Ok, but Ghostreader *still* sucks
Good integrations, and the company seems to be sticking around.
Unfortunately the Ghostreader feature (AI summaries) is a cheap open source model that costs $0.01 per month to run for their entire paid user base.
“Thinking” mode is so fast, I dread to think what “Fast” mode is.
Shame you can’t BYOK.
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Update 2026-10-02: Still sucks. They shipped an update upgrading the model to GPT Luna. Tried it out - thinking mode summarized a 30 minute YouTube transcription on anthropology into a 10 line summary when asked to summarize.
I’ve been on the paid plan for 3 years now. They need to have models that adapt to the length and complexity of the item, otherwise these features are useless for anything other than summarizing a long tweet.
Unfortunately the Ghostreader feature (AI summaries) is a cheap open source model that costs $0.01 per month to run for their entire paid user base.
“Thinking” mode is so fast, I dread to think what “Fast” mode is.
Shame you can’t BYOK.
___
Update 2026-10-02: Still sucks. They shipped an update upgrading the model to GPT Luna. Tried it out - thinking mode summarized a 30 minute YouTube transcription on anthropology into a 10 line summary when asked to summarize.
I’ve been on the paid plan for 3 years now. They need to have models that adapt to the length and complexity of the item, otherwise these features are useless for anything other than summarizing a long tweet.
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Response from developer
Hey there, thanks for your longtime support and for the candid feedback! The functionality you’re looking for is actually already available on web and desktop through Global Ghostreader. You can bring your own API key and use more powerful models for Ghostreader chats across your library or within individual documents. You can also use skills like "Advanced Summary" for longer, more in-depth summaries that are better suited to complex content. We’re currently working on bringing the same functionality to mobile. In the meantime, web and desktop are the best options when you want more control over the model and depth of Ghostreader’s responses. You can also configure automatic document-level prompts like “Summarize the document” to use your BYOK model and adjust the desired summary length. If you have any questions or run into trouble setting this up, feel free to reach out to us at hello@readwise.io!
Ok, but Ghostreader sucks
Good integrations, and the company seems to be sticking around.
Unfortunately the Ghostreader feature (AI summaries) is a cheap open source model that costs $0.01 per month to run for their entire paid user base.
“Thinking” mode is so fast, I dread to think what “Fast” mode is.
Shame you can’t BYOK.
Unfortunately the Ghostreader feature (AI summaries) is a cheap open source model that costs $0.01 per month to run for their entire paid user base.
“Thinking” mode is so fast, I dread to think what “Fast” mode is.
Shame you can’t BYOK.
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Response from developer
Thanks for your candid feedback. Just so you know, you can add your own OpenAI API key at read.readwise.io/integrations to access higher ChatGPT models in Ghostreader and create automated prompts. For YouTube videos, if captions weren’t uploaded by the creator, Reader uses YouTube’s auto-generated transcript. For a cleaner version, use the enhanced transcript option (available via the “...” menu on mobile or document icon on web). If you need help, feel free to reach out to us at hello@readwise.io.
Five stars
Great app and an amazing team working hard to make reading more useful and enjoyable.
Must have
All my reading and articles are here. Must have & worth the subscription.
Best Read Later App - Hands Down
This is the best read-it-later app that's ever been invented. Whether you are a power user or just a simple user, for $10 a month you can completely enhance your reading experience. With advanced AI features that you can use or not use, advanced tagging system, and beautiful design, you will enjoy this app no matter the use case. I read all my articles and books through this app using my E Ink reader, and the process is seamless and beautiful. Give this app a try. Learn how to use its basics, and you won't be let down.
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really good crossplatform app but the reader is very limited in terms of features
it’s very versatile in terms of the content we can add to it. But it’s a shame that the reader is so limited in terms of customization: only two themes (light and dark) that apply to the overall interface rather than the reader itself, just one highlight color, and on a PC the ePub file takes up very little space on the screen (instead of spanning two columns), etc.
I really would have liked to make Readwise my media library for all my content with note taking associated (for articles, books epub and pdf, videos, podcasts), but the reader isn’t customizable enough yet (same flaw as Notion, except this app is supposed to be dedicated to reading).
For now, I’m using Readest (open source) to host my books, with iOS/Mac/Windows sync. But I’d really appreciate being able to migrate my books to Readwise reader, given all its cutting-edge features and versatility.
I really would have liked to make Readwise my media library for all my content with note taking associated (for articles, books epub and pdf, videos, podcasts), but the reader isn’t customizable enough yet (same flaw as Notion, except this app is supposed to be dedicated to reading).
For now, I’m using Readest (open source) to host my books, with iOS/Mac/Windows sync. But I’d really appreciate being able to migrate my books to Readwise reader, given all its cutting-edge features and versatility.
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Good, falls behind other ePUB readers.
Good app overall. I like the layout and how it functions. But it isn’t perfect by any means and falls behind other ePUB readers. Notably: progress lost when screen rotated or coming back to an ePUB, only by being a few pages out, yet still annoying, especially as I am only using one device. Time left in the chapter defaults to 1 min when starting a new chapter, only shows accurately on the second page onwards in a chapter, an obvious bug. Limited font options, only 10 in total, why? Unable to customise font per book/article - it would be much better if I could select one font for one book and one for another - increases a feeling of variety amongst my various ePUBs, which I believe is important for digital reading. Horizontal pagination is still beta, which is strange (horizontal pagination is default for other apps which support ePUBs). Unable to select text within the provided lookup feature (for example wanting to copy a selection of text within the Define or Lookup, rather than all of it). I would also personally prefer it if the Readwise and Readwise Reader were combined in one app.
