Dengdeng: Read & Learn Chinese
Gourd Studio LLC Education iPhoneiPadiPod touch
Dengdeng: Read & Learn Chinese is a free Education app for iPhone and iPad by Gourd Studio LLC. Requires iOS 15.1. Updated October 19, 2026.
- Price
- Free
- on the App Store
- Size
- 175 MB
- Age 12+
- Updated
- Oct 19
- 2026 · v1.0.9
Screenshots
About Dengdeng: Read & Learn Chinese
Level up your Chinese. Read stories about life in China, chat with 灯灯 and friends, and watch short cartoons in Chinese at your level. Dengdeng brings stories, listening and vocabulary practice together, from your first words to more demanding reading. STORIES AT YOUR LEVEL Three new stories every day about life in China. Pick Easy, Medium or Hard and switch versions as you read. As a rough HSK 3.0 guide, Easy is around levels 1–3, Medium 3–4, and Hard level 5 and up. Just starting? Beginner stories use short sentences and familiar words for learners at HSK 3.0 levels 1–2. Browse everyday topics such as food, travel, family and animals, with one free Beginner story each day. TAP ANY WORD Tap a word for pinyin, English meanings and example sentences without leaving the story. Hear words and individual lines aloud, or listen to the whole story. The words you save join your personal vocabulary for practice later. CHAT WITH 灯灯 AND FRIENDS The cast texts you in Chinese about stories and everyday life. Reply in Chinese or English, tap unfamiliar words, play a message aloud, and show English when you need it. These are AI characters, each with their own personality and voice. Select a passage and ask 老师 (Laoshi), the in-app AI teacher, about its words or grammar. Your question opens a conversation in Messages so you can ask follow-ups and return to the explanation later. AI data sharing is optional and requires your permission before you send a message. WATCH AND LISTEN Watch Dengdeng Originals and short cartoon dialogues with tappable Chinese captions. Follow the conversation at your level, listen again, and look up words as you go. A cartoon of the week is free to watch. PRACTICE THE WORDS YOU READ Your saved words come back through spaced repetition. Practice with flashcards, fill-in-the-blank exercises and sentence building, using words in context. Choose the decks you learn from: your own words and HSK 3.0 decks from HSK 1 to 7–9. Each day brings a few new words from them, in your order. With Dengdeng Pro, focus on one deck and finish it by a date you pick. Today's goals help you choose what to read, watch and practice next. Set your own pace and see your vocabulary and reading progress over time. PUZZLES AND WORD GAMES Play daily Chinese Connections and a mini crossword, plus quick vocabulary games such as Drift, Pairs, Pop and Tones. Try Seven Pieces and Huarong Pass for a different kind of puzzle. All puzzles are free. FREE AND DENGDENG PRO Read one story from each daily edition, rotating archive picks and one Beginner story each day for free. Watch the cartoon of the week, play puzzles, and try vocabulary practice and AI chats with free allowances. Dengdeng Pro opens every daily story, the full story archive and Beginner collection, more cartoons, unlimited reviews, Focus on a deck, questions to 老师 without a weekly limit, more character replies, and extra reader and vocabulary tools. Dengdeng Pro is an auto-renewable subscription. Your plan, price and billing period are shown before purchase. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation. Your subscription renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the current period ends. Manage or cancel anytime in App Store account settings. Terms: https://dengdeng.app/terms Privacy: https://dengdeng.app/privacy
What’s new
Version 1.0.9 · Updated October 19, 2026
Meet 灯灯 and friends in Messages: chat in Chinese or English, and ask 老师 about any passage. Explore a new Today home, Beginner stories with a free story each day, and short cartoons with tappable captions and a free cartoon of the week. Choose the decks you learn from and how many new words a day, or focus on one deck to finish it by a date you pick (Pro). Plus line-by-line audio, smoother vocabulary practice, improved tablet layouts, and fixes throughout the app.
App privacy
The developer, Gourd Studio LLC, reported these privacy practices to Apple.
Data Linked to You
The following data, which may be collected and linked to your identity, may be used for the following purposes:
- Contact Info: Email Address, Name, Phone Number
- Purchases: Purchase History
- Identifiers: User ID, Device ID
- Usage Data: Product Interaction, Other Usage Data
- Other Data: Other Data Types
- Location: Coarse Location
- User Content: Customer Support, Other User Content
Used for: Developer’s Advertising or Marketing, Analytics, Product Personalization, App Functionality
Data Not Linked to You
The following data, which may be collected but is not linked to your identity, may be used for the following purposes:
- User Content: Other User Content
- Search History: Search History
- Diagnostics: Crash Data, Performance Data, Other Diagnostic Data
Used for: Product Personalization, App Functionality
Alternatives to Dengdeng: Read & Learn Chinese
Looking for apps like Dengdeng: Read & Learn Chinese? Here are 6 similar apps on the App Store. The highest rated is Hanly (4.9/5), and all 6 are free to download.
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SureChinese - Learning Chinese
4.0
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Hanly
4.9
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Speak Chinese: Learn Mandarin
4.5
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Daily Hanzi
4.6
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Du Chinese: Read&Learn Chinese
4.9
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Laoshi: Learn Chinese & HSK
4.6
| App | Rating | Price | Last updated | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dengdeng: Read & Learn Chinese | – | Free | October 19, 2026 | |
| SureChinese - Learning Chinese | 4.0 / 5 (4) | Free | Sep 24, 2026 | Compare |
| Hanly | 4.9 / 5 (400) | Free | Aug 16, 2026 | Compare |
| Speak Chinese: Learn Mandarin | 4.5 / 5 (280) | Free | Aug 6, 2026 | Compare |
| Daily Hanzi | 4.6 / 5 (1,532) | Free | Oct 20, 2026 | Compare |
| Du Chinese: Read&Learn Chinese | 4.9 / 5 (4,602) | Free | Sep 13, 2026 | Compare |
| Laoshi: Learn Chinese & HSK | 4.6 / 5 (785) | Free | Sep 12, 2026 | Compare |