VerticalChinese
Read & learn the classics
Only for iPhone
Free · Designed for iPhone. Not verified for macOS.
iPhone
Vertical Chinese is a calm, beautiful place to read classical Chinese (文言) — and a built-in dictionary that helps you understand every character.
Read the Daodejing, the Analects, Mencius, Zhuangzi, Tang poetry, Records of the Grand Historian, and more — 250+ foundational texts, laid out vertically and character by character, the way they were written.
READ
• Vertical, character-by-character layout with a steady pinyin gutter
• Toggle Traditional 繁 / Simplified 简, pinyin 拼, and English 英
• 聽書 read-aloud (audiobook) mode, plus per-word pronunciation
• Warm rice-paper design, with light & dark themes
UNDERSTAND — a dictionary built in
• Tap any character for pinyin, meaning, and animated stroke order
• Full CC-CEDICT word lookup — search by character, pinyin, or English
• Radical index to find characters you can't type
• Example sentences with pinyin and English
REMEMBER
• Save any character or word with a tap
• Spaced-repetition flashcards (練習) to review what you save
• Track your progress from carp to dragon — 鯉躍龍門
Ratings & Reviews
Updated texts
The developer, Digital X Prairie LLC, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Digital X Prairie LLC
- Size
- 54 MB
- Category
- Education
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 18.2 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 18.2 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 15.2 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 2.2 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- Copyright
- © Carson Mulligan