HelloChinese is a game-based Mandarin course with bite-sized lessons that take you from scratch to a conversational level. Bubblegum is a reading and listening app. Poppy, your AI tutor, writes Mandarin lessons for your level about subjects you care about, and words you save come back in new lessons.
How HelloChinese and Bubblegum Compare
HelloChinese builds all four skills through short games and a set course. Bubblegum is mostly reading and listening at your level, and you can also practice speaking Mandarin with Poppy in live voice chat.
| HelloChinese | Bubblegum | |
|---|---|---|
| How you learn | Bite-sized, game-based lessons for listening, speaking, reading, and writing | Poppy writes lessons, stories, and news at your level, and you read and listen |
| How words come back | A spaced repetition system | Regenerative Review™: saved words come back in new lessons |
| Characters | Simplified or Traditional | Simplified or Traditional |
| Phone apps | iPhone and Android | iPhone and Android |
| Menu languages | 13 on its iPhone listing | 74 |
You can read more about Bubblegum on its Mandarin page, and you can use its menus in 74 languages.
Who Each App Is Best For
HelloChinese
HelloChinese turns its lessons into games, so you level up as you go. Its courses follow the HSK levels, and once a course is downloaded you can study it offline. It works well for beginners who want a guided path through listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
- A pinyin course helps you learn the sounds first.
- Speech recognition checks your pronunciation.
- Handwriting practice helps you learn to write characters.
- More than 1,000 graded stories and over 2,000 videos of Chinese speakers.
- Flashcards
- Teaches Pinyin
- Traditional characters
Mobile
Bubblegum
For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn Chinese. You learn from Chinese you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Tell Poppy, your AI tutor, about something you'd like to read in Mandarin, like a trip to a night market or a chat about a TV show. She writes a lesson at your level that you can read and hear, and you can ask her about it line by line.
If you want handwriting practice and a set course through the HSK levels, HelloChinese is the better choice.
- Each Mandarin lesson is a full conversation or story, written by Poppy for your level.
- Show pinyin or zhuyin above the characters, in Simplified or Traditional.
- Tap any word for its meaning, and ask Poppy about anything that confuses you.
- Regenerative Review™ puts your saved words into the next lessons you read.
- Poppy builds a flexible journey around your interests and level, so you never have to search for something to read.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- You can't turn your own articles and books into lessons.
- A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn.
- Regenerative Review™
- Teaches Pinyin
- Traditional characters
- Zhuyin
Mobile
Choose HelloChinese if:
- You want a step-by-step course that follows the HSK levels.
- You'd like to practice writing characters by hand.
- You enjoy learning through games.
Choose Bubblegum if:
- You want to read and hear whole conversations about topics you pick.
- You'd like Poppy to explain the grammar in any line.
- You want
Taiwan Mandarin with Taiwan words and zhuyin, or regional speech such as Xi'an or Lanzhou Mandarin.
Using Both Together
HelloChinese can take you through the sounds, characters, and first HSK levels, and Bubblegum gives you reading and listening at your level on topics you like. Use both across your week, in any mix you like.
Common Questions
Which Mandarin app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Chinese, start with Bubblegum. Poppy writes lessons at your level about things you like. Or start with HelloChinese if you'd like a game-based course that also teaches you to write characters.
Does Bubblegum teach Taiwan Mandarin?
Yes. Taiwan Mandarin is its own course in Bubblegum, written in Taiwan's words and read in Taiwan pronunciation. Its Taiwan Mandarin page has free guides, and each one opens a full lesson.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- HelloChinese: Game-based learning and spaced repetition
- HelloChinese: iPhone App Store listing
- HelloChinese: Google Play listing
- Bubblegum: Learn Mandarin Chinese
Checked on October 14, 2026 against each app's own pages.
