Bionic Reading® Reviews

by FishieLPKaulitz

I love this idea, I really do. It’s easier to read, my brain feels happy, and I can actually comprehend things a lot faster. Unfortunately, NONE of the apps, including the web version, can convert EPUBs at all. Mine were downloaded from a fanfic website so I know there was no hard copy protection to prevent it from being processed. I tried converting the website page itself on my phone, and then on my iPad, but was told it was unable to process. So I have no idea what’s going on.

The only thing that works is converting a webpage via desktop website, which is aggravating because I usually don’t carry a laptop with me anymore. It’s always my phone or iPad. I wouldn’t mind if EPUBs worked on the desktop site because then I could just transfer them over to my devices, but because they don’t, there’s not much use in having this. Fantastic idea, but BionicReading will be deleted until the issue is fixed.

by Ashon C.

It does not convert most PDFs accurately, even when not protected; and it does not convert most epub files either. It would be less useless if they actually worked on having different file formats available but they don’t. And do not be tricked by their advertising being able to do PDFs; you can download but not upload the files. When I requested a refund, they said they’re “working on bugs” but these are not bugs, just false advertising.

Terrible product. ADHD readers are better and less
expensive and easier to use.

by HaNoWay,letmebadmouthinpeace

I was using BionicReading relatively recently, a couple months ago maybe.

But it all changed when the update happened. It was a fairly simple app that did a job and it did it well, in my opinion at least. But some recent update changed the layout of BionicReading , and the functionality. It no longer is formatting things the same way and if you minimize it or even just your screen turns off because you looked away from your phone for too long figuring out why your puppy is exploding it now loses the conversion.

Oh, and just to say this, I considered paying for ot when it first gave the option to pay, not realizing yet that it had all the new problems, and it actually wouldn’t let me pay for it.

by DolphinNWO

Let’s see if the review magically sticks this time. This pricing scheme is exploitative and prohibitive to the very disabled people it’s supposed to help. People with disabilities already bear extra expenses that are increasingly difficult to afford in this world. I cannot think of a logical reason for a recurring fee structure, especially an expensive one, except greed. Greed off the backs of those least able to bear the extra expenses. Shame on you all.

Edit: my review was published under someone else’s name and account, so the mealy mouthed answer about the “needing different subscriptions did not come to me. And that response is ludicrous. There are simple design choices that could solve where and when advertisements show up, and ignores the fact that a flat fee for BionicReading is still a PAID subscription and should mean few to no ads anyway. So it is YOUR design choices and financial desires (ie GREED) driving this (awful) subscription model. Nice try.

by Maura_W

I signed in via Apple and attempted to upgrade my subscription through BionicReading . Apple processed my payment and BionicReading Store shows I have an active subscription. However, the Bionic App itself will not recognize my subscription and is still prompting me to upgrade. I signed out and back in a few times, hoping that would refresh it, but no luck. Wasted money. Going to try to see if I can get a refund through the Apple Store.

by Stacearmstrong

I am super bummed out to find BionicReading/website is really difficult to use. Sure, it sort of works when you have it translate a website or document, but from what I can tell, even after getting an annual premium subscription, you can't simply browse with it like an extension. I'd love to see it integrate with eBook apps and it doesn't do that either. It talks about "six apps for the price of one" but that's a marketing gimmick. It's one app than can "translate" six types of things. (i.e. documents, websites, etc.) I don't recommend BionicReading or company and wish I could get a subscription refund. Hopefully they use my subscription money to figure out how to make this better.

by Ali_Anon135

Trying to upload files, converted to different formats within the size parameters and it will not process. Basically useless. I would pay a small amount to have a working app to try this out, BionicReading really needs to be able to do what it advertises and what functions are actually in BionicReading which is adding bionic reading capabilities

by Btrinkle

I was excited to try the Bionic Reading app, but it quickly became a frustrating and disappointing experience. The free version doesn’t allow you to upload files, which meant I couldn’t fully test its functionality. Unfortunately, after paying for the premium version, I discovered BionicReading doesn’t support PDF files – a major dealbreaker for me.

