Comparison

Learn with Forward Chess vs Outread

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

Head to head
About

Learn with Forward Chess

This app is an interactive reader for chess books, allowing users to play through chess lines directly within the book. It offers a vast in-app store with over 100 chess eBooks and a growing collection of opening theory periodicals via subscription.

Highlights
  • Interactive chess book reader
  • Play through chess lines
  • In-app chess eBook store
  • Subscription for opening theory
  • Tactics training
Features
Read full description

Forward Chess is an Interactive reader of chess books. Play through the lines in the book, or try your own, it's like having a chess board and a chess book in the palm of your hand. Forward Chess includes the ability to purchase over 100 chess eBooks through our In-App Store. Check it out. Our collection is growing weekly! Forward Chess also contains the following subscription options - ChessPublishing's monthly periodical for the latest in opening theory - We offer a choice of 4 different auto-renewing subscriptions - 1 Section for 1 Year @ $19.99 USD - 3 Sections for 1 Year @ $39.99 USD - 6 Sections for 1 Year @ $69.99 USD - 12 Sections for 1 Year @ $99.99 USD - Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period - Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal - Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase - No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period - Links to Your Privacy Policy and Terms of Use - Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication. Forward Chess takes your privacy seriously See our privacy policy here: https://forwardchess.com/privacy-policy and term of use here: https://forwardchess.com/terms-of-service

About

Outread

Enhance your reading speed and comprehension with this app. It offers guided reading modes, memory exercises, and supports various document types. Improve focus and retention for all readers.

Highlights
  • Speed reading modes (Guide & Flash)
  • Peripheral vision and memory exercises
  • Webpage and document import
  • Adjustable reading speed and chunk length
  • Progress tracking and reading stats
  • AI translation
  • Offline reading
Features
Read full description

Speed-read websites, ebooks and documents. Outread improves reading effectiveness by helping you to focus on reading small chunks of text at a time. You can either follow the highlighter along the page or keep the text centered. Featured by Apple in “Best New Apps”, “Train Your Brain” and "Read Something New" sections “You're in luck, because Outread will help you get through [articles] and learn speed-reading in the process.” — Lifehacker "Speed Between the Lines" — WSJ “A clear winner in the speed-reading category” — AppAdvice BASIC FEATURES: - Speed read by following the highlighter along the page (Guide Mode) or by keeping the focused phrase in the center of the screen (Flash Mode - Rapid Serial Visual Presentation) - Exercises improving peripheral vision, eidetic memory, short-term memory and chunking ability. - Add webpages from Safari or other apps using share extension - Paste text or add from a URL - Sync your library, preferences and reading stats between your devices - Adjust the reading speed and chunk length (length of text you read at once) - Bookmark parts of text for later and add notes to them - Selection of fonts to suit all reading conditions - Monitor your progress with reading stats - Filter (by services or tags) and sort (by date, length or title) the items - See images included in text (even during speed reading) - AI translate text added to the app to many supported languages - Pleasant reading experience improving comprehension and concentration for people with dyslexia, ADD and ADHD - Test your reading speed and comprehension - Universal app for iPhone, iPad and Mac - Everything is always with you, even offline OUTREAD+ FEATURES: - Read free classic novels from the built-in catalog - Sync with Instapaper - Add your own ebooks (DRM-free ePub) - Add PDF, Microsoft Word, RTF and TXT documents - Higher reading speed up to 1,500 words per minute - Unlimited bookmarks and notes - Reader themes: Black & White (great for OLED), Sepia and Gray NOTE: - DRM-protected ebooks (Kindle and most of iBooks ebooks) are not supported Terms and Conditions: https://outreadapp.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://outreadapp.com/privacy-policy If you have any questions or suggestions, you can reach us at contact@outreadapp.com

Screenshots

Learn with Forward Chess4 screens
Outread4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Outread at 1.4K against Learn with Forward Chess's 340. Learn with Forward Chess's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 18.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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. Learn with Forward Chess sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Outread sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Learn with Forward Chess holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 340 and 1.4K respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 75% of Learn with Forward Chess's written reviews are positive against 80% of Outread's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Learn with Forward Chess ships an update fortnightly, Outread every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Learn with Forward Chess versus Outread: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLearn with Forward ChessOutread
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (340 ratings) — better4.7 (1.4K ratings)
Positive reviews74.8% of reviews80.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3401.4K — better
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS12.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size188 MB38 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperForward Chess, LLCArkadiusz Holko

