Velocity review: learn how to read faster than ever before

A couple of weeks ago, we told you about an app that helps you learn how to speed-read. Syllable shows you one word at a time and lets you increase the pace until you are reading lightning fast.

Velocity is another app that features the single-word speed-reading program that teaches you how to overcome the act of sub vocalizing sentences. This one has a few additional features you may be interested in…

Design

The key to efficient speed reading practice is no distractions. The main body of this app is completely blank, save for the single word in the middle. The default theme uses a white background with a black Helvetica Neue font and red accents to compliment the iOS 7 style.

Users can change the theme to Dark, which uses a black background, white font, and red accents, or sepia, which features beige tones and a dark red accent. You can also pick from five different fonts, including one specifically designed for dyslexic readers.

When in the reader section, tap the screen to call up menu options and controls. At the bottom of the screen, you can increase or decrease the speed of the words between 100 and 1,000 WPM.

At the top of the screen you will see how much time you have left to read a particular article. On the right side of the screen in the upper corner, tap the “Done” button to exit the article. On the left side, tap the “Themes” button to access the three different themes.

App Use

The first thing you will need to do is add an article or document. You can automatically send articles from Instapaper and Pocket, or you could add a website link by entering the URL address and then saving the article to Velocity.

To add articles from Instapaper and Pocket, sign in through Velocity and give them permission to send articles from the respective apps. Then, open Velocity and select “Sources” from the menu. Then, tap either account to view the articles you’ve linked to.

To add an article from a web URL, tap the “Web” tab in the Sources menu and enter the URL. For example, you could type “idownloadblog.com” and you will access the website from the in-app browser. Select the article that you want to read in Velocity and tap “Save” in the bottom right corner. When you have finished adding articles using the web, tap “Done” in the upper right corner to go back to Velocity. Then, tap “iPhone” to access the articles that were saved.

You can also add a bookmark to Safari that will allow you to send any article you are reading while browsing the Internet to Velocity. In the Source menu, tap “Settings” and then tap “Install ‘Read in Velocity’ Bookmark.” This will take you to mobile Safari and give you step-by-step instructions on how to send an article directly to Velocity by tapping a bookmark tab.

To paste any text from any document into Velocity, tap iPhone in the Sources menu and then tap the plus (+) button in the upper right corner of the screen. Then, paste whatever text you have copied from another source onto the page and tap “Read” in the upper right corner.

Once you’ve added articles to the app, tap the one you want to read and the speed-reader will begin automatically. The default speed is 300 WPM. If that is too fast for you, slow it down. If you are already comfortable at that speed, why not increase it and push your abilities.

Just like other speed-reader apps. A single word appears for you to read. Depending on the speed, you will be able to get through an entire article in just a few minutes. To pause the reader, tap the screen. This calls up the app’s controls. Make your speed adjustments and change the theme to fit your mood and then continue with your article. You can also fast forward or rewind the article.

When you are finished, you can tell your friends how fast you read by posting to Facebook and Twitter, or sending an email or message.

You can adjust the speed of each article between 100 and 1,000 WPM. You can also increase the number of words that appear on the screen from one to four. With enough practice, you might actually make it through an entire issue of the New Yorker before the next one arrives.

The Good

I love the three different themes and five different fonts. This is a significant feature that other speed-reader apps lack without an expensive in-app purchase. The sepia tone is my favorite. It is easy on the eyes.

The best feature of this app is the ability to add articles directly from the web. There are two different ways to save pages to Velocity, one of them being a bookmark applet right in mobile Safari. Basically, every article you could possibly want to read can easily be added with just a tap.

The Bad

As far as speed-reader apps go, this one doesn’t seem to have anything wrong with it. It has lots of features, works flawlessly without glitches, and is reasonably priced.

Value

Velocity costs $2.99. Considering the price includes multiple themes and fonts, access to all web articles via an internal browser or bookmark applet, and connectivity to Instapaper and Pocket, I’d say the price is very reasonable for what it offers.

Conclusion

If you are interested in speed-reader apps, this one seems to have it all at a reasonable price. It comes with all of the great features of most apps in the genre, plus a few additional ones to really make it worth the price. Download it in the App Store today.

Related Apps

As mentioned above, Syllable is a similar app with many of the same features.  One of our readers mentioned in the comment section of the Syllable review that another speed-reader app called Fastr Pro is free.

How many words per minute can you read? Do you practice reading without sub vocalizing?