Hiragana is your first step to learning Japanese but which hiragana study apps are the best? The app store is absolutely packed with hiragana content and it can be difficult to figure out which ones are worth looking at.
My criteria for a good app is something with includes a good way to learn and review hiragana with a clean design. You want to get through kana as fast as possible so these aren’t apps you are going to keep forever, they just need to be engaging enough to get the job done!
Ideally you will want an app that can follow through and do katakana too but for these reviews I’m focusing on the hiragana side. Unfortunately a lot of them have very similar names so make sure you check the links and grab the right ones!
These guides will change over time as I update them with new apps I’ve tried. If you’re looking for an idea of how long it will take to learn hiragana check out my earlier post.
Best Free Apps To Learn Hiragana.
These apps are completely and totally free, no upgrades in sight! Japanese is a long journey so even if you plan on using paid resources later it’s a good plan to check out the free hiragana apps. Ideally you would learn hiragana and katakana for free then upgrade to a paid app for kanji when you know you’re committed.
Hiragana Memory Hint.
This app is put out by the Japan Language Institute in Kansai so it’s got some street cred behind it. It’s divided into memory hints, quizzes and revision tables. The memory hints are visual mnemonics drawn on the character with short animations. There is a native speaker voice for pronunciation but not to read the mnemonic. You can view the character inside the illustration or flip it to see them side by side.
The quiz includes reading, listening or reversed multiple choices with a quick review period after each. There is also an option for “similar hiragana” which will quiz you on characters that look the same. This is great for improving reading comprehension. One funny aspect is that for a correct answer you are shown a red O with a blue X for incorrect. In Japan that’s common but in my brain red always means “wrong” so it took a moment to figure that out!
The Institute also puts out a larger family of free apps including katakana and basic kanji. If you like this way of learning you have room to grow with the apps.
Covers: Hiragana
Design: Nice design, coloured backgrounds with black and white illustrations that stand out.
Learning style: Review the mnemonics at your own pace then review with quizzes.
Mnemonics included: Yes, illustrated.
Good: Clean modern design.
Bad: Some of the mnemonics are a bit of a stretch, it would be nice having a voice over to read the captions.
Price: Free download
This is the best free option out there! It’s nicely designed, includes mnemonics and has decent quizzes. I absolutely recommend Hiragana Hint Memory if you are sticking to free apps, you can’t get better.
Kana – Hiragana and Katakana.
This is a great app for revising and tracking your learning. It features detailed statistics on your time learning and reviewing so you can adjust your study. The downside is that there are no mnemonics or ways to learn outside of staring at the kana table. Within the kana table you can select a character for more information, try drawing it and listen to pronunciation.
The app features a variety of tests including multiple choices, type in answers and drawing. Like most apps, the drawing tests are self marked against the guides. I find the most useful tests to be the typed in answers, it’s a nice middle ground between multiple choice and writing. It also helps link the character in your brain with how you will usually be using it.
Covers: Hiragana and katakana
Design: Clean, modern and simple. Easy to read.
Learning style: Learn via a kana chart, then various quizzes.
Mnemonics included: No.
Good: Great design, lots of statistics about your learning. Reminders and written answers available.
Bad: No mnemonics or interesting ways of learning the characters.
Price: Free download
Definitely worth downloading, this is a great way to track your reviews and how you are progressing.
Kana School.
This app proves that free resources can be just as good as the paid ones! The app is set out between learning, kana tables and infinite quizzes. In the learning section you can view the characters, try them out in mini quizzes or do the full test to advance to the next character set. Each set has 5 characters and you need to complete the previous ones before the next is unlocked. The tests are simple multiple choices and you have 3 lives for incorrect answers. There is a text to speech voice that reads the characters as you go.
Covers: Hiragana and katakana
Design: Clean and simple.
Learning style: Learn via looking at the characters, trial quiz, then test to unlock the next set.
Mnemonics included: No.
Good: Clean modern design, 3 heart system for wrong answers during the test.
Bad: No mnemonics or interesting ways of learning the characters.
Price: Free download
While this one is not full featured for learning, it’s fantastic for reviewing. The design is pleasant and it does exactly what it promises.
