ToRead vs Babel Reader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ToRead
This app helps you focus on reading by providing a distraction-free environment. It quietly tracks your reading time, offers ambient sounds for relaxation, and displays your progress on your lock screen and home screen.
- Distraction-free reading sessions
- Ambient soundscapes
- Live Activity and Dynamic Island support
- Session history and editing
- Home Screen widget
- Minimalist interface
- Optional one-time tips
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ToRead is free to use — no paywalls, no subscriptions, and no ads. It’s designed to help you spend more time reading, without pressure, goals, or distractions. Start a reading session, put your phone down, and just read. ToRead quietly tracks your reading time, so you can build awareness of your habits without gamification, streaks, or competition. Designed for calm focus • One tap to start reading • Ambient sounds to help you relax (rain, ocean waves, birds, and more) • Live Activity on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island (supported devices) • Auto-end sessions, in case you forget • Session history with editing and manual entries • Home Screen widget with weekly reading stats • Minimal interface that stays out of the way Your reading time, simply recorded ToRead focuses on time, not speed or performance. Whether you read for 2 minutes or 2 hours, every session counts. Your reading history helps you reflect on how reading fits into your life — without judging it. Built with intention • Designed for iPhone • Light and dark themes designed for comfort • iCloud sync (when enabled) to keep your data across devices • Privacy-friendly: your data stays yours For readers who just want to read ToRead is for anyone who wants a quieter relationship with reading: • No social feeds • No challenges • No productivity pressure Just reading, at your own pace. Read when you want. Stop when you want. ToRead. Optional tips ToRead is free to use. If you enjoy the app, you can optionally leave a one-time tip to support its development. Tips are entirely optional and do not unlock features or affect functionality in any way. Legal • Privacy Policy: https://horchatastudio.com/toread/privacy/ • Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Babel Reader
Read EPUB books with a customizable, distraction-free experience. Translate any paragraph instantly on-device, supporting over 20 languages. Organize your library and sync across Apple devices.
- Distraction-free reading experience
- On-device translation for 20+ languages
- Customizable typography and themes
- EPUB 2 & 3 support
- Library organization and iCloud sync
- Read Aloud and Share functionality
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Babel Reader is a clean, distraction-free EPUB reader for iPhone and iPad. Import your books, read with beautifully crafted typography, and translate any paragraph with a single tap — all without sending a single byte to any server. READING EXPERIENCE • Page-by-page layout with smooth swipe navigation • Portrait and landscape support (two-column layout in landscape) • Four reading themes: White, Sepia, Night, and Slate • Five typefaces: Georgia, Palatino, Baskerville, Iowan Old Style, and System • Adjustable text size and line spacing • Each book remembers its own display settings — font, size, line spacing, and theme • Optional hyphenation and text alignment (flush left, justified, flush right, centred) • Clock and chapter progress indicator always visible while you read TRANSLATION • Tap any paragraph to translate it in place • Tap again to restore the original • Translation runs entirely on your device — no text leaves your iPhone or iPad • Supports 20+ languages including Arabic (with full RTL support), Chinese (Simplified & Traditional), Dutch, English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese • Optional Read Aloud & Share: have the original or the translation read aloud, or share either via any app on your device YOUR LIBRARY • Import EPUB files from Files, Mail, Safari, and any other app that supports Share Sheet • Organise your books into Collections • Grid or list view • Sort by date added, title, author, language, or most recently read • Edit book title, author, and language metadata • iCloud sync: keep your entire library and reading progress in sync across all your Apple devices (optional, uses your private iCloud account) AVAILABLE IN 6 LANGUAGES The app interface is fully localised in English, German, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Italian. PRIVACY FIRST Babel Reader collects no personal data. It contains no advertising, no analytics, and no third-party tracking of any kind. On-device translation never sends your text to a server. iCloud sync uses only your own private iCloud account — your data is never accessible to the developer. EPUB FORMAT Babel Reader supports EPUB 2 and EPUB 3 files. PDF, MOBI, and AZW3 are not supported in this version.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: ToRead at Free against Babel Reader's $4.99. Babel Reader's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3). On review sentiment, update cadence, ads and device support 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
ToRead is free to download; Babel Reader costs $4.99 up front. ToRead sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Babel Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.
ToRead ships an update monthly, Babel Reader every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ToRead | Babel Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.9 (8 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 8 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | +4 |
| Developer | Francisco Martinez | Martin Bocker Dr |
Customer experience
ToRead
Babel Reader
In-app purchases
ToRead
- Small tip$0.99
- Medium tip$2.99
- Large tip$4.99
Babel Reader
No in-app purchases









