Comparison

Try Nihongo vs Carry the Story

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

Head to head
About

Try Nihongo

Features
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TryNihongo helps you learn Japanese step by step through interactive lessons, dictionaries, and game-based practice. Key features: โ€ข Look up Japanese vocabulary, Kanji, and 214 radicals โ€ข Search for Kanji by drawing, then explore meanings, readings, and components โ€ข Practice Kanji writing with stroke order guidance โ€ข Learn Hiragana and Katakana through guided practice โ€ข Review vocabulary with flashcards, SRS, quizzes, and study notes โ€ข Practice pronunciation with speaking activities โ€ข Track learning progress and receive daily study reminders โ€ข Join quizzes, learning games, and leaderboards TryNihongo is designed for both beginners and learners reviewing Japanese every day. It combines learning, lookup tools, and practice to help you stay motivated while improving vocabulary, Kanji recognition, and reading skills.

About

Carry the Story

Features
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Every parent can be a storyteller. All 106 stories in this app are read aloud in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Estonian and English. Not a sample and not a handful: every story, in all six, in a cheerful reading voice and a gentler sleep voice. So if one of those is the language spoken at home, your child can hear the whole library in it tonight. Nothing is shortened in the other languages and nothing is missing from them. START WITH 14 STORIES, FREE Fourteen stories are free forever, one from each shelf, with nothing held back on them. Every voice, every language, the word meanings, the bedtime shelf. Read them as long as you like before you decide anything. ONE PAYMENT FOR THE REST The other 92 stories open with a single purchase, and so does every story we add to the app later, at no further cost. There is no subscription, no packs to collect and nothing else to buy. One purchase covers your Family Sharing group. CANTONESE, PROPERLY Cantonese comes two ways: read as the text is written, or in natural spoken Cantonese. No other app carries a narrated Cantonese story library of this size, in either reading. READ, LISTEN AND UNDERSTAND IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES Three separate settings, not one. Your child can read in one language, hear a second, and get word meanings in a third. Read: English, Traditional Chinese, Estonian, Japanese, Korean. Listen: English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Estonian, Japanese, Korean. EVERY WORD EXPLAINED Tap any word in any title or caption. A small card shows what it means, written for a child in one short sentence, with a button to hear it said aloud, in every one of the five reading languages. A SHELF THAT READS ITSELF Add favorites to the bedtime shelf, then choose Read them all to me. The calm voice carries the whole shelf, moving from story to story on its own while the screen fades gently to black. One tap brings it back. WHAT IS INSIDE Japanese folktales, Grimm, Nordic tales, Hans Christian Andersen, Estonian legends, Korean folktales, Chinese chengyu stories, Greek fables and myths, Hong Kong folktales, Taiwanese folktales, and the Arabian Nights. Every page is drawn as full color comic art. Gentle retellings throughout. Nobody is eaten in Little Red Riding Hood, Icarus is caught before the water closes over him, and Snow White simply wakes up. MADE FOR CHILDREN Kid mode hides the settings a child should not change, and buying sits behind a question only a grown-up can answer. No advertising, no subscriptions and no accounts. No data collection of any kind. Every story plays without an internet connection, and nothing links out of the app. IF YOUR LANGUAGE IS NOT HERE YET The interface and all 106 stories are currently in English, Traditional Chinese, Estonian, Japanese and Korean. If you would like to read these stories with your child in another language, write to kl@carrythestory.com and tell us which one. Japanese and Korean are here because families asked for them. Because every illustration and every recording is included in the app, the download is large. We suggest installing over Wi-Fi.

Screenshots

Try Nihongo4 screens
Carry the Story4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Try Nihongo at none against Carry the Story's 1. Try Nihongo also leads on iOS requirement (15.5 vs 18.0). Carry the Story's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Carry the Story sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Try Nihongo asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Try Nihongo ships an update every 4 months, Carry the Story monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 3 level
Try Nihongo versus Carry the Story: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTry NihongoCarry the Story
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsMonthly โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.5 โ€” better18.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size98 MB1.0 GB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperTOT DO XUANFatCouple Oรœ

In-app purchases

None

Try Nihongo

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Carry the Story

One-time1
  • Every Story, Forever$9.99

Questions

Is Try Nihongo free?
Try Nihongo is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Carry the Story free?
Carry the Story is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Try Nihongo or Carry the Story have ads?
Neither Try Nihongo nor Carry the Story shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Try Nihongo or Carry the Story?
Try Nihongo ships an update every 4 months, and Carry the Story monthly. Most recently, Try Nihongo was updated on October 24, 2026 and Carry the Story on October 25, 2026.

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