Comparison

Bluefire Reader vs MapleRead SE

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

Head to head
About

Bluefire Reader

This application allows users to read EPUB and PDF ebooks on their iPhone or iPad. It supports Adobe® Content Server protected content from various retailers, publishers, and libraries, offering features like bookmarking, notes, and search for a customized reading experience.

Highlights
  • Read EPUB and PDF ebooks
  • Supports Adobe Content Server protected content
  • Bookmarking and notes
  • Search functionality
  • Customizable reading experience
  • Collections management
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Bluefire Reader is the best way to read Adobe® Content Server protected ebooks on your iPhone or iPad. With Bluefire Reader you can read EPUB and PDF ebooks from many retailers, publishers and libraries. This full featured ereader app includes bookmarking, notes, search, collections, batch import and export, and settings for fully customizing your reading experience Bookstores, libraries and schools around the world tap Bluefire to design and develop their mission critical apps. Try Bluefire Reader today and see why.

About

MapleRead SE

This app offers a unique audio-visual reading experience for EPUB and PDF files. It allows for extensive customization of book styles, instant audiobook generation, and immersive reading that syncs audio and text. It also functions as an effective library management tool with cross-device syncing.

Highlights
  • Audio-visual reading experience
  • EPUB and PDF reader
  • Pseudo audiobook generation
  • Immersion reading (audio/text sync)
  • Library management and organization
  • Cross-device syncing
  • User-defined customization
Currently charting
Read full description

MapleRead is dedicated to enable unique audio-visual reading experience for everyone. ------------ Our MapleRead app family has 3 members, namely SE, CE and CX. - SE is our flagship product with all features. - CE is SE without PDF reader and built-in Library Server. - CX is CE with some limitation. Free to try. - No recurring subscription fees. No ads. Just buy it once. Gratuity optional. - Moreover, SE and CE can be run side-by-side via split-view multitasking. - Recommend SE for use on multiple devices with easy and fast book sharing via Library Server. - Recommend the SE-CE bundle for the best value. ------------ MapleRead includes a superb audio-visual EPUB e-book reader. - It lets you easily modify publisher's original book style to better suit your aesthetic taste. - It lets you instantly generate pseudo audiobooks with a choice of narrator voices over 40 languages. - It enables immersion reading so that you may read and listen to the same book in sync. - Background listening works well too. Compatible with Lock Screen Music Player and CarPlay. MapleRead UI is friendly to users of all ages. - Books can be read in regular and large print. - A choice of UI text sizes makes reading in non-book views much more comfortable. MapleRead is a great learning tool. - It lets you look up words, translate sentences, search text, highlight text and write notes. - It helps you collect vocabulary and organize notes with various priorities. - It provides hooks to user-defined dictionaries, translators, and other tools. - Immersion reading improves your comprehension, especially of foreign-language books. MapleRead is an effective and fast library management tool. - It is designed for you, a book lover, who may own a huge and/or growing book collection. - It lets you keep all your books in one place and well-organized automatically. - It lets you display your books elegantly in style. - It lets you easily repair individual book metadata. - If supports multiple book sets and multiple tags. - It offers multiple ways to import and export books, and works well with Calibre. MapleRead supports secure sync across devices via MapleRead Cloud and iCloud. - It syncs reading positions, notes, vocab, bookmarks, and book set membership (but not the books). - It syncs reading positions additionally via iCloud for even better user experience. - It enables web access to synced data via web browsers from desktop and mobile devices. MapleRead offers unprecedented user-defined customization options. - They include unlimited user-defined fonts, book themes, cover images and library scenes. - Each book theme includes various types of user-defined highlight colors. - Each book can have its own theme, and each EPUB book can have its own style. MapleRead SE includes also a great PDF e-book reader. - The PDF reader looks very similar to the EPUB reader for a sense of unified UI. MapleRead SE has a zero-configuration Library Server for easy book sharing. - All books in Library can be shared. - Smart batch download makes transferring of multiple books very convenient. [For more technical details, screenshots, FAQ and reviews, please visit our website.]

