Comparison

Halftone vs Emaki

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

Head to head
About

Halftone

This app provides a seamless reading experience for comics and manga from various sources like Komga, Kavita, and cloud storage. It features unique zoom controls for comfortable one-handed reading and supports multiple file formats.

Highlights
  • Connects to Komga, Kavita, and other OPDS catalogs
  • Hold Zoom for one-handed reading
  • Page-level progress sync
  • Supports various file formats (CBZ, CBR, PDF)
  • Webtoon mode for long-strip scrolling
  • Privacy features like Incognito reading
Read full description

The reader your comic and manga server deserves — and the comfiest way to read on a phone. Halftone connects straight to the places you already keep comics: Komga and Kavita (native, not just OPDS), Audiobookshelf, any OPDS catalog, SMB shares on your NAS, WebDAV, Dropbox, OneDrive, and the files on your device. No account with us. No middleman server. No ads. PANEL VIEW Read one panel at a time, in the right order — manga's right-to-left included. Tap or swipe to step through the page, hold to peek at the whole thing, and pick Overlay or Fade to dim everything but the panel you're on. HOLD ZOOM Press and hold anywhere and the page magnifies; pan with the same finger — one-handed, made for dense pages and small lettering. Rest your thumb at a screen edge and the page keeps moving. Free for everyone — no unlock, no trial, no asterisk. YOUR SERVER, FIRST-CLASS • Komga and Kavita: native API clients — series, collections, page-by-page streaming • Audiobookshelf: your server's comics, with its covers and progress • Two-way, page-level progress sync — stop on your iPhone, and the server's web reader opens on the same page • OPDS for everything else: Codex, Ubooquity, Calibre-Web, Stump, and more • SMB and WebDAV — your NAS, found automatically • Dropbox, OneDrive, iCloud Drive, and any Files-app folder • Stream page by page without importing (CBZ and most CBR/RAR), or pin chapters for offline with one tap • Synced folders: point Halftone at a folder on your NAS or cloud drive and it mirrors the whole tree, subfolders and all • iCloud sync carries your place to your other devices through your own iCloud — for imported comics and every source with no sync of its own A READER BUILT FOR COMICS • Apple Books–style page curl that folds at the spine — or a classic slide • Double-page spreads with one-tap pairing fixes, spine shadow, and paper margins • True right-to-left for manga: page order, tap zones, curl, and scrubber all follow • A proper webtoon mode: smooth long-strip scrolling, detected automatically • Crop Borders trims scanned margins so the art fills the screen, and can drop credit strips • Tap zones your way: Left-Right, L-Shaped, Top-Bottom, or off • Match Page backgrounds: margins take the page's own color — or Backdrop, a soft blur of the page itself A LIBRARY THAT KEEPS UP • Built for thousands of files: search down to the single comic, collections, merge and move • Folders for loose comics — one-shots and odd issues, no fake series required • Reads ComicInfo.xml on import: real series names, correct chapter order, right-to-left detected • Wi-Fi transfer from any computer's browser • One-tap backup to a folder you pick; export as standard CBZ with ComicInfo.xml • Privacy tools: Incognito reading, Face ID app lock, hidden comics READS EVERYTHING CBZ/ZIP, CBR/RAR, CB7/7z, PDF, image-based ePub (DRM-free), and plain folders of images. FAIR PRICING, NO DARK PATTERNS Free is genuinely free: your whole local library, no series limit, full quality, spreads, right-to-left, webtoon scrolling, Hold Zoom, and the Panel View preview — and it never expires. Premium adds the connected half — servers, cloud drives, streaming, synced folders, iCloud sync, backup, privacy tools — plus the full reader: Panel View, page curl, Crop Borders, spine shadow, and Match Page. Lifetime unlock, or a small subscription. Nothing you imported or downloaded is ever deleted if you stop paying. SAMPLE ARTWORK IN SCREENSHOTS "Pepper&Carrot" by David Revoy (CC-BY 4.0, peppercarrot.com) · "Give My Regards to Black Jack" by Shuho Sato (author's free-use declaration) · US public-domain Golden Age comics. Privacy Policy: https://halftonereader.app/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://halftonereader.app/terms.html

