Comparison

Pinyin Typist vs Pacpost.live

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Pinyin Typist

Easily type Pīnyīn with accurate tone marks using system or third-party keyboards. This app simplifies writing Mandarin Chinese expressions, even without knowing Chinese characters. It offers a quick and intuitive typing experience for learners and educators.

Highlights
  • Type Pīnyīn with tone marks
  • Integrates with system and third-party keyboards
  • Predictive text and text replacement support
  • Automatic tone mark placement
  • Easy tone mark correction
  • Copy and paste functionality
  • Supports Cantonese Yale romanization
Features
Read full description

**Pīnyīn Typist lets you quickly and easily type Pīnyīn with tone marks while using Apple’s system keyboards, and it lets you benefit from their features, like predictive text, text replacement, etc., as well as future enhancements. Pīnyīn Typist similarly works with third-party keyboards like Fleksy, etc.** (THIS APP IS NOT AN ALTERNATIVE WAY TO TYPE CHINESE CHARACTERS—it supports the standard iOS ways of typing characters.) Pīnyīn makes reading and writing Mandarin Chinese as quick and easy as it ought to be, and Pīnyīn Typist makes typing real, professional-quality Pīnyīn as quick and easy as *it* ought to be. Pīnyīn Typist was the first iOS Pīnyīn typing app, and it’s still the best, especially for typing more than a word or two of Pīnyīn. On the iPad, the iPhone, and the iPod touch, Pīnyīn Typist is *noticeably* the quickest, easiest, most natural, most fun, and most beautifully iOS-native way to type exactly the Pīnyīn you want, with proper tone marks. Its *nice, big* tone mark, Ü, hyphen, and apostrophe buttons work with *just a simple tap*, using the same rhythm and technique as regular typing. *It even puts the tone marks over the right vowels for you*, and *it also makes it easy to make corrections to tone marks without backspacing and retyping*. Pīnyīn Typist turns typing Pīnyīn from a pain into a pleasure. Pīnyīn Typist launches quickly, so with it on your Apple mobile device, you can quickly and easily type real Pīnyīn text to write down anything you hear or want to say in Mandarin, just about anytime the need arises or inspiration strikes. Pīnyīn Typist is thus a must-have app if you are learning or teaching Mandarin, or if sometimes you want or need to write down Mandarin expressions, but you or the one(s) you’re writing to don’t (or don’t want to have to) know all the Chinese characters involved. Note that like Chinese Braille (which is based on Pīnyīn), Pīnyīn is a *full writing system* for Mandarin, not just a pronunciation aid. And since, as linguists hold, speech is primary and writing is secondary, it’s good that Pīnyīn just works and lets you focus on speech, on *communicating*. All the text in the Pīnyīn Typing tab view can be copied with a single tap of the Copy All button, and then pasted in other apps, e.g. Pages, Word, Mail, Twitter, Messages, Drafts, etc. (iOS’s standard copying and pasting methods work too.) Pīnyīn Typist’s sharing functionality lets you share Pīnyīn, etc. text in the various ways enabled by iOS, including email, Messages, AirDrop, Twitter, etc. Pīnyīn Typist’s 1,2, and 4 tone buttons can also be used to add tone marks for Cantonese Yale romanization. *TYPING PĪNYĪN IN PĪNYĪN TYPIST* Type “a” → tap the 3rd tone button = “ǎ” Type “ai” → tap the 4th tone button = “ài” (not “aì”!) After “āi” or “aì”, tap the 4th tone button = “ài” Pīnyīn Typist can convert both lowercase and uppercase vowels. All the Pīnyīn Typist toolbar buttons enter typographically correct Unicode characters, making Pīnyīn Typist suitable for typing Pīnyīn for professional uses. Pīnyīn Typist works well with hardware keyboards. Hardware keyboard shortcuts are now available. *OTHER FEATURES* • Pīnyīn Typist can be used in both portrait and landscape orientations. • The size of the text in the Pīnyīn Typing tab view can be quickly and easily adjusted with a slider—all the better for seeing those little Pīnyīn tone marks. • The text in the Pīnyīn Typing tab view (and its size) can be saved as a snippet for future use, with a title that you can choose. A snippet can be shared in the various ways enabled by iOS. • An optional Night Theme is available. • Different fonts can be selected for the text in the Pīnyīn Typing tab view. *PĪNYĪN TEXT WITH FORMATTING* Pīnyīn Typist produces Unicode plain text, which can be used to produce Markdown, HTML, CSS, etc. code. When such code is rendered in supporting environments, formatting can be seen that’s like the formatting seen in web pages.

