Outread App Review
Outread for iOS – Process ebooks, websites & reading lists super fast
Outread lets you quickly go through your digital reading lists by utilizing numerous tried and trusted accelerated reading strategies.
In general, Outread will guide your eyes to focus on smaller chunks of words using a highlighting marker. This can be pretty effective in order to quickly process digital content but also to increase your overall pace.
Available through the iTunes store for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, to run Outread all you need is iOS 11 or later and a general desire to improve your pace and comprehension skills. In this brief Outread review, we look at the highlights, pros and cons of the Basic and Plus version.
Outread App – Main Highlights
Comprehensive settings – Speed reading apps can be daunting to the uninitiated user, but Outread combines excellent usability with several clear customization options. Before you start, you can set how quickly you wish to read. Choose from words per minute, size of text upon screen and font type.
Excellent compatibility – You can import and select a huge range of files and article types for Outread to convert into highlighted chunks of text. Alongside your own e-books and created lists, you can import word files and web pages from any site. Outread also syncs incredibly quickly with other services such as Instapaper, Pinboard, Readability and Pocket.
A highlighting marker – This feature is central to Outread. How it works is that after setting the parameters and importing your content lists, all you need to do is highlight where you wish to start and the app will start reading for you. How? By highlighting words one word at a time or in small phrases. This encourages you to keep up and increases your rate of reading considerably. Outread also aids comprehension, as your brain can process information much more succinctly.
Detailed statistics – Outread will start gathering your statistics for you to view at any time you choose. It will show you everything from just how many words you have read, to completed material and rate of speed improvement.
File formats – Outread supports a wide range of file formats such as .epub ebooks, Word, .rtf or .txt documents. It also allows using Pages documents as well as import clipboard content. However, you won’t be able to open DRM-protected ebooks.
| Rating | Price | Review Summary |
|---|---|---|
| ★★★★★☆ | Basic: Free Plus: $21.99 | Outread is an iOS app to quickly process content lists. Syncs with Instapaper, Pocket and Readability. |
Click thumbnails to open screenshots.
Alternatives: Spreeder | ReadQuick | Iris Reading
Outread Basic – Features
- Add content from websites and apps through bookmarklets, extensions.
- Import content or URLs directly into Outread
- Enjoy guided reading or keep highlighted content centered.
- Set pace and number of words to be highlighted.
- Set font size, family, color and other styles
- Access stats to track activities and progress.
- Enjoy numerous options to filter and sort content.
- Enjoy distraction free layouts.
- Access Outread services and content offline.
Outread Plus ($21.99) – Features
While the basic version of Outread is free to download you may wish to access all features and services. However, the Plus version will set you back more than $20.
- Synchronize content and activities with Instapaper, Pinboard and Pocket.
- You can add your own eBooks, though it needs to be DRM-free.
- Import your own documents, i.e. Word, RTF and TXT files.
- AirDrop integration
- Additional layouts and styles, i.e. night mode.
Outread – The Pros and Cons
Pros – One of the best things about Outread is its level of user-friendliness. Alongside the main features outlined above, you can try another fast reading style where instead of flashing individual words on the screen, words within paragraphs are highlighted. Whichever method works for you, Outread will recognize this and convert all text to read in this format.
Furthermore, every imported item is saved for offline and online reading, meaning that you do not have to worry about it not saving. Finally, all content can be sorted in numerous ways to ease the user experience based on preferences.
Things to consider? Issues are very few and far between. One that was identified, however, is that Outread only supports English. There is no support for PDF either. Competitors such as Spreeder CX can support several languages including Mandarin and French and including some others would have only increased Outread’s usability. They also support a wider range of file formats.
Outread App Review – The Verdict
This is, however, a minor complaint. Outread offers a comprehensive and cohesive package at a competitive price and utilizes tried and trusted techniques incredibly well. If you are looking for a tool that will give you instant results, consider a purchase.
Pricing value – While the basic version is free, Plus comes at a price of $21.99. The risks of making a bad catch are higher as Outread Plus certainly offers value, but price-wise it acts in an area where premium apps such as Spreeder offer much better value. On the other side, the basic version of Outread was once $2.99, so win-win for most users who want just their clipped content converted and highlighted.
Bottom line – I like Outread and can definitely recommend the basic version. It is fun to use and you can learn something. For the Plus edition, I’d like to suggest to rather think of your goals beforehand and also compare them to valuable competitors.
Are you using Outread? Which version? Please share your opinion and experiences in the comments below.