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Best reading software


10 Best Speed Reading Software For 2023

Reading is probably one of the best and an effective way to learn a new skill. When there’s so much to read and learn yet so less time to do it, being a quick reader sure does help! There are numerous ways which can certainly help you to increase your reading speed. You can use a stopwatch to record your reading time and improvise with more and more practice, you can shorten the reading sessions to boost the recitation rates, avoid reading filler words or ultimately can take help of on an online software for effective results.

While everyone’s looking to increase their reading speed,it’s no wonder that the market is awash with Best Speed Reading Software to help people learn and improve reading speed and comprehension in much lesser time.

So, here are ten of the best speed reading comprehension software you can use on your PC, Mac, Android or tablet.

Here’s a rundown to the best speed reading software available in the market. Continue reading and choose the ideal one for you!

1. AceReader

AceReader is one of the leading solutions in the category of Best Speed Reading Software to improve reading speed of users. This reading comprehension software is very sophisticated yet fun, and very simple to use. Loaded with a large amount of educational content and more than 1,000 themed reading speed tests. It contains several training modules that not only improve your knowledge but also increase reading speed and comprehension. It’s desktop version, the ‘classic edition’ is available for $69.95.

PROS:
• More than 200 speed reading exercises.
• Well-structured interface.
• Built in 625 eBooks.
• Includes a plethora of fun brain games, which makes it the best choice for kids and adults alike.

CONS:
• Premium version is too expensive.
• Extra add-ons have to be purchased.

This fast reading software is best suited for schools, colleges, and universities. You can also purchase its cloud-based ‘personal edition’ starting at $39. 99 per year.

Download Here

2. 7 Speed Reading

7 Speed Reading is an excellent reading comprehension software. It’s a complete package of both basic and advanced courses. In fact, it understands that every person has a different learning style, hence it proffers seven diverse learning strategies to make users faster readers. The software is cloud-based and allows one license to set up 5 different users accounts along with unlimited installs.

PROS:
• Beautiful and easy-to-use.
• Offers step-by-step training guide.
• Claims to offer guaranteed results.
• Library has over 20,477 free eBooks.
• Compatible with Web (Chrome), Windows, Mac & Linux.

CONS:
• One of the most expensive reading comprehension software in the market.
• Access automatically expires after 10 years.

Just use this reading comprehension software for only seven minutes a day and that’s it! Triple your reading speed and improve comprehension in a very short span of time.

Download Here

3. ReadMe!

ReadMe! is one of the most popular names that allows you to store and manage all your favorite eBooks across your Android and iOS device. But you must be wondering that why an eBook manager is holding a place in the list of the Best Speed Reading Software. Because of the two incredible speed reading tools, it is integrated with, BeeLine Reader and Spritz. BeeLine uses a color-coded approach by placing the color gradient to each line of text that guides your eyes from the end of one line to the beginning of the next line, making reading faster. Spritz tool allows you to read one word at a time at a certain WPM rate, and helps you read 1,000 words in a minute.

PROS:
• Suitable for all age groups.
• Available for both iOS & Android users.

CONS:
• The interface is quite stuffed.

This is an incredible tool if you are aiming for increasing your reading speed only.

Download Here

4. eyeQ

When it comes to eyes training and improving focus points during reading, eyeQ is one of the best speed reading software to choose. The software is simply a bundle of mental comprehension & retention exercises and the courses are specifically designed to assist students with test preparations. It’s available for free trial (for a month) allowing users to test if it has improved the speed reading or not. As it comes with a unique reporting tool to track improvements from the beginning, the tracking charts show actual refinements.  After that, people can opt for a monthly payment plan.

PROS:
• Allows you to monitor progress.
• Integrated with lots of games and brain drill exercises.
• Ideal tool for college students.

CONS:
• Can be improvised in terms of eBooks and exercise activities.

eyeQ is an ultimate solution to improve reading speed and comprehension at a reasonable pricing.

Note: This app has been discontinued.

