Royal Road - Read Stories Reviews

by Morrodin

Look, I love Royal Road. I’ve spent hundreds of hours if not thousands reading on that site over the last several years. So when I saw there was an app,I got really excited.

And I ended up uninstalling it in under an hour. Let’s list the problems:

- Persistent banner ad at the bottom. I get they have to make money, and deserve it. But this is just obnoxious, and objectively worse then that website.
- No font size, treatment, or otherwise options to control the look and feel of the text. Not to mention any other theme options. Again, objectively worse than the website.
- It’s… just the website inside the worlds shoddiest container? Again, say after me, objectively worse than the website.

I would _love_ a real app for Royal Road, as I fully agree that reading inside my browser isn’t the best experience in the world. But man, I hope the website doesn’t go away anytime soon, because as many hours of enjoyment as I’ve gotten, if this was the only option? Jesus, I think I’d rather never read anything ever again.

by OdetteN

First complaint: A while ago the developers said they would get rid of the moving ads. Well, I continue to regularly get moving or flashing bright white ads on my black screen. It renders the ap completely useless. I can’t concentrate enough to read with all that happening at the top of the page. I turn the ap on and off to try to get rid of it and when I open it again the same or worse ads are on the page. Second complaint: The ap doesn’t remember where I stopped reading. Are you kidding me?! This is a reading application with no way to bookmark?! RR seems like nice people. These are two issues that need to be fixed asap.

by Camy11111

Having unclosable ads with sound interrupt reading a story is not acceptable. I switched to the larger, occasional add because I was distracted by adds constantly blinking at me. My app has also crashed 3/4 of the time I use the next chapter button. The only bonus to RoyalRoad is notifications of new chapters coming out.

I also tried the “you might like” story section but over 50% of the recommended stories have less than 20 chapters and were abandoned.

I uninstalled when the first minute long mobile app add started playing with volume.

by GorstagStumbleduck

The reading experience is great except when i try to read landscape on the tablet, the reading area is just the middle third if my screen.

Biggest problem is when i got premium to download for offline reading. I got premium, i downloaded a few stories for the flight. When we were airborne, i opened RoyalRoad to read them, went to the downloads tab, clicked on one and it said “this fiction has not been downloaded for offline reading.” REALLY confused what the point of even downloading is if its not downloaded for “offline” reading. There isnt even an option to “download for offline reading.” I got screwed because i thought i could read things offline with premium but i guess not!

by LzardE

This is a rather basic app that is missing features that other reader apps have. Downloads are locked behind a paywall when you already have ads. No text to speech compatibility support, let alone in app feature for this.
RoyalRoad could have been put out in 2005 and it would have been an alright app then, and considering the rumors for how long RoyalRoad was in the works for, maybe it was made back then. It is days away from 2024, the web has enough mediocre apps, it is a shame to include one of my favorite websites in this category, but honestly three stars is still favoritism on my part.

by Ducksarecool2

I’ve been a reader on the website for years now, and have always just kept 50+ tabs open on my phone in order to keep up with my stories. After downloading RoyalRoad , I’ve finally been able to keep track of everything in one place and have cleared my tabs!

My only issue with RoyalRoad is the battery drain. I’ve found that even just 10 minutes of reading can drain my battery 10-20%, and my phone constantly heats up during use. I would give RoyalRoad 5 stars, but I’m currently concerned for the health of my phone.

by UKNReaper

It’s a pretty good app altogether. I only have a few small issues. One is canceling premium. They make it extremely frustrating to cancel premium subscription, to the point where I’ll never get it again unless it’s fixed. Another is the story tags, they are missing some big ones. Like Kingdom Building….a tag pretty much every reading/novel site has lol. Other then that I haven’t really had any issues. The tag system needs to be refined because it’s lacking compared to other apps and site. But for the most part it’s a good app/site to use.

by Yuma82

Its very hard to read when you get one the the ads that are constantly flashing at the bottom of the screen. Either make it so there is an ad at the too and bottom like the website or blacklist ads that are intentionally distracting to readers. Also, you cant turn your phone sideways to read.

I haven't run into technical issues, but I can’t read with a bright flashing red light at the bottom of the screen that cant be removed.

by Ianto345

I normally read from the mobile site, so having an app seemed like a great option. Everything about RoyalRoad seems clean, polished, and effective; however, for some reason the dark mode toggle doesn’t work properly.