What made matters worse was their poor customer service. I immediately requested a refund after realizing BionicReading wouldn’t meet my needs, but they refused to refund me. Instead, they kept my money and continue to offer a subpar product. If you’re considering BionicReading for serious reading or file support, think twice before purchasing. I wouldn’t recommend it.

by Rrquinta

I am all for paying for a service like this because it does make reading a lot more accessible for me with my dyslexia and brain fog/executive dysfunction…

But the pricing is absolutely bonkers and I see now why it’s reviewed so low/badly.

You only can convert a few thousand characters per MONTH. Even as a paid user, unless you go for the plus package at $14/mo, you’re limited to 5000 characters or LESS per month. That’s maybe 500 words.

That’s a SINGLE long paragraph.

That means the fact you can convert to various ebooks or convert websites is meaningless bc you’ll never be able to use those with such a low character limit. (I tried to test a website I knew I would want to use this with and couldn’t because it gave me an error saying I had reached my limit despite this being the first thing I attempted to do in BionicReading … meaning website conversion is useless unless you pay for the plus and get unlimited characters.

They could have at least given you 5000 words for $4/mo. That’s still nothing; that’s maybe two long news articles or one very short story.

And honestly, for $14/mo, you should get a lot more file conversions than 90, imo.

Looks like there are other apps with similar reading tech to this one. They’re higher reviewed, so perhaps they don’t screw over their customers as badly.

by Down2earth

When it goes to process web pages, it only processes the headline.
When I copy and paste simple text, it doesn’t process it - there is only an activity circle going around and around for forever.
Deleting and not recommending.

by GFT1.1

I tried BionicReading in my phone and on its website and same problem. I uploaded a simple word document and cannot get it to download, its been loading in “download in progress” for the past half hour. And yes, I already checked and my internet is working perfectly and at a fast speed.

by Mikey666666666

When I try to read epubs it says it can’t because of DRM. Every other epub reader can display books in different fonts; that’s not a DRM violation. BionicReading can’t do the one thing that would make it useful to me. Lame. And useless.

by Coachps

Spent over an hour trying to get BionicReading to work. Wasted time.

by Xingyun21

I used to use BionicReading very often a few months ago. My favourite app to help me understand my reading better, I was able to put all my documents in here and it was quick and easy. Now they force you to do a subscription just to upload files, and even those subscriptions have limits.
I completely understand needing money to continue funding this project, and donations aren’t always a reliable way to receive money for that. But anything else seems better than the two subscription options they give you from a consumer perspective. Both options feel too little or too extreme, both price and plan wise. I really wish they’d go back to being a free service, maybe just with ads, and then an option for a one time payment to get rid of ads forever.

by Sirdouglasdeez

The update that was pushed out seemingly breaks Sign in with Apple, and won’t allow you to upgrade to their premium plans. Beyond that, the marketing tactics they use to attempt to get people to upgrade are a shame. You have to rummage around their website looking for what the premium app even gets you, and even then, it’s not clear what the benefit is. I’m giving 2 stars, because I think the core idea of BionicReading is a great one. However, the business aspect of this company hurts the apps potential to actually help people… I hope a course correction, or an acquisition by a company like Apple come soon, as I could see Apple just making this a built in accessibility feature in iOS/MacOS.

by Echo3alpha

BionicReading excels at converting various documents into the Bionic Reading® format. However, if you need to export the document into any kind of a word document, you can forget about it. It locks it into a PDF format, which is quite useless for my needs. If I need to use it to read some thing it’s awesome but if I need to use it to create a document that I can export into Microsoft Word, pages, or a teleprompter app, then it won’t work. Maybe I don’t understand the purpose or functionality of BionicReading, but after paying $25 for it, I discovered that it really doesn’t meet my expectations.

by Aplingtonk

It’s fine if you just want to copy and paste stuff into the box. I am trying to read in my Kindle app without all the hassle of uploading stuff and having it emailed to BionicReading again. If there’s an easier way, I’m not finding it. The minimalism on BionicReading is nice, but some simple step by step directions of getting a kindle book in my KINDLE app to have the altered font would be SO helpful. It’s two stars because these seem like things that should have been thought of from the start. I want BionicReading to work so well I paid for premium without figuring stuff out first but now I’m stuck with an expensive app I have to do a bunch of work to use.

by Romain V.

