What bionic reading is, and what it isn't
Bionic reading bolds the start of every word, for example reading this sentence. Your eye lands on the bold part and your brain fills in the rest. People who like it say it makes dense text feel lighter and helps them keep their place.
The research is less enthusiastic. A 2024 experiment published in Acta Psychologica found no reading speed benefit. So treat it as a preference rather than a proven fix. If it helps you, use it. If it doesn't, nothing is lost.
Tips for trying it
- Start with Medium. Light can be too subtle and Strong can make whole words look bold.
- Try it on something you actually need to read, for at least a few pages. First impressions on a short sample can mislead.
- Compare it against plain text at a larger size with extra spacing. Our dyslexia font tester lets you set that up.
- If you have dyslexia, reading along with audio has stronger evidence behind it. See why reading while listening works.
Want bionic reading everywhere you read? ClearRead applies bionic reading to your own ePubs, PDFs and web articles on iPhone and iPad. Pair it with text-to-speech that highlights each word, Lexend or OpenDyslexic, and focus mode.