Comparison

Pre vs Nihongo Lessons

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

Head to head
About

Pre

Engage young children with 15 interactive learning games designed to prepare them for kindergarten. Activities cover puzzles, math, letters, shapes, and more, fostering essential cognitive skills in a child-friendly environment. Playable offline, it's a fun way to build early education foundations.

Highlights
  • 15 preschool learning games
  • Covers puzzles, math, letters, shapes
  • Child-friendly design and graphics
  • Aligns with educational standards
  • Offline play supported
  • Develops memory and concentration
Features
Read full description

● 15 preschool learning games with a wide range of topics puzzles, math, matching, letters, shapes, cooking & more. ● Suitable for ages 1-5 (can be played offline). Are you looking for a new activity for your kids to do in their free time? Want them to have fun, but also build skills and learn? You’ve found it. Have a fun and interactive way to prepare your child for kindergarten with our learning games for kids. We’ve designed puzzles, coloring activities, math challenges, letter/shape/animal learning, and cooking quests in one app. No more boredom, or wasted time on scrolling or going from video to video. Try now for free and offer interesting activities to toddlers and preschoolers that foster their development, basic skills, and early education. ◆ Child-Friendly Design We’ve particularly designed the app with your kids in mind. So, each game features a calm and joyful layout with bright, colorful graphics and engaging music and sound effects, ensuring it avoids overstimulation and keeps young children entertained, focused, and comfortable. ◆ Educational Standards Each of the 15 games aligns with real-world preschool and kindergarten curricula and common core state standards, focusing on basic concepts that children encounter in their everyday lives. We cover some of the following topics: ● Puzzles ● Matching ● Animals ● Shapes ● Letters ● Math ● Colors ◆ Parental Involvement Educational games for kids are a great way to bond with your kid. That’s why our learning games for kids encourage parents to play along with their children, turning screen time into an opportunity for bonding and collaborative learning. ◆ Year-Round Use Suitable for everyday use and special occasions like Christmas, this app provides a versatile learning experience that keeps children engaged throughout the year. ◆ BENEFICIAL ACTIVITY Not only our game is educational, but it's also a fun way for parents, babysitters, and children to spend time together, encouraging thinking and contributing to the development of basic skills including: - Memory - Concentration - Visual Perception - Sorting and Classifying - Hand-Eye Coordination - Short-Term Retention - Logic Development ◆ FEATURES: - suitable for boys and girls - intuitive UI and controls - child-friendly game design and graphics - 15 preschool games - covers different topics - children exercise and develop basic skills - can be played offline Ideal for pre-K children, toddlers, kids, and kindergarten students, our learning games for kids are a comprehensive tool for early childhood education. Our games promote active participation, which helps children develop essential cognitive abilities like sorting and classifying, short-term retention, and logical thinking. ► Download Learning Games For Kids A-Z on iOS today and give your child a head start on their educational journey! ---- Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://sites.google.com/view/zsapps

About

Nihongo Lessons

This app helps learners of all levels achieve Japanese fluency. It uses a flashcard format to teach vocabulary, grammar, and writing systems, with advanced spaced repetition for effective retention. Content is sourced from real manga for advanced learners.

Highlights
  • Learn Hiragana and Katakana
  • 7000+ handcrafted sentences
  • Professional voice actor audio
  • Advanced Spaced Repetition System (SRS)
  • Vocabulary and grammar from manga
  • Flashcard learning format
Features
Read full description

A new app for people serious about becoming fluent in Japanese, from the maker of Nihongo: a modern Japanese dictionary. Nihongo Lessons is based off the excellent Japanese Level Up (Jalup) series, and is made to help all levels of learners. * If you're a complete beginner, the app starts you off by teaching you to write the Japanese alphabets hiragana and katakana, and then quickly starts building your vocabulary and grammar fundamentals. * If you're at an intermediate level, you can jump into content that will help you grow your Japanese grammar, vocabulary, and listening skills more efficiently than ever before. * If you're an advanced learner diving into the world of native content or studying for JLPT N1, Nihongo Lessons can help fill in the gaps in your knowledge with vocabulary and grammar pulled directly from real manga. Instead of a traditional textbook, everything in Nihongo Lessons is in a flashcard format. Flashcards are easier to take in, easier to know how much to learn and how often to review, and simplify the mountain of information you need to absorb. Each flashcard introduces one new sentence for you to understand, and every new sentence introduces exactly one new word, grammar point, or concept. This keeps you constantly moving forward in your learning journey - never bored, never overwhelmed. * Learn to write hiragana and katakana, the main alphabets of the Japanese language. * Progress from beginner to fluent across 7000 handcrafted sentences, each introducing a single new word or concept. * Listen to sentences spoken out loud by a professional voice actor. * Advanced Spaced Repetition (SRS) to help you retain everything you've learned for the long-term. * Nihongo Lessons doesn’t just plop a fun game on top of the language. It engages the brain’s natural urge to solve problems by making learning the language itself the game.

