iPhone BeyondRead — iPhone/iPad ebook reader with in-book AI questions

[zhang3917]

Hi everyone,

I'm an ebook reader, but sometimes I struggled in opt out to query for information of phrases, characters or maybe translation in books. So I developed BeyondRead myself. It is an ebook reader for iPhone and iPad, built around a simple problem: looking up a difficult passage often means copying it elsewhere and losing your place in the book.

BeyondRead lets you select a passage, request an explanation or translation, and ask follow-up questions to AI inside the reader.

Reading and supported files
It supports EPUB and PDF, plus some DRM-free MOBI/AZW files. It does not remove DRM and is not an ebook subscription catalogue. You bring your own books.

Basic reading is free, works offline, and does not require an account. Reader features include bookmarks, in-book search, quote cards, adjustable type and reading themes.

It requires iOS/iPadOS 17 or later. Interface languages are English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.

Optional AI features
Alongside passage explanations and follow-up questions, AI Digest provides a structured book overview based on the book's outline and sampled chapter text. It is not a word-for-word analysis of the entire book, and AI answers can be wrong.

AI requires an internet connection, sign-in and consent. The App is free comes with 10 AI chats per month and 3 AI Digests for books in total. Optional subscriptions provide higher AI allowances. Local prices vary.

Local reading versus online AI
Book files, bookmarks and reading progress stay on the device. Using AI sends selected text and relevant context, or digest excerpts, for online processing. AI requests and responses are retained as described in the privacy policy; this is not an entirely offline AI tool.

There is currently no automatic library or reading-progress sync between devices.

Links
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/beyondread/id6808016847
Website and real-device demo: https://beyondread.app/en/

Questions and practical feedback are welcome, especially about importing books, text selection and the reading experience. I'll use this thread to answer questions and discuss reported issues.

[zhang3917]

A major update is here in v2.0: you can now browse and download over 20,000 free public-domain classics directly in the Library feature in multiple languages all around the world, and read with AI translations of explanations, of just chat about it.