Comparison

Apogee Reader vs Read Better App

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

Head to head
About

Apogee Reader

This native iOS reader connects to your self-hosted BookOrbit server, keeping your books private. It supports various ebook, audiobook, comic, and PDF formats, with features like synchronized progress, highlights, and offline access.

Highlights
  • Supports EPUB, MOBI, CBZ, CBR, CB7, and PDF formats
  • Audiobook playback with sleep timer and speed control
  • Comic reading in paged or webtoon mode
  • Synchronized reading progress across devices
  • Highlights and notes with server sync
  • Offline reading capabilities
  • Fanfic updates from Archive of Our Own
Features
Read full description

Apogee is a native iOS reader for a BookOrbit server you run yourself. Your books stay on your own machine, and there's no account to make beyond the one on your own server. It reads what your library holds: • Ebooks. EPUB and MOBI, with your choice of font, theme, margins and page flow. You can add your own font files from the Files app. • Audiobooks. Chapters, a sleep timer, playback speed, CarPlay and Lock Screen controls. • Comics. CBZ, CBR and CB7, in paged or webtoon mode. • PDFs, cropped to the text so the margins don't waste your screen. Read & Listen joins a book to its audiobook. Read a chapter on the train, then play the audiobook in the car and it starts where you stopped reading. While it plays, the sentence being read shows on screen. Your place is kept for every book and sent back to your server, so you can put the phone down and pick up on another device. It uses the same progress format as KOReader, so a Kindle running KOReader and this app stay in step. Your reading time goes to your server's reading log too, and on BookOrbit 3.0 and later it's marked as reading, listening or Read Aloud. Download a book and it works with no network at all. Your library, your place, your notes and your highlights are all there offline. It also does: • Highlights and notes, searchable, and synced to your server. • Sign in with your password, or with the sign-in provider your server uses. • Send a book from the Files app to your server's library. • Send books to a CrossPoint e-ink reader on your Wi-Fi. • Reading Stats, from your server's reading log. • Spotlight, so your books turn up in search from the home screen. • A widget for whatever you're part way through. • Read Aloud, using the voices already on your phone. • Series grouping, collections, and a filing rule for right-to-left manga. • Fanfic Updates, if you want it: sign in to Archive of Our Own and Apogee checks the works you follow and brings new chapters into your library. Apogee is an unofficial app, not made or endorsed by AO3 or the Organization for Transformative Works. • iPad layouts, not a stretched phone app. • Guides for every feature at apogeereader.app. Apogee talks to your server. It talks to AO3 only if you sign in to Fanfic Updates, and your audiobook notes sync through your own iCloud account. Nothing comes to me unless you choose to send it. Apogee needs a BookOrbit server to be useful. It isn't a shop. It doesn't sell, supply or recommend books. It reads the library you already have. Apogee is built by one person. It's free, with no ads, no in-app purchases and no tracking.

About

Read Better App

Features
Read full description

For minds that wander. We were built to read deeply. But somewhere between endless feeds and constant notifications, focus became the hardest thing to find. The Read Better App is how you get it back. Turn the greatest books ever written into an immersive read-and-listen experience. Every word is highlighted in sync with natural narration, so you stay locked in and absorb more — reading and listening at once, the way your mind actually wants to. Come across a word you don't know? Tap it. Get an instant, in-context explanation — people, places, ideas — then save it to build your own vocabulary as you go. No stopping, no Googling, no losing your place. Just understanding, the moment you need it. WHAT YOU GET: Read-along audio with word-by-word highlighting Tap any word for instant, in-context definitions A growing library of timeless classics — philosophy, strategy, and self-mastery Save words and ideas to your personal collection Beautiful, shareable quote cards to spread what moves you Track your reading streak, chapters, and monthly goals Whether you're returning to the classics or reading them for the first time, ReadBetter helps you focus, understand, and actually finish the books that matter. Read Better to Be Better.

Screenshots

Apogee Reader4 screens
Read Better App4 screens

Verdict

The call

Apogee Reader and Read Better App are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Apogee Reader versus Read Better App: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterApogee ReaderRead Better App
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (6 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings6 — better—
Update frequencyWeekly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.017.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size43 MB32 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperBrian BanuagRead Better App PTY LTD

In-app purchases

None

Apogee Reader

No in-app purchases

None

Read Better App

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Apogee Reader free?
Apogee Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Read Better App free?
Read Better App is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Apogee Reader or Read Better App have ads?
Neither Apogee Reader nor Read Better App shows ads.

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