Comparison

CHMate vs A FB2 Reader

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

Head to head
About

CHMate

This app offers a robust reading experience for EPUB and CHM eBooks. Organize your library, add bookmarks and notes, and customize your reading environment. Share passages and easily search within your books.

Highlights
  • Organize eBooks into collections
  • Add bookmarks and notes
  • Customizable fonts and line height
  • Fast scrolling and pagination
  • Highlight favorite passages
  • Built-in search functionality
  • Share quotes with friends
Features
Read full description

Default ebook formatting does not always suit the way you read. CHMate turns your personal files into a calm, comfortable reading corner. A customizable wooden bookshelf with an ambient lamp and personal decor. Download free. Unlock multiple books with a single one-time purchase. A BOOKSHELF OF YOUR OWN • Wooden shelves and ambient lamp: Display your personal collection with warm bookshelf lighting. • Shelf decor: Arrange animated ornaments, plants, paintings, and shelf-edge figures. • Personal memories: Decorate with photos, Live Photos, or silent looping videos (MP4/MOV). • Custom layout: Freely move, resize, and favorite your decor items. TAILORED TYPOGRAPHY • Page colors: Choose from six page colors independently of your typography theme, with light, dark, or automatic appearance. • Precise reading controls: Adjust font size, line height, page margins, and fonts for body, headings, and code. • Custom font import: Read with built-in fonts or import your own font files. • Horizontal and vertical reading: Switch text orientation where supported for Chinese and Japanese text. • iCloud theme sync: Save your custom typography themes and sync them across your devices. TOOLS & LOCAL IMPORT • Supported formats: Read your own EPUB and CHM files with structured table of contents navigation. • Local Wi-Fi transfer: Send files directly from your computer browser over your local network. • Reading tools: Search full text across chapters, add highlights, and review notes in one place. HONEST PRICING • Free download with complete reading features for your current book. • Unlock multiple books with a single one-time in-app purchase. • No subscriptions and no ads.

About

A FB2 Reader

This free application allows you to read your favorite FB2 format ebooks on your iPad and iPhone. Easily import books from various sources, customize your reading experience with adjustable fonts and color schemes, and navigate your library with ease.

Highlights
  • Read FB2 ebooks
  • Import from web, iTunes, and cloud drives
  • Adjustable fonts, spacing, and width
  • Three color schemes
  • Easy navigation and page turning
  • Sort books by various criteria
  • Book image gallery
Features
Read full description

A FB2 Reader lets you read your favorite books on iPad without any restrictions and hidden fees. A FB2 Reader completely free ebook reading application, you can collect unlimited number of titles in your Library and read them for you own pleasure. Application optimized for all iPad and iPhone models and high resolution Retina Display graphics. It is possible to load ebooks in fb2 format into application by a number of way, like: - download fb2 books using your favorite web browser application and open it with A FB2 Reader using "Open In..." iSO feature - use iTunes file sharing to copy files from you computer - import books from you preferred cloud drive - Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive currently supported, more options coming in next versions A FB2 Reader features: - Turn pages with a tap or swipe - Easy navigation inside the book - Open electronic books from any source - Automatically expands fb2 files from zip archive - Adjustable fonts and font sizes - Adjustable line spacing - Adjustable page width - Three color schemes - Sort books by File name, Book Title, Author or Recently opened - Book Information Page - Book Images Gallery View - all embedded images on one page - Book sharing - possible to transfer book to any destination supported by iOS or any application which can handle this file type

Screenshots

CHMate4 screens
A FB2 Reader3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: A FB2 Reader at none against CHMate's 1. A FB2 Reader also leads on review sentiment (67% vs 55%) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 26.0). CHMate's advantage is rating (3.9 vs 3.4) and ratings volume (20 vs 5). On price, update cadence, ads 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

Both are free to download. CHMate sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. A FB2 Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

CHMate holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 3.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 20 and 5 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 55% of CHMate's written reviews are positive against 67% of A FB2 Reader's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
CHMate versus A FB2 Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCHMateA FB2 Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.9 (20 ratings) — better3.4 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews55.3% of reviews67.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings20 — better5
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size51 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer贤安 陈Yuri Staloverov

Customer experience

CHMate

All ratings20 ratings
Positive70.0%
Neutral5.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews197 reviews
Positive55.3%
Neutral12.7%
Negative32.0%

A FB2 Reader

All ratings5 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative40.0%
Written reviews70 reviews
Positive67.1%
Neutral5.7%
Negative27.1%

Bugs and requests

CHMate

Reported bugs

13 issues
  • App crashes when searching CHM files
  • Crashes when using tap-hold for bookmarking
  • Highlighting functionality broken after iOS updates
  • Notes and bookmarks not saving properly
  • Highlights disappear or move between chapters
Show 8 more
  • App crashes on startup or when opening files
  • Table of contents index expansion broken
  • Custom fonts blocked after iOS 14.5 update
  • Files not accessible via iCloud or Dropbox
  • Missing icons after updates
  • Images display as half-dark or missing
  • Text formatting changes not visible without page reload
  • First line spacing issues

Requested features

12 requests
  • Dark mode and additional color themes (Sepia)
  • Book cover display instead of text-only library view
  • PDF support
  • Text-to-speech functionality
  • Better pagination options
Show 7 more
  • iPad Pro resolution support
  • iOS multi-window support
  • Better bookmark functionality
  • Separate highlighting and annotation tools
  • Support for Cyrillic and Arabic text encoding
  • Collection/folder organization for multiple files
  • Zip file support for documentation sets

A FB2 Reader

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

CHMate

One-time1
  • CHMate+$9.99
None

A FB2 Reader

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is CHMate free?
CHMate is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is A FB2 Reader free?
A FB2 Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, CHMate or A FB2 Reader?
CHMate is rated higher. CHMate averages 3.9 out of 5 from 20 ratings, while A FB2 Reader averages 3.4 from 5 ratings.
Do CHMate or A FB2 Reader have ads?
Neither CHMate nor A FB2 Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, CHMate or A FB2 Reader?
CHMate ships an update every 2 weeks, and A FB2 Reader every 2 weeks. Most recently, CHMate was updated on October 21, 2026 and A FB2 Reader on October 24, 2026.

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