Long-press for a definition
The meaning comes up over the page. No browser, no tab to close, and you keep your place.
Finish the books
you start.
BookSkim is an EPUB reader for Android. Turn on Fast Skim and the start of every word goes bold. Your eye has something to land on, so it stops sliding back over the line you just read.
- Free
- No ads
- No account
- Works offline
Fast Skim
Flip the switch and read the paragraph twice, once each way.
On an exceptionally hot evening early in July a young man came out of the garret in which he lodged in S. Place and walked slowly, as though in hesitation, towards K. bridge.
The bold prefix gives your eye a fixed point on every word. It reads faster for some people and does nothing for others, which is why it is a switch and not the default.
off for poetry, on for textbooks
Everything else it does
A proper EPUB reader
underneath.
You spend most of your time in the ordinary parts of a reader. Those work too.
Highlights that stay put
Mark a passage and it goes in a list you can come back to.
Four themes, real AMOLED
Light, Sepia, Dark and a true-black one that turns the pixels off. Serif or sans, any size.
the dots up top change this page too
The EPUBs you already have
Open an EPUB from your files or your downloads folder. Chapters, images, table of contents and full-text search all work.
A streak, and nothing built on top of it
It counts the days you read and the time you spent. There is no leaderboard, no feed, and nobody else can see it. Just you and the number.
Why it stays quiet
BookSkim won’t ask you for anything.
No sign-up screen. No ads. No notification asking where you went.
- No account
- No email, no password, no profile. Install it and read.
- No ads, ever
- Not a banner, not an interstitial, not a sponsored recommendation.
- No tracking
- No analytics and no behavioural profiling. Nobody knows what you read, including us.
- Offline by default
- Read on a plane, on the metro, with the SIM out. The app only reaches the internet when you tap a word or send a bug report.
Before you install
Questions.
What does Fast Skim actually do?
It bolds the first few letters of every word, so your eye has a fixed point to land on instead of drifting back over the line. Nothing but the type changes. Turn it on or off per book, whenever you want.
Which files can I read?
EPUB files you already have. Import one from your device and it lands in your library. There is no store to buy from and no DRM server to check in with.
Is it really free?
Yes. No price, no ads, no subscription, and nothing locked behind a paid tier.
What happens offline?
Everything except two things. Reading, highlights, bookmarks, themes and stats all work with the SIM out. Only the dictionary lookup and web search need a connection, and only when you tap them.
Where do my books and highlights live?
On your phone. There is no account to make and nothing syncs anywhere. Uninstall the app and it all goes with it.
