📋 Frequently Asked Questions

FlowTone is a tone memory game for Mandarin Chinese. Unlike flashcard apps, you listen to a native sentence, watch each character light up in its tone color, then reproduce the tones by swiping on a gesture pad. Think Wordle meets Guitar Hero — for your ears. It's built around cross-modal learning (color + sound + gesture + haptic feedback). 16,000+ sentences, 100% offline.

Most tone apps use flashcards (Ka), dictionary lookup (Pleco), or speech recognition (TonePerfect). FlowTone uses gesture-based input (you draw the pitch contour with your finger) and haptic feedback (each tone has a unique vibration). It also has a Daily Tone challenge — one sentence, worldwide, every day (like Wordle), with shareable emoji scores 🟩🟧🟥. See our full comparison.

HSK 1 is completely free — all 1,000+ sentences, the Daily Tone, and basic modes. Unlocking HSK 2-9 plus advanced modes (Tone Pairs, Minimal Pairs, Adaptive SRS Drill) is a one-time purchase of $14.99. No subscription. No recurring fees. Ever.

Because I believe language learning tools shouldn't hold your progress hostage. You buy it once, you own it forever. No subscriptions, no ads, no tracking. Just the app.

Currently, FlowTone is iOS only (iPhone and iPad). An Android version is planned but not yet available. In the meantime, you can try Tone Master on Google Play — our flashcard companion app with the same color-coding system.

Yes — 100% offline. All 16,000+ sentences with native audio are bundled in the app (103 MB). No internet connection required after installation. Works on airplanes, in the subway, or anywhere without data.

Zero data collection. No account creation, no analytics, no tracking, no ads. Your progress stays on your device. The app doesn't even connect to the internet except for the one-time purchase verification via Apple.

Tone 1 (¯): high and flat — like holding a musical note. Tone 2 (ˊ): rising — like your voice when asking a question. Tone 3 (ˇ): dip and rise — starts mid, dips low, rises back. Tone 4 (ˋ): falling — sharp and abrupt, like giving a command. There's also a neutral tone (light and short). See our complete visual guide.

English doesn't use pitch to distinguish word meaning — your brain literally pruned the neural pathways for processing lexical tone as a baby. You're not "tone deaf" — your brain just optimized for a non-tonal language. It takes 2-4 weeks of daily practice to rebuild those pathways. Read the neuroscience deep-dive.

Most learners can reliably distinguish the 4 tones in isolation within 2-3 weeks of daily practice (5-10 min/day). Distinguishing tones in natural speech takes longer — around 2-3 months of consistent ear training. The key is daily exposure, not occasional marathon sessions.

Tone pairs are combinations of two tones in sequence (e.g., T1+T2, T3+T4). There are 20 possible combinations (with the neutral tone). Most tone confusion happens at the boundary between two tones — not in isolation. Drilling tone pairs is the fastest way to improve your real-world listening. Read about the 5 most confused pairs.

Tone sandhi (变调) is the set of rules that govern how tones change when placed next to each other. The most important rule: when two 3rd tones appear together, the first becomes a 2nd tone — that's why 你好 (nǐ hǎo) is pronounced ní hǎo. See our complete sandhi guide.

The most effective approach combines: (1) color-coding — pair each tone with a fixed color, (2) physical gestures — trace the pitch contour with your hand, (3) tone pairs — drill combinations, not isolated syllables, and (4) spaced repetition — focus on what you get wrong. FlowTone integrates all four into a daily game format. 5 minutes/day beats 2 hours once a week.

The HSK was reformed in 2024, expanding from 6 levels to 9 levels (HSK 1-9). HSK 1-3 are beginner levels, 4-6 are intermediate, and 7-9 are advanced/professional. See our complete HSK guide for vocabulary counts and what each level tests.

Travel/basic survival: HSK 2. Daily conversation: HSK 3-4. Working in China: HSK 5-6. University in Chinese: HSK 5-6. Professional translation: HSK 7-9. FlowTone and Tone Master cover vocabulary and listening for all 9 levels.

Yes — HSK 1-9. FlowTone has 16,000+ sentences organized by HSK level, and Tone Master has 5,000+ (iOS) / 11,000+ (Android) words with native audio. Both apps use the same color-coding system.

iPhone and iPad running iOS 13.0 or later. Also works on Mac with Apple M1 chip or later, and Apple Vision Pro. The app is optimized for iPhone but fully functional on iPad.

103.3 MB on iOS. This includes all native audio files and assets — the app is fully self-contained. No additional downloads needed after installation.

FlowTone was built by Matthieu Lebas, a solo indie developer based in France. It started as a personal project because traditional flashcard apps weren't helping with tone recognition. The app is built with Flutter and uses RevenueCat for the one-time purchase.

Email matthieu.lebas.pro@gmail.com. I typically respond within 24 hours. For bug reports, please include your iOS version and app version.