What’s new in Zen Reader

This release focuses on smoother, more reliable sign-in and fewer crashes across devices.

New

• You're now asked for permission in the app before a photo or message is sent to a third-party AI service.

Improved

• Sign-in and account-linking error messages now give one clear explanation instead of confusing, doubled text.
• Linking a sign-in provider (Google, Apple, etc.) now opens the correct sign-in page instead of an error screen.
• Saving Ask Jas attachments and reading report exports now uses the proper Save dialog on Windows and Mac.
• A hand-set crop window on a spelling list photo is kept when you tap "Analyse again", instead of being reset.
• The "Create family" screen now says "Create account" for individual users, and the onboarding links no longer overlap.
• Staying signed in now works properly through offline app launches, instead of dropping back to the sign-in screen.

Fixed

• Fixed a crash on iOS while typing the one-time sign-in code.
• Fixed a crash on Android at launch on some devices.
• Fixed a crash on Android when signing in while offline.

Small fixes make word-list photos clearer and tidy up a few rough edges

New

• The photo editor lets you download the edited photo to a file.

Improved

• Photos waiting to be added now show the lesson name, so two runs of the same list are easy to tell apart.
• Rows for photos to add now wrap properly on phone-width screens instead of clipping.

Fixed

• First-time users are no longer wrongly warned that their data will be deleted.
• Word-list write runs are no longer mislabelled as "Spelling" on remaining screens.
• Correcting a spelling sheet no longer leaves the old, superseded sheet sitting in the gallery.

This update adds a written word-list test, richer homework help with multi-page worksheets, and fixes a long list of reading and stability issues.

New

• Word lists can now be tested with a written test, not just a spoken one, matching how many schools test at home.
• Homework help can combine several photographed sheets into one multi-page worksheet, and pages can be added to a worksheet you've already started.
• Ask Jas now lets you attach files, see them in the conversation history, and view or save any images shared there.
• School test results can be uploaded as PDFs or multiple photos, viewed and cropped, with the form auto-saving as you go and any wrongly added file removable.
• Apple subscribers can now find their way to the subscription plans from within the app.
• The word-list portfolio now shows word mastery when a lesson is selected, plus new language filters and a results plot across all sets and readers.

Improved

• Homework help now keeps every page of an uploaded PDF, and shows them at a readable size instead of a tiny thumbnail.
• Spelling hub word cards now show the English translation alongside the word.
• Scanned spelling lists are now cross-checked against the pinyin printed on the sheet, flagging any word that looks mis-captured before it's practised or tested.
• Turning the page during a whole-book read now takes you to that page instead of being silently ignored.
• The Book Editor's page list now shows a clean one-line preview instead of every line of text on the page.
• macOS text and interface now render at the same visual size as other native Mac apps.
• PDF pages now render at consistent sizes across Windows, Android and iOS.
• The main menu now lists Spelling before Word lists.
• You're now told clearly if a homework worksheet message failed to save.

Fixed

• Word-list test reports no longer wrongly mark words a child actually said as skipped.
• Word-list and Say & repeat reports now time the actual reading, not the moment the report was saved, fixing reports that showed absurdly short durations.
• Echo read no longer crashes if the page is turned partway through a read.
• The card matching game no longer scores every card as wrong and no longer awards a star for a zero score.
• Fixed a startup delay on some Android phones that could trigger an "isn't responding" message, and the launch screen now waits for your session to finish restoring instead of dropping you at sign-in.
• A Reader is no longer shown a homework done-tick or remove option on a sibling's task that they can't act on.
• Japanese books no longer show an empty phonetic-aid box that can't be filled in.
• Fixed example books showing an incorrect or stale reading-band label in their titles.
• The sign-in form now fits properly on a single phone screen.
• Fixed a display bug where the image on a book page could appear missing while reading on macOS.

This release brings offline reading, clearer data and privacy controls, and a big round of billing and account fixes.

New

• A lapsed family can now export their data before it is deleted, with a clear retention period beforehand.
• Recorded activity (readings, spelling and word-list runs) can now be moved to another reader in the family instead of being lost.
• Reading now works offline: page images are cached on the device instead of always needing an internet connection.
• When the app's AI budget is reached, reading and spelling checks now fall back to on-device checking instead of simply refusing.
• You can now record a child's own school spelling test result and see it plotted alongside their Zen Reader practice.
• Refunds are now requested by the customer and reviewed and issued by Zen Reader, rather than happening instantly.
• Individual plans can now be upgraded to a Family plan from the subscription page.
• Singapore customers can pay by PayNow, including when returning to buy again, with a proper receipt, confirmation and invoice.
• A dedicated right-of-withdrawal page is now available to every customer.
• The starter example library has been refreshed with Zen Reader's own HSK word and spelling lists and proper book covers.
• New sign-ups are now asked for their country at registration, which is used to price and tax purchases correctly.
• You'll now be notified when Zen Reader's legal documents change, and asked to agree, instead of it being assumed.
• Consent to use your child's recordings for speech-recognition improvement is now asked for separately, can be withdrawn, and is also visible on the website.
• A family member who isn't the account manager can now buy their own subscription without being removed from the family.

