Questions, answered
Everything about reading, translations, narration, pricing and your account.
General
What is Tapread?
A reader for books in another language. Open a book you own, tap a word you don’t know, read its meaning right above it, and carry on with the story.
Which books can I read?
Any book file you own: EPUB, PDF, Word (DOCX), FB2, Kindle (MOBI and AZW3) and TXT. Open it from Files and Tapread turns it into a book with chapters. PDFs keep their pages exactly as printed. We don’t sell or download books, so you bring your own.
Why can’t I open books from Kindle or Apple Books?
Books bought in Kindle or Apple Books are copy-protected, and Tapread can’t open protected files. Kindle files without protection (MOBI and AZW3) open fine, as do EPUB, PDF, Word, FB2 and TXT.
Which languages does Tapread support?
Tapread translates into 24 languages: English, Ukrainian and most European languages, from German and Polish to Greek and Finnish. Narration is available in English, Spanish, French, Italian and Japanese.
Is Tapread a language course?
No. There are no lessons, streaks or drills. It’s a reader that helps when a word stops you.
Reading and translation
What happens when I tap a word?
A card appears above the word with its meaning in this sentence, not just the first line of a dictionary. Tap the card to see other meanings and the whole sentence translated. Select a short phrase instead, and its meaning is written in pencil above it for the rest of the chapter.
How accurate are the translations?
Translations are made by a language model that reads the whole sentence, so they fit the context most of the time. They can still be wrong, so don’t rely on Tapread for legal, medical or safety-critical text.
Can I keep the words I look up?
Yes. Tap the bookmark on the card and the word is stored with the sentence it came from. From then on its meaning is written in pencil above that word in every book, in any form. When you know it, mark it learned: it moves to Learned in Saved words. You can export the list as a CSV file for Anki.
Do I need an internet connection?
Reading works offline. Translating a new word and narrating a new chapter need a connection. Words you’ve looked up before and chapters that are already narrated work without one.
Pricing and plans
What can I do for free?
Read as much as you like, translate 20 words a day and listen to a free minute of narration in every book. Words you’ve looked up before don’t count toward the limit.
What does Tapread Premium add?
No daily limit on translations, whole-sentence translation and 15 hours of narration a month, for $39.99 a year or $9.99 a month.
How do narration hours work?
The hours count narration, not listening. Once a chapter has been read aloud, you can play it again as often as you like. The hours belong to your subscription, so your iPhone and iPad share them. Unused hours don’t roll over to the next month, and books are narrated one at a time.
Account and support
Do I need an account?
No. Reading, translation and buying Premium all work without one. Your subscription follows your Apple ID and your saved words sync through iCloud. Signing in with Apple is optional.
How do I cancel my subscription?
On your iPhone or iPad, open Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions, then Tapread. Premium stays active until the end of the month you’ve paid for.
How do I delete my account and data?
In the app, open Profile and tap Delete account. This signs you out of Apple, erases your synced words and removes what our server knows about you. The Privacy Policy has the details.
How do I contact support?
Write to [email protected], or tap Send feedback on the Profile screen.
