Comparison

Smooth Reader vs 読書尚友

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

Head to head
About

Smooth Reader

This app offers a fast and smooth PDF reading experience, mimicking the feel of physical books. It features a unique "Home View" for enlarged text reading and a dynamic 3D perspective library for easy book discovery and organization.

Highlights
  • Smooth page turning
  • Home View for enlarged text
  • 3D perspective book library
  • Book categorization with tags
  • Smart tags for new/recent books
  • Bookmark management
  • Table of contents support
Read full description

"Smooth Reader" is a fast PDF reader that enables smooth and fast page turning like real printed books. (1)The most distinguished feature is "Home View" function which enables you to read books with large characters. If you set Home View for the area you want to zoom, you can read the area in full screen. Only with flick or tap operation, you can keep reading pages with large characters. (2)In addition, you can get a "3D perspective view" of book cover thumbnails, and the books move by automatically. Thus you can find desired books easily and enjoy as if you walked along the shelf in a real bookstore. (3)Have trouble organizing your books on the shelves? "Smooth Reader" can help you organize many books efficiently and effectively. With the "Book Categories Tags" functions, you can put tags on your favorite books and break them into categories. Your books with the tags are instantly lined up by category on the shelf. Since you can easily create or delete the tags and put multiple tags on one book, you can organize your books into categories in different ways. The books you newly registered or recently read are automatically attached with "New" tags or "Recently Read" tags respectively and organized on the shelf (Functions called "Smart Tags"). 【Functions】 [Supported file format] - PDF [Reading Direction] - Left to Right, Right to Left, or Up to Down [Two-page Spread] - One page or Two-page spread (supporting both horizontal and vertical direction of iPad) [Page turning] - Flick, Tap, or Touch and hold operation(consecutive page turning) (When two-page spread, one-page or two-page turning is possible in one action) [Reading Function] - Page thumbnails using pinch-in operation. (requires iOS 6 or later) - Support of table of contents (outline) embedded in PDF. - Bookmarks (add, jump, delete, edit) - PDF link jump (page, URL, mail address) [Home View Function] - Function to keep reading pages with large characters. If you set Home View for the area you want to zoom, you can keep reading the area in full screen. With drag or flick operation, you can also read pages outside of the area. Only with flick or tap operation, you can keep reading pages with large characters. [File storage] - Storeroom (where all files are stored) - Library (where only tagged files are lined up) [Book categories tags] - Create, delete, rename, and arrange the order - Smart tags feature ("New", "Recently Read") [File info] - Book cover(thumbnail) format or List format - 3D perspective view in Book cover format. - File name, file size, last modified date, total number of pages, current page number, and author name(from PDF property). - In order of file name, last modified date, last access date, registered date, or author name [File management] - File deletion - File rename [File import] - Transfer using the file-sharing function of iTunes. - Download using built-in web browser function - Download using Safari or Mailer via Open-in feature [Other functions] - Retina display support, Help function [Language] - English, Japanese, Chinese(Simplified), Korean * The books in the screenshots above are sample images, they are not included in this app.

About

読書尚友

This app is a Japanese vertical text viewer for iOS, offering access to over 10,000 works from Aozora Bunko and supporting local files. It handles various formats and provides customization options for a comfortable reading experience.

Highlights
  • Supports various file formats (text, HTML, PDF, ePub, images, etc.)
  • Automatic character code detection
  • Browse Aozora Bunko by author, title, genre, and ranking
  • Download books directly from Aozora Bunko
  • Customizable font, size, background, and page direction
  • In-app search and bookmarking
Features
Read full description

読書尚友」はiOS 用の日本語縦書きファイルビューアです。青空文庫で公開されている一万冊以上の作品を快適に読書できます。ローカルファイルのビューアとしても利用できます。 ・テキスト、html、PDF、OOXML(.docx)、ODF(.odt)、ePub、htmlz、画像(jpeg, png,bmp)、zip(書庫内のテキストファイルを表示)に対応 ・文字コード自動判定(Shift_JIS,UTF-8,UTF-16) ・作家別・作品別・分野別(NDC)、公開年別の作品リスト、新規公開作品、アクセスランキング ・書き出しの表示 ・青空文庫からのダウンロード ・本棚 ・マーカー ・ローカルファイルの表示 ・作品名の検索 ・青空文庫の主要な注記に対応 ・目次(青空文庫の見出し注記から作成) ・文書内の文字列検索 ・フォントサイズ、フォントの変更 ・背景色・背景画像 ・ページ方向(縦書き・横書き) ・行頭・行末禁則、自動縦中横

Screenshots

読書尚友4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: 読書尚友 at Free against Smooth Reader's $3.99. 読書尚友 also leads on rating (4.0 vs 1.0) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months). Smooth Reader's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On ratings volume, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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

読書尚友 is free to download; Smooth Reader costs $3.99 up front. Smooth Reader sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and 読書尚友 sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

読書尚友 holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 1.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 25% of Smooth Reader's written reviews are positive against 50% of 読書尚友's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Smooth Reader ships an update every 2 months, 読書尚友 every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on June 5, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Smooth Reader versus 読書尚友: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSmooth Reader読書尚友
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating1.0 (1 ratings)4.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews25.0% of reviews50.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.515.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size34 MB45 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperPersonal Media Corp.hishida

Customer experience

Smooth Reader

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative75.0%

読書尚友

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews18 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral27.8%
Negative22.2%

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Smooth Reader

One-time10
  • TRONWARE VOL.178$6.99
  • TRONWARE VOL.173$6.99
  • TRONWARE VOL.176$6.99
Show 7 more
  • TRONWARE VOL.174$6.99
  • TRONWARE VOL.175$6.99
  • TRONWARE VOL.172$6.99
  • TRONWARE VOL.177$6.99
  • TRONWARE VOL.180$6.99
  • TRONWARE VOL.179$6.99
  • TRONWARE VOL.181$6.99
1 purchases

読書尚友

One-time1
  • 広告削除$1.99

Questions

Is Smooth Reader free?
Smooth Reader costs $3.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is 読書尚友 free?
読書尚友 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Smooth Reader or 読書尚友?
読書尚友 is rated higher. Smooth Reader averages 1.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while 読書尚友 averages 4.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Smooth Reader or 読書尚友 have ads?
読書尚友 shows ads; Smooth Reader does not.
Which is updated more often, Smooth Reader or 読書尚友?
Smooth Reader ships an update every 2 months, and 読書尚友 every 2 weeks. Most recently, Smooth Reader was updated on June 5, 2026 and 読書尚友 on September 21, 2026.

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