What it does
Daily Hanzi is a mobile app designed to help users learn Chinese characters. It uses a personalized, flashcard-based system grounded in spaced repetition to help users build their vocabulary. A key feature is its lock screen widget, which provides passive exposure to new characters throughout the day without needing to open the app.
Where it shines
The app's most impressive aspect is its deeply personalized onboarding flow (00:10-01:45). Instead of a generic setup, it asks a series of detailed questions about the user's proficiency, motivations, and learning habits to create a custom plan. The core learning experience (02:44 onwards) is clean and effective, with interactive flashcards that provide audio, pinyin, and example sentences. The progress dashboard (06:00) is another highlight, offering a clear, visual breakdown of the user's mastery across HSK levels, which provides a strong motivational feedback loop.
UX highlights
- Tactile Inputs: The onboarding uses interactive elements like a character selection grid (00:22) and a daily goal slider (00:45), making the setup process feel more engaging than typical forms.
- Contextual Onboarding: After subscribing, the app teaches its core progress-tracking mechanic with an interactive overlay on the first flashcard (02:34), ensuring the user learns by doing.
- Layered Information: Flashcards present information progressively. The character is shown first, with pinyin and meaning revealed on subsequent taps (02:50), which aids active recall.
- Data-Rich Dashboard: The stats overview screen (06:00) provides a wealth of information, including streak count, review queue, and a bar chart of learned characters by HSK level, making progress tangible.
- Granular List Management: The app allows users to save characters and organize them into custom lists (05:12), giving advanced learners control over their study sets.
- Widget-Focused Value Prop: The app repeatedly emphasizes its lock screen widget feature (00:51), correctly identifying it as a unique selling point that provides value outside of active app usage.
Monetization & growth
The app uses a hard paywall with a 3-day free trial (02:11). Before showing the paywall, it runs the user through a long personalization quiz and shows a "creating your plan" animation (01:40), building investment and anticipation to increase conversion. The paywall itself clearly visualizes the trial timeline, showing when the user will get a reminder and when billing starts. It presents two options, monthly and yearly, framing the yearly plan with a lower equivalent monthly price to anchor its value.
Who it’s for
Daily Hanzi is for self-directed learners of Mandarin Chinese, likely from beginner to intermediate levels (HSK 1-4). Its focus on character memorization and spaced repetition makes it ideal for students who want a structured way to build their vocabulary. The lock screen widget feature particularly suits busy individuals who want to incorporate passive learning into their daily routine. The app's design is clean and modern, appealing to a broad audience of language enthusiasts.
Notes & opportunities
While the onboarding is thorough, its length could be a point of friction for some users. The immediate request for App Tracking permission (00:01) without a warmup screen is a missed opportunity to build trust first. In the main app, reporting an issue with an example sentence (03:01) is a bit hidden within the UI. Making this feedback mechanism more prominent could help improve content quality over time. Overall, the app provides a polished and well-structured learning experience.