Book vs Close Reader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Book
This app supports multiple ebook formats and comics, allowing you to read them directly from your device without conversion. It includes features for tracking reading progress, taking notes, highlighting text, and translating passages. You can also listen to text-based books aloud and set daily reading goals to build a consistent habit.
- Supports 9 ebook and comic formats
- Reads books aloud with text-to-speech
- Built-in translation for passages
- Reading tracker with stats and goals
- Note-taking and highlighting
- Opens files from various sources
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Book opens the ebooks you already own and turns reading into a habit. One app for EPUB, MOBI, AZW3, FB2, PDF, TXT, DOCX, RTF and CBZ comics, with a reading tracker, text to speech and translation built in. OPENS WHAT OTHER READERS CAN'T • 9 formats: EPUB, FB2, PDF, TXT, MOBI, AZW3, RTF, DOCX and CBZ comics • Add books from the Files app, iCloud Drive, AirDrop, Mail, Safari or any app with Share • No conversion, no account, no upload. Books stay on your device and open offline READ YOUR WAY • Font, text size, spacing, light and dark themes • Your place is saved in every book • Hold any word to highlight it or leave a note LISTEN WHEN YOU CAN'T READ • Text to speech reads text-based books aloud, so the story goes on while you cook, commute or rest your eyes HIGHLIGHTS, NOTES & QUOTES • Save the best lines and keep notes for each book • Share quotes as cards ready for Instagram and Stories TRANSLATE ANY PASSAGE • Tap a word or a paragraph to translate it without leaving the page. Read in the original without a dictionary A READING TRACKER THAT MOTIVATES • Minutes, pages and sessions counted automatically while you read • Books finished this week, month and year, hours read, longest session • A forecast of how many books you will finish at your current pace • Weekly report and reading calendar BUILD A DAILY HABIT • Set a daily goal in minutes and keep your streak alive • A gentle reminder at the time you choose • Achievements and shareable recaps PAPER BOOKS COUNT TOO • Add a paper book, start the reading timer and log pages, no file needed WIDGETS & SIRI • Home Screen widgets: today's goal, achievements and continue reading • "Continue reading in Book" opens your page. Start or stop the reading timer with Siri and Shortcuts BOOK PRO Book is free to download. The free version holds up to 5 books. Book Pro removes the limit and unlocks read aloud, translation, extra fonts and themes, and full stats with monthly and yearly views, reading calendar and pace. Choose a monthly or yearly subscription or a one-time lifetime purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period and are managed in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use: https://appassistance.services/book/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://appassistance.services/book/privacy/ Finish the books you already have. Download Book and start reading today.
Close Reader
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Close Reader is an e-book reader for iPhone and iPad that helps you read any book, in a foreign language or in your own. Press and hold a word for a translation that fits the sentence, and save it to flashcards. Forgot where you left off? Get a recap of what you’ve read so far. Ask the AI who a character is, what a passage means or what lies behind an event, even where the book has no footnote. It knows the book only up to your page, so there are no spoilers. At a glance • Your own books: EPUB, FB2, MOBI, AZW3, PDF and TXT (DRM-free), from Files, Mail or a messenger, or from your OPDS library (Calibre, Kavita, Komga). No store, no sign-up. • Books in any language; translations into more than 40 languages; the app itself speaks 20. • Free to download and read. AI help is free for your first 7 days (1,500 energy, no account), then runs on a plan or energy you buy; Medium starts with a 7-day free trial. • iPhone and iPad, in sync if you sign in. • No ads. Your text isn’t stored or used to train AI models. Help right where you stumble • Hold a word: the translation fits this very sentence. Reading in your own language? You get a plain definition. • Drag the handles to take in a phrase, or translate the whole sentence or paragraph. • Select a name: “Who’s this?” reminds you who that character or place is, from the pages you’ve read, and where they first appeared. • “Explain” gives the background of a passage: history, allusions, idioms and old-fashioned phrasing. • Questions about real history or the author get answers from the web, with sources. No spoilers Every answer comes from what you’ve read, up to the last line on your screen. In “No spoilers” mode we don’t even tell the AI which book it is, so it can’t fill in the plot from memory. Rereading? Switch to “Whole book”. Talk the book over • Ask for a recap, who’s who, or why a character did what they did. “Detailed answer” goes deeper. • Ask where something happened: the answer lists the places, and a tap opens the book there. • Answers link to the passages they rely on. Keep several chats per book; your notes can come along. • Chapters you’ve read have recaps, and rings in the contents show how much of each you’ve read. Learn the words you meet • “Save word” keeps a word with its translation and the sentence where you met it. • Flashcards adapt to your memory, with a daily reminder. Vocabulary exports to CSV. Find your way, keep what matters • The slider is a map of the book: chapters, bookmarks, notes and the time left in the chapter. • Jump anywhere to look around: your reading place stays put, and one tap takes you back. • Search the book. Footnotes open over the page, pictures full screen. • Highlights, notes, quotes shared as pictures, saved AI answers, bookmarks and “I’m here”. Notes export to Markdown. Easy on the eyes Four themes, fonts, text size and line spacing; pages or scrolling; portrait or landscape, with a two-page spread on a wide screen. Energy and plans AI help runs on energy: translating a word costs 1, and bigger requests show their price first. Reading, notes and flashcards are always free. Every feature is on every plan: Light, Medium and Max give 15,000, 40,000 and 80,000 energy a month, enough for everyday help plus about 25, 70 or 150 detailed answers. Extra energy you buy never expires. Subscriptions Light, Medium and Max are auto-renewing subscriptions, billed monthly or yearly. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm the purchase. A subscription renews automatically unless you cancel it at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel it in Settings > your name > Subscriptions. Terms of Use: https://closereader.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://closereader.app/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Book at none against Close Reader's shown. On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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
Both are free to download. Book sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Close Reader sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | Book | Close Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Update frequency | — | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 32 MB | 61 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Artem Dorozhkin | Ilia Ilinskii |
In-app purchases
Book
- Book Pro Monthly3 Days trial$4.991 Month
- Book Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
- Book Pro Yearly$24.991 Year
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- Book Pro Annual1 Year trial$24.991 Year
- Book Pro Lifetime$34.99
Close Reader
- Light – monthly$4.991 Month
- Medium – monthly7 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Max – monthly$19.991 Month
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- Light – yearly$39.991 Year
- Medium – yearly7 Days trial$79.991 Year
- Max – yearly$149.991 Year
- 10,000 energy$2.99
- 30,000 energy$6.99









