Mandarin vs Bopomofo
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/.
Bopomofo
Practice Bopomofo, a phonetic system primarily used in Taiwan. This application allows you to save your practice sessions. It's designed for learning and reinforcing Chinese phonetic symbols.
- Bopomofo practice
- Save practice sessions
- Taiwanese phonetic symbols
- Educational tool
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Learn Zhuyin (Bopomofo), the phonetic symbols used in Taiwan to write the pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese, by writing them yourself. Just trace over the light guide letter with your finger or Apple Pencil. FEATURES - All 37 Zhuyin symbols (21 initials and 16 finals) - Pick any symbol from the home screen to start practicing - Handwriting practice by tracing over guide letters on a practice grid - Romanization and category shown for each symbol - Erase with the trash button and write again - Move to the previous / next symbol with the arrow buttons - Save your writing to the Photos app GREAT FOR - Beginners of Mandarin Chinese - Travelers and students going to Taiwan - Children practicing Zhuyin This app is free and contains ads.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Mandarin at 50% against Bopomofo's 0%. Mandarin also leads on rating (4.0 vs 2.0) and ads (none vs shown). Bopomofo's advantage is ratings volume (3 vs 1). On price, in-app purchases, 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Mandarin holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 2.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 3 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Mandarin's written reviews are positive against 0% of Bopomofo's.
Mandarin ships an update every 8 months, Bopomofo every 70 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Mandarin | Bopomofo |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (1 ratings) — better | 2.0 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 3 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 8 months — better | Every 70 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 6.1 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 23 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | softhub | Kiyoshi Koike |
Customer experience
Mandarin
Bopomofo
In-app purchases
Mandarin
No in-app purchases
Bopomofo
No in-app purchases
