Hi Product Hunt

For context: I love learning languages, I speak four, and I’m currently learning French. This app comes from a problem I lived: I used to read French books on an e-ink reader that had a split-screen translation feature, and it was the thing that made reading at my level actually enjoyable. Then I switched to an iPad and that feature was gone. Looking up every other word kills the flow and the joy of reading.

So I built Parallèle, a bilingual ebook reader that shows the original text and a clean translation side by side. The part I’m most proud of: it runs fully offline using Apple’s on-device translation, so nothing is sent to a server and it works on a plane or off the grid, once you’ve downloaded a language.

A few things in it I love:
• Hide-and-reveal mode for self-testing as you read
• Save words with their surrounding context and export them (TSV) to Anki or other flashcard apps
• Reading stats with a streak heatmap, a nod to my language-learning habits
• 5 free classics built in, plus import your own EPUBs
• No accounts, no ads, no tracking

On pricing, I went the opposite way from most apps today: no subscription. It’s free to download with a 7-day trial, then a one-time purchase unlocks it for good. I dislike rented software, so I didn’t want to build it that way.
It’s my first app, built solo, for a niche the big readers overlook: heritage speakers, language learners, and anyone who wants to read literature in its original language with a translation safety net.

I’d genuinely love your feedback. What would make this more useful for how you read or learn? Happy to answer anything.

Thanks for taking a look.

Parallèle Reader

Read books in two languages, side by side, fully offline

Read books in two languages, side by side, fully offline