Lecto vs Heaps Reader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Lecto
This application offers a beautifully designed reader for RSS feeds, podcasts, YouTube, and Telegram channels. It features AI summaries, offline reading, and a built-in podcast player, all within a clean, ad-free experience.
- RSS feed reader
- Podcast player
- YouTube channel reader
- Telegram channel reader
- AI summaries
- Offline reading
- Customizable design
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Lecto, just a Reader for privacy. 100% free. No ads. No subscriptions.
Heaps Reader
Organize and consume RSS feeds and podcasts with a unique swipe-based interface. Enjoy distraction-free reading, article summaries, and offline podcast playback. Seamlessly manage subscriptions and discover content.
- Swipe-based article triage
- Reader mode for distraction-free reading
- Article summaries with Apple Intelligence
- Podcast player with offline downloads
- Organize feeds into colorful collections
- iCloud sync across devices
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Heaps is an RSS and podcast reader for iPhone built around one idea: getting through your feeds should feel good. Organize your subscriptions into colorful collections called Heaps. Pick from 40 colors and custom icons to make each one yours. Then swipe through articles like a deck of cards — left to skip, right to save, up to mark as read. Or simply tap to read now. A progress bar shows how far you've got to go, haptic feedback keeps every gesture satisfying, and an undo stack means you'll never accidentally lose something. When you tap into an article, you choose how to read it. Reader mode strips away ads and trackers while giving you a clean, formatted experience. Browser mode loads the full site and keeps you logged in to paywalled publishers, so you don't re-enter credentials every visit. If you're short on time, article summaries powered by Apple Intelligence give you the gist in seconds. Podcasts live alongside your feeds, too!. Search, subscribe, adjust playback speed, queue up episodes, and download for offline listening — all without leaving the app. Oh, and Ben the Sheep lives in the app too! He's always there to show you around and cheer you on. Key features: Swipe-based card interface for fast article triage Reader mode for clean, distraction-free articles Browser mode with persistent logins for paywalled sites Article summaries powered by Apple Intelligence Podcast player with speed controls and offline downloads Save articles and clips to a personal library Mute words to hide topics you don't care about iCloud sync across devices with no accounts needed Background refresh so new articles are ready when you open the app Import and export via OPML Subscribe to RSS, Atom, and JSON feeds. Follow your favorite blogs, newspapers, and indie publishers. Keep your podcasts in the same place. Heaps makes all of it feel like one smooth workflow.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Heaps Reader at 5.0 against Lecto's 3.7. Heaps Reader also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs fortnightly). 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Heaps Reader holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 3 respectively.
Lecto ships an update fortnightly, Heaps Reader every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Lecto | Heaps Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (6 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 6 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 26.1 | 26.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 79 MB | 28 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Yuefeng Zhu | Zachary Brown |
Customer experience
Lecto
Heaps Reader
In-app purchases
Lecto
No in-app purchases
Heaps Reader
No in-app purchases









