Mandarin vs HanSounds
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Mandarin
This app serves as a bilingual dictionary for Chinese language learners. It allows users to search for words in both English and Chinese, supporting pinyin input and both traditional and simplified characters. The dictionary is powered by the free CEDICT database.
- English to Chinese dictionary
- Chinese to English dictionary
- Pinyin input support
- Traditional and simplified character support
- Built-in database of thousands of words
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'Mandarin' is a simple dictionary for Chinese language students. The built-in database of several thousand words can be searched for in both directions, from English to Chinese and from Chinese to English. Chinese words can be entered in pinyin notation or using the Chinese keyboard layout. Both traditional and simplified characters are supported. The Chinese dictionary lookup uses the free CEDICT dictionary from http://cc-cedict.org/.
HanSounds
Learn Mandarin Chinese with a structured curriculum designed for English speakers. Master pronunciation, tones, and characters through animated guides and interactive quizzes. Build a strong foundation for fluency.
- Animated mouth diagrams for pronunciation
- Tone and Pinyin visualization
- Character study and quizzes
- Progress tracking
- Distraction-free design
- English explanations
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知音 (Zhīyīn) means "a person who truly understands you" — and that's exactly what this app is designed to be for Mandarin learners. Whether you've always been curious about China, planning a trip, or simply love languages, 知音 gives you the most solid foundation possible for learning Mandarin Chinese — just like Chinese children learn it in school. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN Stage 1 — Initials & Finals (声母韵母) Master the building blocks of all Mandarin sounds. Each sound comes with an English approximation, IPA notation, articulation guide, and an animated mouth diagram showing exactly how to position your lips and tongue. Stage 2 — Tones & Pinyin (声调) Mandarin has 4 tones — the same syllable means completely different things depending on your pitch. We explain each tone with animated pitch contour visualizations and memory tricks that actually stick. Stage 3 — Chinese Characters (汉字) Study and quiz yourself on the 1,000 most frequently used Chinese characters, each with Pinyin, tone, English meaning, and example words. WHY 知音 - Built for English speakers — all explanations are in English - Animated mouth diagrams — see exactly how each sound is made - Pitch contour animations — visualize tones the way linguists do - Progress tracking — track your mastered sounds and characters - Clean, distraction-free design — focus on learning, nothing else - No ads, no gimmicks Start with "māo" (猫, cat) and work your way to fluency. 加油!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Mandarin at Free against HanSounds's $9.99. Mandarin also leads on iOS requirement (6.1 vs 17.6). HanSounds's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.0) and update cadence (every 4 days vs every 8 months). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Mandarin is free to download; HanSounds costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
HanSounds holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.
Mandarin ships an update every 8 months, HanSounds every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Mandarin | HanSounds |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 4.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 8 months | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 6.1 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 23 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | softhub | 龙 程 |
Customer experience
Mandarin
HanSounds
In-app purchases
Mandarin
No in-app purchases
HanSounds
No in-app purchases









