BeyondReadBeyondRead · Guide
What is BeyondRead, and what does "AI EPUB reader" actually mean?
BeyondRead is a free reading app for iPhone and iPad. It ships with about 20,000 public-domain classics, opens your own EPUB and PDF files, and adds one thing ordinary readers lack: select a sentence, tap Translate, Explain or Chat, and an AI answers using the book’s title, author and the surrounding passage, without leaving the page.
How the AI works while you read
You read normally. When a word, a dialect spelling or a half-page sentence stops you, select it. Three choices appear:
- Translate renders the passage in your language, using the surrounding text as context rather than word by word.
- Explain unpacks meaning, references and the ideas between the lines.
- Chat lets you ask your own follow-up questions about the passage.
Only the selected passage and a little context are sent for an answer. Your books, highlights and AI history stay on the device, and AI can be switched off entirely.
The AI can be wrong. That is why the original text always stays in front of you, and why BeyondRead describes every answer as reading assistance, not a verdict.
AI Digest: the whole book before the first page
Hold a book in your library and choose AI Digest. It builds an introduction from the title, the outline and short chapter excerpts, so you start a long classic with a sense of its ideas and where to look for them.
What comes built in
A library of about 20,000 public-domain books in 42 languages: fiction, poetry, philosophy, history and more. Browsing, searching and downloading are free and need no account. Each book’s page says why it is free to read and where the text comes from. Titles vary by App Store country.
Your own files work too: EPUB, PDF and DRM-free MOBI or AZW. BeyondRead does not remove DRM and does not sell books.
Facts at a glance
- Platform: iPhone and iPad, iOS 17 or later. Current version 2.0.2.
- Price: free download and free library. The free plan includes AI translation with a monthly allowance and 10 AI chats a month; optional subscriptions and one-time top-up packs add more. Prices are shown in the app.
- Interface languages: English, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Korean and Russian.
- Availability: most App Store countries; not offered in mainland China, where a separate edition is pending its filing.
- Developer: Zhang Liu, an independent developer.
Step by step
- 01
Open a book
Download one of the free classics, or import an EPUB or PDF from Files.
- 02
Select the sentence that stops you
Press and hold, then drag the handles over a word, a line or a paragraph.
- 03
Choose Translate, Explain or Chat
The answer appears in a panel over the page; the text stays visible behind it.
- 04
Keep reading
Close the panel. Save a highlight or a quote card if the line is worth keeping.
FAQ
Questions people ask
Is BeyondRead free?
Yes. Downloading the app and the whole classics library is free and needs no account. AI features need sign-in; the free plan includes AI translation with a monthly allowance and 10 AI chats a month, and optional subscriptions or top-up packs add more.
Does it work offline?
Reading does. Downloaded or imported books, bookmarks and quotes work offline. Browsing the library and new AI translations, explanations and digests need a connection.
Can I read my own ebooks in it?
Yes: EPUB, PDF and DRM-free MOBI or AZW files. It does not open DRM-protected books.
Is it available in my country?
In most App Store countries and regions, for iOS 17 or later. It is not offered in mainland China.
Download BeyondRead on the App Store ↗
AI can make mistakes. Use its responses as reading assistance, and verify important information. Screenshots show the US edition. Library titles and languages vary by App Store country.