Comparison

Fixate vs Star Document Reader

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

Head to head
About

Fixate

Features
Read full description

Can't stay focused on reading? Fixate shows you one word at a time, right in the middle of the screen, so there's no page to wander off and no line to lose. If your mind drifts halfway down a paragraph, or you've read the same sentence five times, the full page is the problem. Fixate takes it away. Words appear one by one at a pace you set, and the text comes to you. WHY IT HELPS โ€ข Nothing else on screen to pull your attention โ€ข No losing your place or rereading the same line โ€ข A steady pace that carries you through the dull parts โ€ข Switch to the full page anytime when you want the context READ ANYTHING โ€ข Import your own PDFs and EPUBs: textbooks, papers, novels, reports โ€ข Set your speed from 200 to 800+ words per minute, and change it on the fly โ€ข Pause, skip back or forward 10 words, and pick up exactly where you left off SEE IT ADD UP โ€ข Daily streaks, time spent reading and time saved โ€ข Your reading speed over time FREE VS PREMIUM Free: up to 210 WPM and 1 imported document. Premium (subscription): unlimited speed, unlimited imports, and advanced stats and streaks. GOOD FOR โ€ข Readers with ADHD or a wandering mind โ€ข Students getting through set reading โ€ข Anyone with a pile of PDFs they keep putting off Your books stay on your device. No ads. Privacy All data stored locally. No personal information collected. Analytics are anonymized and optional. Support https://get-fixate.com/support Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Star Document Reader

Features
Read full description

Star Readers is a smart, modern reading tool for people who want to read documents, e-books and text files with clarity and comfort. Use AI features to summarize texts and understand them even faster. Whether you open PDF, EPUB, MOBI, TXT, CSV, Markdown, JSON or log files, Star Reader brings many useful formats into one clean app and keeps the focus where it belongs: on your content. It turns your mobile device into a versatile, elegant reader for everyday use, study, work and personal reading journeys. Highlights: - Elegant, minimal reader design - EPUB chapter view with navigation - MOBI reading with chapter and section navigation for DRM-free files - PDF viewer with annotations and image export - Share PDF annotations as images - Read text, Markdown, JSON and log files - View CSV files as a table or raw text - Favorites and recently opened files - Automatic reading position saving - Adjustable text size, line height and font style - Light, dark and system theme modes - English and German language options - File explorer for supported local files on your device Star Readers is built for longer reading sessions, with calm colors, clear typography and an interface that stays out of the way. Open local files, return to important documents faster and read e-books, notes, logs or tables in one app. Ideal for: - E-books and long-form reading - PDFs with visual annotations - Local document collections - Markdown notes - CSV files - JSON and log files - Focused reading by day or night Supported file extensions: .txt .csv .md .markdown .json .log .epub .pdf .mobi

Screenshots

Fixate4 screens
Star Document Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Star Document Reader at none against Fixate's 3. Star Document Reader also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 4 days) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Fixate sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Star Document Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Fixate ships an update every 4 days, Star Document Reader daily. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 3 level
Fixate versus Star Document Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFixateStar Document Reader
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 4 daysDaily โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS15.113.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size42 MB41 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMarcus CoffeyMarkus Stadi

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Fixate

Subscriptions3
  • Fixate Premium3 Days trial$2.997 Days
  • Fixate Premium3 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Fixate Premium3 Days trial$29.991 Year
None

Star Document Reader

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Fixate free?
Fixate is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Star Document Reader free?
Star Document Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Fixate or Star Document Reader have ads?
Neither Fixate nor Star Document Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Fixate or Star Document Reader?
Fixate ships an update every 4 days, and Star Document Reader daily. Most recently, Fixate was updated on November 5, 2026 and Star Document Reader on November 9, 2026.

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