A new paid app for the Xinhua Dictionary - regarded as the highest authority on the Chinese language - has been criticized for charging for the product.

近日，最权威的汉语词典--《新华字典》的最新APP正式上线，但该软件却因收费而遭到了指责。

Commercial Press, which publishes the book, launched the app for Android and Apple devices last Sunday, and almost instantly came under fire when users discovered that only their first two searches were free.

上周日，商务印书馆出版了适用于安卓和苹果系统的《新华字典》APP。然而，当用户发现每天只能免费查询两个字的时候，该APP就立即遭到了批评。

After that, they must pay 40 yuan to continue using the service - more than double the price of a hard copy sold online.

要想继续查询，用户必须支付40块钱，这相当于网上所售纸质版字典的两倍还要多。

"Why should we pay when there are so many ways to look up a word, such as on Baidu?" asked one netizen on Sina Weibo. "It only makes sense if there is no alternative to your product."

一位网友在新浪微博上写道：“我们可以通过百度等多种方式免费查询字词，为什么要花钱呢？只有在没有其他查询方式的情况下，用户才会使用这款APP。”

Jiang Yan, operations director for Shanghai Shangdi Digital Publishing Technology, which developed the app, said that the charge will remain.

软件开发方上海商笛数字出版科技有限公司的运营总监蒋琰表示，收费会保持下去。

"The app is being download more than 100,000 times a day, far more than we expected," he said. "The cost of research and development, operation, maintenance and follow-up services should all be included in the pricing."

他说道：“APP的日下载量达到了10万次，这远远超乎我们的预料。收费是用于软件的研发、运营、维护和后续服务等。”

He added that the app is not in the same category as the print edition, since users can keep the app without any worries about it becoming damaged or outdated¹, and it will be updated regularly.

他还表示，APP与纸质版字典的不同之处在于，用户不用担心字典会损坏，也不用担心字典会过时，因为会定期更新软件的版本。

The mobile app has Li Ruiying, a former anchor for China Central TV, pronounce each character. It also illustrates² a word's stroke sequence.

据悉，该手机APP是由央视原播音员李瑞英播读每个汉字，此外，它还会解释汉字的笔画顺序。

Hu Xiaoming, a professor of Chinese language and literature at East China Normal University, said he supported a "reasonable and necessary charge" for the mobile service.

华东师范大学汉语语言文学专业的胡晓明教授表示，他支持该手机服务的“合理、必要的收费”。

"It's a matter of intellectual property. Unlike some online sharing platforms like Wikipedia, Xinhua Dictionary is more authoritative," he said.

他说：“这是一种知识产权。新华字典要比维基百科等在线分享平台更加权威。”