About

Emaki

Read full description

Emaki is an iPhone and iPad reader for comics, images, and PDFs you manage yourself. Open files from an SMB share, a location selected in Files, or on your device without reorganizing your existing folders. Free version and one-time unlock Download for free and read the first 20 pages of each archive, PDF, or image folder. A non-consumable In-App Purchase removes the reading limit. No monthly fees. Photos library, videos, connections, and bookshelf browsing are free. This purchase unlocks app functionality, not books or third-party content. Key features • Connect directly to SMB, WebDAV, and OPDS • Browse Komga libraries and sync reading progress • Browse the Photos library by category and album • Start reading large archives from the pages you need • Save books or folders for offline reading • Pause and resume offline transfers • Read a folder of images as one book • Single-page, two-page spread, and automatic layouts • Right-to-left or left-to-right navigation • Reading position, history, and bookmarks • Automatic reading-position sync and shared bookmarks through a selected shared folder • Optionally skip unreadable images without showing an error page • A web bookshelf for titles, covers, and links from ebook services • Add URLs and text to the web bookshelf from the Share sheet Supported formats ZIP / CBZ, RAR / CBR (both RAR4 and RAR5), 7z / CB7, PDF, JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, HEIC, WebP, AVIF, and more. Continue on another device Select the same shared folder, such as a folder in iCloud Drive, on each device and keep each book at the same relative path. When you reopen the book, Emaki retrieves the latest synced reading position. Each device needs a version of Emaki that supports this feature. Sync is not enabled automatically for every location. Privacy No Emaki account, ads, usage analytics, or tracking. Reading history and connection details are stored on your device. When shared-folder sync is enabled, reading positions and shared bookmarks are written to the folder you select. Komga integration syncs reading progress to the server you specify. Purchases and restoration use Apple In-App Purchase. The web bookshelf does not import purchased files or bypass DRM. It opens links you added in the provider's app or website. About the screenshots The works shown are "Give My Regards to Black Jack" by Shuho Sato, "Hokusai Manga" by Katsushika Hokusai, and "Choju-jinbutsu-giga." The first is used under the author's free secondary-use permission; the others are public domain. No works are bundled with this app. Saved pages and text Open WebScrapBook folders, HTZ and MAFF files. Read HTML and text in full for free. Long-press a folder and choose Open as Web Page to open index.html or index.htm. Saved-page reading is separate from the Web Bookshelf link collection. Purchases The one-time unlock offered on iPhone/iPad is for iPhone and iPad. You can also restore the universal unlock purchased in the Mac version. Previous unlock purchases remain valid.

Screenshots

Halftone4 screens
Emaki2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Emaki at every 2 days against Halftone's every 3 weeks. Halftone's advantage is iOS requirement (16.4 vs 18.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Halftone sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month and Emaki sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Halftone ships an update every 3 weeks, Emaki every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and September 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Halftone versus Emaki: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHalftoneEmaki
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.4 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size60 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBony YousufMasashi Kanamori

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Halftone

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Monthly3 Days trial$1.491 Month
  • Premium Yearly3 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Unlock$19.99
3 purchases

Emaki

One-time3
  • iPhone & iPad Reading Unlock$2.99
  • Unlock all pages$4.99
  • Upgrade to Mac and iOS$5.99

Questions

Is Halftone free?
Halftone is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Emaki free?
Emaki is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Halftone or Emaki have ads?
Neither Halftone nor Emaki shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Halftone or Emaki?
Halftone ships an update every 3 weeks, and Emaki every 2 days. Most recently, Halftone was updated on September 30, 2026 and Emaki on September 17, 2026.

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