Comparison

Alook Browser vs Aurora Reader

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Alook Browser

This minimalist browser offers lightning-fast speeds with no ads or notifications. Enjoy advanced audio/video playback, robust file management, an e-book reader, and a powerful ad blocker. It supports extensive customization and privacy features for a streamlined web experience.

Highlights
  • Lightning-fast browsing speed
  • Advanced audio/video playback
  • Comprehensive file management
  • Integrated e-book reader
  • Built-in ad blocker
  • Customizable website settings
  • Private browsing mode
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Alook is a minimalist yet powerful browser, built to be the best browser for iOS. Core Features - Lightning-fast experience: no push notifications, no news, no ads, and millisecond-level startup. - Audio and video: floating playback, speed control (0.5x-16.0x), background playback, AirPlay, DLNA, mini player, single-track loop, picture-in-picture, screenshots, mirroring, long-press speed control, and more. - File management: manual downloads, unzip/compress (zip, rar, 7z, including encrypted archives), create/edit files, open as plain text, choose file encoding, import from Photos, move/copy files, Wi-Fi transfer, and more. - E-book reader: supports txt, pdf, epub, kindle, mobi, azw, azw3, azw4, prc, and pdb, with Simplified/Traditional Chinese conversion. - Reading mode: smart pagination, Simplified/Traditional Chinese conversion, designed for novels. - Image mode: batch save and image compression. - Ad blocker: built-in Adblock Plus with multilingual rules, third-party rules, custom ad marking, and intrusive ad blocking. - Custom search engines: automatically detects search boxes on webpages so you can add them quickly. - Translation: built-in translation for 14 languages, including full-page and selected-text translation. - JavaScript extensions: run custom JS code. - File sharing: works with iOS Files and iTunes file sharing. - Device support: iPhone, iPhone XS Max, iPad Pro, and cross-device sync. - Website settings: configure floating video, ad blocking, no-image mode, clipboard access, and JavaScript per site. - iPad support: Split View and drag and drop. Other Features - iCloud sync for bookmarks, custom ad rules, search engines, and plugins. - Private/incognito browsing. - Custom immersive wallpapers. - Next-page preloading. - Custom site icons. - BigBang text selection. - Handoff support. - Auto-refresh. - Pull to refresh webpages. - Pull down on the home page to search. - Custom website home page. - Full-page screenshots. - Developer tools: view source, Eruda, vConsole, Cookie management. - Night mode: OLED pure black mode and eye-care webpage colors. - No-image mode: smart no-image browsing. - Full-screen mode: swipe to hide the toolbar. - Find in page. - Site search with the default search engine. - Password manager support: 1Password, LastPass, Avast Passwords, and more. - QR code tools: scan, recognize QR codes in images, and generate QR codes from links. - Desktop/mobile site switching with custom User-Agent support. - Block redirects to the App Store. - Print and create PDFs. - Quickly enter URLs and open copied URLs. - Page-turn buttons and tap-to-turn. - Swipe back from anywhere. - View site certificates. - Touch ID or Face ID authentication. - Custom long-press shortcuts. - Import and export bookmarks. - Custom fonts, language, page swipe speed, and screen rotation lock. Privacy and Security - Data protection: account, password, and activity data are not uploaded. - Incognito mode: browsing history, cache, and cookies are not saved. - Data storage: unlike browsers that store bookmarks and data in a developer database, Alook stores bookmarks and data in the user’s private iCloud database, accessible only by the user. User Reviews - keeyang1985: Conscientious software. I like it very much, and it is worth the price. Small, fast, and free of unnecessary clutter. It is the browser I have always wanted. - Wen Jing: The happiness brought by a good app is hard to beat. I might have missed the best browser I have ever used. Other browsers scatter features everywhere; Alook brings them together and is excellent value for the price. If you have any questions before or after purchase, please contact us. X/Twitter: AlookBrowser Email: AlookApp@qq.com

About

Aurora Reader

Save, read, and organize articles from the web with a clutter-free reading experience. Look up word definitions, add notes, and listen to articles hands-free. Syncs across devices via iCloud.

