Comparison

Luminous E vs Nihongo

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

Head to head
About

Luminous E

This comprehensive English-Japanese and Japanese-English dictionary app offers extensive vocabulary and grammar explanations. It includes audio pronunciations, search functionalities, and export options, making it a powerful tool for all English learners.

Highlights
  • Extensive vocabulary (approx. 100,000 entries each)
  • Audio pronunciations for words
  • Incremental search and spelling suggestions
  • Bookmark with notes
  • Export definitions and bookmarks
  • Daily vocabulary notifications
  • iPad multitasking and Drag & Drop support
Features
Read full description

ルミナス英和・和英辞典 (InApp購入版) This app is not free! For new users, an InApp purchase is required to activate the dictionary. Japanese language ability required. 英和・和英それぞれ約10万の豊富な収録語句に加え、アプリ独自に単語の英米音声ファイルを収録。もちろんiPhone・iPad両対応。大学入試からTOEIC®受験まで、全ての英語学習者にお薦めする学習用英和・和英辞典の「最強ツール」です。 【全体】 総収録語数は英和・和英各10万,用例は各 5 万以上。豊富な語彙だけでなく、文法や語法、ライティングのための解説も充実させた、英語学習辞典の定番。大学受験生から社会人まで全ての英語学習者・使用者にお勧めの最強ツール。 【英和】 日常用語はもちろん、時事用語、科学用語を豊富に収録し、成句や句動詞も充実。語彙だけでなく、詳細な文法・語法解説に加え、ライティングにも使える「コロケーション」や「言い換え」、語彙増強のための「単語の記憶」や「語源」など、学習・実用に役立つ情報が満載。英和辞典として初めてTOEIC®頻出2千語句を表示。 【和英】 「振り込め詐欺」「ニート」「認知症」から「源義経」「額紫陽花」「丑の時参り」まで広範な分野の語彙・慣用句・成句を採録。日本固有の風物・文化・固有名などには簡潔な英語の説明も施した。日本語的発想を自然な英語にするために不可欠な「発想指示」や学習者の間違えやすい点を分かりやすく解説した「語法」「日英比較」も充実。 ■ アプリケーションの特徴: * ロングマンシリーズの約90,000点の英米音声ファイルを収録 * 単語タップで表示される、便利なリンクメニュー * インクリメンタル検索(逐次検索)機能 * スペリングのサジェスト機能 * ワイルドカード検索機能 * 収録画像の拡大・縮小機能 * メモ付きブックマーク機能 * 語義やブックマークをメールやFacebook, Twitterなどに出力可能 * 自動履歴機能 * 書籍の付録部分を収録 * AI強化アナグラム生成機能 * "今日"とロックスクリーンのウィジェット * iCloudを利用したブックマーク機能 * 日替わり英単語の通知機能。(TOEIC®やTOEFL®の単語リスト付き) * 3D Touch 対応 * DarkMode 対応 * iPadのマルチスクリーンとDrag & Drop 対応 * iPhone 17 対応 * iOS12〜iOS26 完全対応 * iPhoneとiPodとiPadとmacOS 対応 ■ 外部辞書ハイパーリンク機能 * 「ロングマン現代英英辞典」や「アメリカンヘリテージ® 」など英英辞典へのリンク * 「Roget's II: 新類語辞典」へのリンク * 「ロングマン英和辞典」へのアプリケーションリンク * 「大辞林」「大辞泉」へのアプリケーションリンク (外部辞書は別途インストールが必要です) コピーライト: ルミナス英和辞典 (第2版)/ルミナス和英辞典 (第2版) © 2005, 2012 株式会社研究社

About

Nihongo

This app is an offline Japanese study tool that functions as a dictionary, translator, and flashcard creator. It helps users learn Japanese by analyzing text from their surroundings, such as signs and menus, and creating personalized study materials.

