Comparison

活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ vs Learn Manchu Handwriting

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

Head to head
About

活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+

Practice Chinese brush calligraphy on your iPad or iPhone using original strokes from ancient masters. Focus on character structure and artistic charm to improve your calligraphy skills.

Highlights
  • Practice Chinese calligraphy with finger
  • Uses original strokes from ancient masters
  • Focuses on character structure
  • Includes 8 handscrolls
  • Simulates artistic charm of calligraphy
Features
Read full description

*Keyword*: Chinese calligraphy, Chinese culture/art, practice Chinese characters Ever dream of writing Chinese characters like a calligrapher? Now, you can practice Chinese brush calligraphy with your finger in iPad and iPhone. Live Calligraphy use the original strokes extracted from the master piece of ancient calligrapher in your practice, so that you can feel yourself like a real master of Chinese calligraphy, and fully enjoy the artistic charm of the art of calligraphy. Now, the app contains 8 handscrolls: - LanTing (兰亭集序--王羲之) - Basic Strokes (基本笔画--楷书四大家) - Timely Clearing After Snowfall (快雪时晴帖--王羲之) - Namo Amitābha by HongYi (南无阿弥陀佛--弘一法师) - Poem of Fragrance (秾芳诗帖--宋徽宗) - Confucius Passed Away (仲尼梦奠帖--欧阳询) - Ode to Qin (琴赋--文征明) - Heart Sutra (心经--赵孟頫) Enjoy Chinese calligraphy~ ---------------------------------------- 你是否曾想像自己如书法大师一样挥毫呢?来试试吧,用你的手指在iPad和iPhone上练习毛笔书法。 “活字帖”利用中国古代名家书法作品中的原笔迹,在你描摹或者临帖时绘制出来,使得你的书法效果能媲美真迹,让你体验如书法家一样的练字感受,更真切的感受书法的魅力。 本作与现有大多数作品的最大区别在于,大多数现有的作品只是根据手指运行轨迹,用计算机计算模拟出类似于毛笔笔迹的效果。但是,因为触摸屏的限制,计算机再如何聪明,又如何能知道用户运笔时的轻重缓急,浓淡干湿呢?故本作规避了用笔技巧,着重于练习每个字的字体结构。因此,本作并不能代替笔墨纸砚的常规练字方法,但是却可以从一定程度上提高用户的书法水平。 本App现有8个字帖: - 兰亭集序(王羲之) - 基本笔画(楷书四大家) - 快雪时晴帖(王羲之) - 南无阿弥陀佛(弘一法师) - 秾芳诗帖(宋徽宗) - 仲尼梦奠帖(欧阳询) - 琴赋(文徵明) - 般若波罗蜜多心经 (赵孟頫) 希望大家喜欢。

About

Learn Manchu Handwriting

Learn to hand-write the Manchu script stroke by stroke. Explore characters with a spinning wheel, access a Manchu-Chinese dictionary, and save favorites. Discover Manchu arts and culture offline.

Highlights
  • Stroke-by-stroke handwriting guidance
  • Spinning wheel exploration
  • Manchu-Chinese dictionary
  • Add words to favorites
  • Manchu arts and culture insights
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

BEAUTIFUL MANCHU LANGUAGE SCRIPT! LET'S LEARN HOW TO HAND-WRITE THEM ! THIS APP BREAKS THEM DOWN STROKE BY STROKE ! • SPIN THE WHEEL TO EXPLORE It's so easy and natural. • MANCHU-CHINESE DICTIONARY Easy to find the word you want. • ADD TO FAVORITES Save the word you like for the future use. • MANCHU ARTS & CULTURE Emperors of Qing Dynasty(清朝) portraits and their Manchu names. Also the coins and seals in Manchu language. • OFF-LINE INDEPENDENT Once downloaded, you don't need internet to use the app. All audios and pictures are integrated within. The App uses the adjusted romanization according to the system devised by Paul Georg von Möllendorff (穆麟德). e.g. |ʃ| is denoted as "x", |tʃ| is denoted as "c", |dʒ| is denoted as "j". You can also select the word in alphabetical order by clicking “manchu” in the menu bar. The Manchu language uses the Manchu script, which was derived from the traditional Mongol script. When you get a hang of the Manchu handwritings, your understanding of the Manchu culture will improve naturally.

Screenshots

活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+4 screens
Learn Manchu Handwriting4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: 活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ at 92% against Learn Manchu Handwriting's 8%. 活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ also leads on update cadence (every 7 months vs every 28 months) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.6). Learn Manchu Handwriting's advantage is price ($2.99 vs $5.99). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ costs $5.99 and Learn Manchu Handwriting $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ ships an update every 7 months, Learn Manchu Handwriting every 28 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ versus Learn Manchu Handwriting: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameter活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+Learn Manchu Handwriting
Price$5.99$2.99 — better
Rating4.9 (17 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews92.3% of reviews — better8.3% of reviews
Number of ratings17 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 7 months — betterEvery 28 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size50 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer哲 盛俊 姜

Customer experience

活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+

All ratings16 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews26 reviews
Positive92.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative7.7%

Learn Manchu Handwriting

Written reviews12 reviews
Positive8.3%
Neutral16.7%
Negative75.0%

In-app purchases

None

活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+

No in-app purchases

None

Learn Manchu Handwriting

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is 活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ free?
活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Learn Manchu Handwriting free?
Learn Manchu Handwriting costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do 活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ or Learn Manchu Handwriting have ads?
Neither 活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ nor Learn Manchu Handwriting shows ads.
Which is updated more often, 活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ or Learn Manchu Handwriting?
活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ ships an update every 7 months, and Learn Manchu Handwriting every 28 months. Most recently, 活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ was updated on November 1, 2026 and Learn Manchu Handwriting on November 6, 2026.

Other comparisons