Soroban - Japanese Abacus brings an authentic abacus experience to your iPhone. Swipe to move wood-textured hexagonal beads, hear a satisfying click on every move, and watch the current value update in real time across 13 digits. Whether you want to practice traditional Japanese abacus technique or challenge yourself with random addition and subtraction problems in Training Mode, this app has you covered — anytime, anywhere.
Swipe up or down on any bead to move it. Earth beads move together in the correct direction — just like a real soroban. A click sound plays each time a bead actually moves, keeping the feedback crisp and satisfying.
The abacus spans 13 rods with the unit place marked in red and three-digit separators in white. The current value is displayed in real time at the top of the screen, so you always know where you stand.
Tap the Training button to start a series of randomly generated addition and subtraction problems. Solve each one on the abacus and the app detects the correct answer automatically, shows a confirmation message, and moves on to the next problem.
Tap the Reset button to return every bead to its starting position instantly. A reset sound plays to mark the moment — clean, satisfying, and ready for the next calculation.
Each bead is rendered as a custom hexagonal shape with a radial wood-grain gradient, a subtle highlight layer, and a thin outline — designed to look like a real soroban bead. When you swipe, the bead moves with a spring animation for a natural, physical feel. Sound plays only when a bead actually changes position, so rapid swipes never produce false clicks.
The heaven bead (upper section) moves toward or away from the beam with a vertical swipe. The four earth beads (lower section) follow soroban convention — swiping up at a bead also moves all beads below it toward the beam, and swiping down moves all beads at that position and above back down. Experienced soroban users will feel right at home.
Training Mode generates random addition and subtraction problems using numbers from 1 to 999. The problem appears at the top of the screen in place of the current value display (which turns yellow to signal training is active). Solve the problem on the abacus — when the value matches the answer, a "Correct" overlay appears and the next problem is presented automatically after a short pause.
A red dot marks the unit place on the beam, and white dots appear every three rods to the left — matching the convention used on real soroban. On a 13-rod abacus this means the layout covers values from the hundred billions down to the thousandths, making the app suitable for both learning and serious calculation practice.
Swipe up on earth beads to push them toward the beam, and swipe down to pull them away. Swipe the heaven bead down to activate it (worth 5), or up to deactivate it. The current total is shown at the top of the screen in real time.
Tap the Reset button in the top-left area to return all beads to their starting positions. A reset sound confirms the action and the display resets to zero.
Tap the Training button to receive a random addition or subtraction problem. Enter the answer on the abacus — when it matches, the app shows a confirmation and automatically loads the next problem. Tap Training again to exit.
"I learned soroban as a kid and this brings it all back. The bead movement and click sound are surprisingly faithful to the real thing. I've been using Training Mode to get my speed back up."
"The design is impressive — it actually looks like a wooden abacus. The way multiple beads move together when you swipe is exactly how a real soroban works. My kids and I use it together."
"Great for mental math practice. Training Mode keeps throwing problems at you automatically, which makes it easy to stay in a rhythm. Simple to use and genuinely satisfying to operate."
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