This app has far exceeded my expectations. I really believe this is such a rare gem for people wanting to tackle down Japanese.Not only does it contain the dictionary aspect of it with example sentences like Kotoba, but it let's you click on the words used in those sentences and let's you go straight to the meaning of that word. You also get a nice translating tool that allows you to click on any words unknown to you. In addition, you get to use a drawing mode which let's you draw out kanji you might see out in the real world and wonder what it may mean. If the strokes are done correctly, it should pop up your needed kanji.... Very useful! And for those who like kana written above kanji (furigana), it's even a bigger reason to get the app. I highly recommend this app and you'll probably end up saving hundreds o dollars just with this app alone.One thing I'd like to see is a toggle (such as a double tap on the screen) to turn off furigana at will. I constantly find myself reading the furigana before trying to read the kanji. But, that's not a reason to bring it down in rating. Hopefully the authors of this app see this and find a way to toggle furigana off and on.

You know there's a problem with the handwriting input if your strategy to get the app to suggest the kanji you were looking for is to purposely write it incorrectly, and it actually works. The overwhelming majority of the users of this app will be non-native, second language learners, like myself, so expecting us to get the stroke order perfect is rather unreasonable, especially when we all know that, like grammar, those rules about stroke "order" don't always apply. At least Pleco returns enough suggestions that you can find the character you were looking for better than fifty percent of the time. Midori only returns about twenty suggestions meaning that you will rarely have success looking up a Kanji that you have no clue how to pronounce, and that's really the whole point of having either Midori or Pleco. The developers of both apps seem unable, or unwilling, to design these apps to recognize the fully-rendered character, as is, on the screen, in spite of whether or not the user got the stroke order right. Without a handwriting input that actually works, there's no reason to buy this app before you buy any other Japanese-English dictionary on the market.

I must say that I was a bit hesitant at first to check out this app as it had no reviews when I first purchased it, but I was looking for a natively sized app for my ipad (as many others weren't and still haven't been updated). I took a leap and must say that i have been pleasantly surprised! I love the fact it can translate conjugated verbs! makes reading so much easier.If there is one thing to fault, although I'm not sure how it could ever be addressed, it is the translate screen. You can copy and paste whole sentences (and more) here, but many times it misses words to translate (because it's slang or only found in regional dialects) or assumes the hiragana form of the word is performing grammar function. Anyway, not sure how this could be fixed, but it is a minor point for me sometimes.Overall 5 stars, especially as it is much cheaper than any of the other alternatives!

I wanted an app that would let me draw the Kanji. I have a basic working knowledge of stroke order and rules. This app works well. I know that mistakes in my stroke order cause a different Kanji to be pulled up. However, varying my strokes inevitably pulls up the correct unknown Kanji I am trying to look up. This app is great for searching and getting the meaning. Kanji LS does NOT have this search by drawing feature, but Kanji LS is better for learning kanji with lessons / tests. The Kotoba! app is great for detailed meanings and multilingual vocabulary beyond English. All together Midori, Kanji LS, and Kotoba! are three must have apps for the serious student or person living in Japan who is not a native Japanese language speaker.Update: after using all 3 apps, Midori is the best. I am doing clinical rotations at Imakiire General Hospital, Kagoshima and this app has extensive scientific and medical terminology that I use everyday. Hands down the best app.

Best Japanese app in the store, in my opinion. Extremely useful as a dictionary, and can also be used to practice how to write kanji. My only wish for an improvement would be to have the possibility of writing it in romaji and seeing the kanji options for that show up as you type, when searching for a word. It's already the case if you write the whole word, but for words made of more than one kanji it's less simple because sometimes you remember the kun reading and not the on reading or vice-versa, so if you could type either reading and see the kanji for it before picking one and then putting together your composed word before searching, it would be nice. You can always search for the kanji separately that way then come back once you realize how to write, to then search for that word you were looking for, but it takes longer that way.

Firstly, I really appreciate this sleek app. It makes looking up words and seeing examples so easy, and I really love the writing support. However, there is one thing that feels like a bug. I mainly use this app while using my ipad. I open Midori as a Slide Over app. When writing kanji, a fantastic mini window pops up for me to start writing, however when I use the apple pencil, after one stroke the window immediately expands into the full writing window taking up the bottom part of my screen. If I only use my finger to write in the mini window, there is no problem; it only happens when using the apple pencil. This isn’t the biggest deal, and I think you deserve 5 stars regardless. I’d love it if the apple pencil didn’t make the mini writing window expand, but it’s not going to stop me from using the app. Thanks again for the great app!