Improved

• A word-list Test card's recording can now be manually trimmed and re-checked if the audio slice was wrong.
• Chinese words marked wrong are now automatically framed for review without needing to widen the matching rules.
• Exported spelling reports now show the lesson name, not just the on-screen view.
• Removing a family member now hides their past work instead of deleting it, and deleting a book with activity on it archives it rather than erasing it.
• Reading history now stays visible even if the related book has since been deleted.
• The spelling results chart now shows every list, each with its own colour, instead of only the most recent ones.
• Fast readers no longer get stuck when the reading-check service is briefly busy.
• Unlabelled controls in the app now have proper names for screen readers.
• Consent and permission labels are now consistent everywhere, and gathered into one Permissions & agreements panel on your account page.
• The Individual plan now correctly shows one seat instead of offering family invites it can't support.
• Checkout's seat picker has been simplified to +2 or +4 members.
• Plan names in Settings now display correctly in every supported language.
• Pricing on the storefront is now based on your declared country, and Brunei is billed in Singapore dollars like Malaysia.
• A trialing family now sees what they'll be charged instead of being offered a trial they're already on.

Fixed

• The privacy policy now correctly names the speech-to-text provider actually used.
• The 14-day free trial is now honoured instead of charging immediately.
• A rate-limited voice recording is now told apart from a rejected one, with a clearer message.
• Apple sign-in device prompts are no longer reported as app crashes.
• A contradictory spelling-marking comment has been removed.
• Duplicated cadence chips on the Spelling hub have been fixed.
• PayNow checkout no longer fails, points at the correct payment system, and no longer sends three confirmation emails for one purchase.
• Cancelling a subscription no longer leaks whether an email belongs to a paying customer, and a wrongly cancelled subscription is now flagged for a human to fix.
• GST/tax is now calculated from your country rather than the currency you paid in, and a refunded card charge now shows correctly as refunded.
• Date and time pickers no longer crash the macOS app.
• Sharing diagnostics from Settings no longer crashes the macOS app.
• The macOS app no longer offers itself the wrong update channel, and now respects the minimum supported macOS version.
• Sign-in on Windows no longer fails because the updater shut the app down mid-sign-in.
• Sign-in permission prompts now come from zenreader.co instead of an address that looked like phishing.
• The spelling portfolio page no longer fails to open.
• Signing out now works even if the server can't be reached.
• A family member's plan description no longer contradicts their actual access.
• The self reading profile no longer refers to "they" when it means "you".
• A completed App Store purchase now correctly unlocks the app, and subscription descriptions now name real features instead of "every feature".

This release focuses on clearer spelling reports and more reliable seats and billing.

New

• Families in Singapore can now pay by PayNow at checkout.
• Speech assessment now supports the Mandarin accent spoken in Singapore and Malaysia, not just mainland China.
• Extra family seats can be added right at checkout, and the Family plan now clearly states it includes 6 seats.
• Families on a free trial or comp month now get an email letting them know before it ends, instead of it just lapsing.
• The spelling character breakdown now explains what a "radical" is in plain words instead of assuming you know the term.

Improved

• Photos and word crops in the spelling report PDF now print bigger and sharper.
• Word crop boxes on Android can be drawn tightly around the word instead of snapping to a fixed size.
• Per-word crop boxes now move correctly when you rotate or straighten a whole sheet photo.
• Crop boxes for Chinese words are now placed automatically based on the characters detected.
• The overall spelling mark is now a clear weighted percentage, with the word count still shown alongside it.
• Screens now fit properly on phones, with better spacing, wrapping and larger touch targets throughout the app.
• The screen now stays on during Write practice and other key screens, and automatically switches off after 15 minutes of inactivity to save battery.
• The subscription page now shows the current price correctly and the seat selector no longer stretches the layout.

