Recommended app · Reviewed 2026-07-23

The best spaced-repetition app for Chinese vocabulary

Disclosure: Wordbrush is made by Urban Algorithm LLC, the same company that publishes HanziCoverage. We are not a neutral reviewer of it, and we will not pretend to be. This is the only app-recommendation page on the site, and it never gates the free analyzer or coverage tools.

Once the analyzer shows you which words you are missing, the entire remaining job is repetition: seeing each word enough times, spaced correctly, that it moves from "looks familiar" to "know it cold." That is a scheduling problem, and it is exactly what spaced-repetition software exists to solve. This page explains what to look for, and why we recommend the app we make.

What actually matters in a vocabulary app

• A real spaced-repetition algorithm that schedules each word from how well you knew it, not a fixed daily list. Modern systems use FSRS.
• Words shown in context, an example sentence rather than a bare gloss, so you learn usage and not only recognition.
• A review queue that protects itself: clear your due reviews first, because chasing new words while skipping reviews is how self-studiers stall.
• Frequency-ordered content, because the most common words give the most coverage per word, which is the whole point of this site.

Why we recommend Wordbrush

Wordbrush is an iOS spaced-repetition vocabulary app built around exactly that short list. It schedules every word with FSRS, shows words in context, and structures the daily session so reviews come first and new words are added only when you have room. It is deliberately narrow: it does the vocabulary-retention job and does not try to be your dictionary or your grammar course.