Comparison

BeeLine Reader vs Tomato Hour

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

Head to head
About

BeeLine Reader

This app uses eye-guiding color gradients to help you read faster and more easily. It's particularly beneficial for individuals with dyslexia, ADD, or vision impairments, and can be used with articles saved from Safari or browsed directly within the app on select websites.

Highlights
  • Eye-guiding color gradients
  • Improved reading speed
  • Enhanced reading ability
  • Safari Action Extension integration
  • Article saving via Share Extension
  • In-app browsing on select sites
Features
Read full description

Read faster and more easily with our digital reading technology, which has has won awards from Stanford and United Nations! Here's how it works: instead of using plain black text, we display text using eye-guiding color gradients. These gradients flow from the end of one line to the beginning of the next, so that when you move your eyes from right to left, they're automatically drawn to the appropriate line. Vision, literacy, and medical experts agree that BeeLine Reader improves reading speed and reading ability for readers of all ages and skill levels. It is particularly helpful for readers with dyslexia, ADD, or vision impairments—some readers are able to read over 50% faster with BeeLine. Find out how much it will help you by taking the BeeLine Reading Challenge on our website: www.BeeLineReader.com. Included app functionality: Read with BeeLine in Safari using our BeeLine Action Extension; save articles for later using the BeeLine Share Extension; and browse the web with BeeLine on select popular websites (AP News, Reuters, and Medium.com) within the BeeLine app. Never used an extension before? Find out how: http://bit.ly/1vaQaOf IAP: Add premium news sites to your reading list and read Kindle books with BeeLine (iPad only). Have epub files you want to read with BeeLine? Grab the ReadMe! app, which supports DRM-free EPUB files.

About

Tomato Hour

This productivity app helps you stay focused using a Pomodoro timer that syncs across your iPhone, Apple Watch, and Mac. It features real-time updates on your devices, including the Dynamic Island and Lock Screen, and allows you to track your focus time accurately.

Highlights
  • Real-time sync across iPhone, Apple Watch, and Mac
  • Dynamic Island and Lock Screen integration
  • Watch face complications
  • Honest focus time tracking
  • To-dos convert to Pomodoros
  • Strict focus mode without pause
  • Privacy-first design with no servers
Features
Read full description

Tomato Hour is a focus timer that spans iPhone, Apple Watch, and Mac. Start a pomodoro on your watch, and your iPhone's Dynamic Island and Mac's menu bar follow along. REAL-TIME SYNC ACROSS THREE DEVICES Built on Apple's private CloudKit sync — act on one device, all three follow instantly. No need to pull out your phone: a glance at your wrist or menu bar keeps your focus in sight. DYNAMIC ISLAND & LOCK SCREEN Time remaining shows live in the Dynamic Island and on the Lock Screen, so you always know where you are without opening the app. WATCH FACE COMPLICATIONS Put the countdown right on your watch face. Turn the Digital Crown to scroll through today's focus stats. HONEST FOCUS RECORDS Stretch a pomodoro to 30 minutes and it logs 30 minutes — the time that actually happened, not the time you planned. Grouped by day, with tag breakdowns. TO-DOS BECOME POMODOROS Tap a to-do to start timing. Change what you're working on mid-session without breaking your rhythm. STRICT FOCUS MODE No pause button by default. You get an alert when a pomodoro or break ends — when to move on is up to you. PRIVACY FIRST No account, no servers of ours. Every record lives on your own devices and in your private iCloud database. We cannot see what you're focusing on.

Screenshots

BeeLine Reader3 screens
Tomato Hour4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Tomato Hour at 100% against BeeLine Reader's 38%. Tomato Hour also leads on price (Free vs $4.99) and rating (5.0 vs 2.3). BeeLine Reader's advantage is ratings volume (20 vs 2) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). On ads 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

Tomato Hour is free to download; BeeLine Reader costs $4.99 up front. BeeLine Reader sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Tomato Hour asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Tomato Hour holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: BeeLine Reader has 20 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 38% of BeeLine Reader's written reviews are positive against 100% of Tomato Hour's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BeeLine Reader ships an update every 5 months, Tomato Hour every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
BeeLine Reader versus Tomato Hour: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBeeLine ReaderTomato Hour
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating2.3 (20 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews38.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings20 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, Mac, Apple Watch
Requires iOS12.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size16 MB4 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperBeeLine Reader, Inc.瑞玮 朱

Customer experience

BeeLine Reader

All ratings20 ratings
Positive25.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative65.0%
Written reviews47 reviews
Positive38.3%
Neutral6.4%
Negative55.3%

Tomato Hour

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

6 purchases

BeeLine Reader

One-time6
  • BeeLine News Lite$0.99
  • BeeLine News Pro$3.99
  • BeeLine News Pro$4.99
Show 3 more
  • BeeLine Email & Social Pro$4.99
  • BeeLine PDF Reader$9.99
  • eBooks Pro$19.99
None

Tomato Hour

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is BeeLine Reader free?
BeeLine Reader costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Tomato Hour free?
Tomato Hour is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, BeeLine Reader or Tomato Hour?
Tomato Hour is rated higher. BeeLine Reader averages 2.3 out of 5 from 20 ratings, while Tomato Hour averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do BeeLine Reader or Tomato Hour have ads?
Neither BeeLine Reader nor Tomato Hour shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BeeLine Reader or Tomato Hour?
BeeLine Reader ships an update every 5 months, and Tomato Hour every 3 days. Most recently, BeeLine Reader was updated on October 16, 2026 and Tomato Hour on October 12, 2026.

Other comparisons