Customer experience

Learn with Forward Chess

All ratings334 ratings
Positive96.1%
Neutral2.4%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews123 reviews
Positive74.8%
Neutral9.8%
Negative15.4%

Outread

All ratings1,367 ratings
Positive92.9%
Neutral2.9%
Negative4.2%
Written reviews279 reviews
Positive80.3%
Neutral6.1%
Negative13.6%

User reviews

Learn with Forward Chess

From 340 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great app for chess-book lovers
  • 🚀 Easy to follow or analyze moves with the implemented chessboard
  • 👍 Simple and effective interface
  • 👍 Great to use on mobile device
  • 👍 Larger board and text than Chessable

Room to improve

  • 💰 Books are a little expensive for digital purchases
  • 🐛 App crashes or freezes occasionally
  • 🐛 Loses user's place when reopening the app
  • 🐛 Buggy when navigating between libraries and books
  • 🐛 Analysis engine sometimes doesn't recognize castling possibilities

Outread

From 1.4K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple idea, big impact
  • 👍 Developer is a chad
  • 🚀 Fantastic application
  • 🚀 Whole heartedly recommend
  • 🚀 Increased reading speed

Room to improve

  • 💰 Not free, requires subscription
  • 💰 Costs money
  • 💰 Pay for importing PDFs
  • 🐛 Paste web link takes really long time
  • 🐛 Highlighting transition needs to be smoother

Bugs and requests

Learn with Forward Chess

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Login issues when changing devices
  • Books not properly filing into libraries
  • App crashing when trying to add books to libraries
  • Losing current position when switching between full screen and normal view
  • Inconsistent behavior when navigating through a book

Requested features

7 requests
  • Allow users to upload their own book PDFs
  • Implement spaced repetition learning program within books
  • Improve search and filtering options in the book store
  • Add more language support beyond English books
  • Provide better syncing of purchases across devices
Show 2 more
  • Improve text formatting and readability
  • Implement highlighting, bookmarking, and note-taking features

Outread

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Unable to link to Pocket
  • Login screen freezes
  • Incompatible with older devices

Requested features

11 requests
  • Highlighting, underlining and saving quotes feature
  • Ability to sync books and progress across devices
  • Bionic reading feature
  • Ability to scroll while reading in highlight mode
  • Customizable highlighted text color and background
Show 6 more
  • Larger font size options
  • Ability to link to virtual library apps like Libby
  • Bookmarking and note-taking features
  • More advanced training exercises and levels
  • Ability to scan photos from album
  • Compatibility with Apple Vision Pro

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Learn with Forward Chess

One-time10
  • True Lies in ChessFree
  • The Power of Pawns$12.99
  • My System$13.99
Show 7 more
  • The World's Most Instructive Amateur Game Book$14.99
  • 100 Endgames You Must Know$17.99
  • Chess Tactics from Scratch$19.99
  • Pump Up Your Rating$23.99
  • Chess Structures - A Grandmaster Guide$23.99
  • The Woodpecker Method$23.99
  • Don't Study Openings w/o this Book$25.99
10 purchases

Outread

Subscriptions8
  • Outread+ Weekly$2.997 Days
  • Outread+ Weekly$3.997 Days
  • Outread+ Monthly$4.991 Month
Show 5 more
  • Outread+ Monthly$7.991 Month
  • Outread+ Monthly Family$8.491 Month
  • Outread+ Annual7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Outread+ Annual Family7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Outread+ Annual7 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time2
  • Outread+ Lifetime$119.99
  • Outread+ Lifetime Family$149.99

Questions

Is Learn with Forward Chess free?
Learn with Forward Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Outread free?
Outread is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Learn with Forward Chess or Outread?
Learn with Forward Chess is rated higher. Learn with Forward Chess averages 4.8 out of 5 from 340 ratings, while Outread averages 4.7 from 1.4K ratings.
Do Learn with Forward Chess or Outread have ads?
Neither Learn with Forward Chess nor Outread shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Learn with Forward Chess or Outread?
Learn with Forward Chess ships an update fortnightly, and Outread every 3 weeks. Most recently, Learn with Forward Chess was updated on November 1, 2026 and Outread on November 1, 2026.

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