Comparison

Chinese Characters 汉字 vs Learn Simplified Chinese

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Chinese Characters 汉字

Learn to read and write thousands of Chinese characters with detailed instructions. Access free dictionaries, OCR translation, and Pinyin annotations for news articles. Covers HSK and AP Chinese exam requirements.

Highlights
  • Writing instructions for 3000+ characters
  • HSK and AP Chinese exam coverage
  • Free OCR for Chinese text translation
  • Free English-Chinese and Chinese-English dictionaries
  • Pinyin annotation for news articles
Features
Read full description

- Writing instructions for nearly 3000 Chinese characters - Covers all and more characters than required in the official Chinese Proficiency Examinations (HSK levels 1 to 6), and required in AP Chinese exams administered by the U.S. College Board. - Free Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for Chinese text for easy translation, which is also free. - Free download of English-Chinese and Chinese-English dictionaries for quick lookup - Links to the Chinese edition of renowned news sites such as New York Times, BBC and Reuters, with free Pinyin annotation to assist you read new words.

About

Learn Simplified Chinese

Learn to read, write, and pronounce Chinese words and phrases through engaging games. It covers thousands of words and phrases across 100 topics, focusing on real-world situations for practical language acquisition.

Highlights
  • Learn reading, writing, and pronunciation
  • Thousands of words and phrases
  • 100 categorized topics
  • Smart games for skill improvement
  • Progress tracking for correct/wrong answers
  • Multilingual interface
Features
Read full description

This app will help you learn to read, write, and pronounce words and phrases. It's a fun and easy-to-use educational game that includes thousands of words and phrases that provide you with knowledge in real-world situations. The app is categorized into 100 topics, covering aspects of daily life and travel situations. Why this application? - Teach you all the words and phrases that really matter. - It consists of smart games that improve your speaking, reading, listening, and writing skills. - It can count the correct and wrong answers for each educational game. - Multilingual interface (100). Application contents - Nouns and verbs. - Adjectives and antonyms. - Names of body parts. - Animal and birds. - Fruits and vegetables. - Clothes and accessories. - Communications and technology. - Devices and tools. - Education and sports. - Entertainment and media. - Feelings and experience. - Health and exercise. - House and Kitchen. - Places and buildings. - Travel and transportation. - Work and job. - Days and months. - Shapes and colors. - Accommodations and general expressions. - Difficulties in making friends. - Location and greeting. - Emergency and health. - Entertainment and general questions. - Numbers and money. - Phone, internet, and mail. - Shopping and food. - Time and dates. - Travel and directions. Test - Listen to a word. - Writing characters. - Translate a phrase. - A missing word from a sentence. - Words order. - Memory exam. PLEASE NOTE You will need a subscription in order to get access to all of this app’s courses and features. Subscription options: - 1-month subscription for $US6.99 (or the equivalent in local currency), automatically renewed until canceled. - 6-months subscription for $US7.99 (or the equivalent in local currency), automatically renewed until canceled. - 12-months subscription for $US8.99 (or the equivalent in local currency), automatically renewed until canceled. Your subscription will automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current payment period. Your iTunes account will be automatically charged at the same price for renewal within the 24-hour period prior to the end of the current payment period unless you change your subscription preferences in your Account Settings. Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. You can manage your subscriptions through your Account Settings after purchase. When a subscription is canceled, access to the app’s courses and features will expire at the end of the current payment period. Privacy Policy: https://sites.google.com/view/hosy-academy/privacy-policy Terms of Service: https://sites.google.com/view/hosy-academy/terms-of-service Have questions or suggestions? Feel free to contact us at hosy.developer@gmail.com

Screenshots

Chinese Characters 汉字4 screens
Learn Simplified Chinese4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Chinese Characters 汉字 at free with in-app purchases against Learn Simplified Chinese's subscription. Chinese Characters 汉字 also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 10 days vs every 11 months). Learn Simplified Chinese's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.7). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Chinese Characters 汉字 sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Learn Simplified Chinese sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Learn Simplified Chinese holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chinese Characters 汉字 has 295 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chinese Characters 汉字 ships an update every 10 days, Learn Simplified Chinese every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Chinese Characters 汉字 versus Learn Simplified Chinese: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChinese Characters 汉字Learn Simplified Chinese
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (295 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews75.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings295 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 11 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015 — better
Further details — not scored
Size123 MB49 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperYOYASOFT LLCImad Al-Zaidi.

Customer experience

Chinese Characters 汉字

All ratings286 ratings
Positive92.7%
Neutral3.1%
Negative4.2%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral18.8%
Negative6.3%

Learn Simplified Chinese

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Chinese Characters 汉字

One-time3
  • MDBG DictionaryFree
  • English-Chinese DictionaryFree
  • Advanced Chinese Characters$12.99
2 purchases

Learn Simplified Chinese

Subscriptions2
  • Unlock Features$6.991 Month
  • Unlock Features2 variants$8.996 Months

Questions

Is Chinese Characters 汉字 free?
Chinese Characters 汉字 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Learn Simplified Chinese free?
Learn Simplified Chinese is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Chinese Characters 汉字 or Learn Simplified Chinese?
Learn Simplified Chinese is rated higher. Chinese Characters 汉字 averages 4.7 out of 5 from 295 ratings, while Learn Simplified Chinese averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Chinese Characters 汉字 or Learn Simplified Chinese have ads?
Learn Simplified Chinese shows ads; Chinese Characters 汉字 does not.
Which is updated more often, Chinese Characters 汉字 or Learn Simplified Chinese?
Chinese Characters 汉字 ships an update every 10 days, and Learn Simplified Chinese every 11 months. Most recently, Chinese Characters 汉字 was updated on November 2, 2026 and Learn Simplified Chinese on November 3, 2026.

Other comparisons