# Readr: AI Ebook Reader — Listen, ask, build a draft

> AI-powered ebook reader with listening, Q&A, and draft generation. (iPhone/iPad app by Anusree Jayakrishnan.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/readr-ai-ebook-reader/id6789784856 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Anusree Jayakrishnan](https://appshunter.io/developer/6789784858)
- Category: Books, Productivity
- Price: Free
- Rating: 3.00/5 from 1 App Store ratings · 1 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 17+
- Requires: iOS 17.0 · 43 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-08-29
- Data updated: 2026-09-19
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/readr-ai-ebook-reader/id6789784856/reviews.md

## What is Readr?

Read, listen, and ask questions as you go. Readr answers from what you've
read so far and never spoils what's ahead — and clearly labels anything it
adds from elsewhere.

ASK THE BOOK
Open an EPUB, PDF, plain-text or Markdown file you already own, select a
sentence, and ask about it. Readr answers from the pages you've read, not
the pages you haven't, so nothing ahead of your place can slip out. Choose
"Whole book" to ask about all of it. And it isn't limited to the
book: ask how the science has moved on, who directed the adaptation, or how
an idea aged, and you get a useful answer that shows which part came from
the book and which from outside it. Readr won't attribute an outside claim
to the book you're reading.

Back after a week away? Tap Recap on your Continue Reading card and Readr
tells you the story so far, from only the pages you've read — it can't
spoil what comes next.

Ask needs an AI account of your own: connect an Anthropic, OpenAI or
OpenRouter key, or sign in with OpenRouter. You pay that company directly for
what you use, and you can change or disconnect at any time. On an Apple
silicon Mac you can use a local Ollama model instead and stay offline. Without one, Readr is still a complete reader — Ask simply stays off.

LISTEN
Press Listen and Readr reads the book aloud, starting from the page you're on
— not the top of the chapter. The page turns itself to follow the voice, and
the place it saves is where the voice left off, so switching between reading
and listening never costs you your spot.

The narrator is Readr Voice, a neural voice that runs entirely on your
device: no account, no subscription, and nothing about your book ever leaves
the device to be read aloud. Its voice model downloads once, the first time
you listen, and the Listen bar shows the wait. Readr Voice keeps reading with the screen locked: it reads ahead
while the app is open and plays from that with the phone in your pocket.
Prefer Apple's built-in voices? They're a tap away under "Other voices" in
the voice menu, with nothing to download at all.

Skip by sentence or by chapter, change the speed or the voice mid-sentence and
it carries on from that word, and set a sleep timer that counts listening
rather than clock time — pause for lunch and the countdown waits for you. It
keeps playing with the screen locked, with lock-screen and headphone controls,
and reads PDFs as well as EPUBs.

HIGHLIGHTS BECOME A DRAFT
Highlight as you read, then turn those highlights into a first draft. Readr
orders them by reading position, keeps your quotes intact, and turns them into
an editable draft you can export as Markdown.

PRIVACY
No usage tracking. No account. No subscription. Your books, highlights, notes and questions
live on your device, and reading them aloud happens there too. When you use
Ask, your question and the book text needed to answer it go straight to the
company you connected — never through a Readr server, because there isn't
one. Your keys are stored in the device Keychain.

READING THAT FEELS LIKE READING
• EPUB, PDF, plain-text and Markdown — DRM-free files you own
• A book to start on: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is in your library on
  first launch, so you can try everything before importing your own
• Three layouts: continuous scroll, single page, or two facing pages
• Paper, Sepia and Dark themes, with your choice of typeface and spacing
• Table of contents, bookmarks, in-book search, footnote popups
• Five highlight colors, notes, and a Notes panel that exports to Markdown
• Continue Reading picks up exactly where you left off, reading or listening
• On iPad: sidebar and reader side by side, two-page spreads, and hardware
  keyboard page turns

FREE AND OPEN SOURCE
Readr is free and MIT-licensed, developed in the open. Read the code, file an
issue, or send a bug report from inside the app — there's a Report a bug
button in Settings that attaches your app version and recent errors, and
nothing about what you've been reading.

## Key features

- AI-powered Q&A about book content
- On-device text-to-speech narration
- Draft generation from highlights
- Recap feature for reading progress
- Supports EPUB, PDF, TXT, and Markdown
- Privacy-focused with no tracking or account

## Recent user reviews (1 of 1)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/readr-ai-ebook-reader/id6789784856/reviews.md

### 3/5 — No audio at first

*2026-09-08*

The first three times I clicked on the headphones icon, there was a progress bar and it acted like it was reading, but there was no audio. The fourth time I clicked on it was about five minutes later. It showed a spinning icon for 15 seconds, and then the audio voice played fine. I haven’t tried the AI because I don’t have an AI key because I never pay for AI.

## Frequently asked questions about Readr

### Does Readr have ads?

Readr is ad-free. The app does not contain advertisements, allowing for an uninterrupted reading experience.

### What devices does Readr support?

Readr is available on iPhone and iPad devices, offering a seamless experience across Apple's mobile ecosystem.

### How does Readr handle AI queries?

Readr requires you to connect your own AI account (Anthropic, OpenAI, or OpenRouter) for its 'Ask' feature. You pay the AI provider directly for usage, and your keys are stored locally.

### Can Readr read books aloud without an internet connection?

The 'Listen' feature uses Readr Voice, a neural voice that runs entirely on your device, so it can read aloud offline. AI 'Ask' features require an internet connection to your chosen AI provider.

### What file formats does Readr support?

Readr supports a variety of formats including EPUB, PDF, plain-text (.txt), and Markdown files, making it versatile for your existing ebook library.

### How does Readr protect user privacy?

Readr prioritizes privacy with no usage tracking or account requirements. Your books, highlights, and notes remain on your device, and AI queries are sent directly to your chosen provider without passing through Readr's servers.

### What is the age rating for Readr?

Readr has an age rating of 17+, likely due to the AI capabilities and the potential for users to interact with mature content within their books.

### How often is Readr updated?

The latest version of Readr was released on 2026-09-05, indicating recent development and ongoing support for the application.

## Version history (last 3 releases)

### 3.3.1 — 2026-09-05

Readr 3.3.1: Readr Voice is the only voice you hear.

• The first time you listen, Readr waits for Readr Voice instead of
  reading in an Apple voice meanwhile — the Listen bar shows the one-time
  download's progress, and the book starts the moment the voice is ready
• Readr Voice keeps reading with the screen locked. It reads ahead while
  the app is open (an hour, or the rest of the book while charging) and
  plays from that with the phone in your pocket; if it ever runs out, it
  pauses and asks you to unlock rather than switching voices
• Speed changes no longer restart the sentence
• The voice menu is Readr Voice, with Apple's voices a tap away under
  "Other voices" for anyone who prefers them; books in other languages
  keep Apple's voices as before
• If the download can't finish, the bar says so with a Retry — no
  surprise voice

### 3.2.1 — 2026-09-02

Readr 3.2.1 makes listening better.

• English books can now use Readr Voice, a more natural narrator that reads on your device
• Listening starts with an Apple voice while the one-time Readr Voice download finishes (about 104MB), then switches over automatically
• Footnote numbers are no longer read aloud (formulas still are — that one's next)
• Fixed: repeated sentences, narration jumping ahead, and playback wedging after a phone call
• Apple's built-in voices are still one tap away, and are used for books in other languages

### 2.15.1 — 2026-08-27

No release notes.

## Apps similar to Readr

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-19.*
