Asym

Asym augments word spacing to improve your reading comprehension and speed.

Asym: Improve Reading Comprehension

Asym is a browser extension that dynamically formats web pages to improve reading comprehension and speed. It adds visual cues within the text to encourage efficient eye movement patterns. With laboratory and field-tested techniques, Asym improves reading speed, comprehension, and enjoyment by 10-40%. Supported languages include English, German, Spanish, and French. No content or browsing history is stored.

Extension stats

Users: 404
Rating: 4.20
(5)
Version: 2.6.14 (Last updated: 2018-08-07)
Creation date: 2018-08-07
Risk impact: Very high risk impact
Risk likelihood:
Manifest version: 2
Permissions:
  • storage
  • tabs
  • https://*.aws.asyminc.net/*
  • http://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php
  • https://twitter.com/intent/tweet
  • https://plus.google.com/share
Size: 125.95K
URLs: Website

Other platforms

Not available on Android
Not available on Firefox
Not available on Edge
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Extension summary

Asymmetrica's browser extension dynamically and transparently formats all of the web pages that you visit. The extension adds an unobtrusive icon to your browser's menu bar to tell you that it's working.

Good readers have longer eye movements, shorter fixations (pauses during reading), and make fewer regressions (backtracking movements)—a pattern which makes reading more efficient and more effective than for poor readers. Asym works by providing all readers visual cues within the text that subtly encourage the eye movement patterns that good readers have learned to do naturally. These visual reminders help readers to pause and chunk phrases into units of meaning when the brain would naturally pause during sentence comprehension.

This technique of emphasizing units of meaning with visual cues has been laboratory and field-tested by scientists in a variety of disciplines for over 60 years in dozens of peer-reviewed journal articles. These studies have demonstrated that this technique improves reading speed, comprehension, and enjoyment by 10-40%.

All readers—especially struggling readers—will benefit from and be able to read faster and understand more.

The extension currently supports English, German, Spanish, and French. Other languages are in the works!

FAQs from our website:

  • Will Asym make my browser load pages slower?

No, Asym is applied asynchronously while your browser is loading the webpage. Once your browser completes loading the page, you may see the text reflow with the Asym spacing as the spaces are “snapped” into place after the text is rendered. This change is just a sign that Asym spaces are there helping you to read better and doesn’t slow your browser down.

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User reviews

If it didn’t spam the console, I’d rate this five stars.
by zamfofex, 2016-03-23
View all user reviews

Extension safety

Risk impact

Asym requires a lot of sensitive permissions. Exercise caution before installing.

Risk likelihood

Asym may not be trust-worthy. Avoid installing if possible unless you really trust this publisher.

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Promo images

Asym small promo image
Small promo image

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