Hello all. I have created an app for Android to look up kanji by using the Heisig keyword. It's available for free on the android market under the name "Keyword to Kanji". My developer name on the market is "bunnies." Here's the link:

https://market.android.com/details?id=co...rdToKanjiF

And here is the description of the app:

This is a kanji-lookup tool based on the book "Remembering the Kanji" by James Heisig. You can translate a string of keywords into a string of kanji. It also works in the reverse direction, translating a string of kanji into a string of keywords.

You can copy the output string to your clipboard and then paste it into your favorite dictionary. There is also a direct look up option for aedict (made by Martin Vysny, by far the best Japanese dictionary available for Android, it's available for free on the market).
I designed this app to help me with my own Japanese study, and it's been an invaluable tool. This is the fastest way to look up a word in kanji when you're reading printed material and you don't know the Japanese reading of the word.

*note: If the Heisig keyword is more than one word, such as "elder brother", you must use the "separate by commas" option.

Anyway, if you have any comments, suggestions, or requests, please comment here, or e-mail me. You can find my e-mail address under my developer information in the Android market. If you like the app, please consider buying the donate version. Thanks!

Ahhh! This is perfect!! I'm downloading it tonight!!

Great app, that kind of lookup is really useful.

However I am using the German keywords for Heisig. Could you implement some way to exchange the keyword list with a custom one? For example for the app "Kanji Recognizer" I could change the SQLite database. Maybe just read the keywords from a text/csv file that can be modified by the user?

great idea! i will get to work on that tomorrow

Alright. I've updated the app to accept custom dictionaries. Please read the instructions on formatting the dictionary and let me know if there's anything you don't understand:

Custom dictionaries must be saved into the "K2K" folder of your SD card (will be created automatically when you run the app). They must be .txt or .csv extensions. The format of the dictionary must be one entry per line, with one line consisting of the kanji, a comma (no space after), and the keyword, like so:

一,one
二,two

Also, custom dictionaries must be saved with UTF-8 text encoding.

Yes, it is working with my custom dictionary, thank you very much!

Wow I've been looking for a way to efficiently look up unknown words. This app seems great, I'll definitely try it once I start reading.

The only way I'd see to have an even faster way for looking up words would be if there was an OCR app combined with a Japanese dictionary.

My phone actually has an OCR app combined with a Japanese dictionary, but I think it's only available on Sharp models in Japan (I have Sharp Galapagos). It only works really well for black and white printed stuff, and you have to be able to get it to the right orientation/distance/focus for the camera, but it's an amazing app.