Every word of HSK 1, 2, and 3, with native audio, each character broken down to its roots, and a study schedule that learns when you're about to forget. Ten minutes a day.
Every word in the 2021 reformed HSK 3.0 standard, in frequency order. Levels unlock bottom-up so you never see a word before its time.
Two recordings per word: the term itself, plus a curated example sentence in real-world context. Bundled, not streamed.
Each review is timed for the moment your brain is about to forget the word, before you've actually forgotten. The schedule fits itself to your own review history as you go.Powered by FSRS, the same modern algorithm used inside Anki, personalised to your memory.
Every character broken down into its component radicals, semantic radicals highlighted. Read characters the way they were built.
600 fill-in-the-blank sentences built only from words you already know. Each one unlocks the moment its last word does: reading practice that's always comprehensible.
Tap "learn more" on any flipped card for a hand-curated deep dive: origin notes, near-synonym comparisons, collocations, usage traps, and extra examples. Sourced, never invented.
more screenshots, brand assets, and press materials at /press
Wordbrush is built by Urban Algorithm, LLC: a small studio with a soft spot for tools that respect their users. The first sketch happened on a long train ride; the rest came together over enthusiastic late nights on vacation, then was field-tested during the day in pockets between sightseeing stops. It exists because Chinese vocabulary deserves a study tool that doesn't try to sell you anything, gamify you, or guilt you into a streak. Open it, do today's session, close it. Come back tomorrow.
If something isn't working, or just feels wrong, we want to hear about it. Get in touch:
The app shows "enough for today" but I want to keep going.
Tap add 10 new words on the done screen, or continue studying to pull tomorrow's reviews forward.
How do I get to settings?
Tap the gear icon next to your day-streak counter on the home page, or long-press the streak itself in a session.
Can I reset everything and start over?
Yes. Settings → reset all progress. The double-confirm protects you from accidents; once confirmed it clears every card's review state but keeps the bundled vocab and audio in place.
Will my progress sync to another device?
There's no automatic sync, but Settings → manage progress exports a backup file you can move to a new phone (it works across iOS and Android) and import there. Your data never touches a server.
Why does my failed card come back so quickly?
That's the science working. New and learning cards cycle through short steps (≈1 minute, ≈10 minutes) before they graduate into days/weeks. Failing pulls them right back to the start; that's exactly how you learn them.
Will it work offline?
Yes. Everything, 2,200 words, 5,000 audio recordings, 600 sentences, radicals, and the learn-more library, is bundled into the app. The app makes no network calls during a session. This was specifically designed to work offline during train commutes that might have sketchy internet connections.