I Learn Chinese Characters vs Mandaboo
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
I Learn Chinese Characters
Learn Chinese characters by understanding their pictographic origins. This app teaches pronunciation, writing, and grammar through interactive practice and progressive study modes.
- Pictographic origin explanations
- Pronunciation guides
- Character writing demonstrations
- Interactive writing practice
- Progressive study mode
- Character index with search
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This application introduces Chinese characters to non-native speakers or young kids in a fun and intuitive way: to understand their origins as pictures of the objects they represent. For example, the Chinese character for Sun was originally a circle with a dot in its center. It has evolved over the history, but you can still find traces of its original shape. Besides explaining the picture meanings, this application also demonstrates the correct way of pronouncing and writing the characters. It even let you practice on your iPhone side by side with the demonstration. You'll find that you will be able to read and write dozens of Chinese characters in no time! Your feedback is greatly appreciated! Feature Highlights * An introduction covering the basics of the Chinese language, including its grammar, stroke order rules, the Simplified and Traditional Chinese, and so on. * Featured character are organized into categories and are introduced with their picture origins. * The Progressive Study mode allows you to learn most common Chinese characters first and to measure your understanding with carefully selected questions in tests. * An index page of characters listed in alphabetical order, with search functionality. Users can search with character's pinyin, Chinese writing, or the English meanings. * Recorded Character sound * Character writing demonstrations and practice screens. You can practice writing Chinese characters right on your device screen! * This application runs on iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad, which means you only need to buy once and use on all your devices! Users Feedback "Dam good ***** - This app organizes the most commonly used Chinese symbols in an orderly, accessible fashion." - by Push926 "Fun and Easy! *****" - by Ryan1223432 "Very helpful. I am looking forward for more updates! *****" - by Nightreaver "This App is Awesome! *****" - by RebeccaTVS "Awesome! Thanks! Love the historical info because it all makes so much more sense. *****" - by Jondailey
Mandaboo
A fun, improv-style game designed to improve Mandarin speaking and listening skills. Players guess Mandarin words by following clues, avoiding specific taboo words to enhance comprehension and vocabulary. Play solo or with friends for an engaging learning experience.
- Guess Mandarin words with clues
- Avoid taboo words
- Improve listening comprehension
- Enhance speaking skills
- Play solo or with friends
- Create custom word lists
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Start playing Mandaboo today—a game of unspeakable Mandarin fun. Follow clues to guess the Mandarin word in this Mandarin game of improv, learning and laughs. Some clues are taboo to challenge your Mandarin listening comprehension and get your mind’s gears turning in Mandarin to guess the word in question. WHAT’S A MANDABOO? It’s a guessing challenge where the speaker gives you clues but they are not allowed to say certain taboo words to keep you guessing longer. You’ll hang on every clue until you make a Mandarin breakthrough…or bust! Will you be stumped? Only one way to know! ARE YOU UP FOR THE GUESSING CHALLENGE? Play on your own with the built-in Mandaboos or play with friends by creating your own Mandaboos for friends to guess, or try your guessing prowess with your friends’ Mandaboos and keep the learning going. Terms Of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Mandaboo at Free against I Learn Chinese Characters's $4.99. Mandaboo also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and update cadence (weekly vs every 6 weeks). I Learn Chinese Characters's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and ads (none vs shown). On 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
Mandaboo is free to download; I Learn Chinese Characters costs $4.99 up front. Mandaboo sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. I Learn Chinese Characters asks for nothing beyond the download.
Mandaboo holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: I Learn Chinese Characters has 30 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 91% of I Learn Chinese Characters's written reviews are positive against 100% of Mandaboo's.
I Learn Chinese Characters ships an update every 6 weeks, Mandaboo weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | I Learn Chinese Characters | Mandaboo |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.6 (30 ratings) | 5.0 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 91.4% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 30 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 46 MB | 91 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | YOYASOFT LLC | Mandarin Monkey Ltd |
Customer experience
I Learn Chinese Characters
Mandaboo
Bugs and requests
I Learn Chinese Characters
Reported bugs
8 issues- Sound glitch within lessons
- Stroke recognition issues
- Character trace buggy
- Does not function properly (full version)
- English words instead of pinyin in progressive study
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- Incorrect audio for pinyin words
- Does not pick up strokes on iPhone version
- Character trace is a little buggy
Requested features
20 requests- Add traditional characters
- Regularly add more characters
- Add sentences and phrases for practice
- Practice writing simple sentences
- Hear pronunciation while writing
Show 15 moreShow fewer
- Test writing recall without watermark
- Expand content beyond lesson 11
- Include every Chinese word
- Connect sentences
- More content and lessons
- Search feature
- Traditional characters option
- More words in the index
- Add more content
- Expand character database
- Explain origin of characters
- Add more words
- Add idioms and academic words
- More content
- Add more characters
Mandaboo
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
I Learn Chinese Characters
No in-app purchases
Mandaboo
- Monthly Subscription3 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Six Month Subscription3 Days trial$54.996 Months
- Annual Subscription$99.991 Year
Questions
Is I Learn Chinese Characters free?
Is Mandaboo free?
Which has better reviews, I Learn Chinese Characters or Mandaboo?
Do I Learn Chinese Characters or Mandaboo have ads?
Which is updated more often, I Learn Chinese Characters or Mandaboo?
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