imiwa? vs Fonts Reference
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
imiwa?
A comprehensive offline Japanese dictionary supporting multiple languages for definitions. It includes kanji information, example sentences, and conjugation tools, making it suitable for learners of all levels.
- Offline Japanese dictionary
- Multilingual definitions
- Kanji database
- Example sentences
- Conjugation tools
- Romaji search
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A complete Japanese dictionary that lives entirely on your device. No internet connection, no subscription, no ads — just fast, powerful lookup whenever you need it. SEARCH ANY WAY YOU THINK Type in kanji, kana, or romaji for Japanese, or search directly in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, or Russian — imiwa? finds the word you mean. Only English is guaranteed for every entry, but on supported devices, imiwa? uses Apple Intelligence, entirely on-device, to translate the rest into your language. MASTER KANJI YOUR WAY Don't know the reading? Draw it by hand, search by radical, or use SKIP and Four Corner codes. Every kanji page shows correct stroke order, calligraphic styles, JLPT level, school grade, and every word that uses it. POINT YOUR CAMERA AT ANY TEXT Scan a menu, a sign, or a page of a book and look up any word instantly. Live text recognition finds Japanese as you point, and document scanning corrects the perspective on photographed pages. UNDERSTAND WHOLE SENTENCES Paste or type any Japanese sentence into the Analyser and watch it break down into dictionary-linked words, with every conjugation explained and traced back to its base form. A built-in copy of Tae Kim's Guide to Japanese Grammar links directly from the words and grammar points you look up. LEARN AT YOUR OWN PACE Study with flashcards built on a proven spaced-repetition algorithm — from your own vocabulary lists, JLPT levels, school grades, or favorites. Browse full Hiragana and Katakana charts, a searchable counters reference, real example sentences for nearly every word, and keep personal notes, saved vocabulary lists, and a full search history, all exportable. AT A GLANCE Add a Word of the Day or Kanji of the Day widget to your Home Screen, and use Siri Shortcuts to jump straight to the app's tools. On Apple Watch, put today's kanji and word right on your watch face. imiwa? was built on the JMDict and KanjiDic dictionary files from the Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group, continuing the work of Jim Breen's EDICT project, with example sentences from tatoeba.org. imiwa? is and will always remain free and fully functional. Optional in-app purchases let you support its development — no feature is ever locked behind a paywall. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Fonts Reference
Explore all fonts installed on your iPhone or iPad. View each font with various character sets, organized by family. Ideal for designers and developers.
- Lists all available device fonts
- Organized by font family
- View fonts with different character sets
- Supports iPhone and iPad
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For both font lovers and developers, TouchFonts lists every font that is available on your iPhone or iPad. Grouped by font family, view each font using several different character sets.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: imiwa? at 91% against Fonts Reference's 40%. imiwa? also leads on rating (4.5 vs 3.4) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 6 months). Fonts Reference's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10). On price, ads, monetization model and device support 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
Both are free to download. imiwa? sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Fonts Reference asks for nothing beyond the download.
imiwa? holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: imiwa? has 259 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 91% of imiwa?'s written reviews are positive against 40% of Fonts Reference's.
imiwa? ships an update every 3 weeks, Fonts Reference every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | imiwa? | Fonts Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (259 ratings) — better | 3.4 (8 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 90.8% of reviews — better | 40.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 259 — better | 8 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 799 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Pierre-Phi di Costanzo | Bayhoff Software |
Customer experience
imiwa?
Fonts Reference
Bugs and requests
imiwa?
Reported bugs
3 issues- Search function sometimes becomes unresponsive
- Settings menu not fully accessible on some devices
- Clipboard auto-paste feature can be distracting
Requested features
4 requests- Add option to change app theme/color scheme
- Improve export/sharing capabilities for vocab lists
- Implement handwriting recognition for kanji lookup
- Expand example sentences and improve their translations
Fonts Reference
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
imiwa?
- Gift a cookie$1.991 Month
- Gift a drink$4.991 Month
- Gift a burger2 variants$9.991 Month
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Gift a cocktail$19.991 Year
- Gift a meal$49.991 Year
- Gift a drink$4.99
- Gift a burger$9.99
- Gift a cocktail$19.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Gift a meal$49.99
Fonts Reference
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is imiwa? free?
Is Fonts Reference free?
Which has better reviews, imiwa? or Fonts Reference?
Do imiwa? or Fonts Reference have ads?
Which is updated more often, imiwa? or Fonts Reference?
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