What you need
Hanzi Desk runs on iPhone and iPad with iOS 15.4 or later, and on Android 10 or later. It also runs in your browser at hanzidesk.com. Sentence translation on iPhone and iPad needs iOS 17.4 or later; voice search on Android needs Android 12 or later.
Dictionary and pronunciation
Search by Chinese characters, pinyin, Jyutping or English meaning. Choose Mandarin, Cantonese or both in Settings → Language & display → Spoken language.
CC-CEDICT, CC-Canto and the character, stroke, example, grammar, etymology and handwriting data come with the app and work offline. If you use English definitions with Mandarin, the English Wiktionary dictionary downloads in the background. Other dictionaries, font families and most recordings download the first time you use them, so first use needs a connection. Recordings are labelled by source, and coverage varies from word to word.
Reader, handwriting and text from photos
In Reader, tap + (Add reading) and choose Import TXT or EPUB, Paste text or Text from photo, which offers Take photo and Choose from library. Text recognition runs on your device. In Dictionary, Input tools offers Handwriting, Text from photo and Find characters.
On iPhone and iPad, Hanzi Desk asks for camera access the first time you take a photo; Choose from library uses the system photo picker. On Android it opens your camera app or the system photo picker instead. Android text recognition uses a Google ML Kit model that comes with the app; reader translation asks before it downloads an ML Kit language model, over Wi-Fi unless you allow mobile data.
Your data and backups
Words, notes, review schedules and books stay on your device. There is no account and no automatic sync, so use Settings → Your data → Export backup before you delete the app or move to a new device. On iPhone and iPad the backup file goes to the share sheet; on Android you can share it or save it to a file. Restore backup replaces the words, books and settings on this device with the backup.
Settings → Dictionaries & audio → Clear downloaded audio removes downloaded recordings. Included recordings, words, books and personal dictionaries are kept.
Privacy
Read the Hanzi Desk privacy policy. The apps also keep a copy you can read offline: Settings → About → Privacy policy on iPhone and iPad, Settings → Privacy policy on Android. Emailing us and the website's feedback form are optional and separate from your study data.
Tell us what happened
Include your platform (iPhone, iPad, Android or the website), the app version and the iOS or Android version, what you did and what you expected. Leave out private reading material, photos and backups unless you choose to share them.
Email app supportCrow Tech Pte. Ltd., 152 Beach Road, #23-02 Gateway East, Singapore 189721.