Fixed

• The Ask Jas chat box is no longer squeezed too narrow to use on mobile.
• The spelling report now shows all uploaded sheet photos, not just the first one.
• The colour scheme picker in Settings now actually changes the app's appearance.
• Say & repeat recordings are no longer cut off at 15 seconds for longer sentences.
• Word list tests no longer take up to 20 minutes to finish checking a short recording.
• On macOS, camera access can now be granted properly, and the "Open Settings" button works.
• Fixed a crash affecting some Android devices.
• Correcting a word in the spelling report now updates the run's headline and overall mark correctly.
• Re-analysing a spelling sheet can be undone instead of permanently overwriting a better result.
• Per-word crop boxes can now be set on either photo when a spelling run has two sheets.
• Photos edited from the spelling report on Android no longer appear rotated.
• Spelling test dates now show the list name in the parent's own language, matching the picker above.
• Fixed a mismatch where the assignments list name didn't match the name shown in the Spelling section.
• Fixed a mismatch where the spelling report showed more "correct" cards than the overall score reflected.
• Word crops in the printed report now appear at the size the child actually wrote them, not a fixed size.
• Fixed an issue where a family's seat purchase could fail or show the wrong price.
• Fixed an issue where some families were being charged half the correct subscription price.
• The family members page now shows how many seats are used, available and total.
• The invite screen no longer cuts off the "Reader (child)" role label.
• On Apple devices, the subscribe screen now has a way back to the sign-in screen.

Reading reports get clearer word-by-word playback, and a batch of reliability fixes across Android, iOS and macOS.

New

• Buy a Zen Reader subscription directly inside the iOS app, with a Restore Purchases option if you switch devices.
• Reading reports now box the words each recording covers - tap any box to hear that exact clip played back.
• Word-list tests are now broken out into their individual items in the report, rather than shown as one block.
• The per-recording boxes in reading reports can now be turned off, while tap-to-play on individual characters stays on.

Improved

• The app opens noticeably faster, especially on the first launch after an update.
• Signing in with Apple's "Hide My Email" option now links to your existing account instead of creating a duplicate one.
• Long whole-book recordings now show a clear status while they're being checked, and process faster by using online transcription instead of a slow on-device pass.
• Recordings that get interrupted partway through are now easier to find and pick back up, not just on the Reading screen.
• The book title is now read out correctly by screen readers when choosing a book, instead of an internal code name.
• Chinese character meanings now show the correct definition instead of an unrelated surname or variant.
• Buttons that combine an icon and text now announce properly for screen reader users.
• The "Open Settings" button for camera and other permissions now works correctly on Mac.
• Camera access can now be granted on Mac, where it previously couldn't be enabled at all.

Fixed

• Android: the app no longer freezes on first launch right after installing an update.
• Android: page images now load correctly for all books instead of appearing blank.
• Android: declining the notification permission prompt no longer leaves the app stuck on a blank screen.
• Android: the book editor no longer freezes and stops responding to input.
• Fixed whole-book read-aloud sessions silently stopping if you left the screen partway through analysis.

A fresh, warmer look throughout the app, plus a big upgrade to Say & Repeat and Word Lists.

New

• A whole new warm, paper-inspired look across the app, with playful colour themes (Bubblegum, Mint, Deep Sea, Galaxy) for younger readers and a calmer Plain Grey option too.
• Word Lists has been rebuilt as its own hub, just like Spelling, with flash cards that listen to your child, coach their pronunciation, and produce a full audio report.
• Say & Repeat now works like the Word List test: it listens automatically, scores in the background, and lets you pause and resume, with a full per-item report at the end.
• You can now add a second photo to a spelling write-practice entry, and to a spelling report in general.
• Ask Jas can now rename books by their cover code and spot pages that aren't part of the story.

Improved

• Family library now shows both the total number of books and how many match your current filter.
• Family library remembers your chosen filter and sort order between visits.
• Spelling reports now show the review queue right on the session report, with the session log placed above the word tables.
• Card borders, dividers and control outlines are now clearly visible in every colour scheme.
• The reading vocabulary graph now uses clean whole-number steps instead of confusing fractions.
• Renamed the Settings "Reading scheme" picker to "Colour theme" to better reflect what it does.

Fixed

• Fixed a crash when analysing certain voice recordings ("Invalid wave file").
• Fixed handwriting assessment sometimes failing to complete.
• Fixed the spelling report only showing the first photo when multiple sheets were submitted.
• Fixed the Say & Repeat report showing an empty photo gallery for audio-only submissions.
• Fixed the colour scheme picker in Settings not actually changing the app's appearance.
• Fixed Android sometimes freezing and closing the app when opening Settings.
• Fixed word list tests scoring romanised text as almost entirely wrong by comparing letter-by-letter instead of word-by-word.
• Fixed re-scoring older English word-list tests producing near-zero scores.
• Fixed Ask Jas discarding a typed message if you left the screen before sending it.
• Fixed the Ask Jas message box being uncomfortably narrow on mobile web.

