Literate Chinese: Reading Apple

Literate Chinese: Reading

By: Ray Banks App
Graded Stories & Flashcards

Overview

Rating:
4.80
(50)
Version:
1.7.1
Last updated: 2026-07-21
Ranking
#171,701 ▼ 60
Overall

Features & Capabilities

Learn to read, hear, and actually use Chinese. Literate Chinese pairs a serious spaced-repetition flashcard system with 650+ graded stories, so every word you learn shows up in real sentences and sticks. It works in both Mainland and Taiwan Mandarin, in Simplified or Traditional, from your very first character all the way to advanced reading.

READ FROM DAY ONE • Graded stories, dialogs, news, and articles matched to your personal vocabulary. The app knows which characters you know and shows you how much of each story you can already read • Tap any word for instant pinyin or zhuyin, a clear definition, and native-quality audio • Read the news in easy Chinese, or turn any text into a tap-to-read exercise with custom stories • Video lessons with synced, tappable subtitles • A built-in grammar guide, with every grammar point linked to real stories that use it

THE BEST CHINESE FLASHCARD APP • True spaced repetition (SRS) built on your personal vocabulary bank, not just card decks • Complete HSK 2.0 and HSK 3.0 lists, TOCFL lists, AP Chinese, and themed vocabulary • Capture new words from photos or audio and turn them into cards in seconds • Drill any list on demand, practice writing characters, and get example sentences with audio on every card • An AI word helper explains usage and nuance and gives you more example sentences

REVIEW THAT FEELS LIKE PLAY • A vocabulary arcade built on the words you're actually learning • Speed rounds, listening sprints, sentence scrambles, falling-character battles, and write-from-memory challenges • Every round counts as real review, so playing moves your streak and your spaced repetition forward

BUILT FOR TAIWAN LEARNERS TOO • Full Traditional character and zhuyin (bopomofo) support throughout the app • Taiwan Mandarin audio with authentic Taiwan pronunciations • Taiwan-specific vocabulary lists: everyday terms, slang, and words that differ from Mainland usage • Stories automatically adapt their vocabulary to Taiwan or Mainland Chinese based on your settings • AI tells you whether a word is actually used in Taiwan (and vice versa for Mainland China)

EVERYTHING ELSE YOU'D EXPECT • Simplified and Traditional, pinyin and zhuyin, switch anytime • Detailed progress stats, streaks, and a reading level that grows with you • Dark mode, offline review, no ads

Start free with the core study tools and a generous set of stories. Upgrade to Premium when you're ready to unlock the full library.

Whether you're on your first 50 characters or reading full stories, Literate Chinese is the graded reader and flashcard app that grows with you.

Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

User Growth & Download Statistics

App
By:
Ray Banks
Rating:
4.80
(50)
Version:
1.7.1 Last updated: 2026-07-21
Version code:
888613953
Creation date:
2025-02-06
Compatible devices:
Size:
130.73MB
URLs:
Privacy policy
Full description:
See detailed description
Source:
Apple Apps Store
Data ingested on:
2026-08-08
Compare stats and ranking:

Contact the developer

Chrome-Stats does not own this Apple app. Please use these information below to contact the Apple app developer.
Developed by:
Ray Banks
Apple Apps Store
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/literate-chinese-reading/id6741540532

User Reviews

Literate Chinese is praised for its sleek, intuitive UI, effective flashcards with integrated reading practice, and a strong vocabulary/story library. Users appreciate the engaging design, progress tracking, and customization. Common requests focus on adding user-created decks, sentence-building grammar features, easier import options, clearer UI controls, and more pronunciation/pinyin options. Overall, it’s reliable and engaging, with room to grow into more advanced features.
Pros
  • Easy to use and intuitive user interface.
  • Combines flashcards with reading practice for effective learning.
  • Rich content like a story library, videos, and storytelling; helpful for reading.
  • Strong vocabulary focus with customizable word pools and progress tracking.
  • Polished design and reliable performance with good translations and a clean look.
Cons
  • No option to create or import custom flashcard decks; users want to build personal decks.
  • Limited grammar features; users want sentence-building practice to improve understanding of Chinese grammar.
  • More explicit button labels and clarity on bottom-row controls would improve usability.
  • Requests to import texts via URL or other sources would enhance flexibility.
  • Desire for more pinyin options (e.g., Yale pinyin) to match learner background.
Recent reviews
Very sleek style, and easy to navigate. I can’t wait for it to start expanding into other languages, like Japanese!
by Jo*****, 2025-07-06

If you want to read Chinese or learn Chinese characters this app is the way to go. It combines really great flashcards with reading practice. Highly recommended.
by Jo*****, 2025-07-04
View all user reviews ›

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