Highlights
  • Save articles from web
  • Clutter-free reading view
  • Offline article access
  • Word definition lookup
  • Highlighting and note-taking
  • Article-to-speech functionality
  • iCloud sync across devices
Features
Read full description

Save articles, read articles, learn new words, record new thoughts… Aurora Reader is a premium Read-It-Later app that builds with latest technologies and packs a ton of exciting features. SAVE ARTICLES • Find Aurora Reader’s extensions from Share sheet in Safari, Twitter, Medium and many other apps, and use them to view or save articles • On iPad, use Drag & Drop to import multiple articles from another app at once • With automatically iCloud Sync, you can save articles on your iPhone and read them later on your iPad, iPod touch or Mac* READ ARTICLES • Article view automatically removes clutter from webpage and shows only the main article content for you • Immersive reading experience let you keep focus • No network, no problem: saved articles can be read at anytime, even without network • Customize your reading experience with multiple fonts and themes • Reading progress is automatically sync with iCloud, so you can easily switch device and continue reading from where you left off LEARN NEW WORDS • On article view, you can check word definitions simply by one tap. To close definitions view, it’s also as simple as a tap or swipe • Check word definitions in multi-language dictionaries • Aurora Reader can get you a great amount of definitions in least amount of time, thanks to the customized search engine with special optimization • Words you look up can be automatically saved to Aurora Reader’s companion app: Aurora Dictionary • Install or delete dictionaries from Dictionary Manager view RECORD NEW THOUGHTS • Select, swipe, highlight, and add notes • Save unlimited highlights and notes • Choose the highlight color that match your style REWIND • Rewind your reading journey with Search • Search saved articles, notes, folders and more from iOS home screen or in-app search bar • Accurately locate sentences and paragraphs with Full-Text Search ORGANIZE • Organize your articles and notes with Folders • Enjoy the freedom to create unlimited folders and subfolders • Quickly find your folders with Search • Use Drag & Drop to move and reorder your folders, articles and notes RELAX • Listen to articles with high fidelity voice, hands-free and eyes-free • Check currently reading paragraph on in-app Now Playing view. Find some unfamiliar words? just tap to look up • Listen with just your Apple Watch (requires watchOS 6.0 or later, and a pair of Bluetooth headphones) • Switch between multiple speech languages and voices * Aurora Reader for Mac is available on Mac App Store

Screenshots

Alook Browser4 screens
Aurora Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Aurora Reader at Free against Alook Browser's $0.99. Alook Browser's advantage is ratings volume (2.6K vs 12) and rating (4.6 vs 4.3). On review sentiment, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Aurora Reader is free to download; Alook Browser costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Alook Browser holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Alook Browser has 2.6K ratings behind it against 12, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of Alook Browser's written reviews are positive against 62% of Aurora Reader's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Alook Browser ships an update every 2 weeks, Aurora Reader every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and August 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Alook Browser versus Aurora Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAlook BrowserAurora Reader
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating4.6 (2.6K ratings) — better4.3 (12 ratings)
Positive reviews69.5% of reviews — better61.5% of reviews
Number of ratings2.6K — better12
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#30 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS14.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size28 MB27 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperBaoding Lehuo Network Technology Co., Ltd.Junyu Kuang

Customer experience

Alook Browser

All ratings2,620 ratings
Positive91.3%
Neutral2.3%
Negative6.4%
Written reviews338 reviews
Positive69.5%
Neutral9.8%
Negative20.7%

Aurora Reader

All ratings12 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral8.3%
Negative8.3%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive61.5%
Neutral15.4%
Negative23.1%

Bugs and requests

Alook Browser

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Background video playback not working after recent update
  • Search bar freezes or becomes unresponsive
  • Certain websites fail to load properly
  • Inconsistent behavior when closing tabs

Requested features

10 requests
  • Add support for custom search engines
  • Implement a 'Find in Page' feature
  • Allow customization of the quick options toolbar
  • Add ability to block 3rd party cookies
  • Import support for popular ad block lists
Show 5 more
  • Implement automatic dark/light mode switching
  • Add support for video speed control beyond 2x
  • Improve video playback controls (e.g. seek, volume)
  • Implement tab sync across devices
  • Add support for file/video downloads

Aurora Reader

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Alook Browser

No in-app purchases

None

Aurora Reader

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Alook Browser free?
Alook Browser costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Aurora Reader free?
Aurora Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Alook Browser or Aurora Reader?
Alook Browser is rated higher. Alook Browser averages 4.6 out of 5 from 2.6K ratings, while Aurora Reader averages 4.3 from 12 ratings.
Do Alook Browser or Aurora Reader have ads?
Neither Alook Browser nor Aurora Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Alook Browser or Aurora Reader?
Alook Browser ships an update every 2 weeks, and Aurora Reader every 6 weeks. Most recently, Alook Browser was updated on September 26, 2026 and Aurora Reader on August 12, 2026.

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