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absolutely worth it
this is the only app I’ve found worth paying a yearly subscription for. impeccable interface. so easy to use, yet so many awesome features.
when I first started using Reader, I was between jobs. when my (already generous) free trial ended, they extended it by three more months for me + were highly responsive to emails. I did not feel like a random user; the Readwise team has repeatedly made me feel like a human. (I’ve now paid for the yearly subscription two years in a row, and I tell people how great this app is all the time.)
another feature I love is having the ability to select the voice for the audio reader. I am hard of hearing with an odd kind of hearing loss. low pitched and especially high pitched voices are difficult for me to understand, so whether I can easily listen to an audiobook or podcast is dependent on the voice type. in Reader, I selected a voice that works great for me, so now I can listen to anything I can save. huge accessibility win.
there are many other features I love as well. being able to search through things I’ve read all in one place is an amazing feature, among others.
this is also one of the only apps where I actually appreciate the AI integration (even beyond the voice readers). ghostreader doesn’t feel forced on me, but it’s there for the occasional time I find it useful.
I could go on, but I have some reading to do.
I’m starting law school next year and SO glad I found this app before beginning.
If this app exists for the rest of my life and the interface design + functionality stays this good, you’ve got a lifelong subscriber. I have major gratitude for the Readwise team.
the ONE thing that would make this app even better for me is a Kobo (ereader) integration. if it had a Kobo integration, I’d officially call it the perfect app. I love the physical experience of reading on my Kobo rather than phone or tablet, and I wish I could save articles to Reader, read on my Kobo, and have my highlights sync up.
overall, 5/5 app FOR SURE.
when I first started using Reader, I was between jobs. when my (already generous) free trial ended, they extended it by three more months for me + were highly responsive to emails. I did not feel like a random user; the Readwise team has repeatedly made me feel like a human. (I’ve now paid for the yearly subscription two years in a row, and I tell people how great this app is all the time.)
another feature I love is having the ability to select the voice for the audio reader. I am hard of hearing with an odd kind of hearing loss. low pitched and especially high pitched voices are difficult for me to understand, so whether I can easily listen to an audiobook or podcast is dependent on the voice type. in Reader, I selected a voice that works great for me, so now I can listen to anything I can save. huge accessibility win.
there are many other features I love as well. being able to search through things I’ve read all in one place is an amazing feature, among others.
this is also one of the only apps where I actually appreciate the AI integration (even beyond the voice readers). ghostreader doesn’t feel forced on me, but it’s there for the occasional time I find it useful.
I could go on, but I have some reading to do.
I’m starting law school next year and SO glad I found this app before beginning.
If this app exists for the rest of my life and the interface design + functionality stays this good, you’ve got a lifelong subscriber. I have major gratitude for the Readwise team.
the ONE thing that would make this app even better for me is a Kobo (ereader) integration. if it had a Kobo integration, I’d officially call it the perfect app. I love the physical experience of reading on my Kobo rather than phone or tablet, and I wish I could save articles to Reader, read on my Kobo, and have my highlights sync up.
overall, 5/5 app FOR SURE.
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Revolutionized how I consume media
I finally feel like I have a grasp on everything I read and a single place to read it all. Highly highly recommend
Wow!
So I came from rss.app and Feedly cause I want to keep up with the playoffs.. I understand reader isn’t fast pace but it’s what I’m looking for .. use Flipboard and whatever is out there to find an article dump it in my library.. get feeds dump then then read them on my own time.. I been doing read later for now .. don’t get me started on chatting with highlights.
I LOVE IT SO MUCH!! Using it on laptop and phone !
Thank you devs!!
I LOVE IT SO MUCH!! Using it on laptop and phone !
Thank you devs!!
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Лучшее!
Лучшее приложение для чтения всего и вся!
Just downloaded but my trial is expired?
This app must be connected to to original in terms of subscription. I’ve never used this one before but I’ve used the Readwise app; just downloaded this, signed up and it told me to subscribe to continue as my trial is expired. I can’t move past that page to even see what the app entails. Thats a real bummer, really wanted to try it as I get back into reading.
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Great app, disastrous quality control
The amount of bugs this app has is amongst the highest I've ever seen on any app, whether high quality or otherwise . It's too bad, because this thing is really, really, really good when it works. For at least a year or two now, my inbox on my iPhone just does not want to work properly. It takes forever to load, and I've cleared the cache and done everything in the instructions and troubleshooting, but nothing seems to happen. I really do hope the developers get their act together.
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Great, but no Widget support?
I’m enjoying the app and the service. But it would be great to see a widget for the news feeder.
Unreliable
I love the idea of this app. I love the feature set. What I do t love is that a substantial portion of the articles I save get improperly saved. For example, I saved an article and the top and bottom sections (about 80% of the article) weren’t saved. I tried the same thing in GoodLinks — none. The article was as expected. Not sure what’s going on here but great features can’t make up for unreliable parsing.
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Superb
Love this app. I use reader to have all my reading in one place and use feeds to auto send all newsletters, articles and subscriptions to it. Readwise superbly links. I use this professionally too. Superb products.
Favorite reading app, have tried them all
been using for around a year, just so well done. Forward everything here, just put on my fiancee with the app too. She loves it
Great app!
Battery and performance issues have been fixed :)
Erlösung für mein Email Postfach
Bin so froh, hier nun all meine Newsletter und Artikel an einem Ort zu haben. Macht für mich einen riesigen Unterschied.
One app to rule them all
I’ve tried every read-it-later app out there. Reader is the one that actually stuck.
