Chinese Annotator vs Modu
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Chinese Annotator
This app helps you learn Chinese by reading ePub books. It allows you to add Pinyin and English definitions directly to the text, and track your vocabulary knowledge. You can also export your learned words for flashcard review.
- Import ePub files
- Add Pinyin and English definitions
- Track known words and characters
- Hide known Pinyin/definitions
- Export word lists for flashcards
- Print pages to PDF
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A Chinese ePub reader to assist you in reading Chinese characters. After importing an ePub, you can add Pinyin and English on to the text in a 3-line format. After annotating the text in this way, you can then mark on a word by word basis which definitions you already know and which characters you know. There is a setting that hides the pinyin or definitions of words that you know. In this way, you are forced to look at the character and recall it instead of relying on pinyin. A word list is also available to allow you to see all words, words with unknown definitions, or words with unknown pinyin. This list of words can be exported to a file to be imported in to a flash card system, like Pleco. This allows you to easily pick out all the words you don't know in a publication and review them. You can also print the page of the book currently being displayed. In iOS 10 and greater, you can print to PDF.
Modu
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Read Chinese stories, understand unfamiliar words, and build vocabulary from what you read. Modu combines graded reading, a tap-to-lookup dictionary, and spaced-repetition review in one app. Choose a graded story or import your own EPUB and TXT books. Tap unfamiliar words for pinyin and meanings, save vocabulary in context, and review it later. READ WHAT INTERESTS YOU • Explore a library of graded retellings of public-domain stories. • Import EPUB and TXT books to read with built-in learning tools. • Generate AI stories based on your selected topic and level, with vocabulary you are due to review. • Follow RSS feeds. Available article text depends on the source; some feeds provide summaries only. UNDERSTAND AS YOU READ • Tap words for pinyin, meanings, and measure words. • Use AI explanations to explore a word in the context of a sentence. • Translate sentences and paragraphs into English on your device, or read with a bilingual chapter view. • Listen to text with read-aloud tools. REMEMBER WORDS IN CONTEXT • Save vocabulary from your reading and review it with spaced-repetition flashcards. • Mark words as known to focus highlighting on unfamiliar vocabulary. • Track your reading and vocabulary progress, and export your vocabulary. OFFLINE READING AND YOUR ACCOUNT Read and save books on your device as a guest, without creating an account. Books already on your device and core reading tools work offline. On-device translation requires an initial language-model download. AI features and natural online voices require an internet connection. Sign in to back up your vocabulary. Modu Plus also syncs reading progress and other learning data across devices. Imported book files remain on your device; import the same books on another device to continue reading there. FREE + MODU PLUS Free features include reading, dictionary lookup, on-device translation, bilingual reading, vocabulary review, book imports, RSS, the story library, and basic read-aloud. Limited AI explanations and story generation are included. Modu Plus adds higher AI usage allowances, natural multi-voice read-aloud, and additional learning-data sync. AI and natural-voice usage limits apply. See the in-app purchase screen for available plans and current allowances. Start with a story, and build your Chinese one reading session at a time. Terms of Use (EULA): https://modu-ai-proxy.zhouxuehan101.workers.dev/terms Privacy Policy: https://modu-ai-proxy.zhouxuehan101.workers.dev/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Modu at Free against Chinese Annotator's $0.99. Modu also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 2 weeks). Chinese Annotator's advantage is iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.5). On ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Modu is free to download; Chinese Annotator costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Chinese Annotator ships an update every 2 weeks, Modu weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Chinese Annotator | Modu |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.1 (30 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 72.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 30 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 15.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 65 MB | 147 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jon Hargett | 雪寒 周 |
In-app purchases
Chinese Annotator
No in-app purchases
Modu
No in-app purchases









