Kiratoru - Japanese Text Recognition & Dictionary
Transform your Japanese learning with real-time text recognition and comprehensive dictionary lookups
Kiratoru is the ultimate Japanese learning companion that captures and analyzes Japanese text wherever you find it. On Mac, grab text from any app on your screen; on iPhone and iPad, point your camera at the real world. Whether you're reading manga, playing video games, browsing websites, studying documents, or out in Japan, Kiratoru makes Japanese comprehension effortless and engaging.
KEY FEATURES
Live Text Recognition
- On Mac: instantly capture Japanese text from any application on screen
- On iPhone/iPad: recognize Japanese text through your camera
- Advanced OCR technology for accurate character recognition
- Real-time lookup as you read
Furigana Overlay (Mac)
- Reading furigana drawn right over the source text, so your eyes never leave the page
- Tap any word in the overlay to pull up its full dictionary entry
- Perfect for fast reading of games, manga, and dynamic content
Comprehensive Dictionary
- Extensive Japanese-English dictionary with detailed definitions
- Complete kanji information including readings, meanings, and stroke counts
- Word examples and usage contexts for better understanding
- Pitch-accent information for natural pronunciation
Decks & Spaced Repetition
- Build study decks from the words and kanji you save
- Review on a proven spaced-repetition schedule that times each card for you
- Stash words while exploring a kanji and carry them straight into your cards
- Home-screen widgets for your daily word, daily kanji, and one-tap reviews
Intelligent Features
- AI-powered translation with context, on supported devices
- Automatic text tokenization for precise word identification
- Clickable kanji and words for deep exploration
- Multiple reading formats (hiragana, katakana, romaji)
HOW IT WORKS
1. Capture - Pick any app on your Mac, or aim your iPhone camera at Japanese text
2. Read - Enable live lookup, open the Furigana Overlay, or use manual refresh
3. Explore - Tap words and kanji for detailed information
4. Save & Review - Build decks and study them with spaced repetition
Free Features
- Manual and live (auto-refresh) text lookup
- Unlimited saved words and kanji
- Core dictionary definitions
- Build decks and add cards
Pro Features
- Furigana Overlay - reading furigana over your source text (Mac)
- AI-powered translation with context
- Full word and kanji details - clickable kanji, clickable examples, no blur
- Spaced-repetition review and study widgets
- Home-screen widgets - word of the day, kanji of the day, and reviews
- No restrictions on any feature
PERFECT FOR
- Japanese language students at any level
- Manga/anime/game enthusiasts
- Business professionals working with Japanese content
- Travelers and culture enthusiasts
- Anyone curious about Japanese text
WHY CHOOSE KIRATORU?
Seamless Capture - From any app on your Mac or your iPhone camera
Accurate Recognition - Advanced OCR technology for reliable results
Comprehensive Learning - From beginner-friendly lookups to full spaced-repetition study
Privacy Focused - Text recognition happens locally on your device
Regular Updates - Continuous improvements and new features
PRO TIPS
- On Mac, open the Furigana Overlay for immersive, eyes-on-the-page reading
- Use live lookup for fast-moving games and dynamic content
- Stash interesting words as you explore a kanji, then turn them into a deck
- Add a widget to keep a word and kanji of the day on your home screen
Download now and discover how easy Japanese text comprehension can be.
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Kiratoru - Making Japanese accessible to everyone, one character at a time.
Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Ratings & Reviews
This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
Thank you for using Kiratoru! Here's what we shipped this time:
A Whole New Look
- Redesigned basically everything — Capture, lookup, decks, review, and saved were all rebuilt around a calmer Japanese-stationery palette (indigo, vermilion, washi paper). It finally looks like an app that respects kanji.
- Brand-new app icon — A fresh face on your home screen. You can stop squinting to find us between the other 200 apps.
- Tidier card lists and saved screens — Cleaner layouts, less clutter, far fewer "why is that there" moments.
- A sidebar that color-codes itself — Due counts now wear their own deck's color, Review All borrows your accent, and the settings gear has stopped playing hide-and-seek.
New: Furigana Overlay (Mac)
Readings, right on top of the source — Open the Furigana Overlay and furigana appear over the actual text in the window you're reading, so your eyes never make the round trip to a dictionary pane and back. Tap any word to look it up. Especially good for games and anything else that refuses to hold still.
New: Home-screen widgets
Your daily Japanese, at a glance — Word of the day and kanji of the day live on your home screen, and a review widget lets you grade cards without even opening the app. Your home screen finally does something more useful than counting your unread notifications.
New: Stash
Reading a kanji's page and find words worth keeping? Stash them. When you add that kanji to a deck, every stashed word come — and then the stash clears itself, because cleanup is nobody's idea of a good time.
Live Lookup is now free
We ungated it — Live, a be a Pro perk. It isn't anymore. Everyone gets it now: no catch, no asterisk, no "well, actually."
Decks & Review
- Smoother review animations that actually feel like motion, instead of a slideshow having second thoughts.
- Polished review scree reviewing feels less like a chore and more like a slightly nicer chore.
Fixes
- Fixed frequency indicuency badge no longer wraps in ways that made it look personally offended.
- The no longer assumes you've been quietly demoted to Free when you launch it. Pro stays Pro until the App Store says otherwise.
Under the Hood
- Faster "words using this kanji" — Optimized that lookup so the list of words containing a kanj waiting and fewer spinners to stare at.
Version 3.2.5
The developer, Papa Momar Dieng, 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.
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
Seller
Papa Momar Dieng
Size
Up to 657 MB
Category
Education
Compatibility
Requires iOS 18.0 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 18.0 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 18.0 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 15.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.