HeyWrite: Master Handwriting
Kanji, Hangul & Chinese Script
Free · In‑App Purchases · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.
Master Japanese, Korean, and Chinese by writing every character stroke by stroke — the way native speakers actually learn.
HeyWrite teaches correct stroke order through guided drawing practice on your phone. Unlike flashcard apps, your muscle memory does the memorizing — characters stick because your hand remembers them.
-- WHY STROKE ORDER MATTERS --
Research shows handwriting beats passive study. Every character you draw in HeyWrite follows the exact stroke sequence used in Japan, Korea, and China — the same method taught in schools there. Correct stroke order makes your handwriting readable and speeds recognition.
-- THREE LANGUAGES, ONE APP --
JAPANESE
* Hiragana & Katakana (kana): all 46+46 characters with stroke order
* Kanji: JLPT N5 through N1 (2000+ kanji organized by exam level)
* Hear native-speaker pronunciation for every character
KOREAN
* Hangul: all consonants and vowels with stroke order
* TOPIK 1 through TOPIK 6 vocabulary
MANDARIN CHINESE
* Hanzi: HSK 1 through HSK 9 (3000+ characters)
* Simplified characters with stroke-by-stroke guidance
-- HOW IT WORKS --
1. Trace — follow the stroke guide to learn correct order
2. Write free — recall the character from memory without hints
3. Quiz — multiple-choice review to reinforce retention
4. Spaced repetition — smart scheduling brings back characters right before you forget them
-- COMPLETE OFFICIAL CURRICULA --
* JLPT N5, N4, N3, N2, N1 — full kanji and kana sets
* HSK 1–9 — complete simplified Chinese character lists
* TOPIK 1–6 — full Hangul writing syllabus
-- FREE TO START --
Hundreds of characters are free. Upgrade to Premium for unlimited access to all JLPT, HSK, and TOPIK levels and every feature.
PERFECT FOR:
* JLPT test-takers who need kanji writing practice
* HSK candidates building Chinese character recognition
* K-pop and K-drama fans who want to read and write Hangul
* Beginners who tried Duolingo or WaniKani but want real handwriting
* Anyone replacing Skritter who wants a mobile-first experience
Download HeyWrite and write your first character today.
Terms of Use: https://heywrite.euplabs.net/terms
more What's new in v3.3.13:
- New: characters due for review are offered as soon as you open the app — once a day, always skippable
- Writing from memory no longer locks the canvas when you split a stroke into pieces
- New result for drawing the right character with more strokes than needed
- The reading quiz now accepts every valid reading, not just the first one
- Fixed the reading box freezing when typing with a physical keyboard
- Leaving checkpoint review no longer loses your progress
- Fixed "product not available" when buying a plan
Thanks for writing with HeyWrite.
3.3.13 Oct 6
What's new in v3.3.12:
- Onboarding trimmed to 5 steps, opening with writing one character from memory
- Quitting mid-setup no longer skips the remaining steps
- Fixed a crash when you run out of plays in Dragon's Footsteps
- Fixed a crash in the locked-lesson dialog
- Certificates now render accented names correctly
- Fixed the sale reminder showing the wrong discount
Thanks for writing with HeyWrite.
3.3.12 Oct 1
What's new in v3.3.11:
- Characters you keep getting wrong now come back in later lessons. The more you miss one, the sooner it returns — and the gentler the question: watch the strokes, then trace them, instead of being asked to recall on the spot
- Dragon's Footsteps now has sound: a countdown tick and a slash when you clear a station, plus its own mute button
- After clearing a station you can review the characters you just saw, tap to look one up or save it
- Mascot redrawn with new animation
- Fixed Korean batchim strokes and the curved stroke in あ sticking together
- Fixed the Chest screen showing raw labels instead of tier names
Thanks for writing with HeyWrite.
3.3.11 Sep 30
What's new in v3.3.10:
- Fixed notifications on iPhone: from this version your device can finally receive study reminders and offer alerts
- Seasonal offers now have their own look, showing the discount and time left at a glance
- Fixed the purchase button showing a discount that didn't match the actual price
- Small polish throughout
Thank you for practicing with HeyWrite. Tell us what you'd like to see next.
3.3.10 Sep 24
What's new in v3.3.9:
- Dragon's Footsteps, a journey mode for Quick Compose: 5 lands, 40 stations and the Mist Beast boss
- A new Games tab brings games and practice together, with a Continue button to jump back into what you were playing
- 5 new scripts: Hindi, Arabic, Javanese, Sundanese and Balinese, with pronunciation
- Chinese characters now show the correct stroke order for each language, so Japanese and Chinese no longer mix
- Consistent stroke thickness on every screen that shows strokes
- Fixed notebooks: saved characters always appear in the notebook for your current course
Thank you for practicing with HeyWrite. Tell us what you'd like to see next.
