Comparison

Hiragana Katakana Karuta vs Initial Code Full Version

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

Head to head
About

Hiragana Katakana Karuta

This educational game helps young children learn Japanese hiragana and katakana through interactive card matching. Players listen to Japanese words and identify the corresponding character cards, making learning fun and accessible for early learners.

Highlights
  • Interactive card matching
  • Listen and identify Japanese sounds
  • Learn hiragana and katakana
  • Familiar illustrations
  • Self-directed play
  • Progress tracking
Features
Read full description

Play this “Hiragana Katakana Karuta” with your children who have just begun learning hiragana and katakana, the Japanese cursive syllabary. Here is the Japanese karuta, using 46 hiraganas and 46 karutas with illustrations that are familiar with you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ◆How to play this app◆ Listen to the words in Japanese, especially the last hiragana and katakana sound. Then find and touch the card that you’ve listened to. Each of the card shows hiragana and katakana clearly so that you can find it easily. The Japanese words you hear are about something familiar with you, and the cards you touch describe their illustrations. The hiragana and katakana is read randomly. Complete all of the 46 cards each section as soon as you can. This app is for children before entering elementary schools and for those who has just begun learning Japanese. Being able to read hiragana and katakana enables you to communicate basically in Japanese, and it must be the basis of learning in Japanese. This app lets your children recognise how to read hiragana and katakana as well as its shapes, operating and playing it by themselves. Try it with your lovely children together. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ◆Infomation Gloding Inc. has created another app “Hiragana Training” for those who are interested in hiragana. You can practice writing hiragana with your fingers. (Fee-charging)

About

Initial Code Full Version

This app supports learning to read and spell in English through a phonics program. It offers activities for blending, segmenting, and word/sentence reading and writing, with units unlocking as progress is made.

Highlights
  • Phonics-based reading and spelling
  • Blending and segmenting activities
  • Sound-spelling correspondence
  • Word and sentence reading/writing
  • Unit-based progression
Read full description

The official app for the Sounds-Write Initial Code phonics programme, for learning to read and spell in English. ******* IPAD ONLY ******* This app is currently unavailable on the iPhone because of the writing element of the app. For young children to become fluent readers and spellers they need to rehearse and consolidate what they are learning. It is this, repeated over and over again, that enables their access to alphabetic code knowledge and skills to become totally automatic and internalised processes. This app offers a variety of activities to develop the skills of blending and segmenting, sound spelling correspondence, word reading and writing and some sentences reading and writing. The app has been designed to introduce all the sound-spelling correspondences your child(ren) needs to learn to put them well on the way to learning to read and write. Each unit will be locked until the child has completed enough of the current unit to be able to progress. For more information on the Sounds-Write programme please visit www.sounds-write.co.uk

Screenshots

Hiragana Katakana Karuta4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Initial Code Full Version at 100% against Hiragana Katakana Karuta's 43%. Initial Code Full Version also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.0) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). Hiragana Katakana Karuta's advantage is price (Free vs $5.99) and update cadence (monthly vs every 5 months). On ratings volume and ads 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

Hiragana Katakana Karuta is free to download; Initial Code Full Version costs $5.99 up front. Hiragana Katakana Karuta sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Initial Code Full Version asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Initial Code Full Version holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 43% of Hiragana Katakana Karuta's written reviews are positive against 100% of Initial Code Full Version's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hiragana Katakana Karuta ships an update monthly, Initial Code Full Version every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and June 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Hiragana Katakana Karuta versus Initial Code Full Version: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHiragana Katakana KarutaInitial Code Full Version
PriceFree — better$5.99
Rating4.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews42.9% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2 — better1
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad
Requires iOS15.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB83 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGloding Inc.Sounds-Write Ltd

Customer experience

Hiragana Katakana Karuta

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive42.9%
Neutral14.3%
Negative42.9%

Initial Code Full Version

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Hiragana Katakana Karuta

One-time1
  • 広告オフ$0.99
None

Initial Code Full Version

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Hiragana Katakana Karuta free?
Hiragana Katakana Karuta is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Initial Code Full Version free?
Initial Code Full Version costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Hiragana Katakana Karuta or Initial Code Full Version?
Initial Code Full Version is rated higher. Hiragana Katakana Karuta averages 4.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Initial Code Full Version averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Hiragana Katakana Karuta or Initial Code Full Version have ads?
Neither Hiragana Katakana Karuta nor Initial Code Full Version shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hiragana Katakana Karuta or Initial Code Full Version?
Hiragana Katakana Karuta ships an update monthly, and Initial Code Full Version every 5 months. Most recently, Hiragana Katakana Karuta was updated on September 27, 2026 and Initial Code Full Version on June 11, 2026.

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