# SAPIENTIA Research — AI bridges research silos > AI bridges research silos (iPhone/iPad app by Daisaku Seto.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sapientia-research/id6761721069 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Daisaku Seto](https://appshunter.io/developer/1889853807) - Category: Reference, Productivity - Price: Free with in-app purchases - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 18.4 · 3 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2026-04-14 - Data updated: 2026-08-01 - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sapientia-research/id6761721069/reviews.md ## What is SAPIENTIA Research? SAPIENTIA is a tool to search, read, and listen to your PDFs - from papers and dictionaries to everyday reading. Find with cross-PDF search, read in the reader, and listen with on-device text-to-speech. The AI exploration that breaks research silos is here too. [Instant search across thousands of pages] Import a PDF and full-text fuzzy search becomes available. Hiragana, katakana, full and half width are unified; Levenshtein distance allows for typos. Even a dictionary of thousands of pages returns results almost instantly. Two-phase (exact then fuzzy), Japanese normalization, context snippets, seven highlight styles. [Peripheral Exploration] AI extracts key phrases and generates cards in two ranges: Mid-range (adjacent fields) and Far-range (distant domains, including folk knowledge and crafts across cultures). Paper lookup runs in Japanese, English, and Chinese in parallel against Semantic Scholar, so even a Japanese keyword pulls in the right papers; otherwise it falls back to Google Scholar or Web search. [Multilingual Paper Search] A keyword in any language is auto-translated and searched across CiNii, J-STAGE, Crossref, arXiv, and Semantic Scholar at once. Result titles are shown in your UI language. [AI Summary - on-device when possible] Summarize the context around a hit, or all hits at once. On Apple Intelligence devices (iPhone 15 Pro and later) it runs fully on-device - PDF content never leaves your device. Otherwise it falls back to the Gemini API. [Write memos and return to the source] Leave a memo on any page. v4.0 introduces a dedicated Memos tab where every memo can be browsed and searched together. One tap returns you to the source PDF and page. [Read - resume, bookmarks, cross-PDF hits (v4.1+)] The app remembers the page (and read-aloud position) you closed on, so you can resume. Bookmark and jump from the bottom bar, and move through pages with the slider. After searching, step through exact-match hits one by one - across other PDFs too - each auto-highlighted. [Listen - on-device text-to-speech (v4.2)] Have your pages read aloud, continuing automatically to the next page. Adjustable speed, sleep timer (up to 2 hours), pages-to-read limit (up to 100), resume mid-sentence, an "extend" prompt when time/pages run out (tap or shake to continue), and a remaining countdown. Plays in the background and on the lock screen, with controls and extend. Runs on-device; text is never sent externally. Tip: add a high-quality voice in iOS Settings for a more natural sound. [Capture pages directly] No PDF? Photograph book pages and we OCR them via Apple Live Text, including vertical Japanese. Capture an entire dictionary or specialized book. [All major cloud providers] Import PDFs from iCloud Drive, Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox. [Multilingual UI and translation] UI in Japanese, English, and Chinese. Tap to translate selected text; on Apple Intelligence devices, translation runs on-device too. [Pro features (14-day free trial)] The first 14 days unlock every feature for you to try. After that, Pro features can be permanently unlocked with a one-time purchase. Always free: unlimited PDF import & search, basic highlighting, memos, up to 3 folders, history. Pro features (one-time unlock): Peripheral Exploration, unlimited AI Summary (on-device when supported), multilingual paper search across 5 databases, translation, continuous-capture OCR, unlimited folders, no daily caps. v3.0 buyers keep Pro automatically. [Who is this for?] Researchers and students; faculty and postdocs; independent researchers; translators and editors who consult dictionaries; anyone managing many PDFs. [Notes on use] AI summaries are generated by Google Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite or Apple Foundation Models; always check the original before citing. Academic results come via each service's public API. PDF data is processed on-device by default (no external transmission on Apple Intelligence devices). ## Pricing and in-app purchases Base price: Free. **One-time purchases** | Purchase | Price | Type | | --- | --- | --- | | SAPIENTIA Pro | $9.99 | one-time | ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 4.3.0 — 2026-07-27 v4.3.0 new features. Search in your language and find English and Chinese PDFs too Your search term is automatically expanded across languages. Searching for a Japanese word also finds its English equivalents such as shock or impact, and its Chinese equivalent. On supported devices with Apple Intelligence, synonyms are expanded by on-device AI, with no network and no API key required. Search results now also highlight the word that actually matched, such as the English term. Note: Pro expands to broader translations and technical terms. Import text files (.txt / .md / .rtf) You can now import plain-text files