3.3.9 Sep 23
What's new in v3.3.7:
- New mini games: Quick Match and Character Rain — learn characters while you play
- Review what you learned right in the Practice tab, writing from memory
- New Premium experience: seal tiers for every day you keep going, paper and ink, monthly recap
- Redesigned screens: streak sharing, achievement badges, weekly recap
- Switch brush style while writing, plus a new ink-bleed brush
- Fixed Japanese and Korean pronunciation playback, and several crashes
Thank you for practicing with HeyWrite. Tell us what you'd like to see next.
3.3.7 Sep 21
What's new in v3.3.6:
- Pronunciation now plays even if your phone has no Japanese, Korean or Chinese voice installed
- Added pronunciation for JLPT, TOPIK, HSK and TOCFL
- Fixed: listening exercises no longer mark you wrong when no sound plays
Thanks for writing with us. Tell us what to build next — we read every review.
3.3.6 Sep 16
What's new in v3.3.4:
- Improved: clearer close button on the Premium screen
- Improved: language row on the Premium screen no longer clips on small phones
- Fixed: prices sometimes stayed stale after a network retry
- Fixed: a few small bugs and stability improvements
Thanks for writing with us. Tell us what to build next — we read every review.
3.3.4 Sep 13
• Purchases now stay locked to the buying account — no more accidental syncs to other accounts on the same device.
• Fixed occasional freezes at launch caused by third-party SDKs.
• Stability and performance improvements.
3.3.2 Sep 8
What's new in v3.3.1:
- Improved: quality audits for Quick Review, Certificate, Portfolio, Replay History
- Improved: smoother TOCFL + JLPT Taiwan experience
- Fixed: reminder notifications no longer repeat incorrectly
- Fixed: visual overlap on some screens
- Fixed: weekly stats occasionally added up wrong
- Full localization for 6 more languages (tr/de/ms/hi/fil/mn)
- Re-categorized JLPT N2 study topics
3.3.1 Sep 4
What's new in v3.3.0:
- NEW: Premium tab in the bottom nav — full benefits view one tap away
- NEW: Welcome offer — 20% off Lifetime for the first 24 hours after install
- NEW: Real user testimonials — review carousel right on the Premium screen
- NEW: Personalized recommendations — a banner tuned to your learning goal
- NEW: Premium/Sale banner replaces "Ready to learn" on Home
- NEW: Live countdown when a sale is running
- NEW: First 2 lessons per course unlock immediately (no sequential wait)
- Fixed: "false-fatal" crash noise (google_fonts, layout warnings) no longer counts against crash-free rate
- Fixed: Mid-lesson ads now fire as designed
3.3.0 Aug 26
What's new in v3.2.3:
- NEW: Speed Practice Leaderboard — race other learners for the fastest time
- NEW: "Write your name" onboarding — see your name in Japanese, Chinese, or Korean right after signup
- Fixed: reminder notifications now fire at your local time (previously fired at ~3AM)
- Fixed: stroke order guides for JLPT Taiwan lessons
- Faster ad loading, cleaner dialog stacking, smoother onboarding
3.2.3 Aug 24
Fix crash on app launch on some devices.
Thanks for reporting!
3.2.2 Aug 19
What's new in v3.2.0:
- NEW: JLPT (Taiwan) course — for Traditional Chinese readers. Skip the 1,385 kanji you already know, focus on 819 that are genuinely new
- NEW: False-friend warnings for kanji whose meanings differ between Japanese and Chinese (手紙, 娘, 湯…)
- NEW: Memory Practice mode — smarter SRS that helps you retain characters longer
- Redesigned course picker: fullscreen with language filters, find your course 3× faster
- First-week reminders: 3 slots per day (morning/afternoon/evening) that stop automatically when you open the app
- Fixed Kanji font inconsistency across courses
- Multiple crash fixes and stability improvements
3.2.0 Aug 18
What's new in v3.1.7:
- NEW: Lifetime unlock in Vietnam and Indonesia - pay once, use forever
- NEW: Facebook & Instagram ad attribution for smoother onboarding
- Complete word meaning translations in 8 languages (Indonesian, Russian, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, French, Thai)
- Fixed crash when switching between writing modes
- Fixed rare crashes in Free Mode, Word of the Day, and home screen widget
- Cleaner ad experience - no more overlapping banners
- SRS polish: hide character while writing, undo/clear, stable canvas position
- Analytics coverage now spans every screen for better product insights
- Refreshed splash screen with loading indicator
3.1.7 Aug 12
What's new in v3.1.5:
- Lesson resume - pick up where you left off, even after closing the app
- Auto-hint after 2 wrong strokes in a row - so you never get stuck
- Speed Training badges: Top X% ranking after each session
- Word of the Day reminder dot when you haven't written today
- Faster, clearer text-to-speech and volume improvements
- New splash screen with loading indicator (iOS + Android)
- Themed collections now show multilingual meanings and word details
- Paywall bypass fix, back-button lesson resume on Android
- Streak counter guard - no more accidental double days
- Analytics fixes so retention and drop-off charts reflect real behavior
