RapidReads: Building a Secure Speed-Reading Tool for Everyone

Before I ever wrote a line of code for RapidReads, I was a loyal user of Spreeder—a website designed to help you read faster by showing one word at a time. It's a simple concept: instead of moving your eyes across lines of text, Spreeder flashes each word in a fixed spot on your screen. Less eye movement, faster reading. For someone like me, who doesn't have perfect vision and prefers large text sizes, this was a revelation.

When I worked at startups, this tool was a lifesaver. Long emails, documentation, technical specifications—all became much more manageable. But then I moved into big tech, and suddenly security and privacy policies made tools like Spreeder impossible to use. Pasting company data into a third-party website just wasn't going to happen.

The Birth of RapidReads

The solution? Build my own tool.

The first version was rough—a basic internal web app that mimicked Spreeder. It worked well enough for me. When I switched companies, I needed the same functionality again. This time, I decided to work closely with the infosec team. Their number one request? Make the entire application work offline with zero network access.

So I did. I built my first native macOS app. These were the pre-Mac Catalyst days, so I had to leave UIKit behind and learn how to do things the Mac way. It was simple, but it worked. And because it was entirely offline, infosec loved it.

Iteration Through Feedback

Once the app started circulating among coworkers, the feedback loop began. A few brave colleagues tested it. They suggested improvements. I added features. More feedback followed. This continued until one day, a new hire casually told me about "this internal speed-reading app" they had been using—without even realizing I built it.

From Internal Tool to Public App

It became clear that RapidReads needed to go public. Preparing it for the App Store gave me the opportunity to refine it further. I enlisted some help from AI along the way:

• ChatGPT identified stability improvements.
• Claude suggested power optimizations.
• Cursor guided better data storage strategies.

These optimizations, while things I could have done manually, were accelerated by using AI as a coding partner.

Where It Stands Today

Today, RapidReads:

• Runs on macOS and iOS.
• Has no network access—everything happens locally.
• Lets anyone read faster and with less strain, while keeping their data private.

I built RapidReads out of necessity, but it has become something far more meaningful: a secure tool that helps people reclaim time and focus, one word at a time.