Comparison

Flash Reader vs Raindrop.io

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

Head to head
About

Flash Reader

Enhance your reading speed and comprehension with this app. It presents text one word at a time, in chunks, or as a traditional reader, allowing you to adjust speed and track progress. Supports various file types and offers a free tier with an optional Pro upgrade.

Highlights
  • Word-by-word reading mode
  • Chunk reading mode
  • Traditional reader mode
  • Adjustable reading speed
  • Supports PDFs, EPUBs, Word files
  • Camera scanning for text
  • Siri integration
Features
Read full description

Flash Reader is back, and better than ever. It read you one word at a time years before that was a trend. On the App Store since 2010, rebuilt from scratch for version 4, and everything happens on your device. Paste it, share it from any app, open a PDF, EPUB or Word file, or point the camera at a page, and you're reading. Every document keeps your place, and a widget, Control Center or Siri takes you straight back in. THREE WAYS TO READ • Flash: one word, one spot, and the pages fly. One letter in red holds your eye. • Chunk: a few words at a time, for when you would rather stroll. • Reader: the whole text, for a look back. Tap to pause. Play picks the sentence back up, so you never lose the thread. SPEED, WITH RECEIPTS Understanding holds to about 350 words a minute, then it slips. Flash Reader starts you at 250, the ruler shows which zone you are in, and your real speed counts the pauses too. Go faster whenever you like; the ruler tells you what it costs. Little words pass quickly, long or rare ones get a beat more, and a full stop gets its pause. Rest breaks when you want them. READ ANYTHING, START ANYWHERE • Copy anything, anywhere. Tap the clipboard chip, or the button in Control Center, and it flashes. • Share text, a web page or a link from any app: articles, mail, messages, notes. • Open PDF, EPUB, Word and text files from the Files app. • Point the camera at a page, or pick a photo or a screenshot. The text is read on your device. • Drop in a link and get the article, with none of the clutter around it. • Say "Flash my clipboard" or "Resume reading" and Siri does the rest. • Every document keeps its place, its mode and its speed. • Search, sort and rename. Deleted documents wait in Recently deleted. BACK IN ONE TAP Continue Reading and Streak widgets for the Home and Lock Screens. Flash clipboard and Resume reading in Control Center. Stats keep words read today, your streak and your real speed, pauses and all. ROOM TO READ Four themes (Paper, Ink, Sepia and High Contrast), a choice of fonts, an adjustable word size, and reading in landscape. On iPad, the library sits beside the reading view and a keyboard drives both. Designed for iPhone Duo: open it and the page unfolds beside the words. The whole app speaks 50 languages. FREE AND PRO Free to start. Text you paste, copy or share reads free, forever, at full quality: every mode, every speed, every theme, links, TXT and Markdown files, and three documents on the shelf at a time. Pro opens PDF, EPUB, Word, RTF and HTML files, scans and photos, and an unlimited shelf. One purchase covers iPhone and iPad, and your library and your place travel between them through your own iCloud. Choose Pro by the year with a 14-day free trial, by the month, or pay once and keep it. Annual and monthly Pro renew automatically until cancelled in your Apple Account settings, at least 24 hours before the period ends. No account. No ads. No analytics and no tracking. COMING BACK? Your books, your speed and your bookmark come along from the old version. If you bought Pro inside Flash Reader before, it is still yours: Restore purchases in Settings brings it back on any device. If you bought the separate Flash Reader Pro app, write to us and we will sort it out. More formats and modes are coming as free updates. Flash Reader 4 needs iOS 26 or later. On an older iPhone or iPad, the App Store keeps offering the last version that runs there. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy: https://flashreaderapp.com/privacy Questions: support@flashreaderapp.com

About

Raindrop.io

Save and organize web content like articles, photos, and videos from any app. Create custom collections with unique icons and visuals for easy retrieval. Share your curated content with others or collaborate privately.

Highlights
  • Clip articles, photos, and videos
  • Organize bookmarks into collections
  • Tag and customize collections
  • Share collections publicly or privately
  • Sync across all devices
  • Import bookmarks from other services
Features
Read full description

Manage bookmarks, highlights, annotations and tabs. Save Anything from the Web Clip articles, photos, videos, PDFs and pages from the web and apps. Organize with Ease Thematic collections, suggested tags and custom filters. Sort items by date, title, site or manually by drag'n'drop. Full-Text Search & Permanent Library Entire content of every web-page and PDF that you’ve saved is fully searchable. Even if a page you’ve saved is taken down, you’ll still have a copy of it. For Teams and Individuals Enable access to your collection by team members or entire web. Permissions let you control who can access each of your collections. Take Your Bookmarks Everywhere Securely access the bookmarks you’ve saved in from anywhere — even outside of the browser. Extension for all popular browsers. Apps for Android, iOS, macOS and Windows. More than 2,600 integrations and programatic access through API. Private by Default Your privacy comes first. We keep your data safe, never sold. 256-bit encryption protects you while syncing. No tracking or intrusive advertising. 13 years in a business. Privacy Policy: https://help.raindrop.io/privacy Terms of Use: https://help.raindrop.io/terms

