Pinyin Helper Pro vs Chinese Annotator
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pinyin Helper Pro
This app aids in learning Chinese by providing instant translations, clear audio pronunciation, and a detailed dictionary. Its intuitive design and helpful features aim to simplify the language learning process.
- Instant phrase and sentence translation
- High-quality audio pronunciation
- Detailed word dictionary
- Intuitive user interface
- Repeatable audio playback
Read full descriptionHide full description
Learning languages is a demanding process. No one can deny that. However, learning Chinese is even harder because of the lack of good apps, resources and the natural complexity of the language. Today we will speak about a great app that can become your #1 app for learning Chinese – Pinyin Helper Why you’ll love it? Pinyin Helper captivates instantly with its sleek design, speed and intuitiveness. The app will easily translate any phrase or sentence you desire to be translated. Additionally, it has exceptionally good audio to listen to each word and thus understand and learn the pronunciation, not only the meaning. Everything you do on this Chinese learning iPhone app feels incredibly intuitive! Detailed Dictionary Along with its instant translation and pronunciation features, there is a reliable dictionary that will explain each word in depth. All you need to do is copy the character/word and there will be an explanation instantly displayed. The great thing is that you can re-listen any particular word again and again if you care about learning it precisely. At the end of the day, Pinyin Helper keeps it simple, yet helpful! You are sure to enjoy your Chinese learning process and Pinyin Helper will only be of great help, and not a burden.
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
Read full descriptionHide full description
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.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Chinese Annotator at 4.1 against Pinyin Helper Pro's 1.0. Chinese Annotator also leads on review sentiment (72% vs 33%) and in-app purchases (none vs 8). On price, update cadence, 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
Pinyin Helper Pro costs $0.99 and Chinese Annotator $0.99 up front. Pinyin Helper Pro sells 8 one-off in-app purchases. Chinese Annotator asks for nothing beyond the download.
Chinese Annotator holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chinese Annotator has 30 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of Pinyin Helper Pro's written reviews are positive against 72% of Chinese Annotator's.
Pinyin Helper Pro ships an update monthly, Chinese Annotator every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 7, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pinyin Helper Pro | Chinese Annotator |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 | $0.99 |
| Rating | 1.0 (1 ratings) | 4.1 (30 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | 72.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 30 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 | 9.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 196 MB | 65 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | 健生 任 | Jon Hargett |
Customer experience
Pinyin Helper Pro
Chinese Annotator
In-app purchases
Pinyin Helper Pro
- A cup of coffee$1.99
- Extension package$7.99
- HSK 1-6 Book$8.99
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Ren Jiao Ban All Book$8.99
- Bei Shi Da All Book$8.99
- Base All Book$8.99
- Su Jiao Ban All Book$8.99
- Common Book$8.99
Chinese Annotator
No in-app purchases





