Comparison

imiwa? vs YARXI Minimum

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Offline Japanese dictionary
  • Multilingual definitions
  • Kanji database
  • Example sentences
  • Conjugation tools
  • Romaji search
Features
Read full description

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/

About

YARXI Minimum

This app is an electronic dictionary for Japanese-Russian kanji and words. It offers multiple search methods, including by shape, elements, reading, meaning, and stroke count. Users can also find compound words and access animated stroke order diagrams.

Highlights
  • Kanji search by shape, elements, reading, meaning, stroke count
  • Compound word search by kanji, reading, or meaning
  • Animated stroke order diagrams
  • Favorite kanji/word lists
  • Hiragana/katakana and kanji/word drills
  • Interactive kanji decomposition
Features
Read full description

YARXI is an electronic Japanese-Russian kanji and word dictionary. It provides comprehensive information about Chinese characters used in Japanese, known as kanji. The kanji search system is centered around element-based lookup, with the original system of 632 basic visual elements. Features: Kanji search: - by handwritten shape - by elements (up to 4) - by reading (optionally with wildcards) - by meaning (optionally with wildcards) - by stroke count Compound word search: - by kanji (up to 4) - by reading - by meaning - Unified with kunyomi search Internal hyperlinks Animated stroke order diagrams Favorite kanji/word lists Hiragana/katakana drill Kanji/word drill Import preset kanji/word groups for study Interactive kanji decomposition * User-provided kanji notes 1006 kanji listed Paid Maximum edition (6355 kanji) and discounted Plus edition (2136 kanji) are also available.

Screenshots

imiwa?4 screens
YARXI Minimum4 screens

Verdict

The call

imiwa? and YARXI Minimum both sit at 4.5 stars, but that hides the real split: 91% of imiwa?'s written reviews are positive against 63% of YARXI Minimum's. imiwa? also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and ratings volume (263 vs 4). YARXI Minimum's advantage is iOS requirement (15.6 vs 26.0). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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. imiwa? sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and YARXI Minimum sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for imiwa? against 4.5 for YARXI Minimum. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: imiwa? has 263 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 91% of imiwa?'s written reviews are positive against 63% of YARXI Minimum's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

imiwa? ships an update every 3 weeks, YARXI Minimum every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
imiwa? versus YARXI Minimum: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameterimiwa?YARXI Minimum
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (263 ratings)4.5 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews90.6% of reviews — better62.5% of reviews
Number of ratings263 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS26.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size335 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPierre-Phi di CostanzoJISHOP Software

Customer experience

imiwa?

All ratings263 ratings
Positive88.2%
Neutral1.1%
Negative10.6%
Written reviews983 reviews
Positive90.6%
Neutral3.2%
Negative6.2%

YARXI Minimum

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews32 reviews
Positive62.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative25.0%

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

YARXI Minimum

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

9 purchases

imiwa?

Subscriptions5
  • Gift a cookie$1.991 Month
  • Gift a drink$4.991 Month
  • Gift a burger2 variants$9.991 Month
Show 2 more
  • Gift a cocktail$19.991 Year
  • Gift a meal$49.991 Year
One-time4
  • Gift a drink$4.99
  • Gift a burger$9.99
  • Gift a cocktail$19.99
Show 1 more
  • Gift a meal$49.99
5 purchases

YARXI Minimum

One-time5
  • YARXI Plus License$1.99
  • License Transfer$6.99
  • YARXI Maximum License$8.99
Show 2 more
  • YARXI Maximum License$10.99
  • YARXI Maximum License$12.99

Questions

Is imiwa? free?
imiwa? is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is YARXI Minimum free?
YARXI Minimum is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, imiwa? or YARXI Minimum?
imiwa? and YARXI Minimum are both rated 4.5 out of 5 on the App Store, from 263 and 4 ratings respectively.
Do imiwa? or YARXI Minimum have ads?
Neither imiwa? nor YARXI Minimum shows ads.
Which is updated more often, imiwa? or YARXI Minimum?
imiwa? ships an update every 3 weeks, and YARXI Minimum every 2 months. Most recently, imiwa? was updated on November 3, 2026 and YARXI Minimum on November 1, 2026.

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