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About Bounds

Bounds is a reading app that scrolls your text at the speed you choose.

Bounds is a web reading app that scrolls books and articles at a steady pace you set in words per minute, from 100 to 1,000. Your eyes stay on one line and the next line arrives on its own. Paste text, open a DRM-free EPUB or save a web article; Bounds remembers each text’s speed and the sentence you stopped at.

Try it on your own text

Who it’s for

  • People who lose their place, skim or drift when they read long text on a screen.
  • Readers who want a steady, unhurried pace that carries them through long books and articles.
  • People who want to raise their reading speed gradually and see their words per minute.
  • Readers who would rather read the text themselves than listen to it or watch one word flash at a time.

How it works

  1. Add something to read. Paste text, open a DRM-free EPUB, or save a web article by pasting its link or with the Send to Bounds bookmarklet.
  2. Pick a speed in words per minute. Bounds starts at 250, close to the average adult’s silent reading speed.
  3. Press play. The text moves up past a fixed reading line about a third of the way down the screen, so your eyes stay in one place while each line arrives.
  4. Pause with a tap or the space bar. When you start again Bounds backs up a line and eases back to speed. Rewind steps back about ten seconds of reading to the start of a sentence.

What it does

A steady pace you set
Any speed from 100 to 1,000 words a minute, changed while you read. Bounds keeps a default speed and remembers each text’s own speed.
Full lines, not flashing words
You read whole lines and paragraphs as they were written. A focus guide (a sliding underline, a gradient or a band) marks the line to read.
Books, articles and pasted text
Paste any text, open a DRM-free EPUB up to 100 MB, or save a web article by pasting its link or with the Send to Bounds bookmarklet.
Your place, kept
With an account, Bounds opens each text at the sentence you stopped at, on any device.
Chapters and rewind
Jump between chapters, rewind about ten seconds, and glide through chapter and scene breaks without a jolt.
Reading stats
Reading time, words read, books finished and your average speed over the last 7 days, 30 days, 12 months or all time.
Comfortable to read
Light, sepia and dark themes, a serif (Literata) or sans-serif (Atkinson Hyperlegible Next) typeface, seven text sizes, and keyboard shortcuts. Bounds follows the device’s reduce-motion setting.
Works on any device
Bounds runs in the browser on phones, tablets and computers. Added to a phone’s home screen, it opens like an app.

What it isn’t

  • It is not an RSVP or word-flashing speed reader like Spritz. You see full lines and paragraphs.
  • It does not read aloud; it is not text-to-speech.
  • It does not open DRM-protected books (such as Kindle or Apple Books purchases), PDFs or fixed-layout EPUBs like comics.
  • It has no App Store or Google Play app yet; it is a web app you can add to your home screen.
  • It does not promise to double your reading speed. It sets a steady pace; how fast you read is up to you.
  • It is not related to “Bounds: Set Boundaries” (withbounds.com), a separate iPhone and Android app about setting personal boundaries.

Price and access

Bounds is free to use. Anyone can try Bounds on the front page without an account: paste text and it opens in the reader. Accounts, which keep a library and your place, are invite-only for now.

Your reading stays yours

  • Text you try without an account stays in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
  • Texts in your library are private to your account. Bounds never publishes them.
  • You can delete your account and everything in it from Settings.
  • Visits are counted with Plausible, which uses no cookies. Bounds shows no ads.

Will it make me read faster?

Adults reading English silently average about 238 words a minute for non-fiction and 260 for fiction, according to a 2019 meta-analysis of 190 studies, which is why Bounds starts at 250. A 2016 review of the speed-reading research found that reading much faster than normal comes at a cost to comprehension. Bounds doesn’t promise to break that trade-off: it gives you a steady pace, and you choose how fast it goes.

Questions

What is Bounds?
Bounds is a reading app that scrolls your text at the speed you choose. It runs in the browser at bounds.app.
How is Bounds different from speed-reading apps like Spritz?
Spritz-style apps flash one word at a time in the same spot (RSVP). Bounds shows full lines and paragraphs and moves them past a fixed reading line at a steady words-per-minute pace, so you can still see the sentence around each word.
What can I read in Bounds?
Anything you can paste, DRM-free EPUB books up to 100 MB, and web articles saved by link or with the Send to Bounds bookmarklet. It can’t open DRM-protected books, PDFs or fixed-layout EPUBs.
How fast does Bounds scroll?
Anywhere from 100 to 1,000 words a minute. It starts at 250 and you can change the speed while you read.
Is there an iPhone, iPad or Android app?
Not yet. Bounds is a web app; add it to your home screen and it opens like one.
How much does Bounds cost?
Bounds is free to use. Anyone can try it without an account; accounts are invite-only for now.
Will Bounds make me read faster?
It can help you hold a steady pace and raise it a little at a time, but reading far faster than normal costs comprehension, and Bounds doesn’t claim otherwise.