This release brings smarter answers from Jas, more control over Echo Read and Word List practice, and a long list of bug fixes.

New

• Jas can now answer detailed questions about a child's progress, like their average Chinese spelling score over the past two weeks, instead of just pointing to a screen.
• Word List tests can read each word aloud automatically as it appears, with a pause button if you need a moment.
• Echo Read now lets you choose whether the child repeats word by word or line by line.
• Echo Read can show optional pinyin and English hints while the child repeats back.
• Echo Read's 'Read back' and extra-time options now sit on the mode row, right next to Start.
• A whole-book re-score can be undone, putting the reading back to single-page scope.
• Skipping a word now needs a parent's approval, and a list of un-skipped words for the lesson is always visible.
• Homework tasks can now be edited after they've been set.
• Word list and spelling homework can now be set for a single lesson, not just a whole list.
• A new help site is available with articles and video tutorials, plus in-app help that jumps straight to the right topic.
• A quick-start video and a longer explanation video are now available on the website and support pages.

Improved

• The Word List portfolio now matches the spelling portfolio's layout, including handwriting images, clearer marks, and totals split by activity type.
• The Windows fix-it steps for missing voices now correctly guide you to install both the voice and its language pack, then pick the voice in Zen Reader.

Fixed

• Fixed karaoke highlighting and the Book Editor chip strip not appearing on Android until you opened a popup.
• Fixed task titles and dates being squeezed to almost nothing on the Homework screen on phones.
• Fixed a crash on Android when tapping characters to hear them read aloud on the reading report.
• Spelling session reports now correctly show the list name (e.g. 'Week 6') instead of just the set.
• Fixed romanised words in Chinese transcripts being scored as one error per letter.
• Fixed recordings capturing nothing after resuming from a long pause.
• Fixed re-analysing a reading sometimes replacing a good score with a fabricated 0%, with no way to undo it.
• Fixed a long scanned worksheet title crowding out the chat area in Homework Help.
• Fixed spelling marking incorrectly accepting a wrong Chinese character radical as correct.
• Fixed correctly spelled words sometimes being marked wrong due to a fabricated letter error.
• Fixed correctly spoken English words in Word List dictation sometimes being marked wrong.
• Word List flash-card sessions are no longer logged just for opening the screen or picking a list.
• Fixed the photo crop window showing the whole sheet instead of just the crop, and being impossible to remove once set.
• Corrected misleading AI feedback that praised spelling work not actually part of the exercise.

This release adds teacher access to reports and homework, a new Echo read-aloud mode, and a big round of fixes to reports and reading tools.

New

• Parents can now link a school or tuition teacher to a reader, letting the teacher view reports, comment, caption readers with the same name, share books and set homework with due dates.
• A new Echo mode lets a reader repeat after the narrator during read-aloud, with a visible "scored and saved" indicator, while Listen mode is now pure playback.
• Reader comments can be left on reading, spelling and word-list reports, with visibility set to teacher, reader or parents only, and everyone involved gets notified.
• Notification settings now let each family member mute individual categories or turn off push notifications altogether.
• Jas, the in-app assistant, can now delete erroneous reading sessions, make book-editing changes on request, and remembers past chats so you can reopen, rename or delete them.
• Jas and Theo (the online voice) now each have their own distinct voice - Jas speaks with a Singaporean accent and Theo with an Australian one.
• Word list flash cards now let you set the voice speed, repeat count and gap between words.
• The screen now stays on during spelling, word lists, Flip Fixers, homework help and book read-aloud sessions.
• A multi-part reading report can now be downloaded as one recording, shared, copied or saved as a single PDF.
• iOS subscriptions can now be purchased directly inside the app.

Improved

• Reading, spelling and word-list report PDFs now print cleanly, with proper branding, no dark backgrounds, and text sized to be readable.
• Reading and word-list reports now correctly match traditional or simplified Chinese text to the book, so correct reading is no longer mis-scored.
• The sign-in code screen now has a resend button and a live countdown showing when the code expires.
• Settings has been reorganised into clearer groups, with account and family details first and destructive actions last.
• The Family activity view now includes a reader picker, defaulting to all readers.
• Diagnostic logs can now be shared straight from Settings using your device's normal share options.
• Spelling report photos and sheet images now print large enough to read.