5. Reedy

Reedy is an advanced book and web-page reader available for Android and Chrome web browser. It works on RSVP (Rapid Serial Visual Presentation) technique that allows users to read fast and comfortably. Words are showed simultaneously to increase the speed perception of each word. It claims to increase reading speed in 1.5 – 2 times straight away. The software comes with three reading modes: Regular, Speed Reading and Text-to-speech voice reading. You can easily switch to any mode for your learning. Best of all? You can adjust the speed of reading, anytime you think you’re ready to read at a faster rate speed up!

PROS:
• Compatible with English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and Russian.
• Easy import of eBooks, files and other web links for reading.
• Screen locking.
• Easy navigation through the sentences and paragraphs.

CONS:
• Available for only Android and web version (Chrome).

This reading comprehension software is much more than just text, it displays a lot of tables and images which definitely gives it an edge of other reading apps.

Download Here

6. Spreeder

Spreeder is another top-notch fast reading software that offers a huge amount of content for its users. The software is clubbed with various features including, a cloud library, improvement tracker, multi-users access, access to social profiles, and numerous eBook formats compatibility. What makes it stand out from other speed reading software is its Social Profiles feature which lets users create social handles to track their own and their friend’s reading improvement progress.

PROS:
• Beautiful and powerful interface.
• Effortless importing option to add 46 different types of files and eBooks.
• Allows access for up to 5 users at no additional cost.

CONS:
• Poor customer support.
• Lacks reading speed tests.

If you are someone who has bad reading habits such as subvocalization, single word fixation or losing the reading place, then Spreeder is the best choice to improve reading speed and comprehension skills dramatically.

7. REV IT UP Reading

It all takes just five-hours to increase reading speed and comprehension skills with Rev It Up Reading tool. The software is an ideal tool for people who wish for a package, compounded with tutorials, improvement tracking features and personal support & guidance from a teacher. It consists 9 modules which assist students to read faster on paper and digital devices. It also provides a free PDF book that consists of the same principles as the course. It’s a good resource for users to keep their reading & comprehension skills polished.

PROS:
• Easy and intuitive for the student to use.
• Personal support from teachers.
• Progress tracking feature.
• The only tool that combines both online & offline learning benefits.

CONS:
• No reading speed tests.
• Only one-day free trial available.
• The course is quite expensive as compared to other speed reading software.

It comes with the five-hour course to guide users with advanced reading techniques and memorization skills.

8.  Iris Reading

Iris Reading comprises several comprehensive courses and delivers in-person workshops too in schools of many US Cities and Abroad. It’s an ideal software for people who want to enhance their reading speed, productivity, memory, and focus. Iris Reading is one of the best speed reading software for individuals who wish to teach themselves to read more effectively. Unlike other software mentioned, Iris Reading also proffers local classes in major cities around the globe.

PROS:
• Best suited for high school/ college students.
• Offers in-person and online classes.
• Fulfills different learning goals such as increase reading speed, improve memory & ability to retain a large amount of information.

CONS:
• Slow Internet can pose issues in buffering videos.

Iris Reading is an incredible investment if you want your children to learn and improve reading speed and comprehension in very less duration.

9. The Reader’s Edge

Reader’s Edge is an ultimate package of very informative and effective speed reading exercises. And, what makes it stand out from other alternatives is that it comprises reading material & training modules for all ages. It offers a huge library of eBooks based on almost every genre and reading level. Its training modules are highly effective, it also incorporates several tricks and techniques to improve reading speed and comprehension.

PROS:
• Extensive collection of eBooks and training modules.
• Clean and well-balanced interface.
• Designed for all groups.
• 200+ reading and comprehension tests.

CONS:
• Limited user accounts are entertained.
• Little heavy software.

Best Part? Once you get started with the program, the first thing it asks you, is to take an evaluation test and based on that, it offers you the material that is suitable for your skill level.

10. RocketReader

RocketReader is a one-stop solution to increase reading speed and comprehension. Packed with all the essential tools and features, the software is suitable for every reading level. The software is equipped with advanced learning techniques to help you avoid bad reading habits such as slaving, subvocalization and skip back. It allows you to easily import any article from the web in just a single-click. Though it doesn’t come with pre-loaded eBooks, but it has a large database of reading pieces to practice faster reading skills.

PROS:
• Excellent user experience.
• Can be accessed by multiple users.
• Well-structured library.

