FastBack vs Elytra
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
FastBack
This browser offers a unique "back" function that instantly displays the previous page without reloading. It's designed for a smoother news browsing experience, allowing users to navigate between articles and main pages seamlessly.
- Instant page recall on back
- No reloads when navigating back
- Smooth news browsing experience
- Remembers frequently visited sites
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"FastBack - the browser that doesn't reload when you go back." The name says it all. Amazingly, this is in contrast to all other iOS browsers. - When tapping "back", the previous page displays instantly. It does NOT reload, scroll, jump, redraw or update in any annoying way (as every other browser does), making the back step fast. - This is great for browsing news sites: You scroll down a long main page, tap a link, read, tap back, tap another link, tap back etc – and everything is just smooth. News browsing the way it was meant to be. - There are almost NO other features. OK, your frequently visited sites are remembered but that's it. Less is more. - I wrote this app so I could browse my morning news sites without going crazy. Enjoy!
Elytra
A privacy-focused RSS reader for iOS and macOS that offers native article rendering, advanced search, and cross-device synchronization. It strips tracking scripts and provides customizable appearance options for a clean reading experience.
- Privacy-focused design
- Native article and image rendering
- Cross-device synchronization
- Search within articles
- Customizable appearance
- Mute filters
- Widgets
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Elytra is a private RSS reader for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Follow the news sites and blogs you choose, read them in a clean native reader with every tracker stripped out, and keep everything in sync across your devices. Elytra is a paid app: every new account starts with a 14-day free trial, after which you can subscribe or buy a one-time lifetime licence. WHY ELYTRA PRIVATE BY DESIGN: Your account is created automatically. There is no email, no password and no personal information. A random account ID and anonymous crash reports are the only data Elytra uses, and only to sync your feeds and keep the app stable. NO TRACKING: Elytra removes tracking scripts and tracking pixels from every article, so what you read stays between you and your device. NATIVE READER: Articles are rendered with native iOS text and image views, not a web view. That means Dynamic Type, VoiceOver, text selection across paragraphs, syntax-highlighted code blocks and fast scrolling on long articles. SYNC: Your feeds, folders, read state and bookmarks sync across iPhone, iPad and Mac through Elytra's own service. The Mac app is a separate download on the Mac App Store. PUSH NOTIFICATIONS: Get real-time alerts from blogs that support the WebSub protocol, and near real-time local notifications from the ones that do not. FULL-TEXT ARTICLES: When a feed only ships a summary, Elytra can fetch the full article for you. SEARCH: Search for a feed, then an article, then a phrase inside the article. Elytra was the first RSS reader to search within articles. MUTE FILTERS: Hide topics, spoilers and keywords you do not want in your timeline. OPML: Import your subscriptions from another reader, and export them at any time. OFFLINE BOOKMARKS: Bookmarked articles are stored on your device, so you can read them without a connection. FEED FORMATS: RSS, Atom and JSON Feed are all supported. IMAGE LOADING: Choose when images load to save mobile data, or load them on demand. APPEARANCE: Light and dark themes, a choice of serif and sans-serif fonts, and support for custom fonts installed on your device. LINKED HEADERS: When an author links section headers, Elytra lets you share a link straight to that section. WIDGETS: Four widgets bring your favourite feeds and latest updates to your Home Screen and Lock Screen. ——— Elytra uses its own sync service and cannot connect to Feedly, Inoreader, iCloud or other RSS syncing services. ——— Terms: https://elytra.app/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://elytra.app/privacy/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Elytra at 44% against FastBack's 0%. Elytra also leads on rating (3.7 vs 3.0) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 16 months). FastBack's advantage is monetization model (free vs subscription) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 26.0). 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
Both are free to download. FastBack sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Elytra sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Elytra holds the better App Store score, 3.7 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 9 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of FastBack's written reviews are positive against 44% of Elytra's.
FastBack ships an update every 16 months, Elytra fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 5, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | FastBack | Elytra |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (2 ratings) | 3.7 (9 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 44.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 9 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 16 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Subscription |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 56 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Studio Mee | Nikhil Nigade |
Customer experience
FastBack
Elytra
In-app purchases
FastBack
- Unlock$1.99
Elytra
- Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$0.991 Month
- Pro - Monthly7 Days trial$1.991 Month
- Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$10.491 Year
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- Pro - Yearly7 Days trial$20.001 Year
- Free TrialFree
- 1 Month Subscription$0.99
- 3 Months Subscription$2.99
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- 1 Year Subscription$12.99
- Lifetime Subscription$54.99









