Shiwen — Explain What You Select icon

Shiwen — Explain What You Select

by Hugh · Tools
Manifest V3 Free
View in Chrome Web Store Data as of 20 Oct 2026

Select text on any page, right-click or hit a shortcut to Explain: your own AI explains it in context, with follow-ups and audio.

Users
8
+2 in 30 days
Rating
5.0 / 5
unchanged in 30 days
Ratings
1
0 in 30 days
Store rank
#210K
#176K among extensions
Version
1.8.1
updated 14 Sep 2026

Users

monthly, 2 months
048Aug 2026Oct 2026Oct 2026
Latest, 20 Oct 2026: 8 usersMove the mouse over the chart for any month

Ratings count

monthly, 2 months
001Aug 2026Oct 2026Oct 2026
Latest, 20 Oct 2026: 1 ratingsMove the mouse over the chart for any month

The Chrome Web Store rounds user counts down to the leading digit, so the user line moves in steps. The ratings count is exact and is the better signal of real adoption.

About Shiwen — Explain What You Select

You can know every word in a sentence and still not know what it is doing. Dense technical writing is full of sentences that only resolve from their surroundings. Is the author asserting this, or setting up a position they are about to demolish? Does "it" point at the system or at the request? Is "consensus" the everyday word, or the distributed-systems algorithm? Is "context" the ordinary noun, or the context.Context the Go docs mean? A dictionary answers the general question. You needed the one about this paragraph. Shiwen gives the AI the surrounding text first, then explains the passage you selected — in its actual context, not in the abstract. ■ Explained in context Not a paraphrase. What the sentence is doing in its paragraph, where the weight falls, and what the terms mean in this article specifically. ■ It goes and reads the rest when it needs to The extension does not hand the whole page to the AI. By default it sends only the blocks around your selection. When the model decides that isn't enough, it reads further passages itself, searches the page for a phrase, or checks the heading outline — the card shows you what it's looking up. ■ Key terms, pulled out The words actually blocking you, each with its pronunciation and its exact sense here — not a dictionary's first definition. ■ Ask follow-ups until it lands "What does that refer to?" "Why passive here?" The whole thread stays in one card. Block numbers in the explanation are clickable and jump to that passage on the page. ■ Brief or in depth Brief when you want the point and want to move on. In depth when you want the background and how it got there. ■ Read aloud Click the speaker on a word for dictionary audio, or have your configured TTS read the whole selection. Click again to stop. ■ Interface and explanations follow your language English, 简体中文, 繁體中文, 日本語, 한국어 — matching your browser by default. ■ Bring your own AI You supply the endpoint, key and model; anything speaking the Anthropic Messages format works. The key is stored in this browser only, and requests go straight from your browser to the address you entered — no third-party server in between. Select text and press Ctrl+Shift+E (⌘⇧E on Mac) to explain, Ctrl+Shift+T to hear it, or right-click and pick Explain. Rebind either at chrome://extensions/shortcuts.

Growth

WindowUsersChangeRatingsRating
7 days+3+60.0%00.00
30 days+2+33.3%00.00

Version history

7 versions recorded
1.8.114 Sep 2026
1.7.010 Sep 2026
1.5.01 Sep 2026
1.4.031 Aug 2026
1.2.027 Aug 2026
1.1.026 Aug 2026
1.0.025 Aug 2026

Details

Category
Tools
First seen
25 Aug 2026
Size
150 KB
Languages
en, zh-CN, zh-TW, ja, ko
Pricing
Free
Privacy policy
fivecent.cn
Extension ID
jhhobcencfpbpibflclndpcjofdgdakl

Permissions and risk

Minimal riskimpact 0, likelihood 3
Permissions
contextMenusstoragescriptingoffscreenactiveTab

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