The market for Chinese dictionaries on the iPhone is heating up.
Links below are to the iTunes App store.
These dictionaries all use the 80,000 entry CDICT database. So far the first one (KTDict) is my favorite.
KTDict (Free — There is a pro version with flashcards.)
Dianhua dictionary (free)
QingWen Chinese Dictionary $5
Red8 Venture’s Chinese-English Dictionary $5
iChinese $10
iCED Lite Dictionary $3 (the free version does lookup via the web).
WeDict Pro $6 lets you load your own dictionaries if you can find them online.
Of these, iChinese also offers the 195,000 entry ABC Dictionary, used in Wenlin and PlecoDictionary (on the Palm and Windows Mobile) for an additional $20.
iCED promises a pro version with the ABC dictionary later this year. And Pleco should have a version of its excellent software sometime later in the year as well, although I wouldn’t expect it anytime soon. See the thread here.
I haven’t tried iChinese as the interface and design seems lacking. I may purchase iCED Pro when it comes out if Pleco isn’t out yet and the price is reasonable.
I also find iTranslate (an app which offers an interface to Google Translate) quite useful, as Google has a lot of words not in dictionaries, although you have to be careful with the results which aren’t always that reliable.
Another very useful application is Finger which lets you use your iPhone’s hand writing engine to enter text on your computer (Windows or PC)
For studying I like iFlash Touch, although the iPhone version still lacks a lot of the features of the desktop application.
If you live in Taiwan the train schedule application can be handy.
