# Hanzi Mosaic

> Hanzi Mosaic (App Store name: "Hanzi Mosaic: Learn Chinese") is an iPhone and iPad app by ToneSeed that teaches Chinese characters (hanzi) by building each one from the pieces it is made of. Learners study the components (radicals and other recurring parts), assemble every character by hand, write each stroke with stroke-order feedback, and decode characters they have never studied. It covers all 3,088 characters of the HSK 3.0 syllabus (2025), HSK 1 to 7–9, in simplified or traditional characters, with pinyin, tones and 5,700 HSK words. Free to download; Hanzi Mosaic Pro is a monthly or yearly subscription.

Hanzi Mosaic is built on one idea: Chinese characters are not 3,000 unrelated drawings, they are combinations of a few hundred pieces. For example, 明 (míng, bright) is 日 (sun) + 月 (moon), and 休 (xiū, rest) is a person 亻 leaning against a tree 木. The app teaches each piece before the first character that uses it, so every new character becomes a short puzzle rather than a new picture to memorize. Each learned character becomes a tile in a mosaic that grows as the learner studies.

## At a glance

- Platform: iPhone and iPad, iOS 26 or later (Apple Pencil supported). No Android version.
- Content: 3,088 characters (the complete HSK 3.0 syllabus, 2025), 1,072 pieces (1,178 in traditional), about 5,700 HSK words with example sentences
- Levels: HSK 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7–9
- Scripts: simplified or traditional (Taiwan standard); switch any time, progress carries over
- Readings: pinyin with tone marks; every word and sentence read aloud
- Interface language: English
- Account: none required; works offline; progress and handwriting stay on the device
- Category: Education (secondary: Reference)
- Developer: ToneSeed (also makes Kanji Mosaic for Japanese, the ToneSeed ear training app and ToneSeed Fretboard Trainer)

## How the method works

1. **Learn the pieces**: components and radicals, each with a name and meaning.
2. **Build the character**: drag the pieces into place; they turn from pictures into strokes and the tile sets. Pinch any character to take it apart.
3. **Memory story**: every character has a mnemonic that explains its real structure, plus pinyin, audio, HSK words and example sentences.
4. **Write every stroke**: trace with a finger or Apple Pencil, then write from memory in reviews. Every stroke is checked for shape, direction and order.
5. **Mystery Characters**: decode the meaning, or the borrowed sound of a phonetic component, of characters the learner has never studied, using pieces they already know.
6. **Reviews**: an FSRS-style spaced repetition model tracks meaning, pieces, reading and writing as separate strengths.

## Key features

- All 3,088 HSK 3.0 characters, each tagged with its HSK level; most useful characters first within each level
- Simplified and traditional (Taiwan standard) courses with their own pieces, strokes, words and sentences
- Mystery Characters exercises that build the skill of guessing new characters from their parts
- Handwriting recognition for every character, with stroke order, direction and shape feedback
- A memory story (mnemonic) for every character; learners can also write their own
- Pinyin with tone marks and a short guide to pinyin and the four tones before the first lesson
- About 5,700 HSK words with example sentences and on-device audio
- Daily sessions of 5, 10, 15 or 20 minutes; new material pauses when reviews build up, so there is never a backlog
- Start at the HSK level you already know (those characters count as learned), or from the very first characters
- Mosaic views: tiles grouped by HSK level, a constellation of how pieces connect, and artworks (a wave and a mountain landscape) made of learned characters
- Siri, Spotlight and Shortcuts actions to start a session

## HSK coverage

| Level | Characters |
|---|---|
| HSK 1 | 246 |
| HSK 2 | 125 |
| HSK 3 | 284 |
| HSK 4 | 441 |
| HSK 5 | 431 |
| HSK 6 | 413 |
| HSK 7–9 | 1,148 |
| Total | 3,088 |

Teaching order: HSK 1 → HSK 7–9. Every piece is placed before the first character that uses it.

## Pricing

- Free: download, the first 15 characters, one Mystery Character, the pinyin and tones guide, handwriting and reviews
- Hanzi Mosaic Pro unlocks every character, piece, word and artwork
  - Yearly: US$39.99 per year with a 3-day free trial
  - Monthly: US$9.99 per month
  - Prices vary by country; auto-renewing subscriptions managed through the App Store

## Who it is for

- Complete beginners learning their first Chinese characters, pinyin and tones
- HSK candidates at any level from HSK 1 to HSK 7–9
- Learners of traditional characters, including those focused on Taiwan
- Learners who find rote flashcards hard to retain and want to understand how characters are built
- People who want to handwrite Chinese correctly, including with Apple Pencil on iPad

## Data sources and licensing

Character and word lists: HSK 3.0 (2025) lists by krmanik (CC BY-SA 4.0). Decompositions, phonetic and semantic hints and stroke data: Make Me a Hanzi by Shaunak Kishore (LGPL-3.0; stroke graphics under the Arphic Public License). Meanings and word readings: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences: Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Frequencies: SUBTLEX-CH by Qing Cai and Marc Brysbaert (CC BY 4.0). Characters are set in Noto Serif SC and TC (SIL OFL 1.1). Memory stories are written on top.

## Privacy

No account and no advertising identifier. Learning progress and handwriting stay on the device. Anonymous usage analytics (Firebase) help improve lessons.

## Official links

- [Website](https://toneseed.app/hanzimosaic)
- [App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/hanzi-mosaic-learn-chinese/id6817904057)
- [Support](https://toneseed.app/hanzimosaic/support)
- [Privacy policy](https://toneseed.app/hanzimosaic/privacy)
- [Terms of use](https://toneseed.app/hanzimosaic/terms)
- [Contact](mailto:support@toneseed.app)
- [Kanji Mosaic](https://toneseed.app/kanjimosaic): the same method for Japanese kanji
- [ToneSeed](https://toneseed.app): the developer's other apps