Hanbi: Write & Learn Chinese

Hanbi is a handwriting app for learning to write Chinese characters on iPhone and iPad. Write each character in a practice grid with your finger or Apple Pencil. With Hints, Hanbi checks each stroke as you draw it and shows where the next one starts when you're stuck. In Test Mode, you write the full character with no hints, at your own pace, and Hanbi checks it when you finish. After a correct character, Structure Hints lay your writing over the standard one and say where it's off. It works on iPhone Duo, on both the outer and inner displays.

THE CHARACTERS YOU NEED TO WRITE HSK 3.0 asks you to write 1,200 characters. Hanbi practices those level by level, and each character comes back for review when it's due. Already know some? Write them from memory, and the ones you get right count as learned. Not sure where to start? Write three characters and Hanbi suggests a level.

SHORT LESSONS • Lessons by topic: family, numbers, food… Write the words, fill in sentences, and finish each lesson with a short dialogue. • Choose the right character among easily confused ones. • Weak Spots: characters you wrote wrong, mixed up or missed in Dictation, kept on one page until you clear them. • How to remember: a short way to remember a character, built from its parts. Or write your own.

PRACTICE LIKE THE PAPER EXAM • Test Mode: no hints, just like the exam. Hanbi checks the whole character when you finish and marks strokes written in a different order. • A Writing Test for each level: 10 questions, no hints, marked from your strokes. Tap a mark to change it. • Dictation: Hanbi reads each word aloud and you write it. The characters and pinyin stay hidden until you submit. It can read whole sentences too, and you write them one character per box. • Timed Writing: write a set of characters with a suggested time for your level. It isn't scored. • Print practice sheets with 田 or 米 grids and trace boxes, and write on real paper. • My Handwriting: print your own characters next to the standard ones, on one page.

IN YOUR LANGUAGE • Meanings and example words in English, Vietnamese, Thai, Korean and Japanese. • Search by character, pinyin or meaning, or write the character to find it. Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese learners can also search by Hán Việt, hanja or on/kun reading.

YOUR OWN LISTS • Paste Chinese text or take a photo of your textbook (up to 5 photos), and Hanbi picks out the characters for a new list. Photos are read on your device and not kept.

SEE YOUR PROGRESS • The Progress page shows what you've learned, the days you practiced and the reviews coming up. • Widgets show today's review time, the Character of the Day or the days until your exam. • iCloud Sync keeps your progress, lists and settings the same on your iPhone and iPad, with no Hanbi account. You can also back up to a file.

PAY ONCE HSK 1 (246 characters) is free, and so are the first two lessons of every level from HSK 2 to HSK 9. You can look through the 6,500 characters for free. One purchase, Full Access, lets you write every lesson in every level, with no subscription. Full Access also lets you write 3,000+ common characters outside HSK.

PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account, no ads, and it works offline. Your progress and your writing stay on your devices and in your own iCloud. Anonymous usage statistics can be turned off in Settings.

Hanbi is an independent app. Character lists follow the HSK 3.0 levels; Hanbi is not affiliated with the HSK exam or its organizers.