Manabi Reader
"A Japanese language learning app that helps users learn through immersive reading, tracking words and kanji studied while providing flashcard integration, pitch accent data, and level-appropriate content discovery."
Marketing Channels
Organic / community (Japanese learners)
Became popular as a Japanese-focused alternative to LingQ within the Japanese learning community
Anki integration ecosystem
Integration with AnkiMobile and AnkiConnect taps into the large existing Anki user base for Japanese learners
UGC / influencer marketing
Creator mentions needing to make the app more beginner-friendly to scale with UGC/influencer marketing
Hacker News
Shared detailed project description in side-project thread
Growth Levers
- Make the app more beginner-friendly (currently requires kana knowledge) to unlock the much larger beginner segment and enable UGC/influencer scaling
- Launch manga mode (via Mokuro) and Netflix/streaming video support to differentiate from all competitors
- Leverage Anki integration as a distribution channel -- Anki users searching for Japanese sentence mining tools are a natural audience
- Create content marketing around pitch accent learning and sentence mining workflows
- Build partnerships with Japanese language learning YouTubers and content creators
- Expand curated content library organized by JLPT level to attract structured learners
First Customer Strategy
Built the app part-time over many years (starting with flashcards, then the reader), gaining traction in the Japanese learning community as a native-focused alternative to LingQ. Going full-time enabled a complete rewrite with SwiftUI and offline-first architecture that significantly improved the product.
Pricing Insight
No specific pricing mentioned. Revenue sustains full-time work, suggesting a subscription model likely in the $5-15/mo range given the language learning market.
Key Takeaways
- • Building part-time over many years and then going full-time is a viable path to sustainable indie product revenue
- • Offline-first architecture and iCloud sync can be meaningful differentiators for mobile-first learning apps
- • Integration with existing ecosystem tools (Anki) provides built-in distribution and reduces switching costs
- • Beginner-friendliness is often the bottleneck to scaling language learning products -- advanced users are a smaller but more passionate market
- • Adding multimedia content types (manga, video) expands the product's use cases and stickiness significantly
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