# ChinaCue — Chinese Menu Reader

> ChinaCue — Chinese Menu Reader (iPhone/iPad app by 纯 占.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chinacue-chinese-menu-reader/id6799617772 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [纯 占](https://appshunter.io/developer/6794927820)
- Category: Travel, Food & Drink
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Age rating: 12+
- Requires: iOS 17.0 · 3 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-08-20
- Data updated: 2026-10-09

## What is ChinaCue?

Sitting in a Chinese restaurant, staring at a menu you can't read, with a waiter waiting? ChinaCue was built for exactly that moment.

Point your camera at the menu. In seconds you get every dish in English — what it really is, what's in it, how it's cooked, and how spicy it is.

WORKS WITHOUT INTERNET

Restaurant Wi-Fi in China usually needs a Chinese phone number, so ChinaCue is built to work without it. Menu scanning, 700+ dishes with full explanations, spice levels, preset phrases with voice, and your order card all work in airplane mode.

NOT JUST TRANSLATION

"Kung Pao Chicken" means nothing if you've never seen it. ChinaCue tells you what actually arrives at the table: diced chicken with peanuts and dried chilies, glossy reddish-brown sauce, more tangy-sweet than fiery — and that the whole chilies aren't meant to be eaten.

It also tells you the things nobody warns you about: which dishes are bone-in, which have many fine bones, which arrive scalding, which need peeling, and which will make your lips tingle and go numb from Sichuan pepper.

TALK TO THE STAFF

Two-way voice translation. Tap 中文 when the waiter speaks, tap English when you do. Too noisy? Type instead. Preset phrases play instantly in Chinese with no connection at all — the bill please, no cilantro, where's the restroom, can I pay by card.

SHOW, DON'T MIME

Build your order by tapping dishes, add notes like "not spicy" or "no cilantro" in Chinese, then hold up a full-screen card in large type for the waiter to read. The screen stays awake while you do.

ONE MEAL, MANY PAGES

Chinese menus run long. Scan page after page — dishes add up and your order is kept through the whole meal.

HONEST ABOUT FOOD

ChinaCue tells you what a dish may contain, never what it doesn't. When a dish's heat can't be judged reliably, it shows no spice label instead of guessing. Always confirm with restaurant staff before eating — especially if you have allergies. The same dish is cooked differently in every kitchen, and no app can see the plate in front of you.

FREE, AND WHAT ISN'T

Your first 2 menu captures and first 30 translations are free. Preset phrases and order cards are always free. Trip Pass adds 200 menu captures and 2,000 translations. Explorer Pass adds 500 menu captures and 5,000 translations. Neither expires, and you can buy more whenever you run out.

No account. No sign-up. No ads. No tracking.

Many dishes now include a representative photo. Tap a dish photo to open a larger view. Photos download on demand and are never part of the app download.

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Trip Pass | $9.99 | one-time |
| Explorer Pass | $19.99 | one-time |


## Is ChinaCue safe?

Not enough ratings yet to assess ChinaCue.

## Is ChinaCue legit?

ChinaCue — Chinese Menu Reader has limited verification signals. The AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for ChinaCue is 58 out of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data.


## Version history (last 3 releases)

### 1.2 — 2026-10-06

More accurate menu reading: fewer missed dishes, cleaner dish names, and better price detection.
Spice levels now shown for many more dishes.
Explorer Pass can now be purchased again when you run out.
Fixes for purchases and restore.

### 1.1 — 2026-09-16

See what you are ordering at a glance. Dish cards now include representative photos you can tap to enlarge, with photographer credits and original-source links. The offline library now covers 474 dishes, and image downloads stay outside the app bundle so the app remains lightweight.

### 1.0 — 2026-08-20

No release notes.

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-10-09.*