directly. They are automatically converted to a searchable PDF on import, so search, highlighting, and read-aloud all work as usual. Send to SAPIENTIA via Share from any app From the share menu in Notes, Word (export as PDF), Files, Google Drive, OneDrive and more, you can send PDFs and text straight to SAPIENTIA. Open SAPIENTIA and they are imported into your library automatically. Stronger sorting and filtering in the library All PDFs and the folder-add screen now support name filtering and sorting (date added newest or oldest, name ascending or descending, and page count). In the folder-add screen, PDFs already in the folder are shown as Added to prevent duplicates. Thank you. We will keep refining the experience. ### 4.2.1 — 2026-07-16 v4.2.1 bug fixes. ■ Fixed PDFs disappearing from the library Fixed an issue where PDFs added to the library could become invisible after importing a batch of files. If you try to import a file that already exists in your library, it is now skipped instead of overwriting — and a message tells you how many were skipped. ■ Fixed note content being lost when the app quit unexpectedly Fixed an issue where text typed in the note editor was lost if the app closed before saving. After this update, your draft is saved automatically as you type. The next time you open the same note, a banner reads "Draft restored from last session." ■ Added sort options to the library A sort button (↑↓) is now available at the top of "All PDFs." Switch between "Date Added (Newest First)" and "Name (A→Z)." Your choice is remembered across sessions. Thank you for the detailed review — we'll keep refining the experience. ### 4.2.0 — 2026-06-18 v4.2 — search, read, and listen in one app. ■ Text-to-speech (on-device) Have your pages read aloud. When a page ends, it continues automatically to the next. • Adjustable speed • Sleep timer (up to 2 hours; stops automatically) • Pages-to-read limit (this page only, up to 100 pages) • Resume from where you stopped — mid-sentence • When the timer or page count ends, an "Extend?" prompt appears — tap, or shake your phone, to continue • A small countdown shows minutes / pages remaining Tip: download a high-quality voice in iOS Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content → Voices for a more natural sound. ■ Background & lock-screen playback Reading continues with the screen off or while you use other apps. The lock screen and Control Center show the title, page, and time remaining, with play/pause and previous/next page (and from your earphones). When the sleep timer ends, you can extend right from the lock screen's play button. ■ Resume reading / bookmarks / page slider The app remembers the page (and read-aloud position) you closed on. Bookmark and jump from the bottom bar, and move through pages quickly with the slider. ■ Step through search hits across all your PDFs After searching, use the arrows to review exact-match hits one by one — across other PDFs too — with the searched term auto-highlighted on each. We'll keep refining it as a tool to look things up, read, and listen. ### 4.1.1 — 2026-06-11 v4.1.1 bug fix. ■ Fixed Pro restoration for existing customers Fixed an issue where customers who previously bought the paid version of the app could be asked to purchase Pro again after updating. If this affected you, Pro is automatically restored after this update — no repurchase needed. • Fixed an issue where a panel could close unexpectedly during use. • PDFs inside a folder now open with a single tap. • You can now scroll to the pages around a search hit. Thanks for your patience. We'll keep refining the "search it like a dictionary" experience. ### 4.1 — 2026-06-09 v4.1 update. Better iPad support and a much-improved experience for scanned documents. ■ Full screen on iPad Search and PDF views now use the whole screen — no more tiny PDFs. ■ Highlights for scans & photos Scanned PDFs and photos that had no real text are now turned into searchable PDFs. Your search term is highlighted right on the page, and you can select/copy text and even search it in other apps. Conversion happens automatically in the background while you use the app. ■ Easier to find, easier to read • Search hits open at a size where the whole page fits. • The All PDFs list now shows cover thumbnails. Tap one to read the PDF and flip through every page. ■ Smoother importing • Added a "Stop" button for OCR. If you stop, the document is kept and you can continue anytime with "Resume OCR". • When importing several files, text documents finish first and scans are processed afterward — and stopping never drops the remaining files. • A "Search again" button now appears after you change the fuzzy / multilingual options. ■ Three languages Now available in Japanese, English, and Chinese, fully localized throughout. Also includes stability improvements for large scanned documents. ## More apps by Daisaku Seto - [ToneCraft](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tonecraft/id6761473626) - [ScoreLibrary](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/scorelibrary/id6761536209) - [A.L.I.S.](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/alis/id6762501528) - [Ruten](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ruten/id6763751678) - [Tenohira Lab](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tenohira-lab/id6766134357) All apps by Daisaku Seto: https://appshunter.io/developer/1889853807 --- *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 2026-08-01.*