Comparison

My Nihongo vs Qalam

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

Head to head
About

My Nihongo

This app helps you prepare for Japanese Language Proficiency Tests (JLPT) with personalized quizzes and flexible note-taking. It features a hands-free vocabulary learning mode and natural pronunciation practice.

Highlights
  • JLPT preparation for all levels
  • Flexible note-taking for vocabulary and sentences
  • Hands-free vocabulary learning mode
  • Personalized quiz creation from notes
  • Natural pronunciation practice
  • Quick note creation from clipboard
Features
Read full description

Feature Highlights: - JLPT Preparation Made Easy Includes sample vocabulary and sentences for all JLPT levels (N5–N1). - Flexible Note‑Taking Organize your Japanese study notes as free‑form text or structured vocabulary and sentence lists. - Vocabulary Radio (New!) Hands‑free listening mode that continuously plays the vocabularies you want to learn. - Quick Note Creation Instantly create notes from clipboard text or auto‑extract segments from non‑empty lines in a document. - Personalized Quizzes Turn your notes into quiz questions to practice the exact vocabulary and sentences you want to master. - Natural Pronunciation Practice Hear your notes spoken aloud with Apple’s built‑in text‑to‑speech, now respecting your chosen Japanese voice under Accessibility settings. - Streamlined Study Experience Improved tab arrangement, Study screen layout, and unified quiz design for a smoother, more consistent workflow. - Intuitive Editing Tools Refined workflows for building sentences, vocabularies, and multiple note types with a user‑friendly interface.

About

Qalam

This app helps children aged 4-10 learn to read and handwrite the Arabic alphabet. It offers guided tracing for each letter, teaches all four positional forms, and includes real audio pronunciations and illustrated words to color.

Highlights
  • Guided letter tracing
  • All four positional letter forms
  • Real Arabic audio pronunciations
  • Illustrated words for coloring
  • Tashkeel (diacritics) practice
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

Qalam (قلم — "pen") teaches children to read and handwrite the Arabic alphabet, one letter at a time. Arabic script is beautiful — and genuinely hard to write. Each of the 28 letters changes shape depending on where it sits in a word, and the only way those forms become natural is by writing them by hand, with the right strokes and proportions. Most apps skip this and settle for flashcards or videos. Qalam puts a pen back in your child's hand. Designed for ages 4–10 and built for iPad and iPhone with Apple Pencil support. • TRACE EVERY LETTER Tap any letter to open a guided tracing canvas. A faint guide letter sits on lined paper; your child traces over it with a finger or Apple Pencil, and the app rewards a completed trace with a clear tick. • ALL FOUR FORMS — مفردة · أول · وسط · آخر Real Arabic isn't just isolated letters. Qalam teaches all four positional forms of every letter — isolated, initial, medial, and final — because that's what a child meets in a real book. • REAL RECORDED AUDIO Every letter and word plays a genuine recorded Arabic pronunciation — not a robotic voice — so listening and writing stay connected. • 84 ILLUSTRATED WORDS TO COLOUR Each letter comes with three example words and a hand-drawn illustration — a camel, a star, a lion — that your child can colour in, then trace the word beneath in large Arabic script. • TASHKEEL (DIACRITICS) Add fatha, damma, kasra, tanwin, sukun, and shadda to practise fully vowelled letters. • SAFE AND PRIVATE BY DESIGN No ads. No third-party tracking. No accounts. No data leaves the device. Everything runs fully offline. Qalam is built to meet Apple's Kids Category standards, so you can hand it to your child with confidence. 28 letters · 4 forms each · 84 illustrated words · 112 recorded audio clips. Qalam is the first app from Sedrah AI's handwriting platform — a calm, focused, screen-native way to learn a script that has always been taught with pen and paper.

Screenshots

My Nihongo4 screens
Qalam3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Qalam at Free against My Nihongo's $2.99. Qalam also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.4) and iOS requirement (17.2 vs 26.0). My Nihongo's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 6 days vs fortnightly). On ads 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

Qalam is free to download; My Nihongo costs $2.99 up front. Qalam sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. My Nihongo asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Qalam holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: My Nihongo has 8 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

My Nihongo ships an update every 6 days, Qalam fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
My Nihongo versus Qalam: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMy NihongoQalam
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.4 (8 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings8 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.017.2 — better
Further details — not scored
Size25 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDaniel Fu Keung KwanRagaad AlTarawneh

Customer experience

My Nihongo

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Qalam

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

My Nihongo

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Qalam

One-time1
  • Qalam Kids: Write Arabic$4.99

Questions

Is My Nihongo free?
My Nihongo costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Qalam free?
Qalam is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, My Nihongo or Qalam?
Qalam is rated higher. My Nihongo averages 4.4 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while Qalam averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do My Nihongo or Qalam have ads?
Neither My Nihongo nor Qalam shows ads.
Which is updated more often, My Nihongo or Qalam?
My Nihongo ships an update every 6 days, and Qalam fortnightly. Most recently, My Nihongo was updated on October 28, 2026 and Qalam on October 25, 2026.

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