ToneDetector vs Mandaboo
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ToneDetector
Master Mandarin tones with this intuitive app. Practice pronunciation, compare your pitch contours to samples, and receive immediate visual feedback to improve your speaking accuracy without a tutor. Covers all Mandarin tonal syllables for effective self-assessment.
- Instant tone judgment
- Visual pitch contour comparison
- Practice all Mandarin tonal syllables
- Self-assessment of tone perception
- Sample sounds for comparison
- Intuitive practice interface
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How to know if you pronounced a Mandarin tone correctly without human tutors? The 12 years old tone detector app lets you make a judgement by yourself instantly. It is very intuitive for you to practice your tones. The Chinese tones are the most difficult part for a foreign language learner to speak Chinese. How to get rid of strong non-native accent and misunderstanding caused by tone issues? Using this app, practice to be right in every Mandarin tonal syllable first! Hear sample tonal syllables, practice tonal syllables and see their pitch shapes immediately. By comparing your pitch contours with the sample pitch contours directly, you can make a judgement easily by yourself. From the visual intuitive feedback, you may improve your tones quickly. This app basically covers all the possible Mandarin chinese syllables with lexical tones. They are 407 base syllables and 1259 tonal syllables. This app provides a sample sound for each tonal syllable for you to compare. By following the sample sounds, you can practice all the Mandarin tonal syllables and learn Chinese pronunciations. You can self-assess your tone perception ability too. This app is essential to all Chinese learners to master Chinese tone quickly. It could be used for tone lecture demonstration purpose too.
Mandaboo
A fun, improv-style game designed to improve Mandarin speaking and listening skills. Players guess Mandarin words by following clues, avoiding specific taboo words to enhance comprehension and vocabulary. Play solo or with friends for an engaging learning experience.
- Guess Mandarin words with clues
- Avoid taboo words
- Improve listening comprehension
- Enhance speaking skills
- Play solo or with friends
- Create custom word lists
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Start playing Mandaboo today—a game of unspeakable Mandarin fun. Follow clues to guess the Mandarin word in this Mandarin game of improv, learning and laughs. Some clues are taboo to challenge your Mandarin listening comprehension and get your mind’s gears turning in Mandarin to guess the word in question. WHAT’S A MANDABOO? It’s a guessing challenge where the speaker gives you clues but they are not allowed to say certain taboo words to keep you guessing longer. You’ll hang on every clue until you make a Mandarin breakthrough…or bust! Will you be stumped? Only one way to know! ARE YOU UP FOR THE GUESSING CHALLENGE? Play on your own with the built-in Mandaboos or play with friends by creating your own Mandaboos for friends to guess, or try your guessing prowess with your friends’ Mandaboos and keep the learning going. Terms Of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Mandaboo at Free against ToneDetector's $9.99. Mandaboo also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 29 months) and ratings volume (6 vs 1). ToneDetector's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and ads (none vs shown). On rating 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
Mandaboo is free to download; ToneDetector costs $9.99 up front. Mandaboo sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. ToneDetector asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for ToneDetector against 5.0 for Mandaboo. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mandaboo has 6 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
ToneDetector ships an update every 29 months, Mandaboo weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and August 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ToneDetector | Mandaboo |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (6 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 6 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 29 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 28 MB | 91 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Jian Cheng | Mandarin Monkey Ltd |
Customer experience
ToneDetector
Mandaboo
In-app purchases
ToneDetector
No in-app purchases
Mandaboo
- Monthly Subscription3 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Six Month Subscription3 Days trial$54.996 Months
- Annual Subscription$99.991 Year
