Kana - Hiragana and Katakana Reviews

by MarMarDeCanCan

I was starting to lose my hiragana and katakana memory - unable to remember a few of the characters - so I downloaded Kana for help. It’s easy to use and has some useful features. I try to use it whenever I think of it. One thing that I would like to request is STROKE ORDER. This is so important when writing this app and I was really surprised to see it missing from the practice pages. It would also be awesome to have a relatively thick pen point when practicing over the existing this app. The thin line of the “pen” doesn’t look as good. I like Kana for the simplicity and ease of use. Could also have more practice pages - like writing an entire word instead of just the symbol.

by Qcbyahji

If you taking a formal class this would be a great way to check your progress. For that use it would probably get 4-5 stars.

If you're learning on your own, there's no true practice mode though. You can either (1) do quizzes where there are no hints, or (2) pick a single this app from a table to practice drawing.

Would be really nice to have a mode similar to the quizzes where it selects a series of this app to practice automatically, then shows outlines so you can practice tracing, or even just a small picture of the this app to copy. Or a hint button to show a picture, outline, or even just the first stroke when you're lost.

by Maertsoi

I’ve been learning Japanese for a while, and I occasionally like to quiz and review my this app. I’ve used a lot of different apps for this, and I have to say, I’ve deleted them all because Kana is all I need. Kana gets 4/5 stars because I do have one issue that really bugs me!

It’s annoying to select different this app to practice when you want to select more than one of the provided groups. You can only select them by groups, otherwise you need to select the remaining by hand. You should be able to add multiple groups in a this app system easily. Even being able to select by row would be wonderful.

Great app! Will continue to use!

by Olive_The_Olive

I tried this out mostly out of curiosity and to see if I might be able to recommend a better app to my girlfriend to practice this app. I like the study options and that you can manually correct your answers if the handwriting recognition does not grade it correctly. However, I also noticed that the handwriting recognition is only working at all for hiragana right now. I automatically passed plenty of hiragana questions, but always had to grade my katakana answers manually, even when I could see that I was right on top of the stroke guide. I also think the sound clips on the individual this app pages sound a little robotic, but they are at least understandable.

by 黄乐蓉

I’ve been learning Mandarin Chinese for awhile, and I wanted to pick up Japanese as well. Already knowing Chinese characters, I figured that learning hiragana and katakana wouldn’t be too difficult. I was proven wrong.

I couldn’t find any resources that really suited my learning style, I just wanted to practice writing the characters and put them into use by creating sentences. When I found Kana, I was extremely glad and happy with the results.

Kana is user-friendly, I believe, if you’re serious about learning the characters and their stroke order. I love that you can quiz yourself and set up practice for yourself. Absolutely impressed!

by Defenestration 101

This is Kana I was looking for! Not only do you get streaks for practicing daily, Kana also teaches you how to write each this app, something that other apps were lacking. Not only that, but it painstakingly indicates your proficiency level with each this app by color. Personally I find the free draw mode very helpful, my only qualm is that sometimes the sensitivity is derpy and misreads characters (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻. Other than that, Kana is perfect. 👌🏾 Please don’t spend your money on some other app because this is the only one you’ll ever need. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
(๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧💯💯💯💯👏🏾👏🏾

by Scotty Cordello

Great for just loading your brain up with all the many, many symbols of hiragana and katakana. Definitely go for it, it's the best I've seen.

Pro tip: if you want to see the "mastered" line go up quickly, use the "lowest streak" option. Also, if you want to specifically practice writing, select only writing - for some reason the auto test really favors reading when you select both.

Something I'd like to see is an option to read symbols together in the context of real words. I get that this is just to build familiarity with the symbols and not a vocabulary lesson, but I think the two go hand in hand. I haven't checked out their other apps yet, so maybe I'll find that feature on one of those.

by Kirito 1864

I’ve used many of these apps in the past from scribe Japanese, this app master and one of my previous favorites this app mind. This by far has the best stats tracking and seems to be way more random on the position of the correct answers (some tend to have correct answer patterns and not random). If I remember I’ll check back after a few weeks and report if I still think as highly of it, as of right now I wish I could help with the development of Kana and the upcoming kanji version!

by I Review Things I Suppose

I’ve had Kana for less than a week, and have been studying Hiragana since I installed it. I am so impressed by Kana; it makes learning quick, painless, and effective. It has not only identification practice, but pronunciation and writing practice as well. This has truly blown me away, and it’s completely free. No ads, no IAPs, no subscriptions. I have nothing but respect for the creator, who didn’t put a price tag on a language. There’s no reason to use anything else for learning Hiragana/Katakana. 10/10 app, hands down.

by Azalore

I already know this app but it’s always worthwhile to get more practice. Using Kana I can quickly do any type of quiz I like, using any this app I prefer to study. Being able to choose which types of this app you study is very valuable, especially if you struggle in one area more than another.
Another thing I like about Kana is how it tracks every little detail of your studies and shows how well you know each individual this app. Add to that the simplicity and easy of use that comes with Kana, I think it’s excellent!
I can’t wait to see the Kanji companion app that’s currently in progress xD

by Delvicon

I went though a lot of free Japanese apps while trying to learn hiragana and katakana. This one was the best quality I found, and it is free! The ability to customize quizzes, daily notifications, and especially the adjustable and customizable difficulty levels, are all awesome. I feel that the difficulty level adjustment was the boost I needed to really start memorizing, not just guessing. I thought that I would never be able to memorize all the exact strokes for the characters, so for a long time I left the Handwriting mode disabled. I was totally wrong! With the help of Kana I am now able to read and write 100% of the characters in both sets. Kudos to the dev(s) for an amazing app, with a great look and feel and an excellent experience overall!

by Kevster2717

1.) it looks stylish! From the flashcards, to the graphs and colors they’re very neat and easy on the eyes without compromising any information.

