PortalDafHyomi vs Magnes Reader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PortalDafHyomi
Access the entire Talmud conveniently on your device. Enjoy audio lessons in multiple languages, helpful articles, and a calendar to track your daily study progress. Find local lectures and utilize a powerful search function.
- Full Talmud text
- Audio lessons (Hebrew, English, Yiddish)
- Downloadable lessons
- Articles and books
- Daf Hayomi lecture map
- Search function
- Study tracking and notes
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כעת כל הש"ס בכף ידך ובחינם האפליקציה מכילה את הדברים הנפלאים הבאים. 1. כל הש"ס בצורה נוחה וגדולה 2. שיעורי שמע בעברית אנגלית ויידיש להאזנה והורדה 3. מאמרים ספרים עלונים וכלי עזר 4. מפה עם מידע על מקומות בהם מתקיימים שיעורי דף יומי 5. מערכת חיפוש בש״ס 6. לוח שנה לועזי\עברי הכולל את הדף הנלמד בכל יום ויום עם אפשרות לעקוב אחרי הלימוד על ידי סימון הדפים שנלמדו והוספת הערות. The whole Talmud in the palm of your hand: The App includes many great features: 1. The entire Talmud in clear fonts 2. Talmud lessons to listen to and download, in Hebrew, English and Yiddish 3. Articles, Leaflets,books and other helpful tools 4. A location map for venues in which you can attend "Daf Hayomi" lectures
Magnes Reader
Access and read your purchased e-books from Magnes Press anywhere, even offline. This app synchronizes your reading progress across devices and allows for easy navigation, searching, and note-taking within your digital library.
- Offline reading
- Cross-device synchronization
- Page and chapter navigation
- Word search functionality
- Zoom in/out
- Bookmarks and notes
- PDF support
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After purchasing e-books on the Magnes Press website, you are invited to download the Magnes App in order to take them with you anywhere you go. This app offers the following options in most of the Magnes e-books: - Easy log-in - Synchronization – continue reading where you left off on any device, even after closing the app - No internet connection needed - Leaf through pages and chapters - Word search - Zoom in and out - Add and save bookmarks and notes - View all bookmarks, notes and highlights - Supports PDF On the Magnes website you will find a variety of non-fiction and research books in fields such as Archaeology, Ancient East, Classical Studies, Jewish Studies, Christianity, Islam, Literature, Linguistics, Philosophy, History, Geography, Middle East, Art, Education, Psychology, Sociology, Medicine, Natural Sciences and more.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: PortalDafHyomi at 84% against Magnes Reader's 13%. PortalDafHyomi also leads on rating (4.8 vs 1.0) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 6 months). Magnes Reader's advantage is iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
PortalDafHyomi holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PortalDafHyomi has 207 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of PortalDafHyomi's written reviews are positive against 13% of Magnes Reader's.
PortalDafHyomi ships an update every 5 weeks, Magnes Reader every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on August 28, 2026 and August 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PortalDafHyomi | Magnes Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (207 ratings) — better | 1.0 (4 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 83.6% of reviews — better | 12.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 207 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 8.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 36 MB | 57 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | BINYAMIN TRACHTMAN | C.D.I. SYSTEMS (1992) LTD |
Customer experience
PortalDafHyomi
Magnes Reader
Bugs and requests
PortalDafHyomi
Reported bugs
11 issues- App does not open
- App crashes
- App freezes
- App not working on specific iPhone models (iPhone 7, 11, 11 Pro Max)
- App not working on iPad
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- Sideways view is broken
- Page flips upside down in sideways view
- App gets into a frozen state and becomes unusable
- Crashing when selecting audio Shiur
- Getting stuck on the last Shiur played
- Crashes on iOS 13.3
Requested features
3 requests- Ability to download an entire mesechta or SHAS at once
- Apple Pencil support for iPad app (notes, highlighting)
- A simpler and modern UI
Magnes Reader
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
PortalDafHyomi
No in-app purchases
Magnes Reader
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is PortalDafHyomi free?
Is Magnes Reader free?
Which has better reviews, PortalDafHyomi or Magnes Reader?
Do PortalDafHyomi or Magnes Reader have ads?
Which is updated more often, PortalDafHyomi or Magnes Reader?
Other comparisons
