Basics
How do I get started with Reader?
Reader is a cross-platform reading application with a web app (read.readwise.io), mobile apps for iOS and Android, desktop apps for Mac and Windows, and browser extensions for Chrome, Chromium-based browsers (Edge, Brave, Arc, etc.), Firefox, and Safari.
The best way to get started using Reader is to navigate to read.readwise.io and read the Getting Started with Reader article inserted into your Library by default. From there, we recommend you navigate to different sections of the app based on the type of content you read. For example, if you read PDFs, click on the PDF section and you'll see instructions in the right sidebar for how to upload those files.
(On mobile, you can find these sections by tapping the Views icon in the bottom navigation bar.)
Alternatively, you can also watch our community manager Erin's short walkthrough video to get up and running with Reader as quickly as possible.
How do I find the Reader web app in my browser?
On web, go to read.readwise.io. Note that Reader and Readwise use the same account and authentication.
How do I log into Reader?
Reader uses your Readwise account for authentication. If you're not redirected automatically, make sure you're logged into Readwise on any browser you're using with Reader.
What's the relationship between Reader and Readwise? Are they automatically connected?
Right now, you can think of Reader as another reading app that integrates with Readwise (albeit seamlessly because they share a database). Every highlight you make in Reader instantly syncs with Readwise and then from Readwise to your note-taking apps. Over time, the vision is to create a unified experience between Readwise and Reader within Reader.
What is the business model of Readwise? If I start using Reader, how do I know you won't disappear on me?
We've been working on Readwise since 2017 and, in 2018, we decided to fund the business through consumer software-as-a-service rather than raising venture capital (more here: Why We're Bootstrapping Readwise). We're a sustainable company on a team of 13 (and growing) with a long-term mission of improving the practice of reading through software by an order of magnitude. We're not going anywhere, but it's a fair question considering the many startups that raised venture capital during the peak markets of 2020/2021 and are now zombies.
What is the pricing of Reader?
The annual subscription cost of Reader (plus Readwise!) is $9.99/month (USD). For monthly subscribers, it’s $12.99/month (USD). You can learn more about Reader’s pricing and what’s included on our pricing page.
Note that if you subscribed prior to February 18, 2024, you’re locked into our legacy pricing for as long as you maintain your subscription.
Can I use Reader offline?
Reader works offline on both web and mobile. On web, so long as you have read.readwise.io open before you go offline, Reader will continue to work and any changes you make (e.g. new highlights) will sync once you come back online. Alternatively, you can install the Reader desktop app, which will open and work offline.
On mobile, so long as you open the app for at least a few moments before you go offline, the full text of your documents will be cached and Reader will work offline.
Can I select which documents are cached for offline reading?
The selective offline caching feature allows you to choose which sections of your account cache their files for offline use. You can find the option in your Account tab under Offline documents.
In the Offline documents menu, toggle on Experimental caching. By default, this will turn off the Feed and remove those documents' cached files from your device, since this is the most common cause of app size bloat among our users.
Turning off a given section of your documents will immediately remove the cached files for those documents.
To re-download those files, turn the toggle back on. You will likely need to wait for a few moments as the files download, but you'll be able to watch the progress in the bar below the toggle.
Utilizing these options will help you manage the file size of the Reader app on your device, as well as ensure that the documents you want to read are available for the next time you go offline.
Note that, even with Experimental Caching turned on, individual documents will still be cached when you open them. This may result in unexpected numbers on the caching screen, e.g. "10/300 downloaded" for a section that is turned off.
Does Reader have a Command Palette?
Reader has a Command Palette on web (Cmd/Ctrl + K) which contains virtually any action you can take in the application. The Command Palette is a great way to find out if actions you're looking to take exist and, if so, what keyboard shortcut you can use to access them.
Does Reader use keyboard shortcuts or hotkeys?
On web, Reader is fully keyboard shortcut driven, including while reading documents. Most shortcuts are shown in hover tooltips in the user interface, but you can additionally open the Command Palette (Cmd/Ctrl + K) or use the ? shortcut to pull up a reference.
Note that if you use a Magic Keyboard with iPad, you should use the Reader web app in iOS Safari as we've not yet had an opportunity to optimize the iPad app with keyboard shortcuts yet. This is on the roadmap.
Does Reader support end-to-end encryption?
No. Reader is consumer software optimizing for user experience over enterprise compliance. If you're dealing in matters of national security requiring NSA-level encryption, you should definitely not save anything containing your state secrets to Reader (or any cloud-based software, for that matter). That said, you should generally feel comfortable that your private content will be kept private. For example, if you upload a PDF to Reader, no one will ever see that PDF but you.
