Wen Reader vs Analects Reader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Wen Reader
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Built out of a genuine love for learning Chinese, Wen Reader gives intermediate readers a clean, modern way to read native-level books while getting context-aware dictionary definitions with a simple long-press. Import your own EPUBs, read with great typography, and stay fully offline. Features: - EPUB Import & Smooth Reading: open standard EPUB files from Files, with fast pagination powered by Readium and adjustable margins, fonts, and line spacing. - Instant Dictionary Pop-Ups: long-press any Chinese text to see an inline definition panel using offline CC-CEDICT data. - Lightweight On-Device ML: context-aware word boundary segmentation and dictionary definition ranking. - Context & Sharing Tools: quickly copy the selected word, sentence, or paragraph, or send text to Pleco or ChatGPT (when installed) for deeper explanation. - Simple, Focused Navigation: tap the book title to browse the table of contents, and Wen Reader automatically saves your reading position as you go. Who is Wen Reader For? - Readers who can understand native Chinese text with some effort. - Learners who want a modern, clean EPUB reading experience without distractions. - Users who benefit from quick dictionary support but do not need the full ecosystem of flashcards, handwriting input, OCR, etc. Privacy - No analytics, no tracking, and no personal data collection. - No external API calls. - Everything stays on your device. Open Source & Licenses - Wen Reader uses open dictionary, models, and library components. - Full license information is available inside the app under About → Licenses. Support - Questions, suggestions, or feedback? Feel free to contact me at oliverzh2000@gmail.com. Or visit github.com/oliverzh2000/wen-reader to open an issue.
Analects Reader
Explore Confucius's Analects with interactive features. Read in original Chinese and English, with tappable characters for detailed meanings, readings, and usage. Offers multiple reading modes and integrated podcast commentary.
- Original Chinese and English text
- Tappable characters with detailed meanings
- Multiple reading modes (Study, Translation, Chinese, Classical)
- Integrated podcast commentary with episode guides
- Notes saved as Markdown in iCloud Drive
- Offline access to Chinese text
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The complete Analects of Confucius: all twenty books and 512 passages, in the original Chinese and in English, built for actually reading it. Every character is tappable. The card that opens shows what the character means here, in this passage — not a dictionary's one-size answer — along with its reading, the terms it belongs to, and how it is used across the whole book. Pinyin sits over the characters when you want it and disappears when you don't. READ IT YOUR WAY • Study — the full apparatus: text, translation, pinyin, tappable words, per-passage tone coloring. • Translation — the English as a book. The original waits one tap away under each passage. • Chinese — the received text alone, unglossed, with the English one tap away. • Classical — the text as old editions set it, in columns right to left. Four pages to choose from: one typeset, and three photographed from real copies held in Tokyo, Taipei, and Kyoto — a Qing manuscript, a Ming block print, and a 1550 scholar's copy — with every character mapped, so the glosses work even on a photograph. Scroll the book as one column, or turn it one passage per page, like a printed book. THE COMMENTARY GROWS WITH THE PODCAST The app carries the episode guides from the Exploring the Analects podcast — passage by passage: the philosophical discussion, the historical context, the language notes, with the audio a tap away. New episodes arrive as they are published. YOURS, IN THE FULLEST SENSE Notes you take live in your own iCloud Drive as Markdown — readable anywhere, and they outlive the app. The Chinese text is built in and always works offline. There are no accounts, no ads, no analytics, and no tracking: nothing about your reading is collected. Everything is free — the text, both translations, the glosses, the classical pages, the commentary. A tip jar exists for those who want to keep the project going; nothing is unlocked, because nothing is locked.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Wen Reader at none against Analects Reader's 3. Analects Reader's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 months) and iOS requirement (16.4 vs 18.0). On price, ads 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
Both are free to download. Analects Reader sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Wen Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.
Wen Reader ships an update every 3 months, Analects Reader every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on September 13, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Wen Reader | Analects Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 16.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 129 MB | 280 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Oliver Zhang | Elliott Bernstein |
In-app purchases
Wen Reader
No in-app purchases
Analects Reader
- Through the Gate$3.00
- Up to the Hall$10.00
- Into the Chamber$30.00
Questions
Is Wen Reader free?
Is Analects Reader free?
Do Wen Reader or Analects Reader have ads?
Which is updated more often, Wen Reader or Analects Reader?
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