v1.7.0 - ChangelogChangelog, Development • November 1, 2025Performance update! Performance has been improved across the board.
SummaryIt’s been a while since the last update, but this was a difficult one! Here are the highlights:
• 🏎️ Improved startup times
• 📍 Improved learn path loading times
• 🎓 Improved session animations to be stutter free
• 💎 New buy premium screen + flow
• 👀 Better kanji lookup
Previously KanjiKen would generate map data and what exercises you should see at app start. Due to restructuring how the app works, this is no longer necessary! Map data is now generated on the fly, and only invalidated when needed! And what exercises we should so is already calculated when entering a learn session, so this was no longer needed.
Improved learn path loading timesThe learn path state has been moved so that it does not get cleared every time you go into a session. This should make it load faster on entering / exiting session, and avoid visual stutter.
Improved session animations to be stutter freeThis is a big one. Around a year ago, I tried to improved animation smoothness and speed in the session. While some good progress was made, it didn’t fundamentally solve some of the bigger lag spikes, and animations were forced to run sequentially to prevent unnecessary rerenders or state updates that could lead to visual stutters or lag.
This time around, I think we have done it! It turns out that KanjiKen is extremely sensible to rerenders and state changes, due to our complex session exercises. We have managed to completely eliminate rerendering in session, which in turn has made the app run much smoother.
This change required us to kick out some third party code, and completely rewrite how hover hint, words, and text are rendered. This is the main reason this update has taken longer than usual. It turns out rewriting code results in a lot of new bugs! If you find anything I’ve missed, please let us know at mailto:support@kanjiken.com[support@kanjiken.com].
New buy premium screen + flowHere’s a little secret: ads do not pay out very well if you have few users. A paying user is worth a lot more. Why do I mention this? Well, until now it’s been quite difficult for users to buy premium. You needed to be signed in (with a non-anonymous user account) before even being able to see the offer, and you needed to go look for the premium upgrade in settings. This update addresses that!
You can now buy premium without having previously created kanjiken account. The premium flow now will prompt you to quick-create and account with your phones default provider. And the new offering screen is configured to do pricing experiments. Over the next few weeks some users may see a lower price or a free trial week, while others wont. This will help to make an informed decision on our pricing strategy.
Don’t worry, the normal KanjiKen functionality like learn path and lookup will always be free to use!
Better kanji lookupThere has also been a small dictionary update. While using I found that it can be annoying if you recognize part of kanji, or only recognize on kanji in a word. KanjiKen now more easily shows you words and kanji that contain the current kanji or bushu your looking up. It even has few filters. It’s currently still limited to the most common 10000 words, but that might change in the future!
Next updateLike I mentioned in the last post, I’ve been working on grammar, a web-reader, and a “dialog” module. The dialog module is prioritized the highest right now, but I am quite excited for all three! This update was supposed to be that as well, but I got distracted by making the app more professional looking. Anyhow, look forward to it!
Check out the appThanks for reading! If you’re interested in learning Japanese, check out KanjiKen on the App Store or Google Play. It contains Hiragana, Katakana, 2000+ Kanji and 10000+ words with interactive exercises and a spaced repetition algorithm built in. Essentially, everything you need to go from beginner to proficiency!