# Violoncello — A text-based web browser!

> A text-only web browser for distraction-free reading and browsing. (iPhone/iPad app by Marcet Spahr.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/violoncello/id1568931107 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Marcet Spahr](https://appshunter.io/developer/1558283088)
- Category: Utilities
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 4.00/5 from 12 App Store ratings · 7 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 17+
- Requires: iOS 15.0 · 3 MB
- Languages: English
- Released: 2021-06-12
- Data updated: 2026-06-10
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/violoncello/id1568931107/reviews.md

## What is Violoncello?

Browse the web without distractions! Violoncello is a web browser that only displays text on websites. This is very handy if you are tired of videos, ads, and other annoyances while browsing the web. It is also quite useful for reading news articles, blog posts, and other text-heavy pages.

Violoncello offers a simple and intuitive user interface that's easy to get the hang of. It also features many helpful tools to make browsing the text-only web easier. While Violoncello lets you tweak many aspects of the browser for free, you can upgrade to the premium version of the app to unlock even more customization options! (Like changing the browser's colors and font.)

If you are interested in a text-only web browser that offers many features and is a ton of fun to use, look no further than Violoncello for iOS!

## Key features

- Text-only web browsing
- Removes videos and ads
- Distraction-free reading
- Simple user interface
- Customization options
- Premium upgrade available

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Violoncello Premium | $0.99 | one-time |


## Recent user reviews (7 of 7)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/violoncello/id1568931107/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Excellent text browser

*2024-08-14*

I'm very happy with this as it makes the web less fluorescent and trying when surfing news websites, etc. My only question is whether the browser disables cookies or still stores cookies? If the latter, is there a way to 'clear cache'?

### 2/5 — It technically works…

*2024-06-16*

I got this because I’m looking for an alternative to “Text Browser” app, which hasn’t been working well lately. However, this doesn’t seem like a good alternative. 

Just installed, and tried doing basic tasks like web search and browsing wikipedia. It seems to handle table formatting very badly, so what types of text actually scale with text size setting is pretty random. This can make some webpages dizzying to try to read. Similarly, some text areas wrap at different widths (corresponding with size), so zooming out to see the entire page width leaves some content tiny and unreadable.

Other people have already mentioned the pop-up annoyance with opening links. That’s not great.

Also, I find myself missing features from “Text Browser”, like the ability to use search boxes. If you want to use a different search engine than in the settings menu, or if you want to use the search function on a website, then this browser doesn’t work for you. I also miss being able to see the website as more than a dizzying page of text, and instead seeing it with some html formatting or style sheets. 

I certainly wouldn’t call it a “powerful” text-based browser.

### 3/5 — good text browser but please remove the pop-ups!

*2022-04-04*

I love a text based browser. I spent the buck upgrade to allow light theming. This is the only text browser on the app store I can find. It would be perfection if the developer would remove the annoying pop-up links that happen anytime you navigate anywhere. It frustrates me to no end (difficult to always have to use a second hand to navigate). Easily would be a perfect app if that was fixed but developer does not appear to want to since it’s been over a year. If the developer loves it so much , at least add a checkbox to turn it off to the settings menu. PLEASE.

### 3/5 — A good alternative for Lynx

*2022-03-06*

I was looking for a iOS version of lynx and this is a good alternative. Please add an option to disable alert that pops up with every link, it gets annoying. Then it would be 5 stars.

### 5/5 — Text based web browser

*2021-08-31*

I like that you can surf the web without any graphics (occasionally I am trying to reduce my consumption of cellular data and this helps). The developer was quick to respond to bug and feature requests!

**Developer response:** Thank you so much for updating your review! I appreciate the feedback, and I’m glad you like Violoncello. :)

### 1/5 — Error loading page

*2021-08-14*

I can’t access any website. It always shows error loading page. Internet connection or url address, everything is just fine but I simply can’t access.

**Developer response:** I’m very sorry to hear that Violoncello is not working properly for you! I’ve not been able to reproduce this issue myself on any of my devices, and this is the first time this has been reported, so I’m unsure as to what the cause is. I would appreciate it you could send me an email at john [at] tectrasystems [dot] org and provide some more information about the issue, since I don’t have a whole lot to work with here. Thanks in advance, and I hope I’ll be able to help!

### 5/5 — A great app with lots of features!

*2021-06-19*

I have been sick of ads on the internet for very long and when reading an article I will use violoncello!

**Developer response:** Thank you so much for the nice review! Glad you like Violoncello :)

## Frequently asked questions about Violoncello

### What is Violoncello?

Violoncello is a text-based web browser designed to remove visual distractions like videos and ads. It focuses on displaying only the text content of websites, making it ideal for reading articles and blog posts.

### Does Violoncello have ads?

No, Violoncello is ad-free. Its core functionality is to strip away advertisements from websites, providing a cleaner browsing experience.

### What devices does Violoncello support?

Violoncello is available for iPhone and iPad devices. It is designed to run on iOS.

### How often is Violoncello updated?

The latest version, 1.6.0, was released on January 22, 2025. Updates are released periodically to improve functionality and add features.

### Can I customize Violoncello?

Yes, Violoncello offers customization options. You can tweak many aspects of the browser for free, with additional customization like changing colors and fonts available in the premium version.

### What is the age rating for Violoncello?

Violoncello has an age rating of 17+. This is based on its content and features.

### What is the user sentiment for Violoncello?

Violoncello has a rating of 4.0 stars from 12 ratings, indicating generally positive user feedback on its text-based browsing experience.

### Is there a premium version of Violoncello?

Yes, there is a premium version of Violoncello that unlocks more customization options. This includes the ability to change the browser's colors and font.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.6.0 — 2025-01-22

Switched default search engine to DuckDuckGo following Google's requirement for JavaScript support.

### 1.5.1 — 2024-12-02

Squashed some bugs!

### 1.5.0 — 2024-10-29

New app icon and some small UI tweaks!

### 1.4.0 — 2023-11-27

Bug fixes.

### 1.3.3 — 2022-01-05

Bug fixes.

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## More apps by Marcet Spahr

- [Compliment Moi](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/compliment-moi/id1558283086)
- [TaskNudge](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tasknudge/id1558357743)
- [StreakWriter](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/streakwriter/id1594450890)
- [Flaura](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/flaura/id6475270958)

All apps by Marcet Spahr: https://appshunter.io/developer/1558283088

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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 2026-06-10.*