FocalReader – ADHD Focus Reader

A focus reading tool that dims everything except where you're reading — from a single paragraph down to one line. Works on web pages and PDFs. Built for ADHD, dyslexia, or anyone who gets distracted. Everything that dims and focuses the page is free. The one optional extra is Explain (AI) — and that still gives you 5 free explanations every day. NEW IN v1.11.3 Protected PDFs now recover when a repository or academic site requires an authenticated browser session. FocalReader retries the request through the site's own session, then loads the returned PDF directly into the reader. Signed links keep their query parameters intact. If login or verification is still required, FocalReader keeps the original browser fallback available. Local PDFs and ordinary online PDFs continue to open directly. NEW IN v1.11.2 Sharper focus in PDFs. The focus window used to respond only near the middle of a paragraph, so clicking toward its start or end did nothing. The whole block is live now. Focus also stays locked to the text as you zoom, and re-aligns the moment you open the thumbnail sidebar or the find bar. Papers read in the right order. Two-column documents now go down one column at a time instead of zig-zagging across the page, and a full-width title or abstract stays ahead of both columns. Justified single-column text is no longer mistaken for two columns, and a sentence that happens to end at the right margin no longer starts a new paragraph. Rotated and cropped pages work. Scanned pages and journal PDFs with a crop box put focus in the wrong place before. Figures finishing loading no longer reshuffle the paragraphs around them, and a paragraph that is only half on screen is clipped instead of the window sliding off its own text. These improvements are specific to the PDF viewer. Web page reading is unchanged in this release. NEW IN v1.11.1 A more precise reading window: Window focus now picks up short paragraphs, headings, table cells, and text in div-based reading layouts. Mouse and keyboard navigation use the same reading-block rules, so moving through an article feels more consistent. Better boundaries: Widening keeps nearby paragraphs in the same column and avoids spanning unrelated controls. The window follows text as reading panes scroll, images load, and the page reflows, staying clipped to the pane you're reading in. These improvements apply to web pages. PDF reading features are unchanged. NEW IN v1.11.0 Focus, in three settings: The popup's new Focus switch picks how tightly the dim closes in — Window snaps to the paragraph you're on, Line narrows to a single line, and Band is the free rectangle you size and place yourself. Line focus used to be reachable only by a keyboard gesture most people never found; now it's one click. Shift+Right and Shift+Left still step between Window and Line, and the switch follows along. Explain has a button now: The sparkle on the toolbar above the focus band rewrites the paragraph you're reading in plain language — no shortcut to remember, and no setting to turn on first. It works the same on web pages and on PDFs. Alt+Shift+E still does the same thing. Drag handle on the band: In Band mode the band always could be dragged, but nothing said so. There's now a visible grip on its top edge. Opacity is back in the popup: How dark the page goes was buried in Settings. It sits beside the Haze slider again, and it edits whichever dim level is actually live, so it never sits there doing nothing. NEW IN v1.10.1 Notes: Write a note on any paragraph. Set Focus to Window, focus a paragraph, and click the pen in the little toolbar above the band. An indigo rule marks every paragraph you've annotated, and the note reveals itself when you come back to that paragraph and puts itself away when you move on. Notes are re-found by the paragraph's own text, so they survive the page being re-laid out. Everything stays on your device — export or import the lot as a JSON file from the popup. Chrome 105+. NEW IN v1.9.0 Community: A Discord button in the popup takes you straight to the FocalReader server — share feedback, get help, and vote on what gets built next. NEW IN v1.8.0 Guided tour: New installs get a quick walkthrough of every control — Enable, Follow Mouse, Focus mode, Auto Dim, Haze, Opacity, Explain, and where shortcuts live. Replay it anytime from the ? icon in the popup's top-right corner. NEW IN v1.7.0 Explain (AI): Hit a dense paragraph? Focus it and click the sparkle above the band — or press Alt+Shift+E — and FocalReader rewrites it in plain language, right where you're reading. Works on web pages and PDFs. 5 free explanations a day — sign in and upgrade to Pro for unlimited. Haze: A frosted-glass dim that's softer on the eyes than a flat shade. Set the strength with the Haze slider, or turn on Auto haze to deepen it when you pause to read. ALSO RECENT - Site Control (v1.6.0): Choose where FocalReader runs — block specific sites, or flip to "run only on the sites I choose." - Line Focus (v1.5.0): Focus can narrow all the way to a single line. Shift+Right drills in; Shift+Down / Shift+Up read line by line. As of v1.11.0 it's also a click on the Focus switch. KEY FEATURES - Focus modes: One switch in the popup, from loosest to tightest. Window snaps to readable blocks such as paragraphs, headings, and table cells — free, with Window selected for new installs. Line narrows to a single line. Band is a free rectangle you size and drag yourself. Step through blocks with Shift+arrow keys. Web pages and PDFs (Window and Line). - Line Focus: The tightest setting — one line at a time, ideal for dense text. Pick it from the Focus switch, or Shift+Right to drill in and Shift+Left to back out; Shift+Down / Shift+Up move line by line. - Notes: Annotate any paragraph and find your notes waiting when you return. Marked paragraphs carry an indigo edge rule; notes reveal on arrival and hide when you move on. Stored on your device…