I’ll be honest, I have never been a fan of reading books. I always found them boring as compared to the thrilling action of a video game. Reading web articles can get boring too as I sit and stare at the screen, having to scroll down every few seconds. After a while of either staring at a computer screen or in a book, the words seem to fade away as the background, which is typically white, seems to bleed onto the words. Well, now I have found a new way of reading web articles that makes it seem fun. I now use “ReadQuick – Speed Reader for iOS”.
“ReadQuick” is an app that helps you learn how to speed read. You might think that learning how to speed read will be hard, as you might not be able to understand what the message is. This app is able to help you develop that skill of speed reading by showing you one word at a time. The science behind it is that your brain will recognize the word without having to read it letter by letter. The length of how long that word is on the screen depends on how many words you want to read in a minute. It ranges from 50 to 800 wpm (words per minute). If you think 50 wpm is a lot, try to read this article word by word every second, equaling 60 wpm and you’ll get the idea that it may be too slow for most people. By default, the app is set to run at 250 wpm.
When you open the app for the first time, it will ask if you want to subscribe to their mailing list for “updates, tips, and speed reading info.” There is also information on how to use the wpm slider and how to access articles directly from the web or from you news stream using Instapaper or Pocket. Personally, I use Google Currents to search for articles that I can save to Instapaper to read later, then go log in my Instapaper account on ReadQuick and speed read the articles there.
The top left button will bring up the menu on the left side of the screen. Some of the options are reading articles from Instapaper and Pocket as well as a “Featured” section that has at least 8 different new sources that make ReadQuick really useful. In the “ReadQuick” section, there is an article that will give you a description of what the app is and how it works.
You can track your stats of how well your speed reading is going. It can track how many words you have read in a week, month, and year. It will also give your average speed and top news sources.
I could write a ton more about how awesome this app is, but that would take the fun out of your experience in trying it out yourself.
The only downside I have found is that the app costs $4.99 on the Apple App Store. It’s not a cheap price, but I think you get your money’s worth since you can access tons of articles on the web and learn how to speed read through them. It one app that works on iPhone/iPod touch and the iPad. It has a native resolution on the iPad so it doesn’t look like the crunched down version from the iPhone like some other apps do.
I’ve only had the app for less than a month and already I am up to 350 wpm. At times I have attempted to read an article at 800 wpm, of which I know I am getting better at since I am able to get bigger pieces of information at that speed than in the beginning when it was all a blur.
This app is a good way of impressing other people when they happen to see you staring at your iPhone or iPad and they just see words flashing in a split second and wonder how you can read that fast.
I doubt that you will be able to speed read so fast that you will flip through books in like 5 seconds much like what Data from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” could do in some episodes. If you can, make a YouTube video of your ability and prove it to the world.
If you want more information from the creator of this app, just check out http://readquickapp.com/. They will have the link to the App Store there too.
Have fun and geek out!