◈ Ranger Reader Wiki
A lightweight RSVP reader for academic papers and long-form text. Single HTML file. No install. No subscription. No cloud. Runs offline in any browser.
Built to handle the volume of reading required by an MSc thesis without paying $120/year for SwiftRead or similar tools. Released here so others can do the same.
| Latest tag | v1.1.3 |
| Licence | GPL v2 or later |
| Install | Open ranger-reader.html in any browser. That's it. |
| Landing page | https://davidtkeane.com/rangerhq-reader |
| Family | The simplest sibling in the [[Family |
What it does
Three reading modes for the same text, switchable on the fly with 1 / 2 / 3:
| Mode | What it does | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Word | Classic RSVP — one word at a time at chosen WPM, with ORP focal-character colouring | Fast skim, "I'm reading at 4x normal speed" experience |
| Sentence | One full sentence at a time with an ORP anchor letter near the middle, auto-advancing based on word count | Comprehension-grade reading of methods / results sections |
| Paragraph | One paragraph at a time, longer display | Preview / postview stages, skim for quotes |
Text, WPM, mode, and reading position all auto-save in your browser via localStorage — close the tab, reopen tomorrow, resume where you stopped. No accounts, no syncing, no cloud.
Quick links
- How to Use — keyboard shortcuts, drag-and-drop, PDF conversion, the spacebar Play/Pause habit
- The ORP Anchor — the science of why a single red letter makes RSVP comprehensible at 1500+ WPM, and the formula for picking which letter
- Privacy — what stays in your browser, what never leaves it (spoiler: nothing leaves)
- FAQ — common questions
- Family — sibling projects in the RangerHQ family
Install
There is no install.
# Either clone the repo:
git clone https://git.davidtkeane.com/ranger/rangerhq-reader.git
open rangerhq-reader/ranger-reader.html
# Or just download the one HTML file:
curl -O https://git.davidtkeane.com/ranger/rangerhq-reader/raw/branch/main/ranger-reader.html
open ranger-reader.html
Double-click the file. Browser opens. You're done.
Source layout
rangerhq-reader/
├── ranger-reader.html # The entire app. One file. Everything.
├── README.md # Quick reference
├── CHANGELOG.md # Keep a Changelog format
└── LICENSE # GPL v2 or later
That's the entire repo. No dependencies, no build step, no node_modules, no vendor, no compiled artefacts.
Why it exists
David needed to get through ~50 academic papers for an MSc Cybersecurity thesis at NCI Dublin. SwiftRead costs $120/year. Spreeder costs $30/year. Both are perfectly good products, but neither is open source, neither runs offline, neither lets you walk away from the data when you graduate.
A weekend of HTML + JavaScript later, Ranger Reader hits the same RSVP-with-ORP target at 0 cost, with 0 telemetry, in a 60 KB file that runs offline on every machine you own and any future machine you might own.
Reporting issues / suggestions
Open an issue or email david@davidtkeane.com.