Sona Reader vs ReadStream
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
Sona Reader
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Welcome to your favourite reading app. Read books by your favourite African and international authors, and add your own to build your library, all in one reader. Annotate your pages, hit your reading goals, and read on any device. With a Sα»na account, you can also read your own books in your browser. READ STORIES AS THEY UNFOLD - Follow stories released chapter by chapter, and get an alert when a new chapter is out - Unlock the next chapter, or tip the author at the end of a chapter - Read comics episode by episode A LIBRARY THAT FOLLOWS YOU Your books, place, bookmarks, highlights and notes sync across your phone and tablet. Import your own EPUBs and PDFs and read them next to your Sα»na books. Sort your shelves into collections and keep a wishlist for what you want next. MARK UP EVERY PAGE - Highlight in nine colours, with shades made for each reader theme - Attach a note to the exact passage you selected - React to a passage with a private emoji that sits in the margin, and pick your five favourites - Find every saved passage again in From Your Pages on Home, and tap one to open the book at that spot A READING YEAR YOU CAN SEE - Set a yearly reading goal and track it, with confetti when you pass it - Keep a daily reading streak - See your monthly Sα»na Chapters and your Sα»na Wrapped READ YOUR WAY - Light, sepia, dark and black themes - Your own font, text size and spacing - Picture Books, PDFs and EPUBs, all in one reader - Comics and PDFs: see every page in a grid, and pinch or double-tap to zoom FIND YOUR NEXT BOOK - More to Read suggests books from what you have been reading - Discover new books and free reads - Follow your favourite authors and see who you follow, any time REVIEWER HUB (formerly eARC Hub) - Request advance copies from authors, read them early, and leave reviews, all from your phone - Share, edit and delete your own reviews
ReadStream
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ReadStream is a reading app for people who love books β whether you read them yourself or listen to them read back to you. I built it because I was tired of losing my place in downloaded books and chapters, juggling formats, and never quite knowing where I'd left off. If that sounds familiar, this might be the app you've been looking for. What you can do with it: β’ Import books and chapters in Word, EPUB or PDF format, organise them into series, and always come back to exactly where you stopped. β’ Fetch chapters from sites like Royal Road or Project Gutenberg, keep them in your library, and pull in updates whenever new ones appear. β’ Listen to your books read aloud β useful when your eyes are tired, or when you'd rather just close them and let the story come to you. β’ Save articles from the web and follow RSS feeds, so your long-form reading and the stories you track all live in the same place. β’ Keep notes as you go, against any book or chapter, without needing a separate app to do it. β’ Choose from a range of reading themes, including a warm paper mode that feels closer to an actual page than a screen. Most reading apps are built around content they want to sell you. ReadStream is built around content you've already found. Your imported chapters, your downloaded audiobooks, the serials you follow on Patreon or Royal Road β it's all treated as first-class material, organised the way you'd want a proper library to work. Everything stays on your device. Nothing is chasing you for your attention. It won't suit everyone. If you want a shop, a social feed, or reading challenges with badges, this isn't that. It's a quiet app for people who just want to read. If your reading life is currently scattered across half a dozen folders and formats, ReadStream is one place to bring it home. https://dscreations.co.uk/readstream/support
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: ReadStream at 15.0 against Sona Reader's 18.0. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | Sona Reader | ReadStream |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | β |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod β better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 15.0 β better |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 41 MB | 42 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sona Books Limited | David Sealey |
In-app purchases
Sona Reader
No in-app purchases
ReadStream
No in-app purchases









