Comparison

Aurora Reader vs SMSGuard

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

Head to head
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

About

SMSGuard

This app intelligently filters incoming SMS messages, automatically categorizing them into folders like Normal, Junk, Promotion, and Transaction. It offers custom rules for blocking numbers and matching keywords, with an optional premium cloud service for enhanced spam detection. Designed for privacy, it respects your contacts and supports multiple languages.

Highlights
  • Smart auto-classification of messages
  • Customizable blacklists and whitelists
  • Advanced keyword and Regex matching
  • Optional cloud-based spam filtering
  • Privacy-focused message handling
  • Multi-language support
Read full description

Tired of endless spam, scams, and annoying promotional texts? SMSGuard is a powerful, intelligent, and privacy-first SMS filtering tool built exclusively for iOS. Leveraging advanced machine learning algorithms, we automatically sort your incoming messages so you only see what truly matters. Take back control of your inbox! ## CORE FEATURES: 【Smart Auto-Classification】 Without any manual effort, SMSGuard neatly categorizes incoming messages from unknown senders into four distinct folders: Normal, Junk (Spam/Scams), Promotion (Marketing), and Transaction (Verification Codes/Orders). Never miss an important message again! 【Powerful Custom Rule Engine】 Blacklists & Whitelists: Easily block or allow specific phone numbers. Advanced Keyword Matching: Target spam with precision using simple wildcards (e.g., verif*+code) or professional Regular Expressions (Regex) for catching complex spam variants. 【Smart Filtering】 Cloud Advanced Filter (Premium): Encountering tricky, disguised spam? Enable our Cloud Service to leverage big-data models for ultimate detection accuracy and real-time threat protection. 【Absolute Privacy Protection】 Your privacy is our absolute priority. We CANNOT and WILL NOT access or read text messages from your saved contacts. 【Global Support】 SMSGuard natively supports 13 languages. Wherever you are and whatever language you speak, it is ready to protect your inbox. ## SMSGuard Premium: Unlock our Cloud Smart Filter network for the most robust, up-to-date protection available. Enjoy the ultimate, clutter-free messaging experience! ** Subscription automatically renews unless canceled in your Apple ID Account Settings. 【Important Note】 Due to iOS system limitations, SMS filtering extensions do not apply to your iMessages or messages received from people already saved in your Contacts. Privacy Policy: https://smsguard.aibase.biz/privacy?locale=en Terms of Use (EULA): https://smsguard.aibase.biz/terms?locale=en Download SMSGuard today and enjoy a distraction-free inbox!

Screenshots

Aurora Reader4 screens
SMSGuard3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: SMSGuard at 5.0 against Aurora Reader's 4.3. Aurora Reader's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ratings volume (12 vs 1). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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

Both are free to download. SMSGuard sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Aurora Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SMSGuard holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Aurora Reader has 12 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 62% of Aurora Reader's written reviews are positive against 60% of SMSGuard's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Aurora Reader ships an update every 6 weeks, SMSGuard monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Aurora Reader versus SMSGuard: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAurora ReaderSMSGuard
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (12 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews61.5% of reviews — better60.0% of reviews
Number of ratings12 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size27 MB26 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJunyu Kuang富海 肖

Customer experience

Aurora Reader

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

SMSGuard

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive60.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative20.0%

In-app purchases

None

Aurora Reader

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

SMSGuard

Subscriptions2
  • SMSGuard Pro Monthly3 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • SMSGuard Pro Annual3 Days trial$6.991 Year

Questions

Is Aurora Reader free?
Aurora Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is SMSGuard free?
SMSGuard is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Aurora Reader or SMSGuard?
SMSGuard is rated higher. Aurora Reader averages 4.3 out of 5 from 12 ratings, while SMSGuard averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Aurora Reader or SMSGuard have ads?
Neither Aurora Reader nor SMSGuard shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Aurora Reader or SMSGuard?
Aurora Reader ships an update every 6 weeks, and SMSGuard monthly. Most recently, Aurora Reader was updated on October 24, 2026 and SMSGuard on October 11, 2026.

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