lexiSelect a word on your Mac. The Chinese translation, definition and pronunciation appear next to it.
lexi is a small macOS menu-bar app made for Chinese-speaking international students and people who recently moved abroad. Select text in a PDF, Word document, browser or notes app, press ⌥ `, and a floating panel shows the Simplified Chinese translation, dictionary definitions, pinyin for Chinese characters and a read-aloud button. Then it quietly gets out of the way.
What it does
- Translates the selection to Simplified Chinese. Source languages: English, Japanese, Korean, French, German, Spanish and Russian, detected automatically or pinned. Translation runs on-device using Apple's translation engine, so your documents never leave the Mac.
- Works in any app. The shortcut works wherever text can be selected. In common reading apps (Preview, Word, Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox, PDF Expert, Adobe Reader, Obsidian, Typora, TextEdit) the panel can also appear automatically after you select.
- Dictionary definitions. From the macOS system dictionary, with one-click links to Oxford and Cambridge English-Chinese, an optional community dictionary, and optional Oxford API access with your own key.
- Pinyin for Chinese characters. Select a character or word and see its Mandarin reading, with alternatives for characters that have several.
- Pronunciation. System voices read the original aloud, US or UK English.
- Slang and context. Built-in notes for common internet slang, plus an optional AI explanation using your own Chat Completions-compatible endpoint, sent only when you click.
Who it is for
Students reading papers and textbooks who can follow the argument but get stuck on a term. Newcomers dealing with leases, bank letters and government websites. Heritage learners and partners who need the reading of a Chinese character. lexi is not designed to translate whole pages; browser page translation does that better.
Privacy
Basic translation and dictionary lookups happen entirely on the Mac. No translation history is stored, there is no account and no analytics. The optional Oxford, community-dictionary and AI features send only the current selection, only when you enable them and click. Details are on the privacy page (Chinese).
Price
Free for 14 days with no limits, then 5 free lookups per day. A one-time payment of US$4.99 unlocks lexi permanently, including future updates, on all Macs you own. No subscription. Payment is handled by Stripe; the license key is shown immediately after checkout and verified offline. Full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Requirements and install
macOS 15 or later on an Apple Silicon Mac. The app is not yet notarized by Apple, so on first launch you need to allow it once under System Settings › Privacy & Security, then grant Accessibility permission so it can read the selected text. The step-by-step install guide is in Chinese. Source code is on GitHub.