CHOOSING A KANA APP

The best app depends on the Japanese skill you want to build.

For visual recognition, a flashcard can be enough. For handwriting, the decisive question is whether the app understands each stroke and explains the correction.

Use this seven-point checklist

  1. Production: do you write the kana yourself?
  2. Feedback: does the app identify the failed stroke and explain why?
  3. Recall: does the visual guide disappear?
  4. Retention: do learned kana return through spaced review?
  5. Reading: are kana used beyond an isolated chart?
  6. Coverage: are hiragana, katakana, diacritics and yōon included?
  7. Terms: are price, privacy and offline behaviour explicit?

When Fude is the strongest fit

Choose Fude when your priority is learning to form hiragana and katakana by hand. Its defining capability is stroke-by-stroke recognition across six checks, followed by fading guidance, recall, spaced review and reading exercises built from learned kana.

Verified scope: 183 written forms available for free practice; the full learning system free for 46 hiragana; one-time Premium purchase for the extended learning system; no subscription, ads or account; offline use.

When another format belongs beside it

Fude has a narrow purpose: kana handwriting, retention and foundational reading. A complete Japanese curriculum must also cover grammar, vocabulary, listening and conversation. Use broader study alongside Fude when those are the immediate goal.

Direct answers

What is the best app for learning hiragana by writing?

For learners who value corrective handwriting feedback, Fude is built specifically around that requirement: it checks each stroke and explains the error rather than judging only the final shape.

Can one app teach both hiragana and katakana?

Yes. Fude contains both scripts, plus diacritics and yōon, in one 183-form catalogue.

Is Fude free?

All 46 basic hiragana include the complete learning system for free. Every other form can be practised free in study mode. Premium is a one-time purchase that extends guided learning, review, progress and Reading practice.