Comparison

expt vs Folio Reader

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

Head to head
About

expt

A beautiful, distraction-free reader for all your local files, including EPUBs, PDFs, comics, and text documents. Organize your library, track reading progress, and enjoy a focused reading experience with customizable themes and layouts.

Highlights
  • Read EPUB, PDF, CBZ, CBR, TXT, CSV, code files
  • Customizable reader themes and typography
  • Distraction-free reading mode
  • Library organization with series and tags
  • Reading progress tracking and stats
  • iCloud sync for reading positions
  • 100% local file storage
Features
Read full description

expt is a beautiful, distraction-free reader for all your local files. Import EPUBs, PDFs, comics, text files, and more — everything opens in a clean, focused reading experience designed for deep reading. **Read Everything** • EPUB books with chapter navigation and search • PDF documents with native rendering • CBZ and CBR comic archives with page-turn viewer • Plain text, Markdown, CSV, code files, and HTML • ZIP archives with image grid browser **Designed for Reading** • Six reader themes: Light, Sepia, Dark, Solarized, Nord, Ink • Adjustable font, size, line height, and margins • Distraction-free mode hides all chrome • Reading progress tracked automatically **Organize Your Library** • Create series to group related files in reading order • Label and filter files by type, status, or custom tags • Search across your entire library by title or author • Track reading streaks and daily stats **Built for Apple** • Native iOS design with dark and light mode • iPad support with adaptive layouts • iCloud sync for reading positions across devices • Text-to-speech with language detection **Your Files, Your Device** • 100% local — no cloud storage, no accounts, no tracking • Import via Files app, Share Sheet, or drag and drop • Files stay on your device in the app sandbox

About

Folio Reader

Organize your reading life by tracking books, saving quotes, and writing personalized reviews. This app provides a private space for your literary journey, syncing your library securely via iCloud.

Highlights
  • Organize books by reading status
  • Scan barcodes to add titles
  • Extract text from book pages using camera
  • Customizable book ratings and reviews
  • Share book recommendations
  • Private, iCloud-synced library
Features
Read full description

A home for the books you read. Folio keeps the books you've read, the passages you saved, and the reviews you wrote. All in one place, and all your own. Your library Every book has its place: Reading, On the Shelf, Finished, or Set Aside. Add a title by searching for it or scanning the barcode, and it shows up with its cover. Open Folio and pick up right where you left off. Quotes and notes Found a line worth keeping? Point your camera at the page and Folio pulls the words off it. Note the page, mark who said it, and the passage joins the rest of what you've collected. Snap the line and keep reading. More than stars Rate the prose, the characters, the pacing, or make up your own categories. Write the kind of review that actually sounds like you, not a row of stars and a shrug. Pass a good book Turn a book into a card worth sending, or share a link that drops it straight into a friend's Folio with one tap. The good ones are meant to travel. Privacy first No social feed, no social anxiety. Your books, quotes, notes, and reviews live on your devices and in your own iCloud, synced privately between them. There's no Folio account, and nothing we can see. You decide what to share, if anything at all. Always yours, always safe Your library syncs through your own iCloud, so it's safe even when your phone isn't. Get a new iPhone or reinstall Folio, and everything's right where you left it. Nothing to set up, nothing to remember. Folio is for readers who'd rather keep their reading close and private.

Screenshots

expt4 screens
Folio Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: expt at 3 against Folio Reader's 1. expt also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price, rating, ratings volume 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for expt against 5.0 for Folio Reader. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 2 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
expt versus Folio Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterexptFolio Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings22
Update frequency—Every 6 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size45 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperArthur ParkVinner Escobar

In-app purchases

None

expt

No in-app purchases

None

Folio Reader

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is expt free?
expt is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Folio Reader free?
Folio Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, expt or Folio Reader?
expt and Folio Reader are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do expt or Folio Reader have ads?
Neither expt nor Folio Reader shows ads.

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