Tiny Reads
Turn your scrolling habit into a reading habit
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Tiny Reads - Turn your scrolling habit into a reading habit

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Tiny Reads takes the swipe gesture you know from video apps and points it at something that leaves you smarter, not emptier. Pick your topics — science, history, psychology, philosophy, and more — then swipe through short, real articles. Right to save, left to skip, tap to read. Each one takes 3-5 minutes, and unlike a video feed, the deck actually ends. No algorithm, no ads inside articles, no account required. Built solo, free to use, with optional tips for anyone who wants to support it.

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Maker
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Hey Product Hunt! 👋 I'm Vlad, solo dev behind Tiny Reads. I built this because I kept opening TikTok out of boredom, scrolling for way too long, and closing it feeling worse than before I opened it. I didn't want to fight the habit — I wanted to redirect it. So I built an app with the same swipe gesture, except instead of an endless video feed, you get short, real articles on topics you pick — science, history, psychology, philosophy, and more. Swipe to save, swipe to skip, tap to read. 3-5 minutes, and the deck actually ends. This is still an early version, and I'm the only person working on it — design, code, content curation, all of it. So I'd genuinely love to hear what you think: what's confusing, what's missing, what you'd want next. I read every comment and I'm here all day to answer questions. Thanks for taking a look 🙏

Love the no-algorithm angle and the fact that it actually ends. One thing I'd find really useful is a weekly recap mode that shows you the five or six articles you saved that week in a quick digest, so older saves don't just pile up unread.

Maker
I'm thinking of taking a slightly different approach, and the next thing to work on is the ability to highlight text and create highlights from it. After all, we often highlight certain phrases or sentences as we read. I think that would be very useful. And to do that, I plan to add a new tab. But for your idea I already have an imagination of where I can fit this into the app 😄. Thanks, that's a great idea.

the swipe mechanic is such a smart move, basically turning mindless scrolling into something you actually gain from. love that the deck just ends instead of feeding you into another hour of doomscrolling.

Maker
Well, I'd like to expand the flashcards in the future. Right now, there are only 100 free ones. Later, I'll add more languages and more articles. It just takes a lot of time and a little money. What really stands out here is that when you open a card to read it, the actual article appears from the bottom, like a scroll. This really adds a sense of pause and realism to the experience. Because when you finish reading and want to take action, you need to mark it as read and close it. It keeps you from getting stuck like in a loop.

love that the swipe metaphor from video feeds got flipped toward something more nourishing. the "deck actually ends" detail is such a quiet but underrated choice, basically a rejection of infinite scroll philosophy baked right into the design. nice work building this solo.

Maker
Thank you!!!! To be honest, I’m really passionate about this idea, so I’m enjoying developing this app, and I use it myself—I really like it. Also, when I check the stats, I often see that there are active users who spend 30–45 minutes on it. That makes me very happy. And the feedback where people write that they’ve found their new rabbit hole… . Hope to get more users cause I think that’s really good idea and app