Comparison

Drowning Math vs Pocket Taiwan

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

Head to head
About

Drowning Math

Features
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Solve fast or sink. Drowning Math turns mental math into a survival race: every right answer swims you up, every mistake drags you under. How long can you stay afloat? HOW IT WORKS You sink a little every second. Pick the right answer out of three before the 5-second timer runs out and you swim up; miss and you drop. Stay below the oxygen line and your HP drains away. THE DAILY CHALLENGE One board, the whole world. Everyone gets the same puzzles today, with its own leaderboard that resets at midnight. Come back tomorrow for a fresh one. SEVEN WAYS TO PLAY • Daily Challenge — today's board, the same for everyone • Classic — survive as long as you can • Chain — each answer becomes the start of the next problem • 60 Seconds — no HP, pure speed: score as much as you can before the clock runs out • Sudden Death — one life; the first mistake ends the run • Division — find the number hidden behind the ? tile (experimental) • Training — no lives, no timers, no scores; practice at your own pace IT NEVER STOPS GETTING HARDER Start with single-digit sums. Every 10 points you level up: three-term problems, then multiplication, then exact division, with bigger numbers at every level and no ceiling. Three answer options with carefully chosen wrong ones, so guessing never works. GLOBAL LEADERBOARDS A global top 50 for every mode, plus a fresh Daily board every day. No account needed: type a name and submit your score. Beat your best, then beat the world. BUILT FOR SPEED No sign-up, no lessons. Tap Play and you're in. Runs are short, perfect for a coffee break or the bus, and an optional daily reminder tells you when a new board is out. Who it's for: • Adults who want a quick daily mental math workout • Students prepping for exams or numerical reasoning tests • Anyone who wants a brain sharper than their calculator Available in English, Spanish, French, German and Catalan. Dive in — the water is rising. Today's board is waiting.

About

Pocket Taiwan

This phrasebook focuses on Mandarin spoken in Taiwan, offering practical phrases for everyday situations like dining, travel, and shopping. It includes audio, Taiwan-accurate pinyin, and AI-powered role-playing for practice. Personalize phrases for your trip and review saved words on a spaced schedule.

Highlights
  • Taiwan-accurate Mandarin phrases
  • Tap-to-hear audio pronunciation
  • AI-powered role-playing scenarios
  • Personalized phrase selection
  • Spaced repetition review system
  • Real-life situation categorization
Features
Read full description

Taiwan, in your words. Pocket Taiwan is a Taiwan Mandarin phrasebook built for the situations you actually run into living in or visiting Taiwan — not a textbook, not a course, just the right thing to say when you need it. Every phrase comes with Traditional Chinese, Taiwan-accurate pinyin, and tap-to-hear audio. It's the Mandarin people actually speak here: 機車 not 摩托車, 捷運 not 地鐵, Taiwan tone readings, and the natural tone shifts real speakers make. NEW: POCKET TAIWAN WORLD Walk into Raohe Night Market, rebuilt from the real street as a place you can move through — dozens of stalls under the lanterns, each with a boss who only speaks Mandarin. Order stinky tofu, get asked 要辣嗎?, answer, pay. Tap interactive signs, objects and stalls to learn the word for it, with pinyin and audio. Guided mode gives you a goal in English and checks your Mandarin; Free mode just lets you talk. Speak into the microphone, or tap your answers while you build confidence. Say a phrase you've saved and it counts toward your review. Free, experimental, and growing. WHAT'S INSIDE Real situations, organized the way life is: • Food & drink — restaurants, cafés, breakfast shops, night markets, bubble tea • Getting around — MRT, buses, taxis, high speed rail, scooters and gas stations • Shops & errands — convenience stores, markets, returns, the post office • Health & personal care — doctors, pharmacies, haircuts, massage • Official business — banks, telecoms, government offices • Work & life — renting, the landlord, the office, school, deliveries • Social — making plans, small talk, dates, and the replies you'll hear over and over Plus the things you reach for in a hurry: an Emergency section with the 110 / 119 numbers one tap away, a "Lost" panic menu, and the common replies you'll use constantly. PERSONALIZED TO YOUR TRIP Tell Pocket Taiwan who you're traveling with — solo, friends, family, kids of different ages — and it adds the phrases you'll actually need: a table for your group, a high chair, a crib, formula and diapers, woven into the right situations. REVIEW WHAT YOU SAVE Tap the heart on any phrase and it joins your reviews. They come back on a spaced schedule — minutes at first, then days, then months — and the ones you keep forgetting come round more often, the way good flashcard apps work. Recall the Chinese from the English, or flip it and read the Chinese instead. Review works on the free situations too, and one switch in Settings hides it if you'd rather not. PRACTICE WITH AI Pick any situation and run a realistic role-play. The app plays the server, the clerk, the landlord; you reply. See a full sample conversation, then practice it yourself, with pinyin and audio throughout — the low-pressure rehearsal you wish you'd had before walking in the door. Five situations are free. Unlock everything — every situation plus AI practice — with a one-time purchase. No subscription, no recurring charges. BUILT FOR REAL USE • Browse included phrase content offline; save Premium voice recordings for offline playback. AI practice and World conversations require internet. • Adjustable text size and pinyin tone colors • Favorites and recent phrases • Back up your favorites and review progress to a file, and restore them on a new phone • No account, no ads, no tracking Your data stays on your device — favorites, review progress and settings never leave your phone. Optional AI practice sends your conversation and relevant phrase context to generate a reply. Whether you've just landed or you've been here for years and still freeze at the pharmacy counter, Pocket Taiwan is the phrasebook that meets you where you actually are. 歡迎來到台灣 — welcome. Let's get you talking.

Screenshots

Drowning Math4 screens
Pocket Taiwan4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Drowning Math at none against Pocket Taiwan's 1. Drowning Math also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 11 days). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Pocket Taiwan sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Drowning Math asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drowning Math ships an update every 5 days, Pocket Taiwan every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Drowning Math versus Pocket Taiwan: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrowning MathPocket Taiwan
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—3 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 11 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.415.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size67 MB149 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperBrothapps, SLCurtis Starkey

In-app purchases

None

Drowning Math

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Pocket Taiwan

One-time1
  • Premium$5.99

Questions

Is Drowning Math free?
Drowning Math is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Pocket Taiwan free?
Pocket Taiwan is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Drowning Math or Pocket Taiwan have ads?
Neither Drowning Math nor Pocket Taiwan shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Drowning Math or Pocket Taiwan?
Drowning Math ships an update every 5 days, and Pocket Taiwan every 11 days. Most recently, Drowning Math was updated on November 3, 2026 and Pocket Taiwan on November 10, 2026.

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