Comics that read like paper, not a backlit screen.
Paper Comic Reader is a lean, native reader that renders every page with a real paper look — warm tone, fine grain, ink that shows through. Your whole collection, private and on-device.
No accounts. No tracking. Everything runs on your device.
Ink on paper, not a glowing screen.
Every page is re-rendered to read like it was printed. A warm tonal remap pulls harsh white toward cream and lifts black to a soft, warm dark; a fine, even grain lays over the page; and a gentle show-through lets the paper peek through the ink — like a real thin sheet.
It runs on a Metal-accelerated Core Image pipeline, so it stays smooth. Pick a preset — Cream, Newsprint, Manga or E-Ink — or tune warmth, grain, show-through and black lift yourself, with a live preview on the real page.
2 of 6 downloaded · tap a to download on demand
Point it at a folder. Browse everything.
Aim Paper Comic Reader at a folder on your NAS, file server, or iCloud Drive — anything the Files app can reach. It scans and pulls in every comic's cover and details right away, without copying the archives onto your phone.
Each comic downloads when you open it, and you can remove that download again to free space while the entry stays in your library. Availability badges show what's local; an Only Downloaded filter hides the rest. Move the share? Update the folder path once and your whole library re-links at once.
Bookmarks you can actually recognize.
One tap while reading saves the page — and it stores a real picture of that exact page, not just a number. Every bookmark from every comic collects in one place, as a carousel, a thumbnail gallery, or a list.
Tap any bookmark to jump straight back to that page. Sort by date, comic or page, and search across your whole library. Bookmarks are durable: they survive removing a download — only deleting the comic clears them.
SolarFlare
#4 · 2026 · 48 pages
Cover-flow browsing, with a shuffle.
The library opens as Discover — one big, uncropped cover centered on screen with its neighbors peeking in, swiped like a deck of cards. It simply shows a collection off better than a wall of tiny thumbnails.
Filter to Popular (opened more than once) or Gathering Dust (never opened). And when you can't decide, hit Shuffle — it glides to a random comic (never the current one). Pair it with Gathering Dust to rediscover what you never got to. It works for bookmarks, too.
Small app. Deep reader.
The goal above everything is to stay lean and fast — and still do the things collectors actually want.
120 Hz native reader
A UIKit-fast paged core that turns pages at the full ProMotion rate — page decode and prefetch off the main thread.
Double-page landscape
Two pages side by side, with fixed pairing that never mismatches — rotate as often as you like and the spread stays consistent.
Live Text on the page
Press and hold to select and copy text straight off a comic page, powered by VisionKit.
Double-tap to fit
No pinch, no getting lost. Double-tap toggles fit-width and fit-height for a drift-free read.
Page-grid picker
Jump anywhere from a thumbnail grid of every page — cached to disk, so it reopens instantly.
Always resumes
Every comic reopens on the last page you read, and auto-marks itself read at the end.
CBZ & every image type
Opens CBZ archives with JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, HEIC, BMP and TIFF pages inside — sorted naturally, so 2 comes before 10.
Import from anywhere
From Files, the share sheet, or Open-With. Paper Comic Reader can even be your default handler for CBZ files.
Real covers in Files
A QuickLook extension shows each comic's actual cover art in Files and Spotlight — not a generic ZIP icon.
Smart duplicate detection
Duplicates are caught by content, not filename — re-scanning a folder never clutters your library.
Three layouts & search
Discover deck, gallery grid, or list. Search titles, series, issues and story names — accent-insensitive.
Reading progress
A progress pie on every cover, plus Popular and Gathering-Dust smart filters driven by how often you open each comic.
ComicInfo metadata
Reads embedded ComicInfo.xml — creators, characters, summary — and even parses a story index for anthologies like weeklies.
Multi-select & batch
Select many comics to mark read, unread, or delete in one go — plus a demo library so it never opens empty.
Built for iOS 26
A native Liquid Glass design — a floating glass tab bar and glass reader controls, with Dark, Light and System themes.
Paper Comic Reader collects nothing.
No accounts, no ads, no analytics, no tracking, no network requests — except optionally fetching your own comics from your own folder. Your library and reading history never leave your device.
Straight from the app.
Free. Forever.
No price, no subscription, no in-app purchases. Just a good comic reader for iPhone and iPad.
iOS 26+ · iPhone & iPad · Sideload it with AltStore or Sideloadly · Source on GitHub
Free — and that's the whole deal.
Paper Comic Reader is free and open source. If it earns a spot on your home screen and you feel like it, you can leave a voluntary tip — a private gift, no perks, no strings, no obligation. You buy nothing and get nothing extra.
One-time or monthly, entirely as you like. The app stays free and open for everyone either way.
Any amount · card or SEPA · securely via Stripe, no account needed.
Recurring ~$5/month, cancel anytime · runs through GitHub (in US dollars).
Questions
Is it really free? +
Yes — free and open source (MIT). No ads, no subscription, no in-app purchases. Tips are welcome but entirely optional.
How do I install it without the App Store? +
Easiest is the App Store — one tap, automatic
updates. If you'd rather not use it, download the .ipa from GitHub Releases and install
it with AltStore or Sideloadly.
What comic formats does it read? +
CBZ archives (ZIP-based), with JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, HEIC, BMP and TIFF pages inside. CBR and PDF are not supported.
Does it work on iPad? +
Yes — it's universal for iPhone and iPad, portrait and landscape, with a proper two-page spread on bigger screens. Requires iOS or iPadOS 26.
Do you collect any data? +
No. No accounts, no analytics, no tracking. Everything stays on your device.