Focus Mode, Built for iPhone

If you're searching for an RSVP reader, you already know the technique: one word at a time, fixed position, no eye movement. In Velo it's called Focus Mode, and the question worth asking of any implementation is what happens around the word stream — that's the whole difference between a demo and a reader you use every day.

That last part is the piece most RSVP apps get wrong. A pure word stream is a lossy channel: reading researchers have shown that about 10–15% of normal eye movements are backwards jumps to re-read something, and comprehension suffers when you take that repair mechanism away. An RSVP reader without a fast way back isn't a reading app — it's a party trick. Our guide to what RSVP is and what the research says covers the evidence in full.

What a serious implementation includes

• ORP alignment. Each word is positioned so the optimal recognition point — the character your eye should land on — sits at the fixed focus mark. The word resolves without a corrective saccade.
• Adaptive timing. Punctuation and word complexity change how long a word needs. Velo's timing engine handles that automatically, so 400 WPM doesn't mean every word gets the same slice regardless of whether it's "the" or "phenomenological."
• A real pace range. 50 to 1,000 WPM. The low end matters more than the high end: Focus Mode at 150 WPM on a dense paragraph is the mode doing its best work, and it's one of the most useful things it does.
• Scrub. Missed something? Drag backwards through the stream with momentum physics and a sliding context window that keeps you oriented. It's the fastest rewind mechanism in any reading interface.
• Reader mode, one position. Full typeset pages with your position highlighted. Scan ahead, re-read, then one tap snaps back to the stream exactly where you were.

It reads your actual library

Focus Mode is only useful if it works on what you actually read. Velo imports DRM-free EPUB and PDF — plus TXT and Markdown — through the iOS Share Sheet from Files, Safari, or Mail. PDFs go through an on-device pipeline that detects chapters, links footnotes, and strips running headers and page numbers, so the stream carries the author's words rather than page furniture. Web articles land cleaned up and readable in any mode.

Everything is stored on the device. Imported books read fully offline, and if you subscribe to Pro, your library and reading position sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Free to actually use

Every reading mode is free — Focus Mode is not held hostage behind the paywall. The free tier includes EPUB and PDF import for up to 3 books, reading stats, and the on-device intelligence dashboard. Velo also ships with a library of public-domain classics, so you can test the modes on a real book before importing anything of your own.

If you've tried a one-word reader before and bounced off it, the honest advice is: start at your normal pace, around 250–300 WPM, and use the page view the moment you feel lost. The technique rewards being treated as a focus tool first; the pace dial is a means, not the point.

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