Comparison

MapleRead SE vs Smart Comic Reader

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

Head to head
About

MapleRead SE

This app offers a unique audio-visual reading experience for EPUB and PDF files. It allows for extensive customization of book styles, instant audiobook generation, and immersive reading that syncs audio and text. It also functions as an effective library management tool with cross-device syncing.

Highlights
  • Audio-visual reading experience
  • EPUB and PDF reader
  • Pseudo audiobook generation
  • Immersion reading (audio/text sync)
  • Library management and organization
  • Cross-device syncing
  • User-defined customization
Currently charting
Read full description

MapleRead is dedicated to enable unique audio-visual reading experience for everyone. ------------ Our MapleRead app family has 3 members, namely SE, CE and CX. - SE is our flagship product with all features. - CE is SE without PDF reader and built-in Library Server. - CX is CE with some limitation. Free to try. - No recurring subscription fees. No ads. Just buy it once. Gratuity optional. - Moreover, SE and CE can be run side-by-side via split-view multitasking. - Recommend SE for use on multiple devices with easy and fast book sharing via Library Server. - Recommend the SE-CE bundle for the best value. ------------ MapleRead includes a superb audio-visual EPUB e-book reader. - It lets you easily modify publisher's original book style to better suit your aesthetic taste. - It lets you instantly generate pseudo audiobooks with a choice of narrator voices over 40 languages. - It enables immersion reading so that you may read and listen to the same book in sync. - Background listening works well too. Compatible with Lock Screen Music Player and CarPlay. MapleRead UI is friendly to users of all ages. - Books can be read in regular and large print. - A choice of UI text sizes makes reading in non-book views much more comfortable. MapleRead is a great learning tool. - It lets you look up words, translate sentences, search text, highlight text and write notes. - It helps you collect vocabulary and organize notes with various priorities. - It provides hooks to user-defined dictionaries, translators, and other tools. - Immersion reading improves your comprehension, especially of foreign-language books. MapleRead is an effective and fast library management tool. - It is designed for you, a book lover, who may own a huge and/or growing book collection. - It lets you keep all your books in one place and well-organized automatically. - It lets you display your books elegantly in style. - It lets you easily repair individual book metadata. - If supports multiple book sets and multiple tags. - It offers multiple ways to import and export books, and works well with Calibre. MapleRead supports secure sync across devices via MapleRead Cloud and iCloud. - It syncs reading positions, notes, vocab, bookmarks, and book set membership (but not the books). - It syncs reading positions additionally via iCloud for even better user experience. - It enables web access to synced data via web browsers from desktop and mobile devices. MapleRead offers unprecedented user-defined customization options. - They include unlimited user-defined fonts, book themes, cover images and library scenes. - Each book theme includes various types of user-defined highlight colors. - Each book can have its own theme, and each EPUB book can have its own style. MapleRead SE includes also a great PDF e-book reader. - The PDF reader looks very similar to the EPUB reader for a sense of unified UI. MapleRead SE has a zero-configuration Library Server for easy book sharing. - All books in Library can be shared. - Smart batch download makes transferring of multiple books very convenient. [For more technical details, screenshots, FAQ and reviews, please visit our website.]

About

Smart Comic Reader

This app offers a unique comic reading experience by automatically detecting and zooming into individual panels. It allows for seamless navigation between panels with simple taps, optimizing the view for smaller screens. Import comics from various sources and organize them within your iCloud or local storage.

Highlights
  • Automatic panel detection and zoom
  • Seamless panel-to-panel navigation
  • Optimized viewing for small screens
  • Comic import from any source
  • iCloud sync and local storage options
  • Supports CBZ, CBR, and PDF formats
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

A different kind of comic reader that offers a better way to read comics on a smaller screen. How it works: 1. Import any comic into the app. 2. Double tap on a panel and watch the app automatically detect its boundaries and zoom in on it. 3. Tap on the side of the screen to easily move to the next panel. If needed, the app will rotate the comic to make maximum use of your screen space. Key Features ============ Smart Reader: - Automatically zoom in and move between panels for a smooth reading experience. - Works with any comic, western or manga, no matter the art style. Panels do not need well-defined edges to be detected. - Always stay in control, let the app guide you over the page while you can always manually zoom and pan. Comic Collection: - Import comics from anywhere and organize your comic collection. - Comics are stored in iCloud to save storage space and keep your collection in sync across devices. - Your Smart Comic Reader collection is a regular folder on your iCloud Drive that you can access and manage from any iCloud connected device, like a Mac, or a Windows device using iCloud for Windows. - Also works locally if iCloud is disabled. - Supports comics in CBZ/ZIP, CBR/RAR and PDF formats. And many more features to come! If you have any questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate to send them to: support@vandijk.dev. Comics in video and screenshots: “Pepper&Carrot”, David Revoy, CC-By “Plastic Man”, Quality Comics, Public Domain “Say Hello to Black Jack”, Shuho Sato

