Storyteller Reader vs Libratory

Storyteller is a self-hosted platform for creating and reading ebooks with guided narration. You can use the app to read any EPUB books, including those with Media Overlays (also called “immersive reading” or “guided narration”) on your device, or you can pair it with the Storyteller self-hosted backend server, which can automatically align audiobooks and ebooks for immersive reading!

Libratory plays an audiobook over the real pages of the book, lighting up the sentence and the word being spoken as it reads. Double-tap a sentence to hear it again. Books are made on your Mac with the free Libratory desktop tool, which pairs a book with its narration and saves both as one synced EPUB. Send that file to your iPhone or iPad with AirDrop or the Files app, tap + on the shelf, and press play. Nothing is streamed, no account is needed, and everything works offline. The app comes with a short three-chapter guide already on the shelf. It is itself a synced book, so reading it is the fastest way to see what the app does. READ AND LISTEN • The voice plays over the printed page, with the sentence and the word highlighted as they are spoken • Double-tap a sentence to hear it from there • Three views of a synced book: Page shows the whole sheet with its pictures and tables, Column crops to the printed words, Text reflows the words at a size you choose • Playback continues with the screen locked, with the chapter, cover and controls on the lock screen • Change the speed and the highlight keeps up READ IN TWO LANGUAGES • A book exported with a translation opens with the original and the translation together, each with its own voice • Tap a word to hear the book from there, or to see what it means in the other language • Alternate sentences reads each sentence in one language and then the other • The original can stay on its printed page beside the translation JUST READ, OR JUST LISTEN • Open an EPUB ebook you already own and read it in Text view • Open an M4B audiobook, pick a chapter, and listen with the screen off PICK UP WHERE YOU LEFT OFF • The app remembers your place in every book and shows which parts you have heard • Hold a word to save it, put it in a group, and add a note; find it again in Marks • Search the book and your saved words, then jump back to read or listen KEEP YOUR LIBRARY IN ORDER • Folders and tags for your books, and a search across the whole library • Each book says which chapters light up word by word and which sentence by sentence PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No account, no analytics, no network calls. Your books stay on your device. Works on iPhone and iPad with iOS 15.6 or later. On iOS 15 and 16, a simpler reader includes Pages and Text, playback, highlighting, chapters, saved progress, and two-language books in two panes. Bookmarks, search, folders and tags require iOS 17 or later. Synced books are made with the Libratory desktop app for Mac, free at libratory.dev. Plain EPUB ebooks and M4B audiobooks open as they are.