About

Pacpost.live

This app enables real-time video streaming and conferencing for collaborative filmmaking. It offers secure file sharing, annotation tools, and multi-room functionality for seamless remote collaboration with editors, producers, and directors.

Highlights
  • Real-time video streaming
  • Video conferencing
  • File sharing
  • Annotation tools
  • Multi-room functionality
  • Sub-second delay
Features
Read full description

PacPost.Live is a multifunctional video streaming and video conferencing app that allows users to collaborate on video streams in real time. With high-grade security, file sharing, and annotation tools, PacPost.Live is your key to an efficient filmmaking process. With the PacPost.Live iPad app, take the full experience of the web app with you on the go. High quality video conferencing, sub-second delay, multi-room functionality, and a sleek UI design give users the opportunity to collaborate with editors, producers, and directors from almost anywhere with an internet connection. We have integrated the Apple Pencil Toolkit into the app to give users the ability to choose their pen colors for marking up the video, as well as highlight specific areas and erase as they go, giving viewers the ability to identify specific areas of the video while discussing with their collaborators. Multi-show functionality gives users the ability to work on any number of projects at once. Select from any number of streams available to you from the Viewer dashboard, and switch at any time from the menu on the lefthand side. It’s really that easy. PacPost.Live offers 24/7 support for all users. Access to Pac Post Live for remote viewing and collaboration. Securely stream editorial with anyone, anywhere. - Live streaming & Video conferencing - Live chat - Unlimited viewers - Sub-second delay - Playback on any device $699.99 per month https://pacpostllc.live/terms-and-conditions

Screenshots

Pinyin Typist4 screens
Pacpost.live3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Pacpost.live at Free against Pinyin Typist's $1.99. Pacpost.live also leads on rating (5.0 vs 2.7) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 15 months). Pinyin Typist's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16). On ratings volume, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Pacpost.live is free to download; Pinyin Typist costs $1.99 up front. Pacpost.live sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $699.99 per month. Pinyin Typist asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pacpost.live holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 4 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pinyin Typist ships an update every 15 months, Pacpost.live every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Pinyin Typist versus Pacpost.live: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPinyin TypistPacpost.live
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating2.7 (7 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews72.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings7 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 15 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better16
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB173 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperTroubadourWorksPacific Post Rentals, Inc

Customer experience

Pinyin Typist

All ratings7 ratings
Positive28.6%
Neutral28.6%
Negative42.9%
Written reviews22 reviews
Positive72.7%
Neutral13.6%
Negative13.6%

Pacpost.live

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Pinyin Typist

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Pacpost.live

Subscriptions1
  • Publisher Monthly Subscription$699.991 Month

Questions

Is Pinyin Typist free?
Pinyin Typist costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Pacpost.live free?
Pacpost.live is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pinyin Typist or Pacpost.live?
Pacpost.live is rated higher. Pinyin Typist averages 2.7 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while Pacpost.live averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Pinyin Typist or Pacpost.live have ads?
Neither Pinyin Typist nor Pacpost.live shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pinyin Typist or Pacpost.live?
Pinyin Typist ships an update every 15 months, and Pacpost.live every 3 weeks. Most recently, Pinyin Typist was updated on November 1, 2026 and Pacpost.live on November 3, 2026.

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