Embark Reader vs Tallies
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Embark Reader
Organize and track research papers from arXiv. Browse daily updates, mark papers as read, download PDFs for offline access, and manage your reading list with folders. It also tracks linked GitHub repositories and imports browser tabs.
- Browse daily arXiv paper drops
- Mark papers as read
- Download PDFs for offline reading
- Organize papers with folders
- Track linked GitHub repos
- Import Chrome tabs
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Read, organize, and track arXiv research papers. If you're drowning in browser tabs full of papers you'll "read later," this is for you. Browse daily arXiv paper drops by category, mark papers as read, download PDFs for offline reading, and organize everything with folders. Finally bring order to your research reading list. Track GitHub repos linked to papers to see when "code coming soon" actually ships. Import your existing Chrome tabs to escape tab bankruptcy, search arXiv directly from the app. Download the app for desktop too. Thank you to arXiv for use of its open access interoperability. Embark Reader was not reviewed or approved by, nor does it necessarily express or reflect the policies or opinions of, arXiv.
Tallies
This app offers a minimalist way to count everyday occurrences, from workout reps to knitting rows. It provides a calm, paper-like interface without gamified elements like streaks or badges. Unlock its full potential with a one-time purchase.
- Minimalist tally counting
- Paper-like interface
- No streaks or badges
- Customizable journals and items
- Widgets and Siri integration
- Designed for calm and privacy
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A habit tracker without the pressure. Tallies is a tally app for the things you'd rather just count. A workout rep. A bird at the feeder. A row of knitting. A page read. A prayer bead. Anything you'd otherwise mark on the back of an envelope. Swipe across the page and a felt-marker stroke appears. Five swipes give you the familiar four-and-a-cross. The page fills like a notebook, and it stays quiet: no notifications unless you ask, no streaks to break, no goals you didn't set. WHAT PEOPLE COUNT • Workout reps and sets • Knitting rows and stitches • Prayer beads and rosaries • Pages read, books finished • Birds at the feeder • Days sober, days run, days anything • Cups of water, cups of tea A BOOK OF PAGES Each thing you track gets its own page in a book. Flick between pages. Turn to Totals to see today, this week, this month and all time, drawn on paper. WHERE IT GOES WITH YOU • A small widget: tap + to add a tally without opening the app. • A large widget: a whole journal at a glance. • Siri and Shortcuts: "Tally push-ups in Tallies." • Your counts sync across iPhone, iPad and Mac through your private iCloud. ON PAPER, DAY AND NIGHT Every mark is hand-drawn, with a little jitter, so no two are alike. The paper turns to a true paper-dark at night, and a keep-awake mode holds the page open for long counts. Built for everyone: VoiceOver, Voice Control, Switch Control, Larger Text (tap the counter to magnify), Reduced Motion, Sufficient Contrast and Differentiate Without Color. In English, German, Spanish, French, Japanese and Korean. FREE TO START, UNLOCK ONCE One journal with two items is free, for as long as you like. When you want more, unlock the full app once. It follows your Apple Account to your iPhone, iPad and Mac. No subscription, no ads, no sign-up. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT Nothing leaves your iCloud. No sign-in, no analytics, no ads, no third-party SDKs. Tallies is part of the sthreelabs paperback family, alongside A Spell of Work, One Line in Time and A Deep Breath. Made quietly by sthreelabs.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Embark Reader at none against Tallies's 1. Tallies's advantage is ratings volume (3 vs 1). On price, rating, review sentiment 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
Both are free to download. Tallies sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Embark Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Embark Reader against 5.0 for Tallies. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 3 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
| Parameter | Embark Reader | Tallies |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 3 — better |
| Update frequency | — | Every 4 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.2 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 94 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Laan Labs | sthreelabs LLC |
Customer experience
Embark Reader
Tallies
In-app purchases
Embark Reader
No in-app purchases
Tallies
- Tallies Unlock$2.99