Screenshots

Flash Reader4 screens
Raindrop.io4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Raindrop.io at 4.5 against Flash Reader's 4.2. Raindrop.io also leads on review sentiment (64% vs 49%) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 6 weeks). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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. Flash Reader sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Raindrop.io sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Raindrop.io holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 163 and 422 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 49% of Flash Reader's written reviews are positive against 64% of Raindrop.io's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Flash Reader ships an update every 6 weeks, Raindrop.io every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Flash Reader versus Raindrop.io: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFlash ReaderRaindrop.io
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (163 ratings)4.5 (422 ratings) — better
Positive reviews49.3% of reviews64.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings163422 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.017.5 — better
Further details — not scored
Size22 MB30 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperDidstopiaRustem Mussabekov

Customer experience

Flash Reader

All ratings163 ratings
Positive78.5%
Neutral8.0%
Negative13.5%
Written reviews136 reviews
Positive49.3%
Neutral5.9%
Negative44.9%

Raindrop.io

All ratings422 ratings
Positive85.3%
Neutral5.0%
Negative9.7%
Written reviews256 reviews
Positive64.5%
Neutral10.9%
Negative24.6%

User reviews

Flash Reader

From 163 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Ahead of its time
  • 👍 Simple to use
  • 🚀 Helps read books efficiently
  • 👍 Useful, easy to use
  • 👍 Brilliant app, great time saver

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Doesn't allow to open modern websites
  • 🐛 Restarts the book being read
  • 🐛 Crashes when using camera
  • 🐛 Bugs and stops working
  • 🐛 Loses reading progress

Raindrop.io

From 422 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent bookmarking and organization features
  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
  • 📁 Seamless cross-device sync and access
  • 🔖 Powerful tagging and categorization system
  • 💡 Innovative features like highlighting and reminders

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
  • ⚠️ Unreliable sync and data loss issues
  • 🔒 Concerns about data privacy and security
  • 🔍 Inconsistent search and filtering functionality
  • 🔋 High resource usage and battery drain on mobile

Bugs and requests

Flash Reader

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Login screen freezes
  • Incompatible with older devices
  • Crashes when switching modes
  • Loses reading progress
  • Inaccurate resume times

Requested features

10 requests
  • Fancy text like newer video captions
  • Bookmarks and navigation
  • Support for Google Drive
  • Quick rewind option
  • Table of contents
Show 5 more
  • Search option
  • Ability to go backward/forward
  • Choose page to go to
  • Dark mode
  • Advanced analytics dashboard

Raindrop.io

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Inability to edit or delete bookmarks
  • Inconsistent behavior across platforms
  • Sharing and collaboration features not working as expected
  • Slow or unreliable sync between devices
  • Frequent crashes and freezes, especially on iOS

Requested features

5 requests
  • Offline support and local file storage
  • Improved search with full-text indexing
  • Customizable keyboard shortcuts
  • Nested folder structure for better organization
  • Widgets and home screen integration

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Flash Reader

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Pro Annual14 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time7
  • Flash Reader Pro$0.99
  • Flash Reader Pro2 variants$1.99
  • Flash Reader Pro$2.99
Show 4 more
  • Flash Reader Pro$3.99
  • Flash Reader Pro$4.99
  • Pro Lifetime$39.99
  • Pro Lifetime$79.99
5 purchases

Raindrop.io

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Pro Yearly$27.991 Year
One-time3
  • PRO 1 month$2.99
  • PRO 3 month$8.99
  • PRO 1 year$27.99

Questions

Is Flash Reader free?
Flash Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Raindrop.io free?
Raindrop.io is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Flash Reader or Raindrop.io?
Raindrop.io is rated higher. Flash Reader averages 4.2 out of 5 from 163 ratings, while Raindrop.io averages 4.5 from 422 ratings.
Do Flash Reader or Raindrop.io have ads?
Neither Flash Reader nor Raindrop.io shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Flash Reader or Raindrop.io?
Flash Reader ships an update every 6 weeks, and Raindrop.io every 2 weeks. Most recently, Flash Reader was updated on November 6, 2026 and Raindrop.io on November 6, 2026.

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