HSK(新汉语水平考试) vs TextbookShelf
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
HSK(新汉语水平考试)
Master Chinese character writing with correct stroke order. This app helps learners of all HSK levels practice writing accurately, following a recognized standard. New books are added regularly to cover all HSK levels 1-6.
- Correct stroke order guidance
- Practice writing common Chinese characters
- Covers HSK levels 1-6
- Follows national character standards
- Regularly updated content
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When you write Chinese characters, it is easy to make mistakes. Even though it looks very simple, such as "九,为,方,入,门", it is often that you write them incorrectly. It is important for students to write the exactly right stroke order at the beginning . This application follows the book “Commonly used Characters in Modern Chinese” released by National Committee of Chinese Characters in 1988. It will help students to learn Chinese character faster and write them correctly. The books are adding continually, include all the HSK level 1-6 textbooks. QQ ID: 372513600
TextbookShelf
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TextbookShelf turns the Chinese textbooks you already have into comfortable, readable text, and keeps them organized by school stage, subject and edition on one shelf. The app interface is in Chinese (Simplified and Traditional). IMPORT AND AUTO-SORT A built-in catalog lists 2,000+ primary, middle and high school textbook titles (titles only, no textbook content). Import a textbook PDF you obtained legally, or scan your own paper book with the camera, and TextbookShelf files it under the right stage, subject and edition. ON-DEVICE TEXT RECOGNITION PDFs with a text layer are extracted directly; scanned pages are recognized on your device with iOS text recognition. Everything stays offline and nothing is uploaded. Formulas, figures and tables are kept as images you can tap to zoom. Start reading while recognition is still running; it resumes where it left off. COMFORTABLE READING • Adjustable font size and line spacing, light and dark mode • Switch between text and the original page • Convert body text between Simplified and Traditional Chinese • Contents, chapters and bookmarks; your position is saved • In-book search that matches both scripts • Share a page excerpt with its source PRO, ONE-TIME PURCHASE • Import, scan and recognize unlimited textbooks (3 in the basic version) • Search across your whole shelf and jump straight to the page • Read whole books aloud with adjustable speed No subscription, no ads, no account. COPYRIGHT TextbookShelf does not supply textbooks, poems, books or magazines, offer content downloads, or export whole books. The included functional demonstration only explains app controls. Textbook copyrights belong to their publishers. Only import or scan books you have the right to use, for personal study. Publisher names are used only to identify editions; the app is not affiliated with any publisher.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: TextbookShelf at none against HSK(新汉语水平考试)'s shown. TextbookShelf also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 35 months). HSK(新汉语水平考试)'s advantage is iOS requirement (14.0 vs 16.0). On price, 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
Both are free to download. HSK(新汉语水平考试) sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and TextbookShelf sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
HSK(新汉语水平考试) ships an update every 35 months, TextbookShelf every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | HSK(新汉语水平考试) | TextbookShelf |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 35 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 662 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | 国伟 林 | 献慧 陈 |
In-app purchases
HSK(新汉语水平考试)
- Remove Ads.$4.99
TextbookShelf
- Pro Lifetime$4.99
Questions
Is HSK(新汉语水平考试) free?
Is TextbookShelf free?
Do HSK(新汉语水平考试) or TextbookShelf have ads?
Which is updated more often, HSK(新汉语水平考试) or TextbookShelf?
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