I normally leave everything in dark mode, with the one exception of ebooks. I’d rather my book look like a book. In RoyalRoad , I found the dark/light mode toggle in the settings, but for some reason, after toggling to light mode, the stories remain in dark mode. The multiple tabs and every other page was switched to light mode, but when I opened the story I wanted to read, it was still in dark mode. I tried restarting RoyalRoad and even my phone, but it just doesn’t seem to work. For now I will stick to the website where I can read more easily.

by Wrenchturner42

I’ve been reading stories on Royal road for at least a year now, and within days of using RoyalRoad I upgraded to premium. Ads were completely non-intrusive, but I wanted access to offline downloads as I frequently put my phone in airplane mode. There have been a few minor issues, as expected of a new app. Customer service answered my ticket promptly, and the developers have been putting out frequent updates with improvements and fixes.

Update: I lowered my score from 5 stars to 4. This is a complaint I’ve thought about before RoyalRoad came out, but I recently had more dealings with. I can leave a story a review with no comment at all, but when I write a comment it has to be 50 words. If I put in fluff words (basically complaining about the minimum word count) the review gets deleted. Why in the world is there a minimum word count for a review?

by Sawbag

I appreciate the variety and community in RoyalRoad. I often use other apps due to audio listening. I would love to see y’all add in a text-to-speech for RoyalRoad as I would be able to listen during work, rest, and driving. I believe this would get the audio listeners to stay on RoyalRoad and have more activity overall. Moreover, it is still possible to have ads every few chapters like other free apps do. I really hope to see this added as I really like the way RoyalRoad runs and the stories made.

by The Someperson67484736437

First off, I would like to say that I have been using RoyalRoad since it was released, and I have been very pleased with it. One grievance I have stem from the random deletion of my downloaded books which has screwed me on flights. The only other thing that has been bothering since starting to use RoyalRoad that actually got me to make this review is that whenever I open up the search bar with the little spyglass in the top right it always opens the advanced search page. I just want to search the name of a book and not fill in all this random stuff. I understand that I can just close it, but it’s still annoying. Overall very pleased that RoyalRoad now exists.

by Vezperz

Its a decent app. Only a few problems

1- Adds still show up despite having premium account. Not all the time, but frequently. They disappear if I go to the premium section of RoyalRoad , but doing so frequently is annoying

2- Library section having multiple pages is annoying, prefer it like on the web site where I can just scroll down, i have a lot of follows and having to hit the “next page” button a bunch is vexing

3- Cant change the color of the fonts when reading without changing the entire theme, which is annoying. Little eyed dropper font color button doesn’t seem to do anything

All in all a decent launch for RoyalRoad , if the above issues were addressed then it would be dang near perfect

by Simply3thn

I’ve noticed some flaws with RoyalRoad. The first is that when sharing a story from RoyalRoad to another person, there isn’t any way for the person you shared it to to open the story I. RoyalRoad , it just takes them to the website.

Second, sometimes the navigational bar is very hard to bring up when on a fiction page and I find myself having to restart RoyalRoad .

Otherwise, fantastic app.

by David L Horton

Problems
-Background sometimes having glitches of black box when in a side menu (doesn’t cover text)
-Solid colored box at the bottom of the screen when reading is off putting (there isn’t even an ad, so I don’t know why is there and why it can’t be minimized if ads do go there)
-No screen rotation? Or does it not work for IPhones but does for IPads? If no for both then it should be added personally, I at least don’t like how WebNovel doesn’t do have that rotation ability.

by Steven Douglas Day

I was confused why it seems a website feature is paywalled in-app (detailed histories of what you were reading) but there is no clear way to contact support in-app, which is kinda really important. RoyalRoad is otherwise excellent, but with no clear recourse if something crucial stops working one day, 4 stars is the highest I can rate.

by CardinalMob

Royal Road is a great site. It’s got super robust filtering so you are likely to find a story you actually like very quickly. Best rated is the first place to look of course.
Also, the monetization scheme at the moment does not have annoying pop up ads. They have a system in place that allows authors to place internal ads, so you no longer have to stare at brightly colored capitalist abominations; instead you get bad memes with book recommendations.
Definitely my favorite site for original stories

by Abusjdhsjsnsusisnebsusijsnsus

Royal Road has a lot of cool stuff that you would never find anywhere else. The reader is super nice with a bunch of customization options that kindle just won’t give me. Be warned there are bugs but they generally aren’t that bad and the support team is baller. The only real issue is ads with audio but the cost of premium is a pittance and honestly worth it for no ads plus helping out RR.
As a side note, there are bugs this being a new venture for the fellas some of these can be annoying. Big however, they’re patched quickly, support moderators are very helpful, and some are super funny like the comically large buttons when you open a chapter.

by Fyhgfggffhhffggffggfffff

I’ve been reading on this app for a couple years now and can say that so far RoyalRoad has been an improvement on the website in almost every way.

One problem though is with displaying in-chapter tables, which are currently formatted to take up only the center third of the page. This results in the words in tables to be split into small segments.