Highlights
  • Offline Japanese dictionary
  • Picture-to-text translation (OCR)
  • Automatic flashcard creation
  • Reading assistant with furigana/romaji
  • Spaced repetition flashcards
  • Search in English, Japanese, or romaji
Features
Read full description

Nihongo is an offline Japanese dictionary, picture-to-text translator, flashcard app, and reading assistant. Our app helps you learn Japanese naturally, using the words you encounter in daily life—on menus, signs, manga, emails, books, and more. In addition to the dictionary, you can take a picture of Japanese text or paste it from any source. Nihongo will then translate the text, add furigana or romaji, and create flashcards so you can study and steadily build your vocabulary. Here are the complete features of the app: DICTIONARY * Over 200,000 words, 205,000 example sentences, and 6000 kanji entries. * Every word clearly marked as common, uncommon, or rare. * Add your own notes to any dictionary entry. * Quickly identify transitive/intransitive word pairs. * Audio pronunciations of words and example sentences (Requires Nihongo Pro) PHOTO LOOKUP (OCR) [Pro] * Look up words just by taking a picture. * Uses Google Cloud Vision to provide high-quality text recognition. * Just tap on a word to look it up. CLIPPINGS (READING ASSISTANT) [Pro] * Adds furigana or romaji to text pasted into the app. * Tap on any word to see its definition without leaving the clipping. * Flashcard deck automatically created so you can study the new words in a clipping. * Display text horizontally or vertically. * Have Nihongo read any clipping out loud. FLASHCARDS [Pro] * Flashcards automatically generated from words you lookup in the dictionary or paste into the app. * Nihongo learns what words you know, and won't bother you again with words you've mastered. * Built-in kanji flashcard decks up through Middle School. * Intuitive spaced repetition flashcard system for vocabulary and kanji drawing. * Level up flashcards by studying every day. * No penalty for missing a day of study, come back anytime. SEARCH * Search using English, Japanese, or romaji. * Supports searching for conjugated words in both English and Japanese. * Search for kanji using radicals and stroke counts. SAFARI EXTENSION [Pro] * Add furigana or romaji to webpages. * Tap on words to see definition within Safari. Nihongo Pro Terms of Use Read our full Terms of Service at https://nihongo-app.com/terms_of_use.html. This app is only possible because of the JMDict (edrdg.org) and Tatoeba (tatoeba.org) projects. I highly encourage you to support these incredible projects that make apps like Nihongo possible!

Screenshots

Luminous E4 screens
Nihongo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Nihongo at 91% against Luminous E's 24%. Nihongo also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.0) and ratings volume (1.9K vs 6). Luminous E's advantage is device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 18.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Luminous E sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Nihongo sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Nihongo holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Nihongo has 1.9K ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 24% of Luminous E's written reviews are positive against 91% of Nihongo's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Luminous E ships an update every 5 weeks, Nihongo weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Luminous E versus Nihongo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLuminous ENihongo
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (6 ratings)4.8 (1.9K ratings) — better
Positive reviews23.5% of reviews91.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings61.9K — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size1021 MB492 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperEnglish Channel, Inc.Serpenti Sei Japan

Customer experience

Luminous E

All ratings6 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral16.7%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive23.5%
Neutral23.5%
Negative52.9%

Nihongo

All ratings1,860 ratings
Positive95.5%
Neutral2.5%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews261 reviews
Positive91.2%
Neutral4.6%
Negative4.2%

Bugs and requests

Luminous E

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Nihongo

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Freezing issues when tapping on kanji
  • Font size problems
  • Inconsistent OCR and translation accuracy

Requested features

5 requests
  • Handwriting input support
  • Customizable flashcard settings
  • Monolingual dictionary feature
  • Improved backup and sync functionality
  • Statistics and progress tracking

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Luminous E

One-time1
  • Luminous activation$14.99
5 purchases

Nihongo

Subscriptions3
  • Nihongo Pro (Monthly)7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Nihongo Pro (3 Months)7 Days trial$11.993 Months
  • Nihongo Pro (Annual)7 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time2
  • Pitch Accents$9.99
  • Nihongo Pro (Lifetime)2 variants$179.99

Questions

Is Luminous E free?
Luminous E is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Nihongo free?
Nihongo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Luminous E or Nihongo?
Nihongo is rated higher. Luminous E averages 4.0 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Nihongo averages 4.8 from 1.9K ratings.
Do Luminous E or Nihongo have ads?
Neither Luminous E nor Nihongo shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Luminous E or Nihongo?
Luminous E ships an update every 5 weeks, and Nihongo weekly. Most recently, Luminous E was updated on September 21, 2026 and Nihongo on September 29, 2026.

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