Comparison

npiSoroban vs Chinese Annotator

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

Head to head
About

npiSoroban

Learn to use the Japanese abacus, or soroban, with narrated tutorials on your iPhone or iPad. Master arithmetic with this ancient tool, now digitized for modern learning.

Highlights
  • Digital soroban (abacus)
  • Narrated tutorials
  • Arithmetic practice
  • Educational tool
  • Supports iPhone and iPad
Features
Read full description

The Japanese soroban, otherwise known as an abacus, has been used for centuries in markets around the world. From stones and grooves in the sand, the soroban is now realized on the iPhone, complete with narrated tutorials. Once you get the hang of it, math as never been so easy! ABOUT US npiSoroban is created by NonPareil Institute, a non-profit group that provides technical training for individuals on the autistic spectrum. nP provides job and life skills to equip autistic individuals to live and work. We also offer training in game design, programming, sound, music, and 2D/3D art. More importantly we offer a safe place for men and women to be more than what society expects. Here they learn teamwork, find community and work to achieve fulfilled lives.

About

Chinese Annotator

This app helps you learn Chinese by reading ePub books. It allows you to add Pinyin and English definitions directly to the text, and track your vocabulary knowledge. You can also export your learned words for flashcard review.

Highlights
  • Import ePub files
  • Add Pinyin and English definitions
  • Track known words and characters
  • Hide known Pinyin/definitions
  • Export word lists for flashcards
  • Print pages to PDF
Features
Read full description

A Chinese ePub reader to assist you in reading Chinese characters. After importing an ePub, you can add Pinyin and English on to the text in a 3-line format. After annotating the text in this way, you can then mark on a word by word basis which definitions you already know and which characters you know. There is a setting that hides the pinyin or definitions of words that you know. In this way, you are forced to look at the character and recall it instead of relying on pinyin. A word list is also available to allow you to see all words, words with unknown definitions, or words with unknown pinyin. This list of words can be exported to a file to be imported in to a flash card system, like Pleco. This allows you to easily pick out all the words you don't know in a publication and review them. You can also print the page of the book currently being displayed. In iOS 10 and greater, you can print to PDF.

Screenshots

npiSoroban4 screens
Chinese Annotator4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: npiSoroban at Free against Chinese Annotator's $0.99. npiSoroban also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 72%) and iOS requirement (5.1.1 vs 9.0). Chinese Annotator's advantage is rating (4.1 vs 3.4) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 5 months). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

npiSoroban is free to download; Chinese Annotator costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Chinese Annotator holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chinese Annotator has 30 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 100% of npiSoroban's written reviews are positive against 72% of Chinese Annotator's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

npiSoroban ships an update every 5 months, Chinese Annotator every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on June 11, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
npiSoroban versus Chinese Annotator: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameternpiSorobanChinese Annotator
PriceFree — better$0.99
Rating3.4 (5 ratings)4.1 (30 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better72.0% of reviews
Number of ratings530 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS5.1.1 — better9.0
Further details — not scored
Size95 MB65 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNonpareil InstituteJon Hargett

Customer experience

npiSoroban

All ratings5 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative40.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Chinese Annotator

All ratings30 ratings
Positive76.7%
Neutral13.3%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive72.0%
Neutral12.0%
Negative16.0%

In-app purchases

None

npiSoroban

No in-app purchases

None

Chinese Annotator

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is npiSoroban free?
npiSoroban is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chinese Annotator free?
Chinese Annotator costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, npiSoroban or Chinese Annotator?
Chinese Annotator is rated higher. npiSoroban averages 3.4 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while Chinese Annotator averages 4.1 from 30 ratings.
Do npiSoroban or Chinese Annotator have ads?
Neither npiSoroban nor Chinese Annotator shows ads.
Which is updated more often, npiSoroban or Chinese Annotator?
npiSoroban ships an update every 5 months, and Chinese Annotator every 2 weeks. Most recently, npiSoroban was updated on June 11, 2026 and Chinese Annotator on September 19, 2026.

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