Sand Nihongo vs Learn Hiragana
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sand Nihongo
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Tap, Listen, Write Japanese - Sand Nihongo No complicated lessons. Just a few taps a day. Start from hiragana and katakana basics, all the way to JLPT vocabulary and real-world sentences and learn Japanese the way that fits you. How you learn • Multiple-choice quizzes - memorize the easy way by picking the right answer • Listening - train your ear with Japanese pronunciation every day • Kanji writing - trace every stroke by hand and make it stick • Time attack - test your skills against the clock From basics to fluency • Master hiragana & katakana completely • Vocabulary - essential words organized by category • Sentences - pick up conversational feel with expressions you'll actually use Built to keep you going • Stats & progress - see your history and growth at a glance • Light, intuitive screens made for daily practice Start today and grow a little closer to Japanese every day. • Terms of Use (EULA) : https://sandpia.com/sand-nihongo/terms • Privacy Policy : https://sandpia.com/sand-nihongo/privacy
Learn Hiragana
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Learn the shapes and stroke order of Japanese hiragana by tracing each letter with your finger. Built for young children (ages 3–7) and for anyone learning Japanese. Follow the guide A pen-tip marker glides along each stroke from the green start point to the red end point, showing the correct order and direction. Trace along and feel a gentle tap as your line takes shape (on iPhone, and when tracing with Apple Pencil Pro). Every finished character is graded with a familiar Japanese mark: a flower (excellent), a circle (good), or a cross (try again). What you get • All 46 basic hiragana, laid out on the classic gojūon chart • Stroke-order guide with numbered start/end points and animation • Pronunciation audio for every letter, plus sound effects • Adjustable difficulty for how strictly your tracing is judged • Apple Pencil support: stroke thickness follows your pressure, and Apple Pencil Pro adds haptics you can feel as you trace (requires an iPad that supports Apple Pencil Pro) • Words while you practice: as you work on a letter, an illustrated word appears with that letter left blank—trace it in to complete the word • Shuffle practice: run through your unlocked letters in random order • My Garden: watch flowers grow as you practice, and compare today's writing with your very first try • Romaji readings to support learners (in non-Japanese languages) Made for little hands and grown-up learners Playful marks and sounds keep children engaged, while a calm, uncluttered layout works just as well for adults. Purchases are protected behind a parents' gate. The app works offline and needs no account. Free and Pass The five letters あ・い・う・え・お are free forever. Unlock all 46 letters with a 1-Month or 1-Year Pass—these are one-time and non-renewing, so nothing is charged automatically. Available on iPhone and iPad.
Screenshots
Verdict
Sand Nihongo and Learn Hiragana are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Sand Nihongo sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.59 per month and Learn Hiragana sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Sand Nihongo ships an update every 2 weeks, Learn Hiragana fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Sand Nihongo | Learn Hiragana |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.5 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 128 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sandpia | SURVITAC |
In-app purchases
Sand Nihongo
- Premium - Monthly$1.591 Month
- Premium - Lifetime$4.59
Learn Hiragana
- 1-Month Pass$2.99
- 1-Year Pass$5.99









