Built by someone who actually reads.
LinguaRead exists because I wanted to read books in languages I was learning, and the existing tools kept getting in the way.
Who's behind it
Hi, I'm Yevgenii Kryzhanivskyi. I'm a developer based in Ukraine. Before I started building LinguaRead, I'd been reading books in five languages on and off for over a decade. Slowly, badly at first, then better. Mostly Spanish and English, more recently French.
The pattern was always the same. I'd buy a Spanish novel, get through the first chapter on enthusiasm alone, hit too many unknown words by chapter three, and quit. Or I'd switch between the book and Google Translate so much that I forgot what was happening in the story.
Reading should not feel like that. So I built the thing I wanted: an iPhone reader where tapping a word just gives you the meaning, in this exact sentence, with the form and the why if you want it. Then you keep reading.
What I want LinguaRead to be
A reader for people who want to actually read in another language. Not a flashcard app. Not a gamified-streaks-and-XP app. A book reader that respects the book.
That means things I'm careful about:
No engagement tricks. No streaks shaming you, no notifications, no "Would you like to extend your streak with a 5-second lesson?" If you stop reading for two weeks, the app says nothing.
Real books, not made-up sentences. Most language apps generate fake content for "comprehension". I think that's exactly what holds people back. A novel by someone who cared has a hundred times more language packed in.
Minimum interruptions. Translation should be a tap, not a context switch. The app should disappear once you're reading.
The technical bits
LinguaRead is native iOS (Swift, SwiftUI). Translation and explanations use modern AI APIs - I won't be coy about that, the AI does the linguistic work. But I think of it as a tool, not a marketing word: it's there to do a specific job (give you the meaning of a word in this sentence) and stay out of the way.
Books are EPUBs. Reading is fully on-device. Word lookups go to the network when needed and cache locally afterwards. iCloud handles sync.
How the app stays alive
LinguaRead is free to download and use with limited translations. There's a Plus subscription (from $5.99/month or $49.99/year) that removes limits and unlocks saved-word review. No ads, no data resale, no investor pressure to grow at any cost. The app is meant to last.
Get in touch
Questions, feedback, book recommendations, bug reports - all welcome at [email protected]. I read everything.