Comparison

Fixate vs Dear 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
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Fixate: Focused Reading Read faster. Stay focused. One word at a time. Fixate uses RSVP (Rapid Serial Visual Presentation) - the same technique trusted by speed readers worldwide - to flash words one at a time in the center of your screen. No distractions, no eye strain from line scanning, just pure flow and concentration. Why Fixate? Read 2โ€“5ร— faster without losing comprehension Perfect for books, articles, PDFs & EPUBs Customizable WPM (words per minute) from 200 to 800+ Clean, dark-mode-friendly interface Local-only storage - your books stay on your device Progress tracking, streaks & completion stats How it works Import a PDF or EPUB Text is automatically extracted and broken into single words Tap to play - words flash at your chosen speed Pause, skip ยฑ10 words, or adjust speed on the fly Resume exactly where you left off, even after closing the app Free vs Premium Free: Up to 210 WPM and 1 imported document Premium (subscription): Unlimited speed (up to 800+ WPM) Unlimited document imports Advanced stats & streaks Future features (offline extraction enhancements) Perfect for Students cramming textbooks Professionals reading reports & emails Book lovers finishing more novels Anyone who wants to train focus and reading speed No ads. No tracking. No cloud sync required. Your reading, your device, your pace. Fixate โ€” read better, faster, focused. Privacy All data stored locally. No personal information collected. Analytics are anonymized and optional. Support Questions or feedback? Reach out at hello@faves.so Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Dear Reader

Read full description

Dear Reader is a quiet reading reflection journal for people who want to remember books by what they made them think, not by how many pages they finished. You do not need to complete a book to keep something meaningful from it. One sentence that stopped you, and one thought in your own words, can be enough. Dear Reader helps you save that moment as a discovery and revisit it later. โ–  One sentence, one thought Save a sentence from a book and add the thought it sparked. The original sentence and your reflection stay together on one discovery card. โ–  Reading without completion pressure Dear Reader is not built around finished books, page counts, timers, or productivity goals. It is built around the small moments when a book makes you pause. โ–  Prompts when the blank page feels hard Gentle prompts and quick reaction chips help you begin your reflection. You can write a sentence, a paragraph, or just enough to remember why the moment mattered. โ–  Revisit what you saved A saved sentence can meet you again later. Return to past discoveries and notice how the same words feel different with time. โ–  A bookshelf shaped by discoveries Your bookshelf is not only a list of books. It quietly shows the thoughts and discoveries each book left behind. โ–  Connect reflections across books Use tags to find discoveries that share a theme, even when they came from different books. Over time, scattered sentences begin to show the shape of your thinking. โ–  A private, local-first space Dear Reader starts without an app account. Your sentences, thoughts, books, and settings are stored primarily on your device. There is no public feed, follower count, or reading competition. Dear Reader is for readers who: - save good sentences but rarely return to them - want a reading journal without writing long entries every day - care more about reflection than finishing more books - want to keep book sentences and personal thoughts together - prefer a calm private space over a social reading feed Keep what books made you think. One sentence and one thought can become a reading habit that lasts.

Screenshots

Fixate4 screens
Dear Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Dear Reader at none against Fixate's 3. Dear Reader also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 months). Fixate's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price 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. Dear Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Fixate ships an update every 3 months, Dear Reader every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences ยท 2 level
Fixate versus Dear Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFixateDear Reader
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 9 days โ€” better
AdsNo โ€” betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 โ€” better17.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size42 MB51 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperMarcus CoffeyMoonsun Yang

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

Dear Reader

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Fixate free?
Fixate is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Dear Reader free?
Dear Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Fixate or Dear Reader have ads?
Dear Reader shows ads; Fixate does not.
Which is updated more often, Fixate or Dear Reader?
Fixate ships an update every 3 months, and Dear Reader every 9 days. Most recently, Fixate was updated on September 21, 2026 and Dear Reader on September 2, 2026.

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