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I had a quick look on the Android Market last night and noticed that the dictionaries available for Android users now seem to be more comparable with those on iOS. I've stuck to JED for ages for it's tag and export functionality (useful when reading a book), but the new dictionaries look to be far superior to JED; although, some of them are paid apps.

I believe there has been an upgrade to a common library that these dictionaries are using, since they seem to share a common feature set that brings them closer to the iOS offerings such as: handwriting recognition, Ankidroid/csv export, built in flashcards etc

Some of the names are terrible, which might be why I've never seen them before xD I found many of these by searching on my phone for "Japanese dictionary export" as I was looking for an alternative to the ancient and discontinued JED.

* "Japanese" (Free)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/detai...e.japanese
This has handwriting recognition, stroke order, and can search for conjugated words -- very nice for a free application. Never appears when I search for Japanese Dictionary... probably due to the name.

* Aedict 3 (~$6)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/detai...ka.aedict3
This one has a huge feature list; some interesting inclusions: Kotowaza sentences, multi window mode for Samsung users, mixed Kanji/Kana search (e.g. search for 見ため will also find 見た目), and JLPT quizes with built in SRS.

* "Japanese Dictionary aka Tenjin (~$2.50)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/detai...ionary.pro
Like Aedict this has a huge feature list. Some interesting features: grammar points, words in example sentences can be 'drilled into' (a bit like Rikaisama).

* "Japanese Dictionary" (Free)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/detai...dictionary
Seems to be a free version of Tenjin, not sure what the difference is.

* Akebi (Free)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/detai....akebifree
Again a huge list of features: handwriting support, deconjugation, word lists and flash cards.

I am sure there are probably more out there, but these all seem to be on another level to the old applications like JED.

I've been using Akebi for a while now (switched after Aedict became paid) and I can recommend it . The interface is clear and its databases have a fair range of vocabulary - better than some web dictionaries (for example alc.co.jp, which generally is my J-E dictionary of choice because of the huge number of example sentences). Handwritten kanji recognition works well too. I only really use the vocabulary list function but Akebi does offer JLPT quizzes, which is nice.

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chillimuffin Wrote:I've been using Akebi for a while now (switched after Aedict became paid) and I can recommend it . The interface is clear and its databases have a fair range of vocabulary - better than some web dictionaries (for example alc.co.jp, which generally is my J-E dictionary of choice because of the huge number of example sentences). Handwritten kanji recognition works well too. I only really use the vocabulary list function but Akebi does offer JLPT quizzes, which is nice.

I am sure I tried Akebi a long time back, it was nothing like the current application. It seems pretty neat, I like the way it breaks down the example sentences so you can inspect the components.

I am hoping to find a dictionary where I could mark words and do flashcards within the dictionary application. So I could review them a few times before adding a chunk of words into Anki. Essentially, I would be using the dictionary as a cheap alternative to Lingq -- but with Anki and paper books

What about J-J dictionaries for Android? Do you know of any?
I wish there was something like Pleco for Japanese.

gio_gogo Wrote:What about J-J dictionaries for Android? Do you know of any?

I use All国語辞典 - the interface could be a bit more user friendly (switching between tabs only to see that the entry has not been found in a given dictionary gets irritating after a while), but generally it does its job and it's free.

gio_gogo Wrote:What about J-J dictionaries for Android? Do you know of any?
I wish there was something like Pleco for Japanese.

I just use EPWING dictionaries with the EBPocket app. Having EBPocket and handwriting recognition (Mazec), means I only resort to using EDICT based dictionaries after trying the handwriting pad. Then I use radical lookup search as a backup. Another option is using kotobank.jp, or the kotobank app.

I've been using "Japanese" for quick lookups. It's reliable for that use case, but lacking in features compared to the iOS app of the same name (although that costs about ¥1500). You can turn the adds off for about ¥250.

I haven't been making vocab lists lately, but maybe I'll check out Akebi if that need arises again. I wish Android guys would spend just a little more time tweaking the visuals though. Sometimes the awkward padding and typography affect usability. Android itself doesn't make it easy though.

I also use alc.co.jp when translating or when desperate for E-J, and I need to resort to http://www.excite.co.jp/dictionary/japanese/ for accent codes (I used to use 大辞林 on iOS for that).

I also like Jsho , based in Edict and features "sentences" look up. Free and with a good interface.

Akebi is good too, really different from any other dictionary but it needs a little bit of polishing in my opinion.

I use Jsho as my primary dictionary as well. Its quite simple. It doesn't even have example sentences, but for copying and pasting definitions into Anki it has the most efficient workflow I've been able to find (Anyone know a dictionary that works better with Anki?). The color scheme of the app makes me think a dog peed on my screen though hehe

Can anyone recommend a dictionary with good handwriting recognition? I remember 10 years ago I had an axim x51 with windows mobile. It had amazing handwriting recognition. Even if I had no idea what I was doing it would still guess the kanji correct the vast majority of the time.

For android I have only tried Japanese and Akebi. Japanese had pathetic HR and Akebi wasn't much better. I don't consider them usable at all. Can you guys recommend anything with HR?

juniperpansy Wrote:Can anyone recommend a dictionary with good handwriting recognition? I remember 10 years ago I had an axim x51 with windows mobile. It had amazing handwriting recognition. Even if I had no idea what I was doing it would still guess the kanji correct the vast majority of the time.

For android I have only tried Japanese and Akebi. Japanese had pathetic HR and Akebi wasn't much better. I don't consider them usable at all. Can you guys recommend anything with HR?

Mazec, maybe?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/detai...tesproduct
It's a keyboard, so you can use with any dictionary. It doesn't care as much about stroke order, and most of the time it recognizes whatever kanji I throw at it. It's the best Japanese handwriting recognition app I've found.