Support

Laonei translates for you, reads what you photograph, and answers questions about living in China. No account, nothing to sign up for. If something is wrong, email tommyshanahan@gmail.com — a person reads it.

Using it

• Translate. Press the disc, say it in English, let go. It shows the Chinese and says it aloud, so you can hand the phone over. They can answer into the same button. Type instead and it stays silent.
• Camera. Press the disc and photograph a menu, a sign, a form or a receipt. Leave the question box empty and it reads the whole thing; type a question and it answers only that.
• Ask. Anything about living here — visas, deposits, the metro, hospital paperwork, where to eat.

Common problems

• “Voice unavailable” or nothing is heard. Check the microphone permission for Laonei in your phone’s settings. In a browser, the page must be on https and you must allow the microphone when asked.
• It played nothing. iPhones only allow sound after a tap. Press the disc once and try again; check the silent switch on the side of the phone.
• Copying does nothing. WeChat’s browser blocks it. Press and hold on the characters and copy by hand, or open the page in Safari.
• A photo would not read. Get closer, hold still, and make sure the writing is not in shadow. Very small print needs the camera almost against it.
• Nothing nearby was found. The map data comes from OpenStreetMap, and its coverage in China is uneven — some real places are simply not on it. Try a wider search or a different word.
• It answered about the wrong city. Tap “Use where I am”, or say the city in the question.

Deleting your data

Everything the app saves is on your own phone. Clearing your history in the app, or deleting the app, removes it. There is no account to close and no server copy to request — see Privacy.

Reporting something

A wrong translation, an answer that was unsafe, or anything that looked like a bug: email tommyshanahan@gmail.com with what you asked and what came back. Screenshots help. We usually reply within a couple of days.