Fixed

• The checkout window no longer closes accidentally from a stray click or scrollbar click.
• Signing up with an email that's already registered now shows an accurate message instead of falsely claiming a code was sent.
• Chinese read-aloud text on iOS no longer appears squashed to a few millimetres tall.
• The offline Chinese voice on Windows now works without needing to install anything extra.
• Text boxes in the Book Editor now wrap properly on prose books instead of running off the page.
• The waveform and seek slider in the recording editor now line up correctly.
• The version number in the collapsed desktop navigation pane is no longer clipped.
• Linked teachers can now see reader names, book titles, word lists and photos that were previously missing from reports.
• Signing in with an expired session no longer wrongly bounces you back to account creation.

This release lets you read an entire book in one go, share and revisit reports more easily, and fixes a batch of display and recording issues.

New

• Read a whole book in a single recording — results are automatically split page by page for grading
• Re-analyse a past reading with the latest scoring while keeping the original result for comparison
• Share a reading's report and recording straight to WhatsApp, email, or cloud storage
• Correct a wrong mark on a reading report yourself
• Mark title or copyright pages as "not part of the reading" so they're skipped and not graded
• Filter the family library by book type or language, with a clearer "Import language" label
• Keep the screen on during Check Reading so it doesn't dim mid-read
• Open a reading's, word list's or spelling activity's full report directly from progress lists

Improved

• Family activity and reading history lists now show as tidy cards on phones instead of clipped rows
• The HSK progress chart now fits properly on phone screens
• The spelling report list picker only shows spelling lists
• Spelling "Photos to add" entries now show the date and time of each run
• Listen-to-page now appears before Read & check, matching the on-screen instructions
• Android read-aloud can now go properly slow for careful listening
• English page scans keep page numbers and running heads for more accurate reference text
• Scanned text is now assembled in the correct reading order
• English readings now use an English-only voice model for more accurate word recognition
• Pages on iOS no longer draw under the status bar

Fixed

• Tapping a wrong character in the Check Reading report now correctly plays its pronunciation
• English spelling tests no longer mark misspelt words as fully correct
• Long pages no longer fail to translate
• The offline handwriting and text recognition model now downloads successfully
• Ask Jas now remembers earlier messages in the same conversation instead of starting fresh each time
• The Say & repeat recording window is now long enough for longer sentences
• "What you said" playback now plays the correct line for word-aligned languages
• Check Reading on Android now actually saves the recording
• Fixed a startup freeze on Mac
• Fixed an issue that could let a reading score be altered incorrectly

This release focuses on smoother reading assessments, a public preview trial, and a batch of bug fixes across editor, playback and reports.

New

• Anyone can now join an open preview trial of Zen Reader for free, with a printable flyer to share with friends.
• Parents can trim awkward bits out of a child's recording and re-score it, not just the reader's own account.
• Offensive AI replies can now be reported from spelling marking feedback, not just from Ask Jas and the homework tutor.

Improved

• The book picker in Check Reading is now sorted alphabetically, making it quicker to find a title.
• The page-image box in the Book Editor can be dragged to resize it, and it remembers your preferred size.
• Reading grades are now more accurate: short books no longer get an overly confident score, and books previously graded too high have been re-checked.
• The spelling practice hub now uses the full width of the screen on laptops so words no longer run off the page.
• A stale reading grade can now be properly cleared in the Book Editor instead of getting stuck.
• The website account area now has a sign-in menu and clear download buttons, plus a record of any free licences you've been given.

Fixed

• Fixed a crash on Android that could happen at the splash screen when starting the app.
• Fixed an error that stopped some parents from signing in to create a family.
• Fixed an error that could interrupt the app while it refreshed its offline copy of your library.
• Fixed a playback error that could interrupt a book reading session.
• Fixed an issue where some PDF books failed to open with a 'corrupted file' error.
• Fixed date and filter pickers running off-screen on phones in the Reading Progress and Spelling reports.
• Fixed the results page so per-character alignment marks are no longer squeezed out of view.
• Fixed the Book Editor so line numbers stay aligned and blank lines are no longer lost when generating pinyin or English text.
• Fixed lesson section headings not being translated into pinyin or English during AI refine in the Book Editor.
• Fixed the scanned character list mixing up reading and writing character columns and misreading some characters.
• Fixed new accounts created through the website not receiving the starter example books.

Discount codes now grant free access periods, and account billing details save correctly.

New

• New discount codes can unlock free access periods, with beta, preview and friends-and-family testers landing straight on the welcome page.

Fixed

• Billing addresses entered on the account page now actually save.
• The account page's billing form is easier to use, with a proper country selector, wider input boxes and clearer buttons on iOS and Android.