- Many polish tweaks from your TestFlight feedback
3.1.5 Jul 22
What's new in v3.1.4:
- NEW: iPad layout - NavigationRail, responsive grids, landscape two-pane
- NEW: Apple Pencil support with tilt and pressure
- NEW: Calligraphy brush - authentic ink stroke with tapered ends
- NEW: Undo (redo the last stroke instead of the whole character)
- NEW: Traditional Chinese TOCFL Novice 2 (263 characters) + TOCFL 3 and 4
- NEW: JLPT meanings in Russian (2204 kanji), Chinese meanings for all JLPT levels
- NEW: HSK etymology in Arabic, Thai, Turkish; English meanings for all HSK
- NEW: Weekly recap sheet - see your writing streak at a glance
- NEW: See stroke order in Free Mode
- NEW: Themed collections widened to all HSK/TOCFL levels
- NEW: Swipe to jump to a random character
- Smarter snap-to-guide tied to Difficulty (Easy only, Medium stays free-form)
- Unified drawing toolbar across Lesson, Free Mode, SRS, and Custom List
- Brush style selector now available from Lesson settings and main Settings
- Milestone celebration no longer overlaps end-of-lesson survey
- Magic Keyboard shortcuts on iPad
- Dark mode polish, back navigation improvements, edge swipe-back onboarding
- Bug fixes: iPad SRS layout, Speed Training stroke size, Apple button in dark mode, badge share, Word of the Day alignment
3.1.4 Jul 13
What's new in v3.1.2:
- NEW: Themed Collections - practice by topic (food, family, travel, colors and more)
- NEW: Traditional Chinese (TOCFL Novice 1) - 170 characters with meanings in English/Vietnamese
- NEW: Smarter SRS review - write the whole character and get accuracy scored (up to 4*) with hints on shape/position/direction
- Word of the Day widget refined - animated stroke replay + fun fact card
- Milestone badges redesigned as tier crests (bronze -> diamond)
- PDF export now embeds Noto Serif for crisp pinyin tones, hiragana, and hangul
- Vocabulary detail preview extended to 3 free views at lesson result
- Certificate now reflects your course level (HSK/JLPT/TOPIK)
- Dark mode polish and full app localization
- Bug fixes: back button in Free Mode, home button on lesson complete, and various UI improvements
3.1.2 Jul 2
What's new in v3.1.1:
· NEW: Hanzi Etymology — see the radical, components, and the story behind each HSK character
· NEW: Stroke Style options — pick between Classic (filled outline) and Rounded (centerline)
· NEW: Vocabulary Detail — readings, examples, and Han-Viet pronunciations
· JLPT readings now show romaji alongside furigana
· Cleaner Chinese stroke animations
· Premium popup redesigned with a fresh coupon-style look
· Various bug fixes and UI polish
3.1.1 Jun 19
What's new in v3.1.0:
· Sign in with Google, Apple, or Email to back up your progress to the cloud
· Streak, lessons, custom lists, and review queue now sync across all your devices
· New Account screen — manage sync, change password, sign out
· Premium follows your account — keep access when switching devices
· Bug fixes and stability improvements
3.1.0 Jun 16
What's new in v2.9.3:
· Better payment experience — if checkout doesn't go through, you can now let us know what happened so we can fix it faster
· Bug fixes and stability improvements
2.9.3 Jun 10
What's new in v2.9.1:
· Smarter lesson order — HSK & JLPT characters now follow stroke count and shared radicals, so each lesson builds naturally on the last
· Faster app startup
· Completed lessons show your stars & accuracy at a glance
· Fixed a Scan Image crash and improved overall stability
2.9.1 Jun 6
What's new in v2.7.0:
· Writing Grid — overlay 2×2, 3×3, or 4×4 guide lines on the canvas
· Stroke Width — choose Thin / Normal / Thick / Bold for your brush
· Quick Settings — adjust grid & stroke width from ⋮ mid-lesson
· Free Mode — shape-only check; stroke order no longer required
· Prices now shown in your local currency
2.7.0 Jun 2
Improvements & fixes
· Activate Premium with a code — enter a promo or gift code in Settings to unlock Premium.
· Cleaner practice — removed an extra button in drawing and quiz exercises for a smoother flow.
· Fixed a crash some users experienced after updating, and a display fix for certain Japanese characters.
2.5.4 May 28
Performance & polish
· Streak freeze button now sits right next to your streak count — easier to spot and tap when your streak is at risk.
· Premium screen now highlights the features most relevant to what you were trying to unlock.
· Bug fixes and stability improvements.
2.5.3 May 25
What's new in v3.3.13:
- New: characters due for review are offered as soon as you open the app — once a day, always skippable
- Writing from memory no longer locks the canvas when you split a stroke into pieces
- New result for drawing the right character with more strokes than needed
- The reading quiz now accepts every valid reading, not just the first one
- Fixed the reading box freezing when typing with a physical keyboard
- Leaving checkpoint review no longer loses your progress
- Fixed "product not available" when buying a plan
Thanks for writing with HeyWrite.
more Version 3.3.13 Oct 6
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