Getting started

Hanzi Desk is a Mandarin and Cantonese dictionary, reader and vocabulary app for iPhone and iPad. It is free and needs no account.

Find your way around

The app has four tabs: Dictionary, Reader, Study and Settings.

Look up a word

In Dictionary, search by Chinese characters, pinyin, Jyutping or English. A word's page has its definition, etymology, characters, stroke order, related words and examples: switch between them with the bar at the bottom. Tap the bookmark at the top (Save word) to keep the word for study.

To enter a character you can't type, open Input tools for handwriting or text from an image. Choose Mandarin or Cantonese under Spoken language.

Read your own texts

In Reader, tap Add reading to paste text, import a TXT or EPUB file, or use Text from photo (Take photo or Choose from library). Text recognition runs on your device, and camera access is optional. Tap a word in a reading to look it up.

Study saved words

Study lists your Saved words; find one with Find a saved word. Review due words quizzes you on the words that are due, on a spaced-repetition schedule. You can also add an HSK word list, see your lookup history and export your words.

Your data and backups

Words, notes, review schedules and readings stay on your device. There is no account and no automatic sync, so use Export backup in Settings before you delete the app or move to a new device. Restore backup replaces the study data on this device. Clear downloaded audio frees space and keeps your study data.

Some dictionaries, fonts and recordings download the first time you need them; the support page says which ones work offline.

Not documented yet

Detailed guides to the dictionary, the reader and study aren't written yet. For anything this page doesn't cover, see the Hanzi Desk support page or email [email protected].