Hover. That's it.
Move your pointer over the characters — this is exactly how the app feels.
● hover a word · click it to save a flashcard
What it does
Hover dictionary
Point at a word in almost any app — a floating panel shows tone-colored pinyin, definitions, example sentences and a character & radical breakdown. Words with several readings get a pager.
Ambush review
Hover a word that's due for review and it quizzes you right there — answer hidden, reveal it, grade yourself. Spaced repetition without ever opening a review session.
Drag-to-OCR
Drag a rectangle over Chinese text in images, PDFs or videos. Every recognized word lands in a sticky list, ready to look up or save. Recognition runs on-device via Apple Vision.
Library & practice
Searchable bilingual library with per-word stats and card merging. Practice mode runs FSRS sessions filtered by size, HSK level, or chengyu — with sentences and breakdowns on every card.
HSK & chengyu aware
Entries are tagged with HSK level. Four-character idioms (chengyu) are detected and marked so you can study them in context.
Make it yours
Custom dictionary entries and mnemonics, six popup themes (light & dark), menu-bar mode with a due-card counter, and fully customizable global hotkeys. Mandarin TTS on every word.
Syncs with GOAT HSK
Send your deck to your iPhone, or run a full two-way sync of cards, FSRS schedule and review history with the GOAT HSK iOS app — straight from Settings.
Works offline
No account, no server calls, no analytics. The dictionary (CC-CEDICT) and OCR both run locally, the popup answers in milliseconds, and idle CPU usage is zero.
Simple pricing
Zhongwen Hover is a one-time purchase on the Mac App Store. Pay once, keep it forever — every feature included, all future updates free. There is no subscription, no account, and nothing to cancel. See Terms for details.
System requirements
- Operating system
- macOS 14.0 Sonoma or later
- Architecture
- Apple Silicon (M-series) and Intel
- Permissions
- Screen Recording only, requested the first time you use drag-to-OCR. The app is sandboxed and never asks for Accessibility or input-monitoring access.
- Network
- Not required for use. The App Store handles purchase verification.
Privacy, in one line
Everything stays on your Mac. The developer runs no servers, sets no cookies on this site beyond what Cloudflare needs to deliver it, and never receives your lookups, screen captures, or flashcards. Full details in the Privacy Policy.
All apps
One developer, eight offline language apps — three hover dictionaries for the Mac, five companions for iPhone and iPad. No accounts, no subscriptions, no tracking — anywhere.
Zhongwen Hover
The app on this page. Hover lookups, drag-to-OCR, ambush review, FSRS flashcards and two-way sync with GOAT HSK. One-time purchase, $6.99.
The Zhongwen Hover experience for Korean: hover lookups with readings and definitions, drag-to-OCR for text in images and videos, ambush review and FSRS flashcards. One-time purchase, fully offline.
The Zhongwen Hover experience for Japanese: hover lookups with readings and definitions, drag-to-OCR for text in images and videos, ambush review and FSRS flashcards. One-time purchase, fully offline.
GOAT HSK
All 11,079 HSK 3.0 words (levels 1–9) with FSRS-6, five learning directions, multiple choice and dictation, stroke writing, 115 graded readings, 163 grammar lessons with 862 test questions, 1,001 chengyu, camera OCR scan and a home-screen widget — plus Jimmy the goat, who grows with your streak. One-time purchase, $2.99.
Cabi Capra
Spanish from A1 to C2: FSRS flashcards, multiple choice, dictation and cloze drills, graded reading with inflection-aware tap-to-lookup and full conjugation tables, grammar lessons with exams, camera scan and a shareable weekly summary — with a capybara cheering you on. One-time purchase, fully offline.
White Bear
Russian from A1 to C2: FSRS flashcards with romanization, a Cyrillic alphabet drill, graded reading with tap-to-lookup, grammar lessons and exams, color-coded parts of speech, camera scan and a home-screen widget — with a polar bear that grows as you do. One-time purchase, fully offline.
Hey Otti
Learn German bilingually: every word, explanation and interface label in both 中文 and Deutsch — made for Chinese speakers learning German, and for German speakers learning alongside them. FSRS flashcards, fully offline, one-time purchase.
Koi JLPT
The GOAT HSK formula for Japanese — and the companion app to NihongoHover: JLPT vocabulary N5–N1 with FSRS flashcards, multiple choice and dictation, graded reading with tap-to-lookup, camera scan, and two-way sync with NihongoHover on macOS. One-time purchase, fully offline.