Remembering the Kanji vs My Nihongo
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Remembering the Kanji
This app provides flashcards and review tools for learning Japanese kanji using the Heisig method. It offers customizable study lists, mnemonic story saving, stroke order animations, and drawing practice. Learn kanji readings and jukugo, and review lessons from the companion books.
- Flashcards and review slides
- Customizable study lists
- Mnemonic story saving
- Animated stroke order diagrams
- On-screen drawing practice
- Learn kanji readings and jukugo
- Offline access
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"Remembering the Kanji" (Official flashcard and review app for the Heisig method) is a kanji learning App to complement the bestselling kanji books “Remembering the Kanji” (Volumes I, II & III), by Dr. James W. Heisig. * Now updated for Edition 6 of Volume I. For over 40 years, users have benefited from the highly effective Heisig Method for learning Japanese kanji. With this sole official “Remembering the Kanji” app, you now have review slides and flashcards for over 3,000 kanji available on your mobile device! This App is available only on the App Store! Reviews for the Heisig Method: ***** “Fastest way to learn all 2000” — L.S. (Texas) ***** “A great gem in kanji learning” — Z.N. ***** “Fantastic for achieving literacy” — S.C. (Michigan) ***** “It's actually fun! And ‘fun’ matters!” — F.T. ***** “I'd recommend this for serious learners of Japanese” — E.H. (Illinois) What is special about this App? - It is portable, allowing for review anywhere, anytime, without the need for an internet connection. - It is the first and only authorized "Remembering the Kanji" App. - It is customizable to your needs and preferences. - It has an easy-to-use interface. - It is reasonably priced. What this great App can help you with: - Creating your own study lists and generating flashcards for you to review what you have learned — You’ll love the flashcards function! - Saving notes for your own imaginative mnemonic stories for each kanji in "Remembering the Kanji" Volume I. Whenever you need to jog your memory to recall the story behind a kanji — refer to the App! - Learning the stroke order of each and every kanji with fantastic animated diagrams! - Practicing drawing each kanji with your finger on screen, and comparing your result with a written form of the kanji. - Learning the readings (pronunciations) of each and every kanji in "Remembering the Kanji". Also, learn the readings of kanji combination words (jukugo). - Reviewing each lesson for Volumes I, II & III of the "Remembering the Kanji" books with easy-to-use review slides. - Looking up the meaning of primitive elements quickly. - Looking up kanji by stroke number. - Searching for key words and finding the kanji you want in an instant. Take your kanji knowledge to the next level with this convenient and easy-to-use App! Copyright Notice: Kanji data is Copyright © 2013 James W. Heisig KanjiVG data is Copyright © 2013 Ulrich Apel
My Nihongo
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Feature Highlights: - JLPT Preparation Made Easy Includes sample vocabulary and sentences for all JLPT levels (N5–N1). - Flexible Note‑Taking Organize your Japanese study notes as free‑form text or structured vocabulary and sentence lists. - Vocabulary Radio (New!) Hands‑free listening mode that continuously plays the vocabularies you want to learn. - Quick Note Creation Instantly create notes from clipboard text or auto‑extract segments from non‑empty lines in a document. - Personalized Quizzes Turn your notes into quiz questions to practice the exact vocabulary and sentences you want to master. - Natural Pronunciation Practice Hear your notes spoken aloud with Apple’s built‑in text‑to‑speech, now respecting your chosen Japanese voice under Accessibility settings. - Streamlined Study Experience Improved tab arrangement, Study screen layout, and unified quiz design for a smoother, more consistent workflow. - Intuitive Editing Tools Refined workflows for building sentences, vocabularies, and multiple note types with a user‑friendly interface.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: My Nihongo at Free against Remembering the Kanji's $10.99. My Nihongo also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). Remembering the Kanji's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On ads, in-app purchases 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
My Nihongo is free to download; Remembering the Kanji costs $10.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Remembering the Kanji ships an update every 2 months, My Nihongo fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and August 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Remembering the Kanji | My Nihongo |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $10.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.5 (24 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 62.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 24 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 23 MB | 25 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mirai Apps | Daniel Fu Keung Kwan |
Bugs and requests
Remembering the Kanji
Reported bugs
12 issues- Study lists and stories deleted after updates
- Backup crashes on iOS devices
- App crashes when adding multiple kanji to study list
- Flashcard progress not saving
- Import function crashes with CSV files
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- Stroke order differs from book for some kanji
- App crashes on older devices (iPhone 3G, iPad 2)
- Flashcard settings reset when switching modes
- Lessons skip kanji from book
- Notes not displaying on flashcards
- Study list progress not resuming after pause
- Occasional crashes during flashcard function
Requested features
16 requests- Include Heisig stories from the book
- Add spaced repetition system (SRS/Anki-style)
- Landscape/split-screen support for iPad
- Search default to alphabetical letters
- Expand story/notes display area
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- Clickable primitive elements linking to related kanji
- Progress tracking and resume functionality
- Audio pronunciation support
- Kanji compound meaning translations on flashcards
- Highlight/bold/italicize text in story area
- Drawing practice integrated into flashcard review
- Sync progress across devices
- RTK 3 support
- Visual progress indicators and motivation features
- Backup to cloud storage
- Timed repetition system
My Nihongo
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Remembering the Kanji
No in-app purchases
My Nihongo
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Remembering the Kanji free?
Is My Nihongo free?
Do Remembering the Kanji or My Nihongo have ads?
Which is updated more often, Remembering the Kanji or My Nihongo?
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