Comparison

Mango vs Halftone

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

Head to head
About

Mango

Download and read your favorite manga and comics offline. Organize your library with a clean folder system and browse safely with an ad-blocking browser. Customize your reading experience with various themes and preferences.

Highlights
  • Download chapters for offline reading
  • Organize series with a folder system
  • Ad-blocking built-in browser
  • Customizable light, dark, and system themes
  • Supports manga, manhwa, manhua, and comics
  • Simple and clean reader interface
Features
Read full description

Download. Read offline. Enjoy your favorite manga and comics. Mango lets you download chapters, organize your library, and browse safely with an ad blocking browser. Everything is designed to be quick, clean, and easy to use. Whether you are diving into a long series or trying something new, Mango keeps your reading library right at your fingertips. Features: Read Offline Anytime: Download your chapters and read without an internet connection. Perfect for commutes, travel, or relaxing anywhere. Offline mode helps you read more with zero interruptions. Simple and Clean Reader: Enjoy a smooth reading experience with a layout that keeps the focus on your manga. Turn pages effortlessly and customize the interface to fit your style. Intuitive controls feels natural and responsive. Organize Your Series: With a clean folder based system that keeps your chapters in order. Browse your library without digging through long lists or scattered files. Each series stays neatly arranged so you can jump into the next chapter with zero confusion. Managing collections big and small feels effortless and fast. Safe Built-in Browser with Ad Blocking: Search for new manga with the integrated browser that blocks redirects and intrusive ads. Find what you want without interruptions. Browsing feels safer and more controlled from start to finish. Customize Your Experience: Choose light, dark, or system themes. Adjust spacing, scrolling, and reading preferences to make the app feel like your own. Personalizing Mango takes only a few seconds. All Your Favorites in One App: Mango supports manga, manhwa, manhua, and comics all together. No switching apps. Your entire reading world stays in one place so you can focus on the stories you love. Terms of Service: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula

About

Halftone

This app provides a seamless reading experience for comics and manga from various sources like Komga, Kavita, and cloud storage. It features unique zoom controls for comfortable one-handed reading and supports multiple file formats.

Highlights
  • Connects to Komga, Kavita, and other OPDS catalogs
  • Hold Zoom for one-handed reading
  • Page-level progress sync
  • Supports various file formats (CBZ, CBR, PDF)
  • Webtoon mode for long-strip scrolling
  • Privacy features like Incognito reading
Read full description

The reader your comic and manga server deserves — and the comfiest way to read on a phone. Halftone connects straight to the places you already keep comics: Komga and Kavita (native, not just OPDS), Audiobookshelf, any OPDS catalog, SMB shares on your NAS, WebDAV, Dropbox, OneDrive, and the files on your device. No account with us. No middleman server. No ads. PANEL VIEW Read one panel at a time, in the right order — manga's right-to-left included. Tap or swipe to step through the page, hold to peek at the whole thing, and pick Overlay or Fade to dim everything but the panel you're on. HOLD ZOOM Press and hold anywhere and the page magnifies; pan with the same finger — one-handed, made for dense pages and small lettering. Rest your thumb at a screen edge and the page keeps moving. Free for everyone — no unlock, no trial, no asterisk. YOUR SERVER, FIRST-CLASS • Komga and Kavita: native API clients — series, collections, page-by-page streaming • Audiobookshelf: your server's comics, with its covers and progress • Two-way, page-level progress sync — stop on your iPhone, and the server's web reader opens on the same page • OPDS for everything else: Codex, Ubooquity, Calibre-Web, Stump, and more • SMB and WebDAV — your NAS, found automatically • Dropbox, OneDrive, iCloud Drive, and any Files-app folder • Stream page by page without importing (CBZ and most CBR/RAR), or pin chapters for offline with one tap • Synced folders: point Halftone at a folder on your NAS or cloud drive and it mirrors the whole tree, subfolders and all • iCloud sync carries your place to your other devices through your own iCloud — for imported comics and every source with no sync of its own A READER BUILT FOR COMICS • Apple Books–style page curl that folds at the spine — or a classic slide • Double-page spreads with one-tap pairing fixes, spine shadow, and paper margins • True right-to-left for manga: page order, tap zones, curl, and scrubber all follow • A proper webtoon mode: smooth long-strip scrolling, detected automatically • Crop Borders trims scanned margins so the art fills the screen, and can drop credit strips • Tap zones your way: Left-Right, L-Shaped, Top-Bottom, or off • Match Page backgrounds: margins take the page's own color — or Backdrop, a soft blur of the page itself A LIBRARY THAT KEEPS UP • Built for thousands of files: search down to the single comic, collections, merge and move • Folders for loose comics — one-shots and odd issues, no fake series required • Reads ComicInfo.xml on import: real series names, correct chapter order, right-to-left detected • Wi-Fi transfer from any computer's browser • One-tap backup to a folder you pick; export as standard CBZ with ComicInfo.xml • Privacy tools: Incognito reading, Face ID app lock, hidden comics READS EVERYTHING CBZ/ZIP, CBR/RAR, CB7/7z, PDF, image-based ePub (DRM-free), and plain folders of images. FAIR PRICING, NO DARK PATTERNS Free is genuinely free: your whole local library, no series limit, full quality, spreads, right-to-left, webtoon scrolling, Hold Zoom, and the Panel View preview — and it never expires. Premium adds the connected half — servers, cloud drives, streaming, synced folders, iCloud sync, backup, privacy tools — plus the full reader: Panel View, page curl, Crop Borders, spine shadow, and Match Page. Lifetime unlock, or a small subscription. Nothing you imported or downloaded is ever deleted if you stop paying. SAMPLE ARTWORK IN SCREENSHOTS "Pepper&Carrot" by David Revoy (CC-BY 4.0, peppercarrot.com) · "Give My Regards to Black Jack" by Shuho Sato (author's free-use declaration) · US public-domain Golden Age comics. Privacy Policy: https://halftonereader.app/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://halftonereader.app/terms.html

Screenshots

Mango4 screens
Halftone4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Halftone at 3 against Mango's 1. Halftone also leads on iOS requirement (16.4 vs 26.0). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. Mango sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Halftone sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Mango against 5.0 for Halftone. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 3 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mango ships an update fortnightly, Halftone every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Mango versus Halftone: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMangoHalftone
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings13 — better
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS26.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB60 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperRyan TsengBony Yousuf

Customer experience

Mango

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Halftone

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Mango

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Premium Yearly7 Days trial$29.991 Year
3 purchases

Halftone

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Monthly3 Days trial$1.491 Month
  • Premium Yearly3 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Unlock$19.99

Questions

Is Mango free?
Mango is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Halftone free?
Halftone is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Mango or Halftone?
Mango and Halftone are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 3 ratings respectively.
Do Mango or Halftone have ads?
Neither Mango nor Halftone shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Mango or Halftone?
Mango ships an update fortnightly, and Halftone every 3 weeks. Most recently, Mango was updated on September 28, 2026 and Halftone on September 30, 2026.

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