CONS:
• Doesn’t come with eBooks.
• Expensive reading comprehension software.
• No games or brain drill exercises.
• Lacks reading speed tests.

ReadingBuddy will surely help you to achieve faster reading speeds with better comprehension.

Wrap Up: 10 Best Speed Reading Software

The only key to improve & increase reading speed and comprehension is to Practice, Practice, and More practice. Exercise daily for at least 20 minutes and see self-improvements in your reading & memorization skills.

Have you ever tried any of the speed reading software mentioned above? Do let us know your experience and learnings in the comment section below!

Keep Readingggg!

Best text-to-speech software (January 2023)

(Image credit: Unsplash / Steinar Engeland)

The best text-to-speech software makes your written content more accessible by reading it aloud.  

Text-to-voice apps are a great way to bring on-screen words to life - whether you’re focused on boosting productivity and accessibility, creating artificial voice-overs for videos, or just want to hear your own work out-loud. How often, after all, has a typo gone unnoticed until you heard your copy spoken?

Unlike speech-to-text apps and dictation software, TTS apps convert text documents to audio. The process is streamlined, and each is equipped with an unrivalled toolkit. You can even download audio files, if you’re looking for the best text-to-speech software for YouTube videos or similar. 

Some office programs, like Microsoft Word and Google Docs, offer basic text-to-speech (or TTS) tools. In the main, they work well - accuracy is good and seems to be consistently improving. But beyond a limited set of extras, such as accent and language, these word processors lack the full suite of functions found in TTS software. 

To help you identify the right tool for the written and spoken word, TechRadar Pro tested the best text-to-speech software across the user-experience, performance, output, and pricing.  

If you’re working to a tighter budget, explore the best free text-to-speech software.  

  • Read more: Best transcription services

The best text-to-speech software of 2023 in full

(Image credit: NaturalReader)

1. NaturalReader

Best text-to-speech software for home and work

Today's Best Deals

Reasons to buy

+

Supports a range of files 

+

Wide file support

+

Multilingual 

Reasons to avoid

-

Cloud-based

If you’re looking for a cloud-based speech synthesis application, you should definitely check out NaturalReader. Aimed more at personal use, the solution allows you to convert written text such as Word and PDF documents, ebooks and web pages into human-like speech.  

Because the software is underpinned by cloud technology, you’re able to access it from wherever you go via a smartphone, tablet or computer. And just like Capti Voice, you can upload documents from cloud storage lockers such as Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive.  

Currently, you can access 56 natural-sounding voices in nine different languages, including American English, British English, French, Spanish, German, Swedish, Italian, Portuguese and Dutch. The software supports PDF, TXT, DOC(X), ODT, PNG, JPG, plus non-DRM EPUB files and much more, along with MP3 audio streams. 

There are three different products: online, software, and commercial. Both the online and software products have a free tier.

Read our full NaturalReader review.

(Image credit: Murf)

2. Murf

Best for super-realistic voices

Today's Best Deals

Reasons to buy

+

Simple and easy to navigate dashboard

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Over 120 realistic AI voices in 20 languages

Reasons to avoid

-

Video editing could be more comprehensive

Specializing in voice synthesis technology, Murf uses AI to generate realistic voiceovers for a range of uses, from e-learning to corporate presentations.  

Murf comes with a comprehensive suite of AI tools that are easy to use and straightforward to locate and access. There's even a Voice Changer feature that allows you to record something before it is transformed into an AI-generated voice- perfect if you don't think you have the right tone or accent for a piece of audio content but would rather not enlist the help of a voice actor. Other features include Voice Editing, Time Syncing, and a Grammar Assistant.

The solution comes with three pricing plans to choose from: Basic, Pro and Enterprise. The latter of these options may be pricey but some with added collaboration and account management features that larger companies may need access to. The Basic plan starts at around $19 / £17 / AU$28 per month but if you set up a yearly plan that will drop to around $13 / £12 / AU$20 per month. You can also try the service out for free for up to 10 minutes, without downloads.