2.) The simplicity of its usage. I don’t mind the bells and whistles on other apps but just give me the flashcards and let ME organize them. This one delivers just that!

3.) the Smart Quizzes is pretty neat! Helps me correct my mistakes whenever I guessed wrong.

4.) Simply one of the best app for this app memorization out there! Wanna learn all Hiragana? A few Hiragana at a time? YOU CAN ORGANIZE IT HOWEVER YOU WANT! Wanna practice how to write them? Wanna know how they sound? They have it in every flashcard!

Side note: if you’re the type to learn with mnemonics (the one with pictures that looks like a this app character) then this is not for you. I’m not sure if the devs will add that feature at all. This is still a great app for starting Japanese though! I’ve only used this for about a week but it helped me tremendously with my Japanese class! I hope this helps you as well

by ZForce72

I just finished memorizing all 214 characters and felt it was only right to rate my experience through a review. Super clean UI, very user friendly, a lot of customization options to study in a way that works best for you. Took me about 2-3 months (i'd say around 36-48 hours) of dedicated work to memorize everything. Started with Hiragana and took a break for school and just picked it back up about a month ago to relearn hiragana (which only took about 2 hours of work) then started katakana and i'm now able to read and write it all (albeit very slowly). Now its time to actually start learning the language

by L A Y L A H

It’s a great app there’s no instructions but it’s painfully simple so you should be able to figure it out it teaches katakana and hirigana for completely free it’s amazing sometimes it says your correct before you finish drawing it and sometimes you have to correct yourself you should be able to tell if you drew the symbols correctly it also lets you change your answer from being wrong to right in case you press the wrong button or type something incorrectly on accident it’s not perfect but it’s amazing for learning hirigana and katakana it keeps track of your stats and let’s you take tests all of their apps are great

by Moominquartz

I adore Kana!! I’ve always wanted to learn Japanese, but lots of other apps just throw you into the deep end without teaching you the basics. I was so happy to find an app that started with the alphabet, but goes far beyond it. Not only that, but the way it sets up learning makes it really easy to memorize. I do supplement Kana with other resources like their other apps, as well as tofugu (a website that offers mnemonic devices for the characters), but there’s nothing quite like the serotonin rush of realizing you recognize a character without needing that mnemonic. I also like that they have a reminder feature to remind you to study every day!

by Helloxkitkat

Not only does it provide the various Japanese alphabets. It tests you, and scores you on your progress. Tests are both reading, and writing. In just a few days I feel like I’ve learned more than I have in week. I am also thankful it provides an area for notes. I am a visual learner, so repetitive writing helps a lot as I learn each character individually. I also appreciate the other apps it offers to help further my language proficiency. I love learning languages, and enjoy individually learning them. But, Kana has allowed me to learn quickly, and progress through it at a very enjoyable pace. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to learn Japanese.

by Misty😸

Absolutely Amazing! I already know Every this app, but I downloaded Kana just for fun but I will just say that this is perfect for any beginner of Japanese. When I started learning this app, it was very hard to try to memorize them, I wish I had found Kana sooner! Kana has no in app purchases, you have access to learn how to write the this app in a test, and how to read them. It is very amazing how accurate and perfect Kana is, it’s amazing. I was expecting many many flaws, but it’s very much so perfect! Anyone who downloads Kana will learn this app so easily! Kana even gives you the option to read an explanation of what certain rules are. Highly recommend!

by Ablepraxis

Wow, I’ve seen/used many apps offering this app practice but this one actually allows custom selections for targeting type of characters or personal choice to focus on. Very cool yet surprisingly lacking on many this app apps.
Furthermore several options to practice (ez multiple choice, a type romaji answer and even option to trace strokes free form) Very nice flexibility that isn’t typical. Ofcouse audio samples available too. It includes both katakana & hiragana with all variations. Plus you can’t beat the price.
Bravo on fantastic app, elegant in simplicity yet not lacking in features. Thanks much for your efforts. I appreciate & endorse your well crafted software.

by Zali

I’ve simply been looking for a good way to hammer this app into my poor old brain. While my language apps do a good job of introducing this app, there’s nothing like a good hour of drilling to really make it stick.

What I love about Kana is that it takes written input. Therefore, I am able to write this app using my apple pencil instead of a keyboard (your finger will also work). With the language apps I was always typing and since typing is literally just romaji -> this app…. I was having a very hard time actually remembering the this app when I wanted to write something out. Kana has helped me move past this since I have to write the this app from memory now :D.

I also love the fairly zen interface, Kana knows what it is and keeps usability as it’s first concern rather than trying to be overly cutesy or being overly friendly with the user. You just open it up, quickly select the this app you want to practice and start practicing. The progress metrics are simple to understand and easily accessed. Kana is NO NONSENSE and I love it.

I will absolutely be using Kana to perfect my this app :)

by Starfire11lily

This is probably the best hiragana and katakana app I’ve found. I love how it keeps statistics and lets you choose specifically what you want to be tested on. It makes it really easy to practice and add in a few more or just review your weakest ones.

My only minor complaint is that for some reason it always marks my “ぷ” as wrong even though I type pu every time. Just a minor glitch and I can fix it because it then let’s me change it to correct in the review. Some apps you get them wrong and then it flashes and disappears. I’m glad this one gives you extra time and means to review your mistakes.