Comparison

BALCOM Nihongo vs Flashcards by FocusWord

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

Head to head
About

BALCOM Nihongo

Features
Read full description

You can access the app from your phone anytime, anywhere, and study Japanese with videos, tests, etc.

About

Flashcards by FocusWord

Learn vocabulary in context by annotating words you don't know in sentences. This app tracks your progress and helps you build essential word knowledge. It offers native dictionary access, text-to-speech, and iCloud syncing.

Highlights
  • Learn vocabulary in context
  • Track word progress and milestones
  • Native dictionary and translation access
  • iCloud device syncing
  • Import custom decks and text files
  • Progress dashboard and streak tracking
Features
Read full description

FocusWord shows you one sentence at a time, and you annotate any words you don’t know. Then later, you’re asked to recall just one of those words—the focus word. By focusing on one word in a sentence, you learn vocabulary in context, rather than relying on rote memorization. At the same time, your brain makes important links between words that are often used together. As you study, FocusWord keeps track of every single word you learn, and you’ll unlock milestones on your path to 10K. Access native Apple dictionaries, translation, and text-to-speech directly from the app. Add notes right onto your flashcards, and sync across your devices with iCloud. FocusWord’s core features are free, but you can accelerate your learning with Pro. With Pro, you can learn unlimited cards per day, and you can automatically skip cards that are too easy for you, so you don’t waste a single second. You can also go fully native and annotate cards in your target language. Start your journey to 10K today! With FocusWord, your language learning goals are just around the corner. MAIN FEATURES - Learn up to ten new cards per day for free - Study unlimited review cards for free - Add annotations using just an example and its translation—no need for typing …AND MORE FEATURES - Add notes directly onto your cards - See an overview of your progress with an easily accessible dashboard - Sync across your devices with iCloud FLEXIBLE STUDY OPTIONS - Free starter decks for 60+ languages - Import your own decks (TSV) - Import a text file and have FocusWord turn it into flashcards with automatic translation - Back up your flashcards MANAGE YOUR COLLECTION - Browse, search, and edit your flashcards - Favorite cards during study in order to easily find them later TRACK YOUR PROGRESS - Unlock Milestones as you learn - See percent of cards studied, mastered - See days to and date of completion at your current goal rate - See annotation counts, learned word counts, and more - Set a daily streak with only one review per day TRANSLATE & DEFINE - Access native Apple dictionaries and translation directly from the app - Search your preferred online dictionaries/translators directly from the app, open them outside the app if you prefer NATIVE TTS - Autoplay every example - Hear words pronounced as you tap on them - Easily control TTS playback with multiple configuration options - Easily mute autoplay during a session - Set preferred TTS voices PRACTICE MODES - Practice writing and pronouncing words (only available for Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, and Shanghainese) PREMIUM FEATURES - Study as many new cards per day as you want - Set custom goals - Set temporary goals - Set custom study orders - Set a custom flag for difficult cards - Study individual decks - Enable Auto Mastery: automatically master a card if you’ve already learned all the words on it - Go fully native LANGUAGES - Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Bangla, Basque, Bhojpuri, Bulgarian, Burmese, Cantonese (aka Yue Chinese), Catalan, Cherokee, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Kazakh, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Lithuanian, Malay, Malayalam, Mandarin Chinese (Simplified), Mandarin Chinese (Traditional), Marathi, Norwegian Bokmål, Odia (aka Oriya), Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi (aka Panjabi), Romanian, Russian, Shanghainese (aka Wu Chinese), Sinhalese (aka Sinhala), Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Tibetan, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese - Beta languages: Latin, Macedonian, Tatar. Sample decks are not available for beta languages. - Not all languages have access to native translate, look up, and TTS features. Happy learning! Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

BALCOM Nihongo4 screens
Flashcards by FocusWord4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Flashcards by FocusWord at every 8 days against BALCOM Nihongo's every 6 weeks. BALCOM Nihongo's advantage is iOS requirement (15.2 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. BALCOM Nihongo sells 9 one-off in-app purchases and Flashcards by FocusWord sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BALCOM Nihongo ships an update every 6 weeks, Flashcards by FocusWord every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
BALCOM Nihongo versus Flashcards by FocusWord: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBALCOM NihongoFlashcards by FocusWord
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Freemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.2 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size102 MB311 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperHorizontal Line Co.,Ltd.Andres Rivera

In-app purchases

9 purchases

BALCOM Nihongo

One-time9
  • N3 Course - Part 2Free
  • N3 Course - Part3Free
  • N3 Course - Part 1Free
Show 6 more
  • N5 Course - Part 3Free
  • N5 Course - Part 2Free
  • N5 Course - Part3Free
  • N4 Course - Part 1Free
  • N4 Course - Part 2Free
  • N5 Course - Part 1Free
3 purchases

Flashcards by FocusWord

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription$2.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription$12.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Purchase$24.99

Questions

Is BALCOM Nihongo free?
BALCOM Nihongo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Flashcards by FocusWord free?
Flashcards by FocusWord is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do BALCOM Nihongo or Flashcards by FocusWord have ads?
Neither BALCOM Nihongo nor Flashcards by FocusWord shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BALCOM Nihongo or Flashcards by FocusWord?
BALCOM Nihongo ships an update every 6 weeks, and Flashcards by FocusWord every 8 days. Most recently, BALCOM Nihongo was updated on October 6, 2026 and Flashcards by FocusWord on September 28, 2026.

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