Screenshots

Bluefire Reader4 screens
MapleRead SE4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Bluefire Reader at none against MapleRead SE's 3. Bluefire Reader also leads on rating (4.6 vs 4.2) and ratings volume (4.1K vs 131). MapleRead SE's advantage is review sentiment (68% vs 55%). On update cadence, ads, chart position 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

Bluefire Reader costs $4.99 and MapleRead SE $8.99 up front. MapleRead SE sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Bluefire Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Bluefire Reader holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bluefire Reader has 4.1K ratings behind it against 131, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 55% of Bluefire Reader's written reviews are positive against 68% of MapleRead SE's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bluefire Reader ships an update every 2 months, MapleRead SE every 6 weeks. Both last shipped on October 2, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Bluefire Reader versus MapleRead SE: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBluefire ReaderMapleRead SE
Price$4.99 — better$8.99
Rating4.6 (4.1K ratings) — better4.2 (131 ratings)
Positive reviews55.2% of reviews68.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings4.1K — better131
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
Best chart rank#47#29 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size21 MB30 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperBluefire ProductionsMaplepop LLC

Customer experience

Bluefire Reader

All ratings4,078 ratings
Positive91.3%
Neutral3.9%
Negative4.8%
Written reviews484 reviews
Positive55.2%
Neutral12.6%
Negative32.2%

MapleRead SE

All ratings131 ratings
Positive77.9%
Neutral8.4%
Negative13.7%
Written reviews168 reviews
Positive68.5%
Neutral14.3%
Negative17.3%

User reviews

Bluefire Reader

From 4.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💻 Excellent ePub reader
  • 🌙 Useful night mode
  • 📚 Organizes library well
  • 🎨 Customizable font and layout
  • 🔍 Convenient search and navigation

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
  • 📍 Loses page position when reopening
  • 🔍 Inconsistent search and bookmark behavior
  • 🔧 Outdated and lacking updates
  • 🔒 Adobe DRM integration issues

MapleRead SE

From 131 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Highly customizable reading experience
  • 🔒 Robust library management features
  • 👍 Seamless integration with Calibre
  • 👍 Excellent organization and tagging options
  • 👍 Wide range of font and layout customization

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Sync issues between devices
  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and performance problems
  • 🔍 Complicated interface and setup process
  • 🔍 Difficult to import large book libraries
  • 🔍 Limited annotation and highlighting options

Bugs and requests

Bluefire Reader

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Incompatible with latest iOS versions
  • Blank pages when opening some books
  • Incorrect page numbering and navigation
  • Unreliable bookmarking and note-taking

Requested features

5 requests
  • Sync reading progress across devices
  • Improved highlighting and annotation tools
  • Vertical scrolling option
  • Customizable highlight colors
  • Integrated dictionary/reference lookup

MapleRead SE

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Freezing and crashing issues, especially on iOS 14
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching between portrait and landscape modes
  • Unreliable OPDS server integration and book downloads

Requested features

5 requests
  • Automatic reading progress sync across devices
  • Improved PDF handling and annotation support
  • Expanded highlighting and note-taking capabilities
  • Streamlined library import and management
  • Cleaner and more intuitive user interface

In-app purchases

None

Bluefire Reader

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

MapleRead SE

One-time3
  • Gratuity Level 1$0.99
  • Gratuity Level 2$1.99
  • Gratuity Level 5$4.99

Questions

Is Bluefire Reader free?
Bluefire Reader costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is MapleRead SE free?
MapleRead SE costs $8.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Bluefire Reader or MapleRead SE?
Bluefire Reader is rated higher. Bluefire Reader averages 4.6 out of 5 from 4.1K ratings, while MapleRead SE averages 4.2 from 131 ratings.
Do Bluefire Reader or MapleRead SE have ads?
Neither Bluefire Reader nor MapleRead SE shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bluefire Reader or MapleRead SE?
Bluefire Reader ships an update every 2 months, and MapleRead SE every 6 weeks. Most recently, Bluefire Reader was updated on October 2, 2026 and MapleRead SE on October 2, 2026.
Which is more popular, Bluefire Reader or MapleRead SE?
Bluefire Reader currently peaks at #47 in the App Store charts, and MapleRead SE at #29. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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