I just paid for the Premium Plus so that I can download PDF’s and also send to Kindle. Neither of those functionalities are working, even after I’ve paid for BionicReading ’s full functionality. Hoping to receive a refund.

by Dominicgrz13

Nowhere on the free version of BionicReading does it say it cannot convert PDFs. I’m a student and was hoping to convert my PDF readings to Bionic text PDFs. So, I paid $13 just to unlock the upload feature and find out that it does not take PDFs. I then went to unsubscribe and THERE IS NO CLEAR WAY TO.
The FAQ section simply directs me to the website of bionic reading which is essentially BionicReading . But there is no option to unsubscribe. When I click the Account button, you’d think it would allow you to click manage account but it doesn’t.
The fact that it’s not what i wanted AND they make it difficult to unsubscribe is extremely frustrating.

I do not and will not be recommending this service/app.

by ScienceGuy3000

I’m confused. It worked for about an hour and then never worked again. No matter what I type into it, I get an error message.

I liked the idea though. maybe someone else can make a functioning version of this software?

by AnimeSakura

When I enter my Amazon kindle email address the send button is still greyed out and I am unable to send to my kindle. Gave 2 stars since that is what I really wanted to do but atleast I can read epub on my phone I guess.

by Ellsthomps

Really disappointed in the performance of BionicReading. I paid for the premium pro plan (which I have since cancelled) and was very excited to see that they made BionicReading available to individuals.

When I went to convert my EPub file it only picked up and converted every 5 words into bionic format, leaving most of the document in regular font. I made sure to play with the settings, turn off and on the types of words… nothing worked. So I decided to convert the EPUB into a .docx file… same thing, did not work. Lastly, I converted that into a .txt file… still did not work and was only converting about every 5th word even with the fixation and saccade turned all the way up. Maybe I was missing an important step? But I am pretty sure I wasn’t. Hopefully, there is some trouble shooting trick I can try.

Ultimately, this font/application of this font needs to be built into consumer products (accessibility option within apple/android settings; font option on the Kindle/newspaper apps, etc.), rather than consumer converting the media they want to consume into this font.

by KSI BRVH

Great app, but… I wish I didn’t have to import text from a webpage to BionicReading and instead BionicReading automatically changed the text on the screen.

by Qwxhao

It does convert fonts, but it can't export the content. I waited for it to load for a long time and finally it showed status code 500. Not sure if it's just my app or if others can't export either, so 3 stars.

by Avrps50312

This is life changing! However, BionicReading needs a few improvements. First of all, you should be able to upload PDF documents. Second of all, when I do upload epub or rtf files, it sometimes reformats the text into a tiny column that is largely unusable. Also, sometimes the downloads or processing throws errors and takes several times of restarting the process to work.
Finally, for epub (and hopefully one day pdfs!), there needs to be some kind of automated process in the backend that standardizes formatting and focuses only on the main text.

by Cindy Mayweather

I love Bionic Reading, and love that you still don’t charge for this life-changing service. Way better than those speed-reading apps that died out, as it actually takes lessons from actual research on reading and gives users control over how best to implement them. Valuable for everyone, invaluable to those with accessibility needs (including the chronically sleep deprived!)

