Inkpaper: Read Chinese Stories
HSK graded reader with audio
Free · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.
Learn Chinese by reading stories you'll actually want to finish: mysteries, thrillers, sci-fi, wuxia, workplace comedy and everyday life, and more, written for adults and told in short chapters. Inkpaper is for complete beginners and long-time learners alike. Every story is graded by HSK level, so you start wherever you are.
New stories each week.
READ
• Pinyin or tone marks above the characters when you want them, off when you don't.
• The meaning of every word and the translation of every sentence, right there in the text.
• Every word underlined in the colour of its HSK level, so you see at a glance how hard a page is.
• The grammar behind each sentence, one tap away: the complete HSK 3.0 grammar syllabus, every point explained with examples. Highlight a point and it lights up in every story.
• Simplified or Traditional characters, with pinyin or zhuyin.
LISTEN
• Every chapter read aloud, with the sentence being spoken highlighted as it plays, in your choice of voice and at the speed you want.
• Every word and every sentence has its own audio too.
• A hands-free listening loop for your saved words that keeps going with the screen locked.
REMEMBER
• Save any word while you read. Spaced repetition (FSRS) brings it back just before you would forget it.
• Recognise it, recall it, or say it out loud. When a tone is off, you see your pitch drawn next to the model's.
• Each card can show its word in a sentence from the stories, and keep a note of your own.
• The words you saved from a story become its own deck, chapter by chapter, so you can prepare before you read.
• Anki works both ways: import your deck, or export your words with audio.
SPEAK
• Read a sentence aloud and see which words came out right and where a tone was off.
• A tones drill shows you which tones you still mix up.
A SHORT LESSON EVERY DAY
• One tap plans today: the words that are due, a grammar point, and the next part of your story. You see up front what today asks, and the app tells you when you're done.
NEW TO CHINESE?
• A step-by-step mode teaches your first stories sentence by sentence: the new words, then the grammar, then the sentence itself, and then the whole chapter.
ALSO
• Stories download for reading offline.
• Streaks, daily reminders and medals to collect.
• On iPhone and iPad.
• Classrooms for teachers: assign a chapter with its words and grammar, and see how the class is getting on.
Inkpaper is free and has no ads. Feedback reaches me directly through the speech bubble on the Home tab, and I answer inside the app.
Ratings & Reviews
• Fading pinyin: new words keep their pinyin, learned words lose it. You choose what shows and how soon, under Above words.
• Audio: stories go down to 0.2×. Tapped words, grammar, guided lessons, flashcards, listening and speaking each have their own speed, and the word being said lights up wherever a sentence plays.
• Reader: every sentence shows all its grammar, at any level, and Play starts on the page you are on.
• Flashcards: on a Produce card, a word that means the same counts as right. When two words share their English, a label or a sentence with a gap shows which one the card wants.
• Guided lessons: Read the chapter no longer gets stuck on a loading screen.
• Slow connections: a slow first download no longer leaves pages without pinyin, and downloads pick up where they stopped.
The developer, Jonny Kahle, 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 Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
- Location
- Contact Info
- User Content
- Identifiers
- Usage Data
- Diagnostics
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Jonny Kahle
- Size
- 78.4 MB
- Category
- Education
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 15.0 or later. - iPad
Requires iPadOS 15.0 or later. - iPod touch
Requires iOS 15.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 12.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
13+
- 13+
- Infrequent
Realistic Violence
Mature or Suggestive Themes
Horror/Fear Themes
Alcohol, Tobacco, Drug Use or References
Guns or Other Weapons
- Copyright
- © 2026 Jonny Kahle
