind of progress tracking does Zhong offer? Zhong features gamified progress tracking with XP, gems, daily login streaks, and achievements. Earned rewards can be spent on customization options like themes and profile icons. ### Is Zhong suitable for absolute beginners? Zhong is designed for complete beginners starting their Chinese learning journey, offering guided lessons to build a foundational understanding of the language's structure. ### Does Zhong have ads? Yes, Zhong contains advertisements. While the app is free to download and use, ads are present to support its development and maintenance. ### What devices is Zhong available on? Zhong is available on iPhone, iPad, and iPod devices, making it accessible for users within the Apple ecosystem. ### How often is Zhong updated? The latest version of Zhong is 1.11, and it was last updated on October 7, 2026. This indicates a relatively active development cycle. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 1.12 — 2026-10-21 Half-price HSK paths, a Daily Hunt, and sharing HSK paths Each HSK 2 to 6 path now costs 1,000 gems instead of 2,000, and the all-five bundle costs 4,000 instead of 8,000. If you already bought a path or the bundle at the old price, a gift waiting on your next open refunds the difference. Daily Hunt The Character Hunt sheet now has a Today's Hunt: one start and target pair that every learner gets on the same day, with its par, your result, and a day-streak tally. The random hunt is still there beside it. Sharing Every hunt result and quiz score screen has a Share button. It makes a short text with an emoji row, one cell per move or question, plus a picture card in your current theme, and hands both to the share sheet. Shop Gem packs now give 300, 2,000, 4,500 and 18,000 gems. The daily ad gift pays 60 gems, and the ad on a quiz or hunt result doubles the gems you just earned. Two new themes: Glass, frosted panels over drifting blue light, and Grid, a white page ruled with a fine grid. Tour The Node Explorer tour has a new step on the graph filter: the long-word and idiom switches and the spread slider. Fixes The theme picker always opens on its first page. ### 1.11 — 2026-10-07 A smoother, clearer character graph Turning the graph Dragging the graph now turns it the way your finger moves on screen, no matter how far it has already been tilted. Before, a sideways swipe could turn it the wrong way once it had gone over the top, or spin it in place when you were looking straight down. Jumping to another character still settles into the usual upright view, now with a smooth glide instead of a snap. Big characters Characters with hundreds of words, such as 不, used to lay their words out in a spiral, with the common ones bunched on one side and the rare ones trailing off. Every ring of words is now spread evenly around the whole graph, and the most common word starts out facing you. Connecting lines The lines joining words to the centre now fade out as they reach the middle, so the main character stays readable even on the densest graphs. The lines also sit cleanly behind the nodes instead of cutting dark streaks across them. Settings Settings > Graph > Nodes has a new Small character size, the size the graph used before 1.10. Fixes On Android, the back button closes a shop item preview before it closes the shop. The same goes for the edge swipe on iPhone. ### 1.10 — 2026-10-04 See every part of a character Character parts The explorer now shows all the visible pieces a character is written with, not only its sound and meaning components. 知 lists 矢 and 口, 相 lists 木 and 目, and each piece is a node you can tap to open. Simplified and traditional forms each get their own split. Radical families grow to match, so 口 now lists 知 and 木 now lists 相. Explorer card Swipe left or right on the card to turn its definition pages, with the senses sliding across. Pages now hold as many senses as fit in three lines instead of a fixed three. The back button, page counter and a new caret share one bottom row. The caret opens a details block showing the radicals the character is filed under and its components, each tappable. Graph Settings > Graph > Nodes has a new Character size option (Medium or Large) for the characters drawn on the graph. Character Hunt Stepping back, by tapping back or tapping the node you just came from, no longer costs a move. Going forward is paid as before. ### 1.9 — 2026-10-04 -Fixed bug where taking quiz could navigate bottom bar buttons causing unintended behavior. -Reduced Gem cost of HSK 2-6 quizzes. ### 1.8 — 2026-10-03 Character Hunt A new way to play the explorer. Start the hunt from the quiz map and you land on a common character with another one to find. Tap through the words that character appears in, and the characters those words share, to reach the target in as few moves as you can. When the target is anywhere on screen it glows gold, so you never scroll past it. The best route Every hunt has its fewest-possible route worked out behind the scenes, and the result screen shows your moves beside the best possible. Match it for a perfect hunt. Targets are everyday characters that are always reachable, never a particle or function word. Rewards Each hunt pays up to 20 XP and 50 gems, scaled by how close you come to the best route. Gems pay on the first five hunts of each day; XP always pays. The result screen also offers a rewarded ad for 20 bonus gems. Graph filter A new filter button above Node Quiz lets you choose what orbits a character: turn words of three or more characters and chengyu on or off, and use the spread slider to push the word nodes further apart. New vocabulary 121 more characters and 246 more words, including every HSK 3.0 level 1-6 word that was missing, plus everyday words and loanwords like 鸡尾酒 and 深呼吸. Every new word has native audio. ## Apps similar to Zhong | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Chengyu: Origins](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chengyu-origins/id6782319937) | 4.5 (2) | Free | Education | | [Chinese Radical Realms](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chinese-radical-realms/id6769130204) | — | Free | Education | | [Everyday Chengyu](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/everyday-chengyu/id6738624239) | — | Free | Education | | [ChengyuQuest: Chinese idiom](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chengyuquest-chinese-idiom/id6757101675) | — | Free | Education | | [1 Day 1 Chengyu](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/1-day-1-chengyu/id6760732640) | 4.0 (2) | Free | Education | | [Wellcentiv](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/wellcentiv/id6756493139) | — | Free | Education | ## Related topics [chinese characters study](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/chinese-characters-study) · [chinese learning characters](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/chinese-learning-characters) --- *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 2026-10-24.*