Remembering the Kanji 4+

This app is useful, particularly in combination with other Japanese learning apps and the associated book. But it has some annoying (and likely easy to fix) limitations. Reasons for taking off two stars are:
- only works in portrait mode, so it is very annoying to turn tablet around, when using in combination with other apps that can support either portrait or landscape
- search mode is set to numbers, and cannot be defaulted to letters
- since presumably is a companion to a book, why is it not pre-populated with said book’s stories?

If these issues were addressed, it could be a 4 or 5 star app.

If you’re using the Heisig books, this app is very useful. You can study a lesson from the book at home, and then use the app wherever you are to review the lesson until you’ve mastered it. Because the app has a mode where all of the characters from a lesson are displayed on the screen at once, it’s easy to zip across them and say the meanings out loud, without having to flip through flashcards, and it also reinforces which characters were in the same lesson, which can help you remember the stories. Also, the app has a stroke order practice mode where you trace over the strokes of a kanji, filling it in - this makes it easy to compare what you drew with what the character is supposed to look like, because they end up overlaid.

Other reviews have commented that the app doesn’t have an SRS, and that’s true, I use it in conjunction with an SRS. But even without that, I find the app very useful as a tool to working through the book.

Don’t believe naysayers — this app is amazing and worth the money, especially if you’re already using the accompanying books to learn Kanji via Heisig method.

Pros:
-Kanji separated out by lessons, easy review
-Practice reading kanji
-Practice writing kanji
-Primitives given on back of card
-Blank space (“story” area) to make use of Heisig’s story or memorable mnemonics OR ability to create your own. This is a fantastic space to expand or link knowledge (like Chinese v Japanese words/additional references). Also the ability to use any installed keyboard (Chinese, Japanese) and not just English keyboard support is fantastic!
-Watch kanji being drawn in real time with stroke order — super clean, beautifully scripted
-Ability to create your own study lists
-Chinese readings index
-Japanese readings index

The only con I see is that it doesn’t offer automatic timed repetition (like Anki), but this is minor considering that the app isn’t just meant to be a basic flashcard review app. The true worth of this app is to have you structure/stack your knowledge while you’re actively learning, so that you can rehearse it later with ease. Genius :)