Comparison

MagicReader vs ReadSense

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

Head to head
About

MagicReader

Features
Read full description

Read without touching the screen. MagicReader is a hands-free reader for EPUB, PDF and comics: turn your head, wave a hand, wink, or just say "next page" — and the page turns. Or sit back and let a natural voice read to you. Whether your hands are busy, wet, full, or simply resting — or touching the screen is difficult for you — MagicReader keeps the story going. NEW: OPENS LIKE A REAL BOOK • Ready for iPhone Duo — unfold it and your book becomes a two-page spread, with the spine right on the fold • Landscape reading — two pages side by side on iPad and most iPhones, for EPUB, PDF and comics, including vertical Japanese books • Flip page turns — pages turn over like paper and follow your finger • Split View on iPad and iPhone Duo TOUCH-FREE READING • Head control — turn your head left or right to flip pages; look up to open or close a book • Wink control — wink your right eye to go forward, your left to go back (Face ID devices) • Hand control — a cursor follows your hand; close your hand to grab a book, swipe from the screen edge to flip • Voice control — say "next", "back", "open", "read aloud" and more, in English, Japanese, Spanish, French or German • A guided tour teaches every gesture with live practice NATURAL READ-ALOUD • Natural, expressive voices read your EPUB books aloud — in English and Japanese • The sentence being spoken is highlighted, and pages turn in step with the narration • English narration powered by Kokoro; Japanese voices powered by VOICEVOX (VOICEVOX:No.7, VOICEVOX:å››å›½ć‚ćŸć‚“, VOICEVOX:é’å±±é¾ę˜Ÿ, VOICEVOX Nemo) • Books in Spanish, French and German are read by your device's system voice for that language, with nothing to download • Natural voices are downloaded once, then work fully offline — all speech is generated on your device YOUR LIBRARY, YOUR WAY • EPUB and PDF books, plus CBZ/CBR comics and manga • Beautiful animated bookshelf themes — drifting watercolour clouds, a starry cosmos, and story worlds that come alive behind special books • Japanese vertical text (ēø¦ę›øć) done right, with optional automatic furigana (ćµć‚ŠćŒćŖ) above kanji • Comfortable reading themes, adjustable fonts (including OpenDyslexic for dyslexia-friendly reading), and remembered positions THOUSANDS OF FREE CLASSICS • Browse and download public-domain classics from Project Gutenberg and Aozora Bunko (é’ē©ŗę–‡åŗ«) — from Alice in Wonderland to éŠ€ę²³é‰„é“ć®å¤œ — right inside the app PRIVATE BY DESIGN • The camera and microphone are used only to recognize your gestures and commands, entirely on your device • Nothing is recorded, nothing is uploaded, and there are no accounts, no ads, and no tracking — ever MagicReader began in 2012 as one of the first face-controlled book readers on the App Store. It has been rebuilt from the ground up for today's devices — same magic, new tricks. Reading is best when nothing comes between you and the story. Not even your hands.

About

ReadSense

Read full description

Understand difficult books as you read. Tap a word to see what it means in its sentence, or select a passage for a short, plain explanation, without leaving the page. ReadSense is an EPUB reader for books that fight back: classics, dense literary fiction, old or unusual language. When a word or a sentence stops you, you don't leave the book to search. You touch the text. TAP A WORD Get the one meaning it has in this sentence, not a list of ten, with how to say it. Old spellings, dialect, fixed phrases and familiar words that once meant something else are read for what they mean here. SELECT A PASSAGE Hold a word to take its sentence, or hold and drag to choose a passage. A short, plain explanation appears on the page, never over the words you selected: what a tangled sentence says, who is speaking, what an allusion points to. NO SPOILERS Explanations use only what you've read so far. Nothing past the paragraph you're reading is ever sent. FREE BOOKS INSIDE More than a thousand classics are in the app, free to get and free to read: novels, plays, poems, mysteries, philosophy, children's books. Each one says what it is and how it begins before you choose it. Or bring your own. A READER THAT STAYS OUT OF THE WAY • Free classics inside, and your own EPUB files (DRM-free) from Files or another app • Pages turned by swiping, with two pages side by side on a large iPad • Search inside the book, bookmarks, Contents and footnotes • Two typefaces, line spacing, margins, three themes and text that goes very large • Pictures, lists and code shown as the book has them • Your place is kept in every book • Works with VoiceOver and larger text • No account, no ads, no tracking HOW ANSWERS ARE MADE To explain a word or passage, ReadSense sends the text you select and surrounding text from the same chapter to an outside AI provider, which writes the answer. ReadSense doesn't save that text or the answer, and you are asked before anything is sent. Your books stay on your device. Explanations are written by AI and can be wrong; they are a reading aid. FREE TO TRY ReadSense is free to download. The books inside are free, and reading is always free, your own books included. You can try lookups free; after that, a monthly or annual subscription keeps the answers coming. Subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled; you can cancel anytime in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use: https://readsense.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://readsense.app/privacy License Agreement (Apple's standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

MagicReader2 screens
ReadSense4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: MagicReader at none against ReadSense's 2. MagicReader also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). ReadSense's advantage is update cadence (daily vs monthly). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. ReadSense sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. MagicReader asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MagicReader ships an update monthly, ReadSense daily. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences Ā· 3 level
MagicReader versus ReadSense: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMagicReaderReadSense
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyMonthlyDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size62 MB41 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperLeo Rivas-MicoudLUKE MICHAEL MCGUIRE

In-app purchases

None

MagicReader

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

ReadSense

Subscriptions2
  • ReadSense Monthly$4.991 Month
  • ReadSense Annual$39.991 Year

Questions

Is MagicReader free?
MagicReader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ReadSense free?
ReadSense is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do MagicReader or ReadSense have ads?
Neither MagicReader nor ReadSense shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MagicReader or ReadSense?
MagicReader ships an update monthly, and ReadSense daily. Most recently, MagicReader was updated on October 11, 2026 and ReadSense on October 14, 2026.

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