(Image credit: Amazon)

3. Amazon Polly

Best text-to-speech system for developers

Today's Best Deals

Reasons to buy

+

Affordable 

+

Easy-to-use 

+

Supports multiple file types 

+

Multiple language options

Reasons to avoid

-

Requires Amazon account

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Dev focus

Alexa isn’t the only artificial intelligence tool created by tech giant Amazon as it also offers an intelligent text-to-speech system called Amazon Polly. Employing advanced deep learning techniques, the software turns text into lifelike speech. Developers can use the software to create speech-enabled products and apps. 

It sports an API that lets you easily integrate speech synthesis capabilities into ebooks, articles and other media. What’s great is that Polly is so easy to use. To get text converted into speech, you just have to send it through the API, and it’ll send an audio stream straight back to your application. 

You can also store audio streams as MP3, Vorbis and PCM file formats, and there’s support for a range of international languages and dialects. These include British English, American English, Australian English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Danish and Russian. 

Polly is available as an API on its own, as well as a feature of the AWS Management Console and command-line interface. In terms of pricing, you’re charged based on the number of text characters you convert into speech. This is charged at approximately $16 / £14 / AU$24 per1 million characters , but there is a free tier for the first year.

(Image credit: Play.ht)

4. Play.ht

Best AI voice generator for podcaster

Today's Best Deals

Reasons to buy

+

Large voiceover library

+

Export audio in various formats

Reasons to avoid

-

Non-English voices are of inconsistent quality

In terms of its library of voice options, it's hard to beat Play.ht as one of the best text-to-speech software tools. With almost 600 AI-generated voices available in over 60 languages, it's likely you'll be able to find a voice to suit your needs. 

Although the platform isn't the easiest to use, there is a detailed video tutorial to help users if they encounter any difficulties. All the usual features are available, including Voice Generation and Audio Analytics. 

In terms of pricing, Play.ht comes with four plans: Personal, Professional, Growth, and Business. These range widely in price, but it depends if you need things like commercial rights and affects the number of words you can generate each month.  

(Image credit: Voice Dream)

5. Voice Dream Reader

Best text-to-speech app for macOS and iOS

Today's Best Deals

Reasons to buy

+

36 built-in voices 

+

Multilingual   

+

Integration with cloud platforms 

+

Works offline

Reasons to avoid

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Apple devices online

There are also plenty of great text-to-speech applications available for mobile devices, and Voice Dream Reader is an excellent example. It can convert documents, web articles and ebooks into natural-sounding speech. 

The app comes with 186 built-in voices across 30 languages, including English, Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese and Korean. 

You can get the software to read a list of articles while you drive, work or exercise, and there are auto-scrolling, full-screen and distraction-free modes to help you focus. Voice Dream Reader can be used with cloud solutions like Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud Drive, Pocket, Instapaper and Evernote. 

Text-to-speech software buying advice

How to choose the best text-to-speech software 

Why you can trust TechRadar Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

When deciding which text-to-speech software is best for you, it depends on a number of factors and preferences. For example, whether you’re happy to join the ecosystem of big companies like Amazon in exchange for quality assurance, if you prefer realistic voices, and how much budget you’re playing with. It’s worth noting that the paid services we recommend, while reliable, are often subscription services, with software hosted via websites, rather than one-time purchase desktop apps. 

Also, remember that the latest versions of Microsoft Word and Google Docs feature basic text-to-speech as standard, as well as most popular browsers. So, if you have access to that software and all you’re looking for is a quick fix, that may suit your needs well enough. 

Read more on how we test, rate, and review products on TechRadar .

What is the best text-to-speech software for YouTube?

If you're looking for the best text-to-speech software for YouTube videos or other social media platforms, you need a tool that lets you extract the audio file once your text document has been processed. Thankfully, that's most of them. So, the real trick is to select a TTS app that features a bountiful choice of natural-sounding voices that match the personality of your channel. 

What’s the difference between web TTS services and TTS software?

Web TTS services are hosted on a company or developer website. You’ll only be able to access the service if the service remains available at the whim of a provider or isn’t facing an outage.

TTS software refers to downloadable desktop applications that typically won’t rely on connection to a server, meaning that so long as you preserve the installer, you should be able to use the software long after it stops being provided.  

