Guide • September 2, 2026

FocusFlow's AI Reading Tools: Summarize, Simplify, Define, Check My Understanding & More

Not every reading barrier is on your screen — sometimes the barrier is the sentence itself. Long academic prose, jargon-heavy documentation, or a 4,000-word article you only need the gist of: these are problems a bigger font can't fix.

That's why FocusFlow Pro includes a set of AI reading tools that work on whatever text you're looking at, right where you're reading. It started with Define, Simplify and Summarize. Version 2.11.0 adds Key points, In this sentence and Check my understanding on any page, Words to know and Simplify this section in Reader Mode, and a Listen button on every answer. No copying text into another app, no losing your place.

Here's what each tool does, when to reach for it, and how the AI credits that power them work.

📝 Summarize: The Gist First

Summarize condenses long text into a short, plain-language summary that keeps every key point.

When to use it: long articles where you want the gist before committing, research for an assignment, or triaging whether a page is worth a full read. Select a section to summarize just that part — or run it with nothing selected and FocusFlow will summarize the whole page's main content for you.

Key points

Prefer a list? Under a summary, switch from Paragraph to Key points and the same summary comes back as a short list of plain sentences. FocusFlow remembers your choice for next time.

🪄 Simplify: Hard Passages, Plain Words

Simplify rewrites a difficult passage in short, simple sentences that keep the meaning but drop the complexity.

When to use it: when a paragraph is technically readable but you've read it three times and it still hasn't landed. Dense legislative text, convoluted documentation, jargon-filled health information — select the passage and get a plain-language version you can actually work with. It's also the tool to reach for when fatigue is doing the comprehending for you.

📖 Define: Instant Plain-Language Meanings

Stuck on a word? Define gives you an instant, plain-language definition of any word or short phrase — in the same language as the text.

When to use it: dense non-fiction, technical writing, legal or academic prose, or any time a single unfamiliar word is blocking a whole paragraph. If English isn't your first language — or the sentence is written like it expects a specialist — one tap resolves the roadblock without breaking your reading flow.

In this sentence

Plenty of words mean different things in different places — a "bank" of a river is not a bank you save money in. After a Define answer, click In this sentence and FocusFlow asks again with the word and the sentence you found it in, so the answer explains the meaning that fits there.

✅ Check My Understanding: Did It Go In?

Check my understanding asks you a few multiple-choice questions about the text, one at a time. Each answer shows the passage from the text that supports it, and you get your score at the end.

When to use it: after reading something you need to remember — a chapter, a briefing, an article you'll be discussing. It uses your selection, or the whole page when nothing is selected. Your answers are checked on your device and never sent anywhere.

📚 In Reader Mode: Words to Know & Simplify This Section

Reader Mode's Insights panel adds two tools that work on the section you are reading — alongside its own Check my understanding for that section:

Words to know picks up to 10 hard words from the section — on your device — and defines them one at a time, so the vocabulary is out of the way before you read.
Simplify this section replaces the section with a plain-language version, labelled "Simplified by AI". Choose Show original to switch back.

For a study-focused walkthrough of these, see Check My Understanding, Words to Know & Simplify This Section.

🔊 Answers You Can Listen To, Read and Move

Every AI answer appears in a card over the text you asked about, and in v2.11.0 that card does more:

Listen — click Listen to have the answer read aloud with your browser's own voices; click Stop to end.
Formatted answers — lists and bold text in an answer now show properly.
Draggable and minimisable — drag the card by its header (or move it from the keyboard) so it isn't covering what you're reading, or minimise it out of the way. Listen keeps playing while it's minimised.

🖱️ How to Use the AI Tools

The tools live wherever you happen to be reading:

Option A — From the Right-Click Menu

Select text on any page — a word, a sentence, or a whole section.
Right-click the selection.
Choose Define, Simplify, or Summarize from the FocusFlow menu.
The answer appears in a card over the text, in the same language as the text.

Option B — From the Side Panel

Open the popup → click Advanced Settings.
Go to the AI Tools tab.
Pick a tool: Summarize, Simplify, Define, or Check my understanding. Select text on the page first — or, for Summarize and Check my understanding, leave nothing selected to use the whole page.