Best paid apps to study hiragana.
While there’s a number of free resources around online, sometimes it’s worth paying a bit to get really GOOD resources. These apps have great design and features but on average they will set you back around AU$15 to unlock fully. Many of these also include katakana so the price is shared across both alphabets.
Dr Moku’s Hiragana Mnemonics.
Dr Moku’s learning system is one of the bigger players in terms of learning apps so the name comes up often. The teaching is based on clever mnemonics which include pictures to help you remember. In learning mode, you view the picture with the hiragana over the top and then listen to Dr Moku read the mnemonic to you. His voice and pronunciation is quite distinctive so it helps things stick in your memory. You can also toggle to see an animation of how each character is written.
There are quizzes for reading, listening and writing. The reading and listening are standard multiple choice questions while the writing is a self graded test.
Additional quick reference and audio charts are included along with some common words and phrases. The company has other apps for katakana, basic kanji and phrases. If you like the style of mnemonics then this is something to consider.
Covers: Hiragana (25% included in free app, the rest unlocked with paid upgrade)
Design: Clean and simple. Easy to see each item for review. Fun drawings.
Learning style: Review at your own pace, then timed multiple choice quiz.
Mnemonics included: Yes.
Good: Good mnemonics, written practice included. Family of apps available if you like the style.
Bad: Lots of upgrade banners and ads for the other apps. The app design can get tedious with several selection screens before you start most options.
Price: Free download, AU$7.99 upgrade to unlock all hiragana. Bundle in the app store with the katakana and phrases apps for $12.99
A great system for mnemonics and reviews. Free version is not worth it but if you don’t mind the price then the bundle of kana and phrases is good value for learning and revising.
Learn Japanese!!
With a very basic name you would be forgiven for thinking this is a basic app. There are 6 lessons that cover hiragana, katakana, some vocabulary, kanji and basic grammar points. The lessons are broken into sections and focus on repetition in different formats. There are no mnemonics to help you but each character is shown a variety of ways and then you must select it in multiple choice. The reviews are given in an SRS style but I’m not sure on the frequencies.
The questions also have a writing option which you can toggle during reviews. The writing practice starts with you tracing the character with coloured dots showing the start and end points of each stroke. The character gradually fades through each quiz until you are writing completely on your own which is a great approach.
Covers: Basic hiragana (5 items available free per lesson, others unlocked via paid upgrade)
Design: Dark, clean and simple. Easy to see each item in quiz.
Learning style: Learn via repetition, writing and quizzes. Review with the same methods.
Mnemonics included: No.
Good: Clean, modern design. Writing reviews are useful.
Bad: No mnemonics or learning options other than repetition.
Price: Free download, AU$2.99 upgrade for hiragana only or $12.99 for all lessons (hiragana, katakana, some kanji, vocabulary and grammar)
Worth it for the smooth design and writing practice. Nice that it has more than just hiragana for the price but if you want to learn with mnemonics then you’ll have to look elsewhere.
Great apps to practice hiragana.
Pastel Kana.
This app is pricey compared to the features of other apps but the design is great and the speed that you can review is very useful. The main part of the app is revising kana via timed multiple choice questions. It features a self study kana chart but does not include mnemonics or pronunciation there. This is definitely not an app that will help you learn hiragana to begin with but the super quick quizzes are great for making sure your recall and reading skills are on point.
Covers: Basic hiragana (hiragana with modifiers and katakana available via paid upgrade)
Design: Clean and simple. Easy to see each item in quiz.
Learning style: Learn at your own pace, then timed multiple choice quiz.
Mnemonics included: No.
Good: Clean modern design, fast pace for improving reading.
Bad: High unlock price, no spoken pronunciation during learning, no mnemonics.
Price: Free download, AU$7.99 upgrade to unlock hiragana with modifiers and katakana.
Worth it for nice design and speed but only if you are focused on reviewing rather than learning and you don’t mind spending for the upgrade.
Hiragana Lite.