Do I need a text-to-speech subscription?

Subscriptions are by far the most common pricing model for top text-to-speech software. By offering subscription models for, companies and developers benefit from a more sustainable revenue stream than they do from simply offering a one-time purchase model. Subscription models are also attractive to text-to-speech software providers as they tend to be more effective at defeating piracy.

Free software options are very rarely absolutely free. In some cases, individual voices may be priced and sold individually once the application has been installed or an account has been created on the web service.

How can I incorporate text-to-speech as part of my business tech stack?

Some of the text-to-speech software that we’ve chosen come with business plans, offering features such as additional usage allowances and the ability to have a shared workspace for documents. Other than that, services such as Amazon Polly are available as an API for more direct integration with business workflows.

Small businesses may find consumer-level subscription plans for text-to-speech software to be adequate, but it’s worth mentioning that only business plans usually come with the universal right to use any files or audio created for commercial use.

How we test the best text-to-speech software 

We test for various use cases, including suitability for use with accessibility issues, such as visual impairment, and for multi-tasking. Both of these require easy access and near instantaneous processing. Where possible, we look for integration across the entirety of an operating system, and for fair usage allowances across free and paid subscription models.

At a minimum, we expect an intuitive interface and intuitive software. We like bells and whistles such as realistic voices, but we also appreciate that there is a place for products that simply get the job done. Here, the question that we ask can be as simple as “does this piece of software do what it's expected to do when asked?”

  • Read more: Best Microsoft Office alternatives

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Brian has over 30 years publishing experience as a writer and editor across a range of computing, technology, and marketing titles. He has been interviewed multiple times for the BBC and been a speaker at international conferences. His specialty on techradar is Software as a Service (SaaS) applications, covering everything from office suites to IT service tools. He is also a science fiction and fantasy author, published as Brian G Turner.

10 best free readers for computer

March 18, 2021 Likbez macOS

Reading e-books is convenient not only on smartphones and tablets.

1. Google Play Books

  • Platforms: Web, Chrome.
  • Supported formats: ePub, PDF.

On the website of the popular Google Play Books service, you can add and read texts online. At the same time, the project has an extension for the Google Chrome browser, which provides access to downloaded books on a computer even without connecting to the Web. nine0003

The plug-in interface almost completely repeats the design of the web version. You can open books from your library, view their content, search by text, customize fonts and layout. To read offline, you must first download the necessary books to your computer's memory. Bookmarks, reading positions and other data are synchronized between all devices connected to a Google account.

Google Play Books →

Download

Price: 0

2. iBooks 9 software0007

  • Platform: macOS.
  • Supported formats: ePub, PDF.

Mac users who love books are lucky to get one of the best desktop readers out of the box. iBooks looks stylish, supports data synchronization between iOS devices, and offers only the most necessary tools - for those who like to read, not dig into the settings.

On the other hand, iBooks does not work with the very popular FB*2 format, which may not suit some users. But you can always convert FB*2 to ePub. nine0003

3.

Bookmate
  • Platforms: Web, Windows.
  • Supported formats: FB*2, ePub.

This service, like Google Play Books, offers computer owners to read works on the site. In addition, Windows users can install the Bookmate desktop client, which allows you to add texts to your personal library and open them offline.

In both versions of the program, you can customize the font, background, indents and other visual elements. Bookmarks, reading positions, and other metadata are synced across devices. The application can slow down a little, but in general it is comfortable to use. nine0003

Texts added to the service by you can be read for free. Bookmate also offers a paid subscription to books from its online library, but you can opt-out.

Bookmate →

Download

Price: Free

4. Caliber

  • Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux.
  • Supported formats: FB*2, ePub, DjVu, DOCX, HTML, AZW, AZW3, AZW4, CBZ, CBR, CBC, CHM, HTMLZ, LIT, LRF, MOBI, ODT, PDF, PRC, PDB, PML , RB, RTF, SNB, TCR, TXT, TXTZ. nine0012

Caliber is best known as a powerful free e-book editor. With it, you can edit metadata, text and other elements of book files, as well as convert documents from one format to another. But the program allows you to simply read the books added to it. The built-in reader has background settings, text, content viewer, search form and other tools for the user's convenience.

