A speed reading extension for Chrome and every Chromium browser.

Which browsers

• Chrome: install from the Chrome Web Store. Your library is a folder you choose.
• Microsoft Edge: the Chrome Web Store, after allowing extensions from other stores. A folder you choose.
• Brave: the Chrome Web Store. Brave keeps the library in the browser unless you turn on its file-system setting.
• Arc: the Chrome Web Store. A folder you choose; Arc asks again for it on a new visit.
• Vivaldi, Opera and Dia: the Chrome Web Store (Opera needs its Install Chrome Extensions add-on first).

Every one of them gets the same features. It runs on a desktop or laptop computer (Mac, Windows, Linux or ChromeOS), not on phones.

Chrome

Open the Download page and click Add to Chrome. Pin it from the puzzle-piece menu, then click its icon: the reader opens on a short setup. Choose a folder for your library, for example Documents/RapidReader. Every article is saved there as a Markdown file you own, so you can back it up, sync it with Dropbox or Google Drive, or open it in Obsidian.

Chrome forgets folder access when the last RapidReader tab closes. The first time it asks again, choose Allow on every visit and it stays connected.

Microsoft Edge

Edge installs extensions from the Chrome Web Store once you allow it: on the store page, click Allow extensions from other stores, then Add to Chrome. Everything else is as in Chrome, including the folder you choose and Allow on every visit. To manage the extension, open edge://extensions.

Brave

Install from the Chrome Web Store as in Chrome. Brave turns off the way a website or extension opens a folder on your computer, so on the first run RapidReader offers Keep in This Browser: your library, the same Markdown files, is kept in Brave’s own storage on your computer.

Brave does not mark that storage as one to keep when the disk runs low, so download a copy now and then: Integrations → Data Management → Download Library saves the whole library as a zip. If you would rather have a real folder, turn on Brave’s file-system access setting in brave://flags (search for “File System Access”) and restart Brave. Before your first run, setup then offers Choose Folder, as in Chrome. If your library is already kept in Brave, go to Integrations → Storage → Move to a folder… (version 2.9.1): choose an empty folder and every file is copied into it.

Arc

Install from the Chrome Web Store as in Chrome, and choose a folder. Arc does not offer Allow on every visit, so it asks for the folder again when you come back; click Reconnect. Keeping one RapidReader tab pinned keeps the folder connected for the others.

Moving to Zen? Your whole library comes with you: see moving from Arc to Zen.

Vivaldi

Install from the Chrome Web Store as in Chrome, and choose a folder for your library.

Opera

Opera needs its Install Chrome Extensions add-on (from Opera’s own add-ons site) before it can install from the Chrome Web Store. Then install JK RapidReader as in Chrome.

Dia

Install from the Chrome Web Store as in Chrome, and choose a folder for your library.

Questions

Is it free?

Yes. No account and no subscription. AI features are optional: use your own key from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google or xAI, or free AI on your own computer with Ollama.

Does it send what I read anywhere?

No. The extension sends nothing to us. Text goes to an AI service only when you use an AI feature, and only to the one you chose. See the Privacy Policy.

Can I install it without the store?

Yes: the Download page has a zip you load in Developer mode. It does not update itself.

How do I move my library to another browser?

Download Library (Integrations → Data Management) saves it as one zip, and Load Library in the other browser brings it in. You can also choose the same folder in another Chromium browser.