Tachysophe

Made with my son to make reading practice kind and simple: time the page, pace the session, follow words per minute, all on device. iPhone, iPad, Mac, Watch.

Reading aloud is one of the dearest gifts we pass on. Tachysophe helps a child grow into it.

Tachysophe is a kind, simple stopwatch for reading practice—whether for kids learning to read or for practicing a foreign language. It times the page, paces the session, and can count words per minute entirely on your device.

Reading aloud is one of the dearest gifts we pass on, and my son and I made Tachysophe to help a child grow into it: open the book, tap to start, and read. It times the page like a stopwatch, paces the session with timers you set, and (if you like) counts words per minute, so you can follow a young reader's fluency as it grows from week to week.

That's the ·sophe family's idea here: adding a little wisdom (sophía) to the way we prepare to enjoy reading, the dearest treasure our civilisation hands down.

The same app runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch, with widgets to start a session and see the last result. Word counting is optional (Tachysophe is a full timer and stopwatch without it) and reads in many languages: for every language with an on-device model (the vast majority), audio and recognised text never leave your device. A wider panel of languages (Hebrew, for example) is now available through Apple's online speech service: strictly opt-in, off by default, with results at the end of the session.

No account, no ads, no tracking, just time and words. A single purchase: no subscriptions, no in-app purchases.