December 28, 2025
Kanji crown or clickbait?
Show HN: My app just won best iOS Japanese learning tool of 2025 award
Dev claims a 'Best iOS' crown; commenters cry clickbait and crown Yomitan + Anki instead
TLDR: Manabi Reader was named iOS winner on a blogger’s awards list, but commenters blasted the headline as clickbait and favored Yomitan + Anki as the real heroes. The debate centered on trust in “awards” and Manabi’s busy design versus practical tools that learners say actually helped them read and watch anime.
A developer popped up on Hacker News saying their app just won “Best iOS Japanese learning tool of 2025,” pointing to Autumn Skerritt’s award show blog where Manabi Reader takes the iOS trophy. The crowd immediately asked: “Who’s the judge?” One voice called it “from some random blog” and “click-bait,” while others double-checked the link and confirmed the winner is indeed Manabi Reader. Then the thread shifted from trophies to tools people actually trust: Yomitan (a browser pop-up dictionary) and Anki (flashcards), the duo many say carried them to real reading and anime-watching.
That’s where the drama kicked in. Fans cheered that Yomitan + Anki are the real MVPs. Critics slammed Manabi Reader as “too busy,” complaining that all the highlights and annotations feel overwhelming, and wishing progress tracking happened quietly in the background. Others noted it doesn’t support Yomitan-style custom features, a deal-breaker for power learners. Jokes flew like confetti: “trophy emoji ≠ Nobel,” “self-hosted award show,” and “is this the Kanji Oscars?” The OP dropped a Reddit thread with 147 comments, stoking even more hot takes. Verdict from the peanut gallery: applause for the hustle, side-eye for the headline, and a community that still crowns Yomitan + Anki as the people’s champs.
Key Points
- •The post is a 2025 awards-style roundup of Japanese learning tools on skerritt.blog by Autumn Skerritt.
- •Yomitan is named Best Overall, with Anki and GSM also listed in that category.
- •Renshuu is the overall phone app winner; Jidoujisho and Manabi Reader are the Android and iOS winners, respectively.
- •Kaishi is the overall best Anki deck; Kiku wins best Anki notetype; “Priority reorder” wins best Anki add-on.
- •Migaku is highlighted as the best paid solution.