This one is a literal flash card study app for hiragana. It won’t teach you anything about the characters or help you learn them with mnemonics etc but it is a quick and easy way for no fuss reviews. There’s not much else to say about it because that’s all it is: hiragana flash cards!
Covers: Hiragana
Design: Clean and simple.
Learning style: Flash cards only, no customisation.
Mnemonics included: No.
Good: Clean design, quickly and easily get through lots of flash cards.
Bad: No mnemonics or interesting ways of learning the characters. No flash card customisation.
Price: Free download
Worth downloading if all you need are simple reviews.
Hiragana Pixel Party.
Now this is something different from boring flash cards! Hiragana pixel party is one part review and one part rhythm game. You play as Mihiro who is running through various cities and landscapes while jumping over kana obstacles to the beat. As Mihiro calls out a hiragana character, you need to press the correct character on the screen to make her jump in time to the beat and clear the obstacle. The better you do, the higher your score. Each level unlocks a couple of hiragana at a time so you can breeze through. There’s not really much actual teaching though so I would recommend using this once you have a basic grasp. It’s a really fun way to review though!
Covers: Hiragana (12 levels free, 100 more plus katakana unlocked through paid upgrade)
Design: Pixel game style.
Learning style: There isn’t a whole lot of learning here, just reviewing through the mini game.
Mnemonics included: No.
Good: Clean modern design, fast pace for improving reading.
Bad: Obviously requires sound to use so you can hear the beat.
Price: Free download, 12 levels free AU$2.99 upgrade to unlock 100 extra levels, song etc.
Great way to get some kana practice in without feeling like you’re studying, definitely download.
Hiragana study apps not to waste time with.
There are a LOT of apps for hiragana study in the app store and a lot of them are really good. Unfortunately a lot of them are also not so good. These are some apps that came up in my searches that I didn’t find helpful. While they aren’t necessarily bad, there are better options in the apps I’ve already listed so try one of those instead of wasting your time!
Hiragana and Katakana- Complete Basics of Japanese.
This app has great reviews on the app store but I couldn’t figure out why. When I opened it, I was greeted with an advertisement for a Japanese ebook. Fairly standard except I couldn’t find a way to close it without clicking to sign up on the ebook. The design of the app is busy and like looking at a 2002 Geocities page which is distracting.
Beyond that, the app is sectioned into study and test areas. The actual study information is useful but to get to each item takes several clicks. There are a lot of vocabulary items included as examples of hiragana use. Quizzes included are standard multiple choice options.
Covers: Hiragana, katakana and vocabulary.
Design: Cluttered and hard to do anything.
Learning style: Review at your own pace, then multiple choice quiz.
Mnemonics included: No.
Good: Lots of information.
Bad: Hard to use design, annoying to get to information, no mnemonics.
Price: Free download, ad supported or $1.49 to remove ads.
Don’t bother, just get one of the other apps that has both good information and good user experience!
TenguGo Kana.
This app has a lot of potential but falls down in design again. There is a LOT of text to read through which some people may enjoy but I found it distracting. It covers everything you would need for hiragana and katakana. While being heavy on information, it’s sparce on helpful things like memory aids etc or learning tools.
Covers: Hiragana, katakana and some vocabulary.
Design: Minimal, many menu systems to get to the content. Content is mostly plain text.
Learning style: Learn at your own pace with included lessons, some characters have additional information on style or pronunciation.
Mnemonics included: No.
Good: Lots of information included.
Bad: Hard to use design, hard to get to information, no mnemonics.
Price: Free download, ad supported, contribute $1-3 to remove ads.
The information included is good but the clunky navigation make it not worth the time to navigate to each item.
My favorite hiragana app study plan of attack
If you’re just starting out with hiragana then I recommend that you begin with either Hiragana Memory Hint or Dr Moku to get the full benefit of mnemonics.
Once you are a bit familiar with hiragana, move on to using a combination of Pastel Kana, Hiragana Lite or Kana – Hiragana and Katakana. to review things regularly.
The biggest tip for hiragana study apps is to do your reviews often throughout the day until you can recognise the characters easily and read along words even if you don’t know their actual meanings!
Now if you’re ready to move on, take a look at how long katakana will take you to learn.
