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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Matter vs Beanstack Tracker

Matter 4.6★ · Free + IAP 75
Winner Matter
Beanstack Tracker 4.8★ · Free to download 65

Matter is better for individuals seeking an advanced read-later app with AI features and newsletter integration, while Beanstack Tracker is superior for families and library program participants needing a simple reading log.

Full reviews: Matter · Beanstack Tracker

Matter offers a sophisticated reading experience with AI features and robust content management, but faces criticism for its high price and inconsistent support. Beanstack Tracker is a popular choice for tracking reading challenges, especially for children and library programs, despite some usability issues and bugs.

Head to head

Features & Content edge: MatterR2R3R5R10
Matter Matter users praise its ability to redirect newsletters, save and highlight articles, and its natural-sounding AI voice readers R2R5R11. It's seen as a strong replacement for apps like Pocket, offering a beautiful reading experience and curated content . However, some users report issues with PDF conversion, browser extension reliability, and RSS feed processing R3R10. Content curation can also be repetitive or lack diversity for some users .
Beanstack Tracker Beanstack Tracker is valued for its core function of logging reading time and participating in challenges, often tied to libraries or schools R52. Users appreciate features like scanning books and using an in-app stopwatch . However, some find the book selection limited, the search algorithm poor, and wish for better tracking for audiobooks or the ability to log multiple books at once more easily .
Ease of Use & Reliability tieR3R4R5R13
Matter Matter is described as having a beautiful interface and being simple and intuitive for saving articles R5. However, users report significant issues with email confirmation, content not appearing, and the app sometimes failing to save articles R3R4. Some updates have also led to loss of data or removal of key features R13.
Beanstack Tracker Beanstack Tracker is generally found easy to use for logging reading and participating in challenges . However, many users find it confusing, user-unfriendly, and a chore to log reading, especially for multiple children or libraries R63R69. There are frequent reports of bugs, such as logging out, error codes, logged dates disappearing, and the app crashing .
Price & Value edge: Beanstack TrackerR1R7R8R26
Matter Matter is criticized for its high subscription cost, with options like $79.99/year or $14.99/month, and a lack of transparency about its pricing R1R26R27R28. Many users feel the price is too steep, especially for features they don't use or for a read-later app R8. The free trial is also reported as misleading or non-functional R1R7.
Beanstack Tracker Beanstack Tracker is free to download and use, often integrated with library programs, making it a valuable tool for encouraging reading without direct cost to the user R70R79. The value is primarily in its ability to track progress and incentivize reading through challenges and prizes, although some find the prizes less motivating over time R52R91.
Customer Support edge: MatterR4R6R9R10
Matter Matter's customer support is a significant pain point for many users, with reports of unresponsiveness, ignored tickets, and lack of help for critical issues like account access or lost features R4R6R9R10. Some users suggest that writing a bad review is necessary to get attention R9. However, a few users did report timely responses from developers .
Beanstack Tracker Beanstack Tracker reviews do not frequently mention direct customer support interactions. Issues are more often related to app bugs or usability frustrations rather than support responsiveness. One user mentioned getting help and directions from their mom to figure out the app R79.
Pick Matter if

Pick Matter if you are an individual looking for a sophisticated read-later app with advanced features like AI voice readers, newsletter integration, and a clean reading interface, and you are willing to pay a premium for these capabilities R2R5R11R14.

Pick Beanstack Tracker if

Pick Beanstack Tracker if you are a parent, student, or library participant primarily interested in logging reading time, participating in reading challenges, and earning badges or prizes, especially within a library or school program R52R70.

Evidence note: The user base and purpose of these two apps are very different, leading to distinct types of feedback. Matter's reviews are from individual users seeking a personal reading tool, while Beanstack Tracker's reviews are heavily influenced by its use in library and school programs, often by parents or children. This creates an asymmetry in the nature of 'value' and 'support' discussions.