Other than that I’ve been having a great time reading on RoyalRoad , and am looking forward to improvements during the months to come.

by Diamondera

Writing this within the first week of launch. I was a website user and so I already understand the basic program running everything. What I do want to commend is how well the UI on the all is set up without damaging its usability for aesthetics. Also everything is set out in a user friendly and user first way instead of a promotional website first way, which is something I really appreciate. Every feature of RoyalRoad is easy to access with just a few taps. The few bugs I did have to complain about they have already fixed with an update they put out as fast as possible as they listen to their users and make RoyalRoad the best they can.

by Daoist Matt

I have been using the RR website for 5 years!! RoyalRoad brings so many new and amazing features and build upon Royal Road in all of the best ways! I have both been reading and writing on the site for many years, so here’s a take for everyone:

Readers: There is so much amazing content just waiting for you on RR. Some of the best (IMO). All of my favorite authors and books have come from this site. If you want to read and be engrossed in some of the best stories out there, this is your place.

Writers: Now is time! With RoyalRoad being released there are bound to be many new users checking out the service. This is a place where anyone can succeed and find an audience. I highly recommend you use RR. There is no better place to begin your writing journey!

by Gusdefrog

It is even easier to adjust the font (and I think there is a wider range of options) than it was on the website. There are more colors too (or at least more visible to me). Given the variety of visual impairments I've been struggling with, it is awesome to finally have this option available.

I'm running the free version, so the Ads are a bit annoying, but expected. RR staff are quickly resolving every serious issue found so far (of course there would be some launching on so many different platforms at once). I did not experience any trouble logging in, or finding my followed stories to pick up where I left off reading.

I was a little disappointed to learn that RoyalRoad has no author tools, but given that Royal Road has far more flexible publishing than any other site I've ever tried to use, that's understandable.

Great reader. Thank you very much.

(Tap a star to rate isn't having a visible effect for me, silly app store, but I tapped them all.)

by EpikAardvark

The small team at Royal Road have built a platform where readers can find great stories that match their taste and authors can find an engaged community, and they’ve done it without taking advantage of authors nor harming readers’ experiences to make a quick buck. Every design decision they’ve made over the years shows Royal Road’s commitment to supporting a thriving writing community where anyone can receive meaningful feedback and succeed. Give the Royal Road app a chance, as it will only get better with time just like their website has.

by Anonymous.viewer.of.tv.shows

RoyalRoad has a settings cog at the bottom right that opens up a menu. This menu allows me to adjust font size and paragraph spacing to make the reading experience better.

I love how on the home screen it shows both my reading history and my follows with latest updates there.

As an author who also posts stories on Royal Road, I am looking forward to interacting with new readers through this wonderful new app and reading fellow author’s stories using the new app.

by 111% Game Lover

One of my only gripes with RR was the clunky navigation of the site and the slightly inconvenient search function: RoyalRoad fixes 99% of that. The missing 1% is simply about how the tags in the search function are not ordered, which makes it slightly inconvenient to look through what tags exist. Other than this, I can’t think of anything that someone could reasonably find even slightly problematic. Amazing app, insane to think that RoyalRoad is already so well made.

P.S. Buy premium, it’s like three bucks. I know the ads are kinda great because they can help you discover new novels, but they have an option in settings that allows you to still see them if you want. I, and many others would 100% cry if RR became WebNovel 2.0

by SomethingCreativeAndFunny

I’ve been using Royal Road as my primary source of entertainment (I know, I’m a nerd) for the past three or so years, a.k.a. since I learned of it. Royal Road has so many great novice and professional writers on it that no matter who you are, you’ll have something to enjoy, whether it’s science-fiction, fantasy, xianxia, or just being the first to comment on a new chapter, there’s something for everyone. If anyone gets this far, I really do hope you download RoyalRoad , or at least visit the website, it might change your life just as it did mine.

Did I mention people race to comment on newly posted chapters first? Yeah, that might just be my favorite part.

by TheDangerousDino

I’ve been waiting so long for Royal Road to come in to app form! I’ve been using the website for about ten years now ( only 7 are tracked) and ever since I’ve wanted the convenience of having it in an app. I hope they continue to have the website up but I’m happy to support and finally have something that’s been talked about for a while now come to fruition.
Immediately bought the premium and advise others to do so if you’re gonna be using it for a while!

by Smokejuice

Obviously the title of this brief review is heavily subjective to lite novels and a heavy slang toward the dilettante author, but purely as a reading app alone: I absolutely love it.

I've been on RR for years on the site and only recently created an account, but just in time to transition to this masterpiece.