Caliber →

5. Sumatra PDF

  • Platform: Windows.
  • Supported formats: PDF, eBook, MOBI, XPS, DjVu, CHM, CBZ, CBR.

Despite its name, the program handles not only PDF files, but also a wide variety of ePub and MOBI books. And in addition - with comics CBZ and CBR. Sumatra PDF is able to work in portable mode, so you can save it to a USB flash drive and read different files anywhere.

Books open in tabs. This allows you to read several files in parallel, switching between them. Minimum settings: font size and page display. The rest of the application settings are controlled through a text INI file - this is complicated, but useful for advanced users. nine0003

Sumatra PDF →

6. STDU Viewer

  • Platform: Windows.
  • Supported formats: TIFF, PDF, DjVu, XPS, JBIG2, WWF, FB*2, TXT, CBR, CBZ, TCR, PDB, MOBI, AZW, ePub, DCX, BMP, PCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG , WMF, EMF, PSD.

One of the most polyformat programs can open not only books, but also images, and even Photoshop layouts. He is excellent at reading texts. There are a lot of settings and parameters that can satisfy even the most sophisticated user. nine0003

The program is optimized to work with both conventional computers and devices with touch screens. It can export individual pages as graphic files, search by text, change book page display options, and so on. At the same time, it consumes system resources very modestly.

STDU Viewer →

7. Freda

  • Platform: Windows.
  • Supported formats: ePub, MOBI, FB*2, HTML, TXT.

This program can be recommended to owners of Windows 10 tablets because its interface is most optimized for touch screens. For those who read from a laptop or desktop PC, it is better to look at other applications.

Freda integrates with online directories such as Feedbooks, Smashwords, and Project Gutenberg. It provides free access to over 50,000 public domain classics. Freda also easily opens any books you manually save and lets you sync your library with OneDrive, Dropbox or Caliber. nine0003

Download

Price: Free

8. Icecream Ebook Reader

  • Platform: Windows.
  • Supported formats: ePub, MOBI, PDF, FB*2.

An extremely popular reader that supports common electronic literature formats. An interesting feature of Icecream Ebook is the ability to import and export your library, saving not only books, but also the progress of reading them. This is useful when transferring information from computer to computer. nine0003

There are several page themes (day, night or sepia), font settings and a convenient table of contents. True, some features - adding notes, importing multiple e-books at the same time, editing file metadata and copying text - are only available in the Pro version of Icecream Ebook Reader.

Icecream Ebook Reader →

9. Foliate

  • Platform: Linux.
  • Supported formats: ePub, MOBI, AZW, TXT, CBR, CBZ, CBT, CB7, FB*2, AZW3. nine0012

A new e-book reader that provides all the functions the user needs, but also has a nice and modern interface. Many page design themes, and you can add your own. There is a built-in translator using Google Translate. Foliate works with laptop touchpads - you can scroll through pages by swiping with two fingers on the touchpad. And finally, here you can create notes by highlighting text in books and leaving your comments. nine0003

Foliate →

10. Okular

  • Platform: Linux.
  • Supported formats: G3, CHM, DDS, DjVu, DJV, EPS, EPSI, EPSF, EXR, FB*2, GIF, XCF, HDR, PIC, JPEG, JPG, JPE, JP2, JPG2, MNG, MOBI , PRC, ODT, OKULAR, PBM, PCX, PDF, PGM, PNG, PPM, PS, PSD, RGB, TGA, ICB, TPIC, VDA, VST, TIF, TIFF, DVI, WWF, BMP, DIB, ICO, XBM , XPM, OXPS, XPS, CBZ, CB7, CBR, CBT, ePub, DOC.

If you're using KDE, you don't need to install anything - the cool Okular reader is already on your computer. This program is used as a file viewer and opens not only all popular e-book formats, but also PDFs, images, and documents. nine0003

There are many settings for the appearance of pages, the ability to comment and highlight text fragments, several options for scrolling files and other functions. Okular can be installed in any graphical environment - the program is located in the repositories of most popular distributions.

Okular →

The text of the article was updated on March 17, 2021.