Only request is for a high-contrast dark mode (light mode is black on white, but dark mode is white on medium-gray…not my preferred reading condition).

by Dina Fritz

I love reading, but I have add so it makes reading more than a sentence at a time really hard and I hate audiobooks for some reason. I just downloaded BionicReading and hrjdkskdjdh
IM SO EXCITED TO HAVE AN APP TO HELP ME READ

by Sev 777

I really love using BionicReading to help me read better! It’s hard to explain if you don’t have ADHD, but I’ve always had this disconnect whenever I read. I read the words, but I don’t really process what it is I’m reading, like a wall blocks me from comprehending it. But with methods like this, it helps tear down that wall, and I can better understand what I’m reading! That’s why I’m so grateful to have gotten BionicReading! I enjoy reading a lot more than I do now, and I hope it gets the credit it deserves. Definitely give it a shot if you think Bionic font works for you!

by Eye2Eyepatch

I’m currently getting my PhD and am reading papers all day for research. I came across BionicReading while watching TikTok’s with my wife before bed and decided to download it. I tried it out and read a whole paper with ease in record time. None of the mental stuttering that I still do even after years of high level academia. This is unbelievable. If your company is willing to continue supporting this I would be willing to pay hand over fist because you just made my life so much easier. I am still in shock.

by Sunday Morning Focus

I have been using this tool for months, much of the time to plow through bloated memos and emails. I just don’t have the patience to read either without this tool now. Also is fantastic for long form articles, especially anything technical. I’m perplexed by some of the reviews I see here. I use this on an iPhone and IPad and it’s one of the most robustly reliable apps I have.

*Update- I took a look at other reviews- they do have issues with subscribing through Apple- that’s legit but easy to navigate. The vast majority of the other objections are absolutely ridiculous. Someone complaining it won’t work on their kindle is my fav…If you’re dyslexic (like my daughter and I are) and have to read technical information do yourself a favor and give this a try. It’s a great product and SUPER EASY TO USE!!!!

by RTU64CP

I just recently discovered the wonder of bionic reading and BionicReading has been clutch! There have been a couple of issues when I’ve tried to cross into the bionic reading app from another app, but so far BionicReading has worked perfectly with Safari, Twitter (app), and Reddit (app).

THIS IS A GREAT APP.

by AvasMama0339

I can enjoy reading more! Im an avid reader but a huge eye strain even with dyslexic font. This is the only font that has absolutely changed my life to read more and fill my mind rather than scrolling away. Thank you to the developers and designers. What a great team!

by KarinMighty

BionicReading is life changing. I love reading, but all the letters “swim” and I frequently have to reread sentences, because I couldn’t see the words correctly. Been this way since I was a kid and had really low reading comprehension scores (while scoring “genius” level in everything else).

This format stopped the letters from swimming, I guess because there’s less to focus on. This is so fantastic, because I have to read a lot of stuff aloud for my blind daughter. The only thing I wish is that I could turn it to dark mode. The bright light hurts this old lady’s eyes.

Thank you so much for BionicReading!

by Mrm0523

I am a 31 year old with ADHD and dyslexia. Reading was always one of my weaker areas in school. Eventually, I was able to overcome my difficulties with reading comprehension, however, I’ve always been a slow reader. I had to dedicate more time to schoolwork. This product is a game changer for me!!! I can read faster without taking awkward pauses. I wish I had something like this in the 90s/00s. School would have been a lot easier for me. BionicReading isn’t perfect. I have a computer science degree and specialized in software development. So I understand how difficult it is to make something like BionicReading work with a variety of applications. I’d love to be a member of a team making a product like Bionic Reading.

by Ashe Tree

I have ADHD and dyslexia. I truly thought for 30 years of my life that not enjoying reading was a personality trait. BionicReading has helped me actually enjoy reading and feel like i'm good at it for the first time in my life

by Add Is Me

Converted some ePub and loving the results. Thank you

by TellerSpiller

I’m a professional Voice Actor and when I get large paragraph scripts, BionicReading really helps making reading a lot easier. 5 stars.

by Adrianluvsmara

it’s a small team working on BionicReading and they do their best. BionicReading isn’t where it can be but it does still help me with readings, out of a lot of other options out there. 👍🏽

by Mm3prit

Love BionicReading, makes reading so much faster! Love that I can upload files. A nice update would be being able to upload pdf but as is BionicReading is still amazing