FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

I bought Nihongo Pro, a lifetime purchase, or pitch accent, but the app says it can't find it.

This is usually caused by using a different Apple ID from the one that originally made the purchase. In some cases the app was downloaded with one Apple ID, but the subscription, lifetime unlock, or pitch accent was purchased with another.

1. Make sure the device is signed into the App Store account that owns the purchase.
2. If you are checking a second device, make sure both devices use the same App Store account.
3. Back up your data from the Settings tab before deleting anything.
4. Reinstall Nihongo while signed into the correct account, then open the app again.

If it still does not show up, email support@serpentisei.com with a screenshot from your Apple purchase history.

How do I cancel my subscription?

Subscriptions are managed directly by Apple rather than inside the app.

Open your Apple subscriptions page, find Nihongo in the list, and cancel it there. If you have trouble finding it, double-check that you are signed into the same Apple ID used to subscribe.

Can I use the same purchase on multiple Apple devices?

Yes, as long as those devices are signed into the same Apple ID for App Store purchases. If one device shows the purchase correctly and another does not, the most likely cause is that the second device is signed into a different Apple account.

Is pitch accent included in Nihongo Pro?

No. Pitch accent is a separate purchase in Nihongo.

You can find it under the Dictionary section of the Settings tab. It is sold separately due to licensing requirements.

Sync between my devices is not working. What should I check first?

The most common cause is that the devices are signed into different iCloud accounts. This is easy to miss because the App Store account and the iCloud account can be different.

1. Open the Settings app on each device.
2. Tap your name at the top and confirm the iCloud account email matches on both devices.
3. Back up the device that has the correct data before doing anything destructive.

If syncing still looks stuck after that, contact support. In more stubborn cases you may need to clear Nihongo's iCloud data and sync fresh from the device that has the correct data, but it is worth backing up first.

The app is showing the wrong language. How do I change it?

Open Nihongo, go to the Settings tab, tap Language, then tap App Language at the bottom of the screen.

Why do English results sometimes show up first when I search in romaji?

Some romaji searches are ambiguous and could reasonably be either English or Japanese. In those cases Nihongo shows English matches first and then gives you a way to run the Japanese search.

That helps with searches like age, which could mean the English word or the Japanese reading あげ. If you meant the Japanese search, use the Japanese-search option from that screen.

What do common, uncommon, and rare mean?

Those labels are based on a combination of sources, including newspaper and novel corpora, appearances in example sentences and Aozora Bunko, and common-word flags from the JMdict project.

They are meant as a practical guide to how often a word is used, not as a perfect rule.

Can Nihongo help with kanji lookup on iPhone?

Yes. Nihongo includes kanji search tools based on radicals and stroke counts, along with detailed kanji entries that connect to common words and dictionary results.

If you want a quick walkthrough of that workflow, see the kanji lookup for iPhone guide.

How does Nihongo's flashcard system work?

Each card has 5 levels, with 3 sub-levels inside each one. Reviews move from days to weeks to months as the card becomes more familiar.

Level 1: 1 day, 2 days, 3 days
Level 2: 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks
Level 3: 1 month, 2 months, 3 months
Level 4: 6 months, 9 months, 12 months
Level 5: No more reviews

Unlike many SRS systems, missing a day does not create a giant backlog. Cards keep their current level and are pushed out, which makes it much easier to return after a break.

If you want the bigger picture of how dictionary lookup, Photo Lookup, clippings, audio, and kanji drawing fit together, see the Japanese flashcards guide.

What is the difference between Correct, OK, and Wrong?

Correct moves a card forward. OK keeps it at the same point in the system. Wrong moves it back and repeats it soon.

In Learn mode, only Correct fills the progress bar at the top. In Review mode, Correct extends the interval before the card appears again, while OK keeps that interval steady.

What do the flashcard swipe gestures do?

On the flashcard screen, swipe up to mark a card Correct, swipe down to mark it Wrong, swipe left to mark it OK, and swipe right to go back to the previous card.

In Learn mode, the same gestures also control the progress bar at the top. Swipe up fills one chunk, swipe left leaves it where it is, and swipe down resets it.

Can I mark a bunch of words as known?

Yes. The easiest way is to create a vocabulary deck with the words you want, tap Edit on the deck screen, select the words, and then choose Mark Known.

That sets the selected cards to Level 3. They will still show up later as a sanity check, but they will immediately count as known words in the app.

How do I export decks to Anki?

Open the deck you want, tap the share icon, and choose Export Deck. Nihongo will create a TSV file that you can import into the desktop version of Anki.

When importing, use these settings:

• Type: Basic
• Fields separated by: Tab
• Allow HTML in fields: Checked
• Field 1: Front
• Field 2: Back

Can I import existing Anki decks into Nihongo?

There is no general Anki importer for Nihongo right now. Nihongo's flashcards are tied to dictionary words, so it cannot import arbitrary custom card types.

If you have a plain word list, the closest workaround is to paste one word per line into a clipping. Nihongo can then create a deck from the words it recognizes.

Does Nihongo work offline?

Yes. Almost everything in Nihongo works offline, including dictionary lookups, flashcards, and the rest of the core study experience.

Photo lookup is the only feature that normally needs an internet connection, and even that has an offline mode if you need it. The tradeoff is lower accuracy than the online version.

Is there an Android version?

No. Nihongo is currently an iPhone and iPad app. As a solo developer, keeping the iOS version growing and well supported is already a large commitment, so there is not an Android version right now.

Why doesn't Nihongo support older versions of iOS?

I generally try to support the current year's iOS release along with the final release from the previous year. That is standard practice across the industry, and it keeps development and testing focused on the versions most people are actually using.

I will sometimes keep Nihongo working on older iOS versions beyond that, but I am not actively testing on those versions anymore. That means you may run into bugs there that do not appear on the latest iOS release or the previous year's final release.

If you have downloaded Nihongo before, Apple will usually let you download the last compatible version for the version of iOS your device is running.

Why can't I restore data onto an older device or older version of Nihongo?

That usually means you are trying to restore data created by a newer version of Nihongo onto a device that can only run an older version of the app.

Older app versions may not understand newer data formats, so in those cases the restore will not work on the older device. If a device cannot run the latest Nihongo release, it may need to stay on the older data that matches the older app version.