Screenshots

Pre4 screens
Nihongo Lessons4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pre at none against Nihongo Lessons's 13. Pre also leads on review sentiment (98% vs 85%) and device support (3 vs 1). Nihongo Lessons's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (129 vs 15). On price, rating and ads 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. Nihongo Lessons sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Pre asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Pre against 4.8 for Nihongo Lessons. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Nihongo Lessons has 129 ratings behind it against 15, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 98% of Pre's written reviews are positive against 85% of Nihongo Lessons's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pre ships an update every 4 months, Nihongo Lessons every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Pre versus Nihongo Lessons: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPreNihongo Lessons
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (15 ratings) — better4.8 (129 ratings)
Positive reviews97.8% of reviews — better84.8% of reviews
Number of ratings15129 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS12.0 — better17
Further details — not scored
Size32 MB258 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperART ZISHAS INCSerpenti Sei Japan

Customer experience

Pre

All ratings15 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews45 reviews
Positive97.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative2.2%

Nihongo Lessons

All ratings126 ratings
Positive94.4%
Neutral2.4%
Negative3.2%
Written reviews33 reviews
Positive84.8%
Neutral6.1%
Negative9.1%

User reviews

Pre

From 15 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great for math skills practice
  • 👍 Engaging and fun for kids
  • 👍 Excellent for special education
  • 👍 Provides progress reports
  • 👍 Aligned with Common Core

Room to improve

  • 👎 Unhealthy food grouping in game
  • 👎 Annoying hippo character
  • 👎 Limited free version features

Nihongo Lessons

From 129 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great app for learning Japanese
  • 🚀 Well-structured and effective learning format
  • 💡 Tailors lessons to user goals
  • 👍 Draws from real-life material
  • 👍 More intense and serious than Duolingo

Room to improve

  • 💰 Very expensive to unlock content
  • 💰 High cost for full unlock
  • 💰 Unlocking sections is costly
  • 💰 Pricing is a bit rough
  • 💰 Content is repetitive and not varied enough

Bugs and requests

Pre

Reported bugs

1 issue
  • App doesn't launch after update

Requested features

2 requests
  • Option to turn off hippo character
  • More features in the free version

Nihongo Lessons

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Explanation modal flashed and cannot be brought back
  • Unclear how to interact with cards (swiping direction)

Requested features

11 requests
  • Add notifications
  • Add a way to add own notecards for review
  • Add meaning and context for some words in dictionary
  • Add monthly subscriptions or lower prices
  • Add Kanji section
Show 6 more
  • Add Kanji decks
  • Add dark mode
  • Automatically play audio when flipping card
  • Teach word in context, then quiz for understanding using only the Japanese word
  • Surface Japanese definition and make user remember the word
  • Optimize for iPad

In-app purchases

None

Pre

No in-app purchases

13 purchases

Nihongo Lessons

Subscriptions2
  • All Access Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • All Access Yearly7 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time11
  • Beginner Deck (Discounted)$59.99
  • Champion Deck (Discounted)$59.99
  • Expert Deck (Discounted)$59.99
Show 8 more
  • Master Deck (Discounted)$59.99
  • Intermediate Deck (Discounted)$83.99
  • Beginner Deck (Discounted)$101.99
  • Beginner Deck$119.99
  • All Decks (Discounted)$149.99
  • All Decks (Discounted)$254.99
  • All Decks$299.99
  • All Decks (Discounted)$299.99

Questions

Is Pre free?
Pre is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Nihongo Lessons free?
Nihongo Lessons is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pre or Nihongo Lessons?
Pre is rated higher. Pre averages 4.8 out of 5 from 15 ratings, while Nihongo Lessons averages 4.8 from 129 ratings.
Do Pre or Nihongo Lessons have ads?
Neither Pre nor Nihongo Lessons shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pre or Nihongo Lessons?
Pre ships an update every 4 months, and Nihongo Lessons every 3 weeks. Most recently, Pre was updated on October 19, 2026 and Nihongo Lessons on October 24, 2026.

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