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*Activity of Meta Platforms Inc. and its social networks Facebook and Instagram are prohibited in the territory of the Russian Federation. nine0230

10 reader apps with access to free books

In addition to many dedicated e-ink readers, long battery life and other conveniences, there are many apps that turn your tablet or smartphone into a reader. Often, the application that suits your friends is not right for you, and you have to go through program after program, looking for the one with which it will be comfortable to spend time reading. To make it easier to find the most convenient program, we decided to select ten of the most popular reading applications with built-in libraries of free books. nine0003

1. Bookmate

The first thing that attracts in Bookmate is synchronization between devices. Read on a tablet, continue on a smartphone or laptop from the same page where you left off on the previous device. To do this, of course, the device must have Internet access. But you need it only for quick synchronization, you can read books offline by turning off all communication modules to save money.

The second is the payment system. You do not need to buy a separate book, you pay for a subscription for a month or a year and read everything in the library, which is more than 500,000 books from 600 publishers for 9languages.

But that's not all. The Bookmate service is divided into two parts. The first of these is the application with which you actually read. The second is a web service at bookmate.com, where you can upload any of your books in epub or fb2 format to your library and read it using the application with exactly the same synchronization between devices.

If you do not have your own books and you are not yet ready to pay for licensed books, then you can choose one of the many free books of world classical literature. These, of course, are not hits and novelties, but were priceless masterpieces ever so accessible? Yes, even lovers of reading masterpieces in the original should not forget about the possibility of instant translation of any word by double tap. nine0003

The creators of the service have not forgotten about the social component. By connecting one of your social network accounts to the service, you can find your friends who also use Bookmate, follow what they read, and share your books and favorite quotes with them.

Well, the last bonus is the opportunity to give a subscription to your friend. Just pay for a gift subscription and get a code, by entering which your friend becomes another happy Bookmate user for a certain time. nine0003

Screenshots Bookmate

Screenshots Bookmate

Play Store | App Store | Windows

2. Moon+ Reader

Yes, of course, this is not an all-in-one service like Bookmate, it is an e-book reader designed for those who like to customize everything "for themselves". Many preinstalled themes, swipe animation effects, fine-grained display settings, day and night mode, the ability to customize actions using screen taps, swipe gestures or hardware buttons, synchronization via the cloud (though only for the paid version). But this application got into the review not for its beauty and convenience, but for the ability to read many free books: Moon + Reader supports OPDS catalogs, you don’t even have to delve into what it is, everything is already set up in the program by default and it’s enough to find in the application, the "Network" item, select the section of free books in Russian in the "Moon +" catalog and indulge in reading. After downloading the book to your device, it is available for reading without the Internet. nine0003

Yes, since this program is primarily a "reader", it will easily find your books that are already on the device. Supported formats: epub, fb2, pdf, mobi, chm, cbr, cbz, umd, txt, html, as well as the ability to read books directly from rar and zip archives. The program has fewer opportunities than the subscription service, but you don’t have to pay anything either.

Screenshots of Moon+ Reader

Screenshots of Moon+ Reader

Play Store

3. eReader Prestigio

Another decent reading app with good features. After registering your PrestigioID, you get access to the bookstore, where free books are highlighted in a separate column, and in addition, synchronization between your android devices with the same PrestigioID. You can also read books not from the app store, but downloaded to the device memory in epub, pdf, html, fb2, fb2. zip, rtf, txt, epub3, Adobe DRM epub formats. The application has all the necessary settings for reading, not as flexible as those of Moon + Reader, but they are quite enough for comfortable use of the program. It is very convenient that, unlike Bookmate, you do not need to look for free books - they are already conveniently collected in a separate section. There is only one minus of the application - it is only available on Android. nine0003

Screenshots eReader Prestigio

Screenshots eReader Prestigio

Play Store

4. Wattpad

Quite an interesting application that allows you to read everything in the catalog for free. During registration, you will be asked to indicate your interests, this was done in order to make it easier to recommend books for you to read. Books written by Wattpad users themselves. You can follow the writing of books, read from chapter to chapter, immediately after the author publishes the next page. Moreover, you yourself can start writing for a wide audience, because Wattpad is a service for writers and readers, an opportunity to conduct a dialogue with the author. But this is precisely the feature of the application - the opportunity to read something new, to discover a new talent in literature. Or discover the literary talent in yourself, inspired by someone else's story. Definitely try this app if you like to experiment with book preferences or read something randomly. nine0003

There are not so many settings for the reader, but all the basics are present. Unfortunately, you can only read books from the catalog, the application does not support reading files from memory. Other than that, highly recommended if you want to try something new.

