Punctum: Speed Read PDF EPUB

If your eyes slide off the page and you have to start the paragraph again, this is built for you.

Punctum shows one word at a time, each aligned at the point your eye recognises it fastest. Your gaze stays in one place instead of jumping from word to word. This is called RSVP — rapid serial visual presentation.

Designed for people who find it hard to focus while reading. It is a reading tool, not a treatment.

WHY IT IS DIFFERENT

No account. No ads. Your books stay on your device, without uploads or sync. You can read offline. Usage analytics and crash reports are optional and can be turned off in Settings.

ABOUT THE NUMBERS

Most apps in this category lead with a multiplier. We don't, because the research doesn't support it.

One study of Italian university students found lower comprehension scores at its higher RSVP settings. Pauses meant that a setting of 400 words per minute produced about 305 words per minute in actual reading time. Other studies use different texts, readers and questions; none establishes a safe speed for everyone or shows that one kind of understanding always fails first.

Punctum starts at 300 words per minute, lets you adjust the pace and suggests breaks. Its warning above 400 is a product guardrail, not a research-backed threshold for every reader. Check what you remember and slow down or switch to normal text when the material is dense.

WHAT YOU GET

Speed in words per minute, adjustable while you read
A starting speed you can change for the language and text you are reading
Micro-pauses at sentence ends and punctuation, so sentences land
A warm-up ramp at the start and a break suggestion on long sessions
Dyslexia-friendly fonts (OpenDyslexic, Atkinson Hyperlegible, Lexend) and adjustable letter spacing
Comfortable reading: six reading settings in one tap — a more legible font, wider letter spacing, the paragraph panel and more — and one tap to undo
A paragraph panel that shows where you are when you slow down
Press and hold to slow down a hard sentence; let go to return to your pace
Slows down by itself where you tend to struggle — that information never leaves your device
Light and dark themes, tuned for reading in the dark, with your choice of reading background and accent colour
Reading statistics, a daily goal and a reading streak — taking a day off won't break it
Web articles: share or paste a link, and the page is downloaded straight to your device and turned into text to read

FILES AND LANGUAGES

Open TXT, PDF, EPUB, DOCX and DRM-free MOBI files directly on your phone or tablet, or select text in another app and share it to Punctum. Not sure what to read? Start with free public-domain classics in your device's language. Scanned PDFs — pages that are pictures of text rather than text — are not supported yet, and Punctum tells you instead of failing silently.

The interface is available in eighteen languages, including right-to-left layout for Arabic and Urdu. Book language is detected separately and sets your starting speed.

PRICING

Start with about 100 pages of free reading — no card, no trial countdown. After that, a one-time pack of about ten books (≈4,000 pages), or an unlimited yearly plan. No ads either way, and books you have already started stay open.