A reading streak app that keeps you reading, not anxious

A reading streak app counts the days in a row you read, and ReadFirst keeps that count simple: if you read at least one page of a printed book today, today counts. Ten pages or one page, it is the same day in your streak. The point is to come back to your book every day, because that is where a reading habit is built.

ReadFirst is also an app lock, which makes a streak easier to keep. The apps you chose stay locked until you read, so the book is the first thing you reach for, not the last.

How it works

Your streak grows by one every day you read, and the day turns over at midnight.

1. Read at least one page of your printed book.
2. Count it: take a live photo of the page, or add pages by hand if you read away from your phone.
3. Your streak goes up by one for today, on the Today tab and in your widgets.
4. Read again tomorrow before midnight and it keeps growing.
5. If you miss a day, your grace day for the month covers it and the streak holds.

One grace day a month

Every calendar month, ReadFirst gives you one grace day: miss one day and your streak stays intact. A fever, a late flight, a day with the kids that runs from 6 a.m. to midnight. One missed day should not erase three months of reading.

The grace day is not something you buy, earn with coins or unlock with a subscription tier. Every reader has one each month, and it renews when the next month starts. ReadFirst has no streak freeze for sale. We think a streak should measure reading, not spending.

A reminder before the day ends

If you have not read yet and the evening is getting late, ReadFirst can send a short streak reminder: "Your streak ends at midnight. One page is enough." One page really is enough, and most evenings that page turns into ten.

You can also set a quiet reading reminder at a time you choose between 8:00 in the morning and 9:30 in the evening. It stays silent on days you have already read, so it only shows up when it helps. If you step away for longer, ReadFirst sends a kind note after 3, 7 and 14 days, never more than one a day.

Skips never count for your streak

ReadFirst's app lock has skips: by default one a week, which open your apps for a short while without reading. Skips are there for real emergencies, like a boarding pass in a locked app. They never count as a reading day. Your streak only grows when you actually read.

That keeps the number honest. When you look at 60 days in a row, you know it means 60 days with a book in your hands.

Streak medals from 3 to 500 days

Your streak earns medals along the way, in the Days in a Row section of your reading medals. There are nine of them: 3, 7, 14, 30, 60, 100, 180, 365 and 500 days in a row. They climb from Bronze through Silver, Gold and Platinum to Obsidian at 500.

Your longest streak is kept in your reading stats, so even if a streak ends, your best run is never lost.

Your streak on every screen

A streak works best when you see it without opening the app. The Today and Your book widgets put your reading on the Home Screen and the Lock Screen, and Siri can tell you how many pages you read today. See reading widgets for every size.

If you only want to track your reading for now, set the minutes in your rule to 0. ReadFirst then runs in Track only, and every page counts for your book, your goal, your streak and your medals.

Who it's for

The ReadFirst reading streak suits adults who want reading to be a daily thing again: people who used to read every night and drifted to the phone, people coming back after a long break, and people who like seeing a number grow. It suits you if you read printed books and want a streak that forgives one bad day a month but never counts a day you did not read.

If you want a streak for e-books or audiobooks, ReadFirst is not the right app. It counts pages of printed books only.