Screenshots Wattpad

Screenshots Wattpad

Play Store | App Store

5. MyBook

A relatively young Russian service that provides access to its own online library by subscription. Registration is required, after which a catalog of more than 63,000 books becomes available, 8,000 of which are free - mostly classics. The catalog itself contains a wide variety of books, divided by genre. Yes, this service is still far from Bookmate in terms of the number of books, but you can already use it comfortably now - there is synchronization between devices and a quite comfortable "reader" with basic background and font settings. Unfortunately, there is no way to read books not from the catalog. nine0003

Screenshots MyBook

Screenshots MyBook

Play Store | App Store

6. Litres Read! Free

The leading company in the sale of licensed books in the CIS countries has acquired its own application for reading and distributing electronic reading material. The LitRes catalog contains more than 750,000 books, making this online library the largest Russian-language library on the web. The application provides the possibility of free use of books for viewing ads. And you can even get used to this advertising in the bottom line, in exchange for a huge catalog of books, conveniently divided into categories. The application claims to synchronize bookmarks, notes and quotes. But I never managed to change the login, which is somehow assigned automatically. And synchronization is possible, which is logical, between applications with the same login. In general, the reading program is acceptable, and given the extensive library, it is more than suitable. It is spoiled only by strange synchronization (let's hope that they will finish it) and annoying ads, especially pop-up videos. However, ads can be turned off. Of course, for money. nine0003

Screenshots LitRes Read! Free

Screenshots LitRes Read! Free

Play Store | App Store

7. Home library

A simple application to access Russian classical literature for free. Minimum settings for maximum benefit. The app contains classic works by more than 700 writers, including Chekhov, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Gogol, Pushkin, Yesenin and many others. Everything that you once did not have time to read at school is now available for rethinking in electronic form. nine0003

Directly from the application, by clicking on the author's photo, you can go to his Wikipedia page and get acquainted with the biography. The rest of the functionality is concise to a minimum.

Screenshots Home Library

Screenshots Home Library

Play Store | App Store

8. Pile of Books.Ru

A small site with free literature did not begin to think about creating a single application for all genres, but released several clone applications. Do you like to read detective stories? Read only detectives. Do you want fantasy? Please. Love novels? Please. But each time you have to download a new application. Although, if you are an adherent of only one type of literature and are not going to change your taste preferences, that's it. nine0003

Recently, KuchaKnig.Ru has been thinking about licensing its library, previously collected from free sources, in connection with which it has acquired a partner in the person of LitRes, so it is not surprising that the settings of any application repeat the settings of the program for free reading from LitRes, and the desire to buy a book leads to the LitRes website, not KuchaKnig.Ru. This, in principle, for us, ordinary readers, does not matter at all, and such a division of genres into separate applications can be convenient if, as described above, you are an adherent of only one genre and you do not need to shovel through various catalogs in search of a new detective or a fresh book on esotericism. nine0003

Screenshots KuchaKnig.RU

Screenshots KuchaKnig.RU

Play Store

9.

Free books - novels

Simple, convenient. Download and read.

Actually, everything is clear from the name of the application. The catalog contains a varied list of novels from science fiction to erotica. The program itself works nowhere easier - choose the right book, download and read. A couple of menu items can hardly be called settings, but for a simple "download and read" application, this is only a plus. nine0003

Screenshot Free books - novels

Play Store

10. Play Books

An application from Google itself, linked to the book store, with synchronization, with a nice interface and the ability to upload your own books in epub or pdf format. It is very convenient to upload your entire library to Google servers and have access to books from any device. Form shelves, laying out books in your virtual library in a way that is convenient. Or trust sorting by authors. The application does not even require registration as such - it uses your Google account.

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