Chinese Writer by trainchinese vs Learn Characters AD
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Chinese Writer by trainchinese
Master Chinese writing through an engaging game where characters fall from the sky. Tap and draw correctly to score points, or lose a life. Review learned characters with stroke order diagrams and personalized testing.
- Interactive character drawing game
- Stroke order diagrams
- Personalized review of difficult characters
- HSK standard character packs
- Customizable character packs
- Audio recordings for pronunciation
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Learn to write thousands of Chinese characters — it's educational, fun, and addictive! The characters fall from the top of the screen — touch them and draw them correctly to score points. But don't let them reach the bottom, or else — boom! Three mistakes and the game is over, but the learning continues: you can review everything you've seen, with stroke order diagrams, and practise at your own pace. The characters you made the most mistakes on are highlighted at the top of the list. » It's much more than a game! - trainchinese Chinese Writer can test you on over 5,000 simplified and traditional Chinese characters, and offers stroke order diagrams, English explanations, and high quality audio recordings for every pronunciation of every character. - The app remembers which characters you struggled to write and prioritises them in following games. » It's for everyone! - Characters are grouped into packs by difficulty level according to the official HSK standard. Hundreds are included in this free download. - Create your own packs by searching for characters by Pinyin. You can even combine Pinyin, English and Chinese characters in a single search to get maximum results, and add them all to your custom pack with a single swipe. - Your children can play. Your grandparents can too. Everyone can now enjoy the fun of learning this beautiful writing system. - Whatever your level, you'll make progress with trainchinese Chinese Writer. Beginners can start with simpler characters at a slower pace, while experienced students will be blazing through HSK 4 characters at full speed! » It's connected! - Create your own character packs and share them with your friends by email. - Proud of your score? Share it with your friends on Twitter and Facebook. - Already a trainchinese user? Download the characters you're learning in trainchinese Chinese Writer for free! Learn to write Chinese characters with trainchinese Chinese Writer. It's educational, fun — and addictive! » We'd love to hear your feedback about Chinese Writer. Contact us any time at cs@trainchinese.com!
Learn Characters AD
This app helps users learn to write letters and display words clearly. It's ideal for teaching children, displaying complex characters, or helping foreigners learn a new language.
- Display favorite letters and words large
- Teach letter writing with finger tracing
- Suitable for children's learning
- Useful for displaying complex characters
- Aid for learning native language writing
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You can display favorite letters and words large, easy to see. It has a function to teach how to write letters with your fingers. FEATURES - When you want to show children's favorite words with letters - When you want to display complex letters large - When you want to teach foreigners how to write your native language
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Chinese Writer by trainchinese at 83% against Learn Characters AD's 33%. Chinese Writer by trainchinese also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (monthly vs every 29 months). Learn Characters AD's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and rating (5.0 vs 4.6). On price 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. Chinese Writer by trainchinese sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Learn Characters AD asks for nothing beyond the download.
Learn Characters AD holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chinese Writer by trainchinese has 393 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 83% of Chinese Writer by trainchinese's written reviews are positive against 33% of Learn Characters AD's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Chinese Writer by trainchinese ships an update monthly, Learn Characters AD every 29 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Chinese Writer by trainchinese | Learn Characters AD |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (393 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 82.5% of reviews — better | 33.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 393 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 29 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Ad-supported — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 216 MB | 41 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | trainchinese B.V. | HARASHOW Interactive |
Customer experience
Chinese Writer by trainchinese
Learn Characters AD
Bugs and requests
Chinese Writer by trainchinese
Reported bugs
3 issues- Inability to write certain traditional characters
- Syncing issues between devices
- Incompatibility with newer iOS versions
Requested features
5 requests- Add Cantonese pronunciation option
- Allow creating custom character packs
- Implement a mode for learning words/phrases
- Improve randomization of character selection
- Add an option to write full words instead of single characters
Learn Characters AD
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Chinese Writer by trainchinese
- Additional Characters: 1B$0.99
- Additional Characters: 1C$0.99
- Additional Characters: 1D$0.99
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- Additional Characters: 1E$0.99
- Additional Characters: 1F$0.99
- Additional Characters: 2B$0.99
- Additional Characters: 2C$0.99
- Calligraphic font$3.49
- All Additional Characters$14.99
- 1 year subscription$37.99
Learn Characters AD
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Chinese Writer by trainchinese free?
Is Learn Characters AD free?
Which has better reviews, Chinese Writer by trainchinese or Learn Characters AD?
Do Chinese Writer by trainchinese or Learn Characters AD have ads?
Which is updated more often, Chinese Writer by trainchinese or Learn Characters AD?
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