# Readability based Reader View

> strips away clutter like buttons, background images, and changes the page's text size, contrast and layout for better readability. Note: This extension uses the standalone version of Mozilla's Readability library.

Canonical page: [https://chrome-stats.com/d/readability-based-reader-view](https://chrome-stats.com/d/readability-based-reader-view)

## Overview

- **ID:** `readability-based-reader-view`
- **Platform:** Firefox
- **Type:** Firefox add-on
- **Status:** Available
- **Publisher:** tlintspr
- **Category:** appearance,tabs
- **Daily users:** 2,589
- **Weekly downloads:** 31
- **Rating:** 4.57 / 5 (75 ratings)
- **Version:** 0.6.9
- **Last updated:** 2023-01-14
- **First published:** 2018-08-28
- **Size:** 758 KB
- **Data as of:** 2026-09-05
- **Store listing:** [Firefox Add-ons Store](https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/readability-based-reader-view/)
- **Website:** [https://add0n.com/chrome-reader-view.html](https://add0n.com/chrome-reader-view.html)

## Description

Readability Based Reader View is a powerful Chrome extension that transforms cluttered web pages into clean, easy-to-read articles. Built on Mozilla’s open-source Readability library, it removes buttons, ads, background images, and other distractions, enhancing layout, contrast, and text size for better readability.

Users can toggle between normal and reader views with a simple click or keyboard shortcut, customize the appearance including font and colors, and enjoy additional features like fullscreen mode, text-to-speech (TTS) reading, live HTML editing, saving or printing content, and displaying math formulas with MathJax support. The extension also allows highlighting text, navigating between pages, adding sticky notes, and emailing readable content.

Ideal for heavy content pages, this extension prioritizes user comfort and accessibility while providing an intuitive interface similar to Firefox’s Reader View. With persistent updates and an active feature set, Readability Based Reader View offers a seamless reading experience on Chrome.

## Rankings

- #1,863 — Overall
- #154 — Tabs
- #300 — Appearance
- #10 — base
- #32 — reader
- #66 — lead

## Permissions and access

### Permissions

- `storage`
- `activeTab`
- `contextMenus`
- `notifications`

## Safety

- **Risk impact:** Low risk impact
- **Risk likelihood:** Low risk likelihood

### Analysis details

- Enables sending notifications which can be spammed but have minimal direct security impact.
- This extension has low user count. Unpopular extensions may not be stable or safe.

> Some risk analysis details are omitted from this free response. [Upgrade to view the full analysis](https://chrome-stats.com/pricing).

## Review summary

Most reviewers praise the add-on for highly customizable reader mode and editor features, improved readability over Firefox’s built-in viewer, and the ability to export articles as PDFs or print nicely. It’s also valued for accessibility and for giving control to fetch specific content (useful on forums). The frequent criticism centers on changes to the address-bar icon, plus occasional reliability issues on tricky pages.

### Pros

- Highly customizable reader mode with strong editor features, and generally an improvement over Firefox's built-in reader view.
- Allows exporting or saving articles as PDF/print-friendly versions.
- Improves readability and accessibility for users with vision problems.
- Reliable and preserves full articles, avoiding content stripping seen in some alternatives.
- Offers manual control over the source of fetched data, solving forum-specific extraction issues.

### Cons

- UI changes to the address bar icon (icon being disabled or altered) are disliked by users.

## Similar extensions and apps

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- [Reader Mode++](https://chrome-stats.com/d/reader-mode-pp) — 1 users
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- [New Easy Reader](https://chrome-stats.com/d/newcap-easy-reader) — 1 users
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- [Outline Reader](https://chrome-stats.com/d/outline) — 29 users, 5.00 / 5
- [Auto Reader Manager](https://chrome-stats.com/d/auto-reader-manager) — 4 users

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Source: [Chrome-Stats](https://chrome-stats.com/d/readability-based-reader-view)