Reading, at your pace.

Why I made it

Flickleaf started with a simple idea: keep the words in one place and let your hand set the pace. A flick of the wheel moves you through a passage; another gesture slows you down or takes you back.

This web version brings that same reader to a phone, tablet, or computer. Paste text from wherever you keep it, then choose a comfortable rhythm.

A different way to read

Flickleaf displays a passage one word at a time. Punctuation and paragraph breaks get a little extra time. Headings stay together as section cards, and marks on the progress bar help you find your place.

Turn on Hold at sections beside the Section picker to wait at each heading as you read forward. Scroll, swipe, step, or press Play when you are ready to continue. The heading stays in place with the controls dimmed. This option is off by default and remembered on this device; without it, headings keep their timed pause.

Choose Paragraphs to pause and read surrounding text normally, with your current word highlighted. Scroll the passage or select a word to move your place. Words returns to the same position; Play words returns to autoplay. Long documents have Earlier/Later passage controls. This view uses extracted text rather than recreating the original page layout, and does not save your document.

It is an alternative reading format, with no promise of faster comprehension. Slow down, revisit a sentence, or switch back to the original text whenever that works better for you.

On your phone

Copy a passage, return to Flickleaf, and paste it into the text box. Tap Start reading, then Play. Swipe upward in the reading area to move forward and downward to go back. The arrows move one word at a time.

Use the visible Min / Max fields to adjust your speed limits, choose Stepped to move one word per swipe step, or Freewheel for a longer glide. Close the reader to return to your text. During autoplay, Flickleaf asks your browser to keep the screen awake. Pausing, leaving the tab, or closing the reader releases that request. Browser or power-saving settings may prevent this.

On iPhone, open this page in Safari and use Share → Add to Home Screen for a shortcut. This web version reads pasted text and local PDFs; it does not access other browser tabs. An internet connection is needed to load the reader.

At your desk

Scroll to control the pace, or press Space or Enter for hands-off reading. Page Up and Page Down adjust playback speed. Arrow keys step through words; C shows the surrounding words; Escape closes the reader.

Stepped moves exactly one word per wheel notch, with no glide. Glide eases off over a short distance. Freewheel carries the motion further. Reversing direction holds the current word for a moment before the text runs back, so a short scroll back settles where you can read it. Glide and Freewheel respect the minimum and maximum pace you choose, which start at 300–900 words per minute.

While reading inside a section, choosing that section again in the Section menu returns you to its start.

Open a PDF, keep it local

Choose Open PDF, select a file on your device, and Flickleaf extracts its text in your browser. Review or edit the result, then tap Start reading. Each page with readable text gets a page marker so you can jump through the document.

The PDF file, its filename, and its extracted text are not uploaded. The PDF reader code is served from this website; processing happens on your device. The Firefox, Chrome, and Safari extensions include the same reader code in their packages.

After opening a PDF, choose Preview cleanup to review suggestions for repeated headers, footers, and margin page numbers. Your draft changes only when you choose Apply cleanup. Undo cleanup restores the original extraction until you edit the text or open another PDF. Joining words split by line-end hyphens is optional and off by default; it can change genuine compound words, so check the preview. Cleanup does not rearrange columns or tables. All original and preview text stays in this tab.

This version accepts PDFs up to 25 MB and 300 pages. It reads existing text, not scanned images, and does not run OCR. Password-protected files need an unlocked copy. Columns, tables, headers, and footers can come through in an unexpected order, so check the extracted text before reading. Pages without readable text are skipped with a notice.

Closing or reloading this page may discard the extracted text. Flickleaf does not write your document to browser storage or keep a server copy.

Save your place, by choice

Choose Save place to remember one reading position on this device. It replaces your previous bookmark. Reopen the same text or PDF, then choose Resume saved place to return, paused, to that word. Saving is manual; reading alone does not create a bookmark. Changed text may no longer match.

Only a text fingerprint and word position are stored, not the text, title, filename, URL, or PDF. A fingerprint can recognize known matching text; it is not encryption. Delete saved place removes the bookmark separately from saved preferences. Nothing syncs between browsers. Private extension sessions cannot use bookmarks; private web storage follows your browser’s rules.

Your text stays yours

Pasted text and PDFs are processed in your browser. Flickleaf does not upload them, save them to an account, or write them to browser storage. Closing the reader keeps your draft in the current page; closing or reloading the page may discard it.

Flickleaf remembers your pace, speed limits, scroll mode, theme, and Hold at sections on this device. The web app uses local browser storage; extensions use their own local settings storage without browser sync. These settings contain no document text, filenames, page addresses, or an automatic reading history. Use the reset control in the reader to clear saved preferences and restore defaults. If storage is unavailable, the reader still works for the current session.

There are no analytics scripts, advertising, or third-party fonts on these pages. The website and its hosting providers still receive ordinary page requests and may run browser security checks; see the site privacy policy. Following the GitHub link takes you to GitHub.

Made by Miguel. Shaped by use.

Flickleaf is built by Miguel Barroso. The code is on GitHub, where you can follow development, report a bug, or suggest an improvement.

Availability, 20 October 2026: this web reader is version 0.10.1. Install it from the official Firefox listing or the Chrome Web Store; both serve 0.10.1.

Firefox and Chrome can also be built from the GitHub instructions for developer installation. Firefox requires version 142 or newer; Chrome requires desktop version 120 or newer. Unsigned 0.10.1 packages are on the GitHub release.

The Safari development project supports Mac, iPhone, and iPad, but needs Xcode and signing for device installation. It has not been released on the App Store, and physical Apple-device extension testing remains pending. Safari extensions work in Safari, not other iPhone browsers. Use the web reader on your phone without installing an extension.

Flickleaf is free and MIT licensed. For problems or ideas, open a GitHub issue. Do not include private documents in a public report.

New here? Follow the one-minute illustrated guide. Developers can start with the contributor guide.