Are there flaws? Certainly! But for what it is, a READER, for the options, for the sheer number of genres that RR has always had, and the extensive options that let you define exactly what reading experience you want (fonts, color of page, very simple interface, etc etc), it's a wonder and a winner for me.

by Bender2120301

RoyalRoad, its community, and its function are all second to none.
I write regularly on the site and absolutely love it. RoyalRoad is primarily designed for reading the stories on the site, but that might change in the future. You can access the entirety of Royal Road’s webnovel catalog from RoyalRoad at a touch of a finger, incredibly easy to use.
Overall, even though it’s just the first few days of launch, RoyalRoad is a solid choice for reading all of your favorite webnovels and engaging with the community here.

by Calec_r

Royal road has always been my favorite website to read novels with a wide range of fantasy. The only thing that sucked was having to load up a website to read my favorite novels. Well, that was a thing of the past as royal roads new app is out an it is very pleasing to the eyes. It offers similar novels to me based on my reading, and many other features that are only included on RoyalRoad . I find royal roads app easier to navigate than the site. On the site I can’t find any new novels until I dig deep enough or they pop up on rising stars, but with RoyalRoad it’s like new novel are thrown at me every second!

by Caerulex

Royal Road is an outstanding website that allows authors to post stories on the platform, gain exposure, and build an audience — all for free. You can pay for a subscription but that is completely optional and just helps the website out and removes ads (the ads aren’t obtrusive).

The website’s owners have a high level of ethical integrity and specifically insist on protecting the rights of authors. They ensure authors retain all rights to their posted stories and try to prevent piracy. They are helpful and are active in the community. They are personally invested in RoyalRoad and have a strong vision for the website (and now app).

1000% recommended for anyone looking for awesome free stories. Many of them eventually go to Amazon and go on to be successful fantasy series, so you can read them first on Royal Road!

by Primordial Tomato

I’ve been reading on Royal Road for over a year now, and my experience has been amazing all-throughout. The website has been fantastic, and RoyalRoad is looking to be even better. There are a couple problems with RoyalRoad , but all of them have been minor, and can be easily fixed. Basically, Royal Road is an amazing website with amazing devs, and RoyalRoad is definitely worth taking a shot at.

by JerichoHF

Love RoyalRoad . It runs smoothly and loads quickly. A few QOL things I would like to mention

- Wish it was easier to sort my history as I have read a lot of different things. Allowing me to sort by “hiatus” or looking for one’s I read the furthest into would be nice.

- I would recommend moving the premium advertisement to the top of the screen. When people start chapters you tend to start at the top. This would make it more noticeable while also preventing accidental taps when scrolling.

- I liked the advertisements of other light novels that were at the top of the website as i have ran into quite a few light novels that way. I actually like to see more advertisements of light novels you can find in royal road at the top or bottom.

by Vuduman

I loved using the website for Royal Road and this makes it easier and more convenient to keep track of the stories I’m reading. I really like the new inbuilt dictionary that’s quite a bit more handy than before. I always read the website on my phone anyway and now I don’t have to open up another page if there’s an unfamiliar word for me. I also like the reccomendations.

by Bashful Walrus

I absolutely adore reading stories on Royal road and I’m super happy to be able to play with this new app to enjoy all my stores without having to use chrome or Safari it’s about time great job guys keep up the fantastic work

by Zeusivied

RoyalRoad is awesome. It has everything I want out of a reader (dark mode, no lag, distraction-free, ability to change text size/font/color, etc.).

On top of all that? It’s a million times better than reading on a phone web browser.

by TyDM

RoyalRoad is functional; more importantly, at the time of my review the story content on the site is incredible. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve spent thousands of hours over the past decade reading stories on RR. RoyalRoad may make it more accessible for some, which is good for all us readers. Enjoy!!!!

by .Society.

This is the best platform for reading, period. With 60,000+ free stories, there's undoubtedly something for everybody. The publishing hits of the future start on Royal Road. Interactive features that boost genuine engagement. Talk with your favorite authors! I highly reccomend buying premium, it's very inexpensive, yet provides great convenience. This right here is an amazing app. Check it out!

by Onequestion0110

Royal Road has been the website for web serials for a while, especially for litTPG stuff.

RoyalRoad does a good job of streamlining the functionality, and honestly makes it easier to keep up with updates. Solid download here.

My only gripe is that I wish it had author support.

by Mike452

I think it’s great for readers. Much easier to pick up where you left off without reloading the page. Easier to find new books. Overall, I think it is a really accessible app.

As a writer, I still have not gotten used to seeing my author dashboard or to check on the stats for my work. I currently still use the browser for that.

by Littledude14647

I’ve been reading on this platform for years now on an almost daily basis, and sometimes I read on my phone because it’s easier or I’m not at my computer. While I used the internet to get the website up on safari, RoyalRoad is much more convenient