Stasis vs Strobe
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Stasis
This minimalist speed reader uses Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) to stream text through a single focal point, eliminating eye movement for faster, more focused reading. Import your books and track your progress with a clean, distraction-free interface.
- RSVP text streaming
- Adjustable reading speed (50-1000 WPM)
- Paced comprehension with micro-pauses
- Distraction-free interface
- OLED Dark Mode
- Import EPUB, PDF, Plain Text
- Reading statistics dashboard
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Stasis: The Quiet Way to Read Fast. One word. One point of stillness. Stasis is a reading sanctuary — a minimalist RSVP speed reader that streams your books through a single focal point. Your eyes stay still. Your mind moves fast. The Science of Stillness Traditional reading is quietly exhausting. Your eyes leap from word to word, stumble, circle back — most of your energy spent on the journey, not the meaning. Stasis removes the journey. Each word arrives exactly where your eyes already rest, and your brain processes language at its natural, unhurried speed. Focus, Refined — The RSVP engine: fluid delivery from 50 to 1,000 WPM — Paced comprehension: micro-pauses that breathe with the punctuation, so speed never costs understanding — An interface that vanishes: no scrolling, no page-turns, no noise — Ambient sound: rain, fireplace, birdsong — a room tone for your reading — OLED-deep themes and serif typography, tuned for long sessions For Every Kind of Reader Restless attention, wandering focus, or dyslexia — the portal meets you where you are. Choose from curated reading fonts including OpenDyslexic, Atkinson Hyperlegible, and Lexend. Your Library, Accelerated Import EPUBs and PDFs or paste any text. Chapters, table of contents, and progress are preserved — your "to-read" pile quietly becomes a "finished" list. A Habit, Not a Chore Streaks that forgive. Monthly reading reports that celebrate what you did — never guilt for what you didn't. Watch your pace grow, then share your month as a single beautiful card. Everywhere You Read A free account backs up your library and syncs your progress across devices. Close the app on the train, reopen it on the couch — the next word is waiting. Read faster. Stay longer. That's Stasis.
Strobe
This app helps you read faster by displaying words one at a time in a fixed position. It supports various document formats and offers an optional natural voice narration. Customize your reading experience with adjustable speeds and timing features.
- Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP)
- Adjustable reading speed (100-1000 WPM)
- Natural voice read-aloud narration
- Support for PDF, EPUB, TXT, and Markdown
- iCloud Sync across devices
- Customizable timing and display options
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Speed read your own books and documents, one word at a time, or listen as a natural voice reads along. No ads, no subscription, no account. Strobe is a speed reading app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It uses Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP): each word appears in the same spot on screen, so your eyes stay still instead of scanning across lines. Import a PDF, EPUB, plain-text, or Markdown file, share an article from Safari, or paste text, then read at 100 to 1,000 words per minute. HOLD TO READ • Press and hold to read. Let go to pause. • Slide up or down while you read to change speed without losing your place. • Swipe sideways while paused to step word by word. • Touch with two fingers to keep reading after you let go, or switch to tap to play. READ ALOUD • A natural voice reads along as the words show, at up to 450 words per minute. • Choose from 15 English voices, American and British. • The voice downloads once and runs on your device, even offline. • Keep listening with the screen locked, and play or pause from the Lock Screen or headphones (iOS 27 or later, and Mac). TIMING THAT FOLLOWS THE TEXT • The speed you set is your real speed, with every pause and slowdown counted. • Smart Timing keeps longer words on screen a little longer. • Punctuation Pauses slow down at sentence ends, commas, dashes, ellipses, and closing quotes, and you set the length of each. • Complexity Timing speeds up simple words and slows down complex ones, each by as much as you choose. • Acronyms and hyphenated words get extra time automatically. • Blank After Sentences adds an optional moment of empty screen between sentences. A FIXED POINT FOR YOUR EYES • Each word lines up on a highlighted focus letter, its Optimal Recognition Point (ORP), in red or one of six other colors. • Show the previous word, the next word, or both, as faintly as you like. • An open quote or parenthesis stays faintly above the word until it closes. • Pop Words In springs each word in, like video captions. YOUR LIBRARY • Every document gets a cover, and Continue Reading takes you back to your exact word. • EPUB tables of contents and PDF bookmarks become chapters, each with its reading time at your speed. • Open the full text with your place highlighted, search for any word or phrase, and tap a word to resume from there. • Page numbers, running headers, and footers are removed on import. • Chinese, Japanese, and Korean text is split into words, and Arabic keeps its connected letterforms. • iCloud Sync keeps your library, places, and speeds the same on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. • Statistics show your time and words read, average session, and real speed. BEYOND THE APP • Share articles and links from Safari and other apps straight into your library. • A Continue Reading widget for your Home Screen, Lock Screen, and Mac desktop. • Siri and Shortcuts can continue reading, open a document, tell you your progress, or speed read any text. MAKE IT YOURS • Seven fonts, adjustable text size, four text tones, and seven highlight colors. • A true black background for OLED screens and reading in the dark. • Every document remembers its own speed. • Keyboard shortcuts on Mac and iPad: Space to read, arrow keys to step, ⌘N for new text, ⌘O to import. • Works with VoiceOver, Larger Text, and Reduce Motion. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Strobe has no account, ads, analytics, or tracking. Your documents stay on your device, and with iCloud Sync, in your own private iCloud, encrypted. The voice runs on your device, so no text is sent away to be read aloud. FREE AND OPEN SOURCE Strobe is free, with no subscription or in-app purchases. The source code is public on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 license. Strobe can't import DRM-protected EPUBs or password-protected PDFs. Reading aloud is for English text, on every Mac and on iPhone and iPad models with 4 GB of memory or more.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: Stasis at 67 against Strobe's 8. Stasis also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Stasis against 4.9 for Strobe. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Stasis has 67 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 97% of Stasis's written reviews are positive against 100% of Strobe's.
Stasis ships an update every 5 days, Strobe weekly. Both last shipped on November 9, 2026.
| Parameter | Stasis | Strobe |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (67 ratings) — better | 4.9 (8 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 96.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 67 — better | 8 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 71 MB | 28 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Oleksandr Iatsenko | Jaafar Abdeen |
Customer experience
Stasis
Strobe
In-app purchases
Stasis
No in-app purchases
Strobe
No in-app purchases








