Comparison

Mahjong Mandarin & Cantonese vs Canto Cab

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

Head to head
About

Mahjong Mandarin & Cantonese

Learn Mandarin or Cantonese by playing a Mahjong-style puzzle game. The app integrates Chinese characters, pronunciation, English translations, and tone colors into gameplay for effective language acquisition through repetition and engaging visuals.

Highlights
  • Learn Mandarin and Cantonese
  • 500 most frequent Chinese characters
  • Native speaker audio pronunciation
  • Color-coded tones for pronunciation
  • English translation and grammar
  • Mahjong puzzle gameplay
  • 14 Mandarin and 14 Cantonese levels
Features
Read full description

Mahjong Mandarin & Cantonese builds the 500 most frequently used Chinese characters into a relaxing game of mahjong solitaire. Match open tiles and learn Mandarin or Cantonese by ear as you play. Choose your language on first launch—or switch anytime from the menu or settings: * 国语 Mandarin (Simplified characters with pinyin) * 粤语 Cantonese (Traditional characters with jyutping) Prefer Traditional characters with Mandarin, or Simplified with Cantonese? Your script choice is remembered automatically. Every time you tap an open tile, a native speaker says the word aloud. The romanization (pinyin or jyutping) appears right on the tile beneath the character, and the English meaning and part of speech appear at the top of the screen. Characters are colored by tone, so you can see how a word sounds before you hear it. Each word appears four times per board, giving you natural repetition to connect the character, sound, tone, and meaning. There are over 47,000 Chinese characters, but the 500 most common ones cover about 75% of everyday reading. Mahjong Mandarin & Cantonese teaches all 500 across 14 progressive levels. TRY EVERYTHING FREE FOR 3 DAYS — THEN $6.99 ONCE Start the 3-day free trial to unlock both languages, all 14 levels, all 4 game modes, all 10 living stages, 10 soundtracks, and 8 tile sets—with $0 charge and no automatic billing. After 3 days, a single one-time purchase of $6.99 unlocks everything forever. No subscriptions, no ads, and existing full-unlock buyers keep full access via Restore Purchase. FEATURES * Both languages in one app: Mandarin (国语) and Cantonese (粤语) * 500 Mandarin recordings and 500 Cantonese recordings by native speakers * Simplified and Traditional Chinese characters with pinyin and jyutping * Tone colors for every character, plus pinyin tone marks or tone numbers * 14 levels ordered by real-world character frequency * 4 ways to play: Mahjong Solitaire, Sprint, Pairs, and Sweep * 10 living diorama stages across China, from the Great Wall to Sichuan Panda Valley * 10 original soundtracks and 8 tactile mahjong tile materials * Chinese proverbs to celebrate each cleared board * Automatic round saving so you can pick up right where you left off

About

Canto Cab

Learn practical Cantonese vocabulary through a fun, fast-paced driving game. Choose the correct translation to navigate through city routes and build your word recall. Reconnect with your heritage or start learning from scratch.

Highlights
  • Vocabulary game mechanics
  • English to Cantonese translation practice
  • Cantonese to English translation practice
  • Traditional Chinese characters with Jyutping
  • Spoken word and phrase pronunciation
  • Gamified progress tracking
  • Themed city routes
Features
Read full description

Reconnect with the Cantonese you grew up around—or discover it for the first time. Canto Cab turns practical Cantonese into a fast, colorful vocabulary game. Whether you heard Cantonese around the dinner table, want to connect more deeply with family and heritage, or are starting from zero, every route helps useful words stick through play. CHOOSE, DRIVE, REMEMBER • Read an English or Cantonese prompt and steer into the lane with the correct translation. • Practice in both directions: English to Cantonese and Cantonese to English. • See Traditional Chinese characters with optional Jyutping. • Hear every core word and phrase spoken aloud. • Build streaks, improve your accuracy, and chase higher fare ranks. FROM HONG KONG TO CHINATOWN Drive through Victoria Peak, the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, Sai Kung, San Francisco Chinatown, and New York Chinatown. Follow Cantonese across cities and generations while learning everyday vocabulary for greetings, directions, school, work, food, markets, city life, and travel. MORE THAN FLASHCARDS Dodge traffic, time your boost, collect pineapple buns, and pick up passengers for extra vocabulary challenges. Replay routes to strengthen your recall, improve your score, and make familiar words feel like your own. Start with a free, 10-question Victoria Peak run and replay to practise its 30-word vocabulary deck. Full City Access unlocks four additional routes and 150 practical words and phrases in total. No Canto Cab account is required. Start your shift. Reconnect one word at a time. Privacy Policy: https://spammusubitech.com/canto-cab/privacy Terms of Use: https://spammusubitech.com/canto-cab/terms Apple Standard EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Mahjong Mandarin & Cantonese4 screens
Canto Cab4 screens

Verdict

The call

Mahjong Mandarin & Cantonese and Canto Cab both sit at 5.0 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Canto Cab's written reviews are positive against 80% of Mahjong Mandarin & Cantonese's. Canto Cab also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 weeks) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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

Both are free to download. Mahjong Mandarin & Cantonese sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Canto Cab sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Mahjong Mandarin & Cantonese against 5.0 for Canto Cab. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 5 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 80% of Mahjong Mandarin & Cantonese's written reviews are positive against 100% of Canto Cab's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mahjong Mandarin & Cantonese ships an update every 3 weeks, Canto Cab every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Mahjong Mandarin & Cantonese versus Canto Cab: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMahjong Mandarin & CantoneseCanto Cab
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings)5.0 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews80.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings35 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size131 MB454 MB
Age rating4++12
DeveloperTileSpeak SoftwareSpam Musubi Technologies

Customer experience

Mahjong Mandarin & Cantonese

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews20 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral5.0%
Negative15.0%

Canto Cab

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Mahjong Mandarin & Cantonese

One-time2
  • 7-Day TrialFree
  • TileSpeak Full$6.99
3 purchases

Canto Cab

Subscriptions1
  • Weekly Full Access$3.997 Days
One-time2
  • Lifetime Full Access$4.99
  • Lifetime Full Access$9.99

Questions

Is Mahjong Mandarin & Cantonese free?
Mahjong Mandarin & Cantonese is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Canto Cab free?
Canto Cab is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Mahjong Mandarin & Cantonese or Canto Cab?
Mahjong Mandarin & Cantonese and Canto Cab are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 5 ratings respectively.
Do Mahjong Mandarin & Cantonese or Canto Cab have ads?
Neither Mahjong Mandarin & Cantonese nor Canto Cab shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Mahjong Mandarin & Cantonese or Canto Cab?
Mahjong Mandarin & Cantonese ships an update every 3 weeks, and Canto Cab every 5 days. Most recently, Mahjong Mandarin & Cantonese was updated on November 6, 2026 and Canto Cab on October 31, 2026.

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