What's Up? vs Nihongo Lessons
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
What's Up?
Discover celestial bodies visible in the night sky with this intuitive app. Easily track planets, the Sun, and Moon, and forecast their appearance. Access detailed information and moon phases, with support for the Southern Hemisphere.
- Simple sky grid display
- Effortless navigation
- Time-bar functionality
- Comprehensive celestial information
- Observation insights
- Moon phases
- Wikipedia links
Read full descriptionHide full description
Whether you're deciding if it's worth setting up your telescope or simply curious about that bright 'star,' What's Up? is the perfect companion for sky enthusiasts. Key Features: • Simple Sky Grid Display: View the positions of the Sun, Moon, and planets on an intuitive grid representing the night sky. • Effortless Navigation: No augmented reality or motion tracking needed—just a straightforward display to see what's up. • Time-Bar Functionality: Slide the time-bar to forecast the appearance of your favorite planets and their directions. • Comprehensive Information: Displays the location of the Sun, Moon, planets, and even Pluto. • Observation Insights: Instantly identify which celestial objects are prime for observation. • Moon Phases: Stay updated with the current moon phase. • Wikipedia Links: Dive deeper with quick access to Wikipedia pages for detailed information. • Southern Hemisphere Support: Sky-watchers down south are covered too. • Minimal Network Usage: Only needed for Wikipedia access. • Note: Localizations are limited to planet names. For a full 3D rendered experience with motion tracking, check out our award-winning companion app, Pocket Universe. If you already own Pocket Universe, you'll find What's Up? familiar yet even more user-friendly, with a sleeker design and quicker access to the "Currently Visible" mode, and basic Apple Watch support.
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.
- Learn Hiragana and Katakana
- 7000+ handcrafted sentences
- Professional voice actor audio
- Advanced Spaced Repetition System (SRS)
- Vocabulary and grammar from manga
- Flashcard learning format
Read full descriptionHide 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
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: What's Up? at none against Nihongo Lessons's 13. What's Up? also leads on device support (4 vs 1) and iOS requirement (12.5 vs 17). Nihongo Lessons's advantage is review sentiment (85% vs 58%) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months). On price 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
Both are free to download. Nihongo Lessons sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. What's Up? asks for nothing beyond the download.
Nihongo Lessons holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Nihongo Lessons has 126 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 58% of What's Up?'s written reviews are positive against 85% of Nihongo Lessons's.
What's Up? ships an update every 3 months, Nihongo Lessons every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | What's Up? | Nihongo Lessons |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (8 ratings) | 4.8 (126 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 57.9% of reviews | 84.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 8 | 126 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 12.5 — better | 17 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 49 MB | 258 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | John Kennedy | Serpenti Sei Japan |
Customer experience
What's Up?
Nihongo Lessons
In-app purchases
What's Up?
No in-app purchases
Nihongo Lessons
- All Access Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- All Access Yearly7 Days trial$49.991 Year
- Beginner Deck (Discounted)$59.99
- Champion Deck (Discounted)$59.99
- Expert Deck (Discounted)$59.99
Show 8 moreShow fewer
- 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 What's Up? free?
Is Nihongo Lessons free?
Which has better reviews, What's Up? or Nihongo Lessons?
Do What's Up? or Nihongo Lessons have ads?
Which is updated more often, What's Up? or Nihongo Lessons?
Other comparisons















