Zhongwen popup equivalent for iOS / Pleco screen reader

[mungouk]

On my laptop I use the Zhongwen extension for Chrome all the time to look up Hanzi on the web.

 

any recommendations for similar for iOS? On holiday just now and using my phone.

 

i had hoped the screen reader add on for Pleco would do this, but after paying GBP 9.99 to install it, I’m not seeing any new functionality at all, even after restarting. A limited Google search finds Pleco forums saying it’s not technically possible on iOS. 

 

Any clues?  Thanks! 

 

[Luxi]

iOS devices now have their own 'popup' option, not sure when it started but it was a welcome surprise. If you highlight the word/character(s) on the touch screen,  a menu bar appears above giving the choice : copy / look up / learn / share

'Look up' is the dictionary, not very good but sufficient, and pressing the '>' on the right leads to much more detail. It's fiddly to use and a test to one's patience, but much better than nothing. Works fine with Chrome and Safari, also in other apps like the book readers.

The 'Copy' function is also very useful, it is the one I use for the Pleco Clipboard reader. You can highlight a whole page, copy it to the clipboard, and it will open automatically from the Pleco Clipboard reader where it's easier to get the dictionary meanings. Useful if you're reading something with too many unknown words

 

PS You may have to download the Chinese dictionaries (go to Manage Dictionaries list and choose the ones you want)

 

[mungouk]

On 8/12/2018 at 6:28 PM, mungouk said:

i had hoped the screen reader add on for Pleco would do this, but after paying GBP 9.99 to install it, I’m not seeing any new functionality at all, even after restarting. A limited Google search finds Pleco forums saying it’s not technically possible on iOS. 

 

@mikelove would you be able to confirm whether or not this is the case?  Thanks.

[mikelove]

Ah, sorry, didn’t see this post but no, Screen Reader is not technically possible on iOS.

 

However, our iOS app does come with a “Web Reader” function which will give you that functionality on web pages at least (like that Chrome extension) - you can access that via the Reader command in the sidebar menu. There’s also an option in Settings / Miscellaneous to automatically OCR the most recent screenshot when you open Pleco.

 

Which add-on did you purchase? You can go to reportaproblem.apple.com or contact Apple at iTunesStoreSupport@apple.com to request a refund if you no longer want it. (Developers can’t initiate App Store refunds themselves, unfortunately)

[mungouk]

Thanks @mikelove for your super-fast response.

 

1 hour ago, mikelove said:

“Web Reader” function which will give you that functionality on web pages

 

OK so I just tried it and it works OK... am I right in thinking this has to be initiated from within Pleco and then go to the browser window it launches, rather than being able to go from a browser where you're already reading something?

 

Edit: Is it also the same for "text files, HTML files, Word and PDF documents, EPUB ebooks, embedded podcast/song lyrics, and web pages" as mentioned in the add-on's blurb?

 

I'm happy with the functionality but feel the description you read before buying could perhaps be a bit clearer.

 

Cheers!

 

 

[Luxi]

1 hour ago, mikelove said:

a “Web Reader” function which will give you that functionality on web pages at least

 

It's great for reading long articles on the browser, but for most other purposes, the Clipboard Reader in the same Pleco bundle is faster to use and more versatile.

 

1 hour ago, mungouk said:

Is it also the same for "text files, HTML files, Word and PDF documents, EPUB ebooks, embedded podcast/song lyrics, and web pages"

 

That's valid for the Clipboard Reader, not the Web Reader. The Clipboard Reader will automatically take anything you copy to the clipboard and transfer it to a Pleco reading page where you can do all the dictionary work. It works with One-Note, docs, some pdfs, and at least some e-readers. I use it all the time, keeping Pleco open in the background.

[mikelove]

@mungouk - yes; we can’t really embed ourselves into another app like that, can only do lookups within Pleco. Very sorry for the confusion.

[mungouk]

4 hours ago, mikelove said:

confusion

 

Probably compounded by the fact I've just moved to iOS from Android, where I was used to being able to select text and send it to Pleco.

 

Thanks again for the quick response!

 

[wodedianyou]

As far as I know no browser on iOS support extension/addon like zhongwen. 

However on Android firefox browser support extensions (not chrome), so I made a port of the zhongwen (chrome/firefox laptop) extension to android for firefox.

You can install it from an android device: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/android/addon/zhongwen-android-chinese-dict/?src=search