Option C — From Reader Mode

Open Reader Mode and use the Insights panel to run Simplify this section, Words to know or Check my understanding on the section you are reading.

The Summarize, Simplify and Define tools are also available as tiles in the FocusFlow popup. Once an answer is showing, the follow-ups — Key points, In this sentence and Listen — are right there in the card.

A couple of practical notes:

Define works on a word or short phrase (up to 200 bytes); Summarize, Simplify and Check my understanding handle up to 20,000 bytes — roughly 20,000 characters of English, a long-form article. Scripts that use more bytes per character, such as Hindi, Tamil or Japanese, fit fewer characters.
A selection over the limit isn't sent. A whole page or a Reader Mode section over the limit sends only its beginning, and FocusFlow says the answer covers only the first part.
If FocusFlow needs a selection (for example, Simplify with nothing highlighted), it tells you plainly instead of guessing.

🎟️ The AI Credits Model, Plainly

The AI tools are part of FocusFlow Pro, and they're metered simply:

Every Pro license includes 1,000 AI credits per month.
A request costs 1 credit per 1,000 bytes of text sent — about 1,000 characters of English — with a minimum of 1.
Dictionary definitions and cached answers are free — looking up the same word twice doesn't cost you anything, and repeating a request within 30 days uses the cached answer.
Key points cost the same as a paragraph summary of the same text. In this sentence always asks the AI, and costs 1 credit. Words to know is up to 10 definitions, each free or 1 credit like Define. Listen is free.
A request that gets no answer is refunded.
Credits reset every 30 days automatically.

Your remaining balance is always visible in the Insights hub → AI & Credits section. If you ever run low mid-month, the tools tell you clearly rather than failing silently. The AI Reading Assistant page has a cost table for every tool.

🔒 What Happens to Your Text

Nothing is sent until you press a tool, and there's no background analysis of the pages you visit. When you do press one:

Summarize, Simplify, Define and Check my understanding send the text you selected. With nothing selected, Summarize and the side panel's Check my understanding send the article text of the page you are on.
Key points send the same text as a paragraph summary.
In this sentence sends the word and its sentence, up to 600 bytes, only when you choose it.
In Reader Mode, Simplify this section and Check my understanding send the section you are reading, and Words to know sends single words — never the text.
Your quiz answers are never sent, and Listen speaks the answer on your device.

The privacy policy spells out each one. Everything else in FocusFlow's reading toolkit keeps running entirely in your browser.

Try It Today

The AI tools are included with FocusFlow Pro, which works in Chrome and desktop Firefox — not yet in Edge or Firefox for Android. Install the extension, select any tangled sentence on the web, and right-click your way to a plainer one.

Install FocusFlow Free on Chrome

Frequently Asked Questions

Which AI tools does FocusFlow have?

On any page: Summarize (as a paragraph or as Key points), Simplify, Define (then In this sentence for the meaning where you found the word) and Check my understanding. In Reader Mode's Insights panel: Simplify this section, Words to know and Check my understanding for the section you are reading. Every answer has a Listen button.

What is the difference between a summary and Key points?

They summarize the same text. A summary comes back as a short paragraph; Key points comes back as a short list of plain sentences. FocusFlow remembers which one you chose, and both cost the same.

What does In this sentence do?

After a Define answer, In this sentence asks again with the word and the sentence you found it in, up to 600 bytes, so the answer explains the meaning that fits there. It always asks the AI and costs 1 credit.

How do FocusFlow AI credits work?

Every Pro license includes 1,000 AI credits per month, resetting every 30 days. A request costs 1 credit per 1,000 bytes of text sent, minimum 1 — about 1,000 characters of English. Dictionary definitions and cached answers are free, and a request that gets no answer is refunded.

What text do the AI tools send?

Only what you ask for, when you press a tool: your selection, or the article text for Summarize and the side panel's Check my understanding when nothing is selected. Reader Mode's section tools send the section you are reading, Words to know sends single words, and your quiz answers are never sent.

Which browsers support the AI tools?

The AI tools are part of FocusFlow Pro. FocusFlow Pro works in the FocusFlow extension for Chrome and desktop Firefox. It is not yet available in Edge or in Firefox for Android.