Bopomofo vs Sinogram Star
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Bopomofo
Practice Bopomofo, a phonetic system primarily used in Taiwan. This application allows you to save your practice sessions. It's designed for learning and reinforcing Chinese phonetic symbols.
- Bopomofo practice
- Save practice sessions
- Taiwanese phonetic symbols
- Educational tool
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Learn Zhuyin (Bopomofo), the phonetic symbols used in Taiwan to write the pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese, by writing them yourself. Just trace over the light guide letter with your finger or Apple Pencil. FEATURES - All 37 Zhuyin symbols (21 initials and 16 finals) - Pick any symbol from the home screen to start practicing - Handwriting practice by tracing over guide letters on a practice grid - Romanization and category shown for each symbol - Erase with the trash button and write again - Move to the previous / next symbol with the arrow buttons - Save your writing to the Photos app GREAT FOR - Beginners of Mandarin Chinese - Travelers and students going to Taiwan - Children practicing Zhuyin This app is free and contains ads.
Sinogram Star
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Sinogram Star – Create New Chinese Characters Discover the Unknown World! There are about 200 meta characters scattered in 12 sematic planets, if you find these meta characters, you can open the Chinese language world. (Most Chinese characters are composed of about 200 meta characters. If you master these meta characters and combination methods, you can control thousands of Chinese characters, even you can create new Chinese characters.)
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Bopomofo at Free against Sinogram Star's $19.99. Sinogram Star's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 70 months). On 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
Bopomofo is free to download; Sinogram Star costs $19.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Bopomofo ships an update every 70 months, Sinogram Star every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Bopomofo | Sinogram Star |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $19.99 |
| Rating | 2.0 (3 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 70 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 12.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 67 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kiyoshi Koike | Clavis Sinica Limited |
In-app purchases
Bopomofo
No in-app purchases
Sinogram Star
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Bopomofo free?
Is Sinogram Star free?
Do Bopomofo or Sinogram Star have ads?
Which is updated more often, Bopomofo or Sinogram Star?
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