YucDu iOS App User Guide
Welcome to YucDu — a native reader built for the blog yucdu.com. It brings reading back to its quietest, most comfortable state: elegant Mincho-style typography, a warm off-white background, and a clean, distraction-free layout so you can focus on every article. This guide walks you through each feature and how to use it.
The Five Tabs
There are five tabs along the bottom of the app:
| Tab | What's inside |
|---|---|
| Home | Featured and latest articles, with three reading layouts to choose from and category tags for quick filtering. |
| Categories | A grid overview of every article category plus popular tags — tap any one to browse its articles. |
| Search | Search the entire site by keyword, with your recent searches saved for you. |
| Favorites | Your saved articles, synced across your devices through your iCloud. |
| Settings | Appearance (language, light/dark, accent color, layout, text size), data (iCloud, offline reading), service status, legal documents, and version info. |
What Makes This App Special
- Truly native reading, no web views — Articles aren't crammed into a web frame. Instead, every section is redrawn using native components, so scrolling stays smooth and text stays crisp, even during long reading sessions.
- Japanese-inspired design — Mincho-style headings, a washi-like off-white background, and a restrained color palette, with six accent colors and light/dark themes you can mix freely.
- Three reading layouts — Minimal, Magazine, and Card. Switch with a single tap to find the look you love best.
- Focused reading, no noise — No comments, no posting, no ads, and no sign-up or login required.
- Five languages — Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, English, and Vietnamese. The interface language follows your device automatically.
Handy Features Across Tabs
- Favorites — Tap the heart on any article to save it, then find all your saved articles in the Favorites tab, synced across your devices through your iCloud.
- Offline reading — Articles you've read are saved to your device automatically, so you can reopen and read them later even without a connection. Manage them in Settings → Offline Reading.
- Table of contents and reading progress — Open the table of contents to jump between sections in longer pieces, and watch the slim progress bar at the top of the page.
- Sharing — Share to LINE, X, Threads, or Facebook with one tap, or copy the link or use the system share sheet.
- Push notifications — Get notified the moment a new article is published; tap the notification to open that article right away.
- Native handling of in-site links — Links to yucdu.com within an article open the matching content right inside the app; only external links are handed off to your browser.
Getting Started
- No sign-up, no login. Just open the app and start reading everything.
- The interface language follows your device automatically; you can adjust it anytime in your system settings from Settings → Language.
- See Getting Started to hit the ground running.
System Requirements
This app requires iOS 18 or later and works on both iPhone and iPad. Article content needs a connection to load; articles you've read are saved as offline versions automatically so you can read them again without a connection.