The Interactive Reading Toolbar
Master the floating control bar to customize Pinyin, translations, audio, dual-column view, and study timers.
Overview
Across all reading and vocabulary content in HanyuHub, the floating Interactive Toolbar provides instant controls to customize your learning experience without leaving the page.
The toolbar follows a consistent 3-part layout across all modules while automatically adapting its middle toggles and right action button based on the content you are viewing.
1. Study Timer (Begin / Pause)
Starts a tracked study session to record active duration and character lookups. Learn more in Study Session Tracking.
2. Context Controls & Toggles
Toggles visual scaffolding (Pinyin, translations, dual-column view, or tap-to-translate). See the Icon Dictionary below for all supported tools.
3. Action & Playback Launchers
Houses primary module actions—such as the continuous Listen audio stream or vocabulary study mode launchers (Study, Flashcards, Test).
Complete Icon Dictionary
Here is a quick reference of every tool that can appear in the floating toolbar:
| Icon | Control Name | What It Does | Where It Appears |
|---|---|---|---|
| Study Timer | Starts tracking active study duration and vocabulary lookups (Begin). | All Content Types | |
| Tap-to-Translate | Enables clicking Chinese words to open the Action Panel. | Articles, Dialogues, Sentence Lists | |
| English Translations | Toggles English sentence translations on or off. | Articles, Dialogues, Sentence Lists | |
| Pinyin Annotations | Toggles Pinyin pronunciation guides above characters. | Articles, Dialogues, Sentence Lists | |
| Side-by-Side Mode | Splits text into parallel Chinese & English columns. | Articles (Desktop only) | |
Continuous Audio (Listen) | Streams continuous native voice playback with synchronized pacing. | Articles, Dialogues, Sentence Lists | |
| Selected Definition | Toggles between focused target meaning vs. all alternate definition pills. | Word Lists | |
| Study Mode Launchers | Launches Zen Review, Flashcards, or Vocab Tests (Study, Flashcards, Test). | Word Lists |
How the Listen Button Adapts Across Content Types
The audio player is unified under the single Listen () button, but intelligently adapts its playback logic based on the module format:
- Streams through the full passage with synchronized text highlighting as each sentence is spoken.
- Allows you to follow along with natural reading cadence and paragraph transitions.
- Plays through conversational speech bubbles sequentially.
- Automatically switches between distinct male and female character voices with natural back-and-forth conversational pauses.
- Streams through all numbered example rows one after the other.
- Inserts deliberate pedagogical pauses between sentences to give you time to process grammar and pronunciation before moving to the next line.
- The action button area morphs into study activity launchers (
Study,Flashcards,Test) alongside the Selected Definition () toggle.
Setting Default Preferences
Want Pinyin or English translations turned off by default for full character immersion? You can set your global reading defaults anytime in App Preferences.