anki is very good and I recommend it too, but as far as I know if does not have handwriting recognition. On my Android I have "Kanji Recognizer". You start doodling and it interactively tries to guess what you meant, if it understand you kanji, you can click on the small icon, and it gives you the definition, on and kun readings, etc.

Yea the app Seth recommended is free on the play store so I'll give that a try. Thank for you comments also

While this is still basically "writing them over and over again", I suggest trying handwriting recognition apps, you can test that way how close you get to the original form. There are many mobile apps for that, so it is good way to kill time sometimes.

I'm using memrise to practice reading and identifying kanji, I'll have to search for a set on anki for writing and pronunciation. Skritter sound like a good idea thanks

I'm studying Chinese, not Japanese, but I imagine that learning the characters, at least, isn't all that different. I've been using the app skritter, which, in addition to teaching correct stroke order, periodically has you review kanji you've already learned to make sure you don't forget them. Digital flash cards, basically, but better and smarter and more convenient. You could also try anki, which is similar, but less specialized. I like skritter better, but anki is free.