Hanyu Pinyin Dictionary vs Pinyinize
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Hanyu Pinyin Dictionary
This app helps Chinese language learners by providing a dictionary for Hanyu Pinyin. It allows users to look up characters by pronunciation or find characters based on their pronunciation, supporting both simplified and traditional Chinese.
- Search by character or pinyin
- Supports traditional and simplified Chinese
- Listen to pronunciation
- Bookmark search results
- Copy results to clipboard
- Over 20,000 CJK ideoglyphs
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You are learning Chinese. You have no clue of deducing the pronunciation of Chinese characters. You know the pronunciation, but not the character itself. You just don’t know how to pronounce a character. You resort to Hanyu Pinyin Dictionary. ▨ ▧ ▨ ▧ ▨ ▧ ▨ ▧ ▨ ▧ ▨ ▧ ▨ ▧ ▨ ▧ ▨ ▧ How can the app help you? ◦ You search the pronunciation by character, and vice versa. - The pronunciation comes in the form of hanyu pinyin. - The app supports both traditional and simplified Chinese characters. - Support 20000+ CJK ideoglyphs. ◦ You listen to the pronunciation by clicking the voice button. ◦ You bookmark the search results for future reference. ◦ You copy the result to clipboard. ▨ ▧ ▨ ▧ ▨ ▧ ▨ ▧ ▨ ▧ ▨ ▧ ▨ ▧ ▨ ▧ ▨ ▧ Should you find any errata, please don’t hesitate to inform us! Visit our official website! ◦ https://appappworks .com Follow us on Twitter! ◦ https://twitter.com/appappworks Follow us on Facebook! ◦ https://www.facebook.com/appappworks Follow us on YouTube! ◦ https://www.youtube.com/appappworks
Pinyinize
This app uses your phone's camera to instantly convert Chinese characters into phonetic Pinyin. It helps you understand menus, addresses, and other Chinese text by displaying the Pinyin with contextual grouping for accurate pronunciation.
- Camera-based character to Pinyin conversion
- Contextual grouping for accurate pronunciation
- Instant translation of Chinese text
- Useful for menus and addresses
- Supports iPhone devices
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Are you studying Chinese and proficient in pronouncing PinYin, but don't ever see any Chinese writing with accompanying PinYin? Have you ever been in a Chinese restaurant, looking at the menu, and wishing you knew how PinYin of the dishes' names to be able to order them from your server in Chinese? Have you ever been in the taxi in China or Taiwan and needed to tell your driver the destination, with the address in hand, but you could not pronounce it? Well guess what - the struggle is over! With the PinYinize, you can use your camera turn Chinese characters into phonetic PinYin at your fingertips! Simply point the in-app camera to the Chinese text you are interested in, take a photo, and the app will automatically convert them into PinYin for you. What about those pesky characters that change in pronunciation based on the change in context? We've got you covered! The PinYinize will display the Chinese characters in your photo by grouping them in helpful boxes that identifies the pertinent context they are in, and helps you pronounce the characters accurately!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Pinyinize at 100% against Hanyu Pinyin Dictionary's 54%. Pinyinize also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.0) and ads (none vs shown). Hanyu Pinyin Dictionary's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). On price, ratings volume and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Pinyinize holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 54% of Hanyu Pinyin Dictionary's written reviews are positive against 100% of Pinyinize's.
Hanyu Pinyin Dictionary ships an update every 2 months, Pinyinize monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Hanyu Pinyin Dictionary | Pinyinize |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 54.1% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 13 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Chun Kai Lau | Kyle Watson |
Customer experience
Hanyu Pinyin Dictionary
Pinyinize
In-app purchases
Hanyu Pinyin Dictionary
No in-app purchases
Pinyinize
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Hanyu Pinyin Dictionary free?
Is Pinyinize free?
Which has better reviews, Hanyu Pinyin Dictionary or Pinyinize?
Do Hanyu Pinyin Dictionary or Pinyinize have ads?
Which is updated more often, Hanyu Pinyin Dictionary or Pinyinize?
Other comparisons