Screenshots

MapleRead SE4 screens
Smart Comic Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Smart Comic Reader at 4.9 against MapleRead SE's 4.1. Smart Comic Reader also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 3) and price ($2.99 vs $8.99). MapleRead SE's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.3). On update cadence, ads, chart position 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

MapleRead SE costs $8.99 and Smart Comic Reader $2.99 up front. MapleRead SE sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Smart Comic Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Smart Comic Reader holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 130 and 539 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 68% of MapleRead SE's written reviews are positive against 91% of Smart Comic Reader's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MapleRead SE ships an update every 2 months, Smart Comic Reader every 5 weeks. Both last shipped on September 28, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
MapleRead SE versus Smart Comic Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMapleRead SESmart Comic Reader
Price$8.99$2.99 — better
Rating4.1 (130 ratings)4.9 (539 ratings) — better
Positive reviews68.5% of reviews91.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings130539 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#106#55 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.3
Further details — not scored
Size30 MB54 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperMaplepop LLCOnne van Dijk

Customer experience

MapleRead SE

All ratings130 ratings
Positive77.7%
Neutral8.5%
Negative13.8%
Written reviews168 reviews
Positive68.5%
Neutral14.3%
Negative17.3%

Smart Comic Reader

All ratings539 ratings
Positive97.0%
Neutral0.9%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews217 reviews
Positive91.2%
Neutral2.3%
Negative6.5%

User reviews

MapleRead SE

From 130 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Highly customizable reading experience
  • 🔒 Robust library management features
  • 👍 Seamless integration with Calibre
  • 👍 Excellent organization and tagging options
  • 👍 Wide range of font and layout customization

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Sync issues between devices
  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and performance problems
  • 🔍 Complicated interface and setup process
  • 🔍 Difficult to import large book libraries
  • 🔍 Limited annotation and highlighting options

Smart Comic Reader

From 539 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Panel-by-panel reading mode
  • 👍 Seamless iCloud integration
  • 🔒 No ads or data collection
  • 👍 Clean, minimal UI
  • 🚀 Fast and responsive

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional issues with panel detection
  • 🔀 Difficulty exiting panel view
  • 🔀 Inability to adjust cover size in grid view

Bugs and requests

MapleRead SE

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Freezing and crashing issues, especially on iOS 14
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching between portrait and landscape modes
  • Unreliable OPDS server integration and book downloads

Requested features

5 requests
  • Automatic reading progress sync across devices
  • Improved PDF handling and annotation support
  • Expanded highlighting and note-taking capabilities
  • Streamlined library import and management
  • Cleaner and more intuitive user interface

Smart Comic Reader

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Deleted user's entire comic collection
  • iCloud sync not working for some users
  • Freezing/crashing issues on iPad

Requested features

6 requests
  • Page marking/bookmarking function
  • Built-in dictionary/translation tool
  • Vertical scrolling mode for webtoons
  • Ability to manually arrange reading order
  • Live Text integration for dictionary lookup
Show 1 more
  • Widgets for quick access

In-app purchases

3 purchases

MapleRead SE

One-time3
  • Gratuity Level 1$0.99
  • Gratuity Level 2$1.99
  • Gratuity Level 5$4.99
None

Smart Comic Reader

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MapleRead SE free?
MapleRead SE costs $8.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Smart Comic Reader free?
Smart Comic Reader costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, MapleRead SE or Smart Comic Reader?
Smart Comic Reader is rated higher. MapleRead SE averages 4.1 out of 5 from 130 ratings, while Smart Comic Reader averages 4.9 from 539 ratings.
Do MapleRead SE or Smart Comic Reader have ads?
Neither MapleRead SE nor Smart Comic Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MapleRead SE or Smart Comic Reader?
MapleRead SE ships an update every 2 months, and Smart Comic Reader every 5 weeks. Most recently, MapleRead SE was updated on September 28, 2026 and Smart Comic Reader on September 28, 2026.
Which is more popular, MapleRead SE or Smart Comic Reader?
MapleRead SE currently peaks at #106 in the App Store charts, and Smart Comic Reader at #55. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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