Frequently asked

Does Matter offer a free version?
Matter does not offer a truly free plan; it provides a limited 7-day free trial, after which users must subscribe for $79.99/year or $14.99/month R27R28R36.
Is Beanstack Tracker good for kids' reading programs?
Yes, Beanstack Tracker is widely used and praised for motivating children to read more, tracking progress in library and school challenges, and making reading fun with badges and prizes R52R70R79R91.
Are there issues with Matter's text-to-speech feature?
Matter's AI voice readers are generally considered natural and listenable, with some users calling them the best they've experienced R2R5R11R14. However, some report that the transcription service no longer works or that the app might disable iPhone accessibility features to push its own paid text-to-speech .
Can I log reading for multiple children on Beanstack Tracker?
While Beanstack Tracker supports family accounts, users report that logging books for multiple children, especially across different library programs, can be time-consuming and confusing, sometimes requiring re-entry of the same books R63R69R72.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 110 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R2] Matter 5/5 · US Essential: I’m a longtime read-later app user, from Feedly to Reeder to Instapaper and beyond. I’ve been using matter since it launched a few years ago, and it’s surpassed them all. I love its ability to redirect newletters so my mailbox stays clean. It allows me to save, favorite, and highlight my favorite articles and newsletters. Its AI “readers” are the most natural and “listenable” I’ve exper
  2. [R3] Matter 3/5 · US Great concept, mediocre execution: I love the concept of the app, but it falls far short of being your go-to reading app. It’s very difficult to get PDFs or text emails into the app. Sometimes the emails are in your queue quickly, and sometimes they don’t show up at all. The browser extension sometimes pulls in the article, and sometimes it only creates a browser link, which is no better than a
  3. [R5] Matter 5/5 · US Simple, powerful, reading queue: Matter comes to fill the gap after Pocket closed down, and I love its simplicity and useful features. Finding things to read in the discover or related articles section is nice. You can also add newsletters or rss feeds. Adding things to read later is simple as using the share sheet anywhere on iOS or via browser extensions for other devices. With premium you get
  4. [R10] Matter 1/5 · US Tried matter, but the app is a waste of time.: It downloads most webpages fine, but the way it formats them is sometimes obnoxious and counterintuitive. I looked past it because they claim in multiple places the app can download PDFs and easily convert them for reading with all the features they advertise. I tried 4 PDFs and only one worked. I tried going premium (used the free trial) and same pro
  5. [R4] Matter 2/5 · US Can use with only one device: I tried to get it in mt phone. But my email confirmation never arrives. I wrote the company - check spam/junk, which I of course had done. No other help available I gave up and deleted it. After several emails back and forth, they never did anything with the information I gave them April Update I thought I’d give them another chance. Still no email confirmation rec
  6. [R13] Matter 1/5 · US Used to Love…: I used this app to aggregate articles into a single file to send to my Kindle. Other apps allow single article send and it is very messy. I was enjoying the app; then the update happened. I lost the ability to do the only thing I used the app for. I contacted the company several times but never received a reply. I have Readwise, which is incredibly responsive. Rating a 1 because I c
  7. [R1] Matter 1/5 · US Better Than Instapaper, Not: Hi folks, I can’t recommend this app. Downloaded it got a very slick email from the CEO extolling its wonderful virtues. Then a very clever way to upgrade a pro trial. Well, their trial didn’t work so well. And Matter didn’t perform any better than Instapaper frequently coming up with a pathetic excuse that it couldn’t scrape articles from Apple News. Overpriced and
  8. [R7] Matter 1/5 · US Beware Predatory Subscription Tactics: App is okay, however, upon opening it, I was confronted with a subscription offer that promised a trial. Unfortunately, I did not receive a trial, and $14.99 was deducted from my account. Within 5 minutes, I attempted to request a refund from Apple, I was informed that it was not eligible. I cannot endorse any application that conducts business in this manner
  9. [R8] Matter 4/5 · US Pretty good, missing a few things: A widget for unread articles would be a game changer, or the option to buy once. I just can’t justify paying monthly.
  10. [R26] Matter 5/5 · US Beautiful and useful app: I enjoy it so much.
  11. [R6] Matter 3/5 · US Good App, Bad Support: I like what this app has to offer, but I don’t have anything nice to say about the support. I’ve opened multiple tickets with the support team via the Slack channel available via the app and I’ve heard nothing in weeks.
  12. [R9] Matter 3/5 · US Let down by unresponsive Customer Support (update): They finally responded. It seems you need to write a bad review for the to pay attention which is a shame. New version is nice, and Matter is probably still the best app to organize your reading, but some key features have gone for no good reason (they confirmed it). A good example is the ability for bulk delete both in your inbox and archive.
  13. [R27] Matter 3/5 · US There is no free plan: After the 7-day free trial the options are: $79.99/year $14.99/month It’s a pretty ok app, but I don’t like the lack of transparency or documentation.
  14. [R28] Matter 1/5 · US Description is a lie: “Matter offers a free service and a paid service.” No, only a paid service.
  15. [R36] Matter 1/5 · US No free option, $80 read it later app: Really annoyed by these psychological and statistically optimal onboarding procedures that ask you a million questions and make you create an account before they reveal that there is only a limited 7 day trial before you’re paying. I’m so over wasting my time with these apps that are so confident in themselves that they think there’s no way you’re not going t
  16. [R52] Beanstack Tracker 5/5 · US 1000 Books 📚 & the fun keeps coming!: If it wasn’t for this app, I don’t know if I would have been as motivated to get the challenge done. This keeps parents accountable and encourages children to pursue new challenges of their own once they use the app on their own someday.
  17. [R70] Beanstack Tracker 5/5 · US Amazing: Really fun way to get kids to read more
  18. [R79] Beanstack Tracker 4/5 · US Great App: I love this app! It makes tracking my books for my local libraries reading challenge easy and quick. Im 12 and I feel like this app would be great for all ages and is defiantly kid friendly. At the beggining it was a little confusing but with some help and directions from my mom i soon figured it out. I would recommend this app!
  19. [R91] Beanstack Tracker 5/5 · US Amazing App!!: i use this app all time to log my reading and it helps me know when to do it!! I even get badges for completing a amount of minutes!📚
  20. [R11] Matter 5/5 · US Best way to convert content to audio: Great product that allows me to save news articles from multiple sources, and provide text to voice playback from a saved queue. Saving works great with paywalled articles, but the caveat is that if you are on ios, the paywalled article must be brought up in Safari to allow the full article to have text to voice playback. For desktop systems, the Chrome exte
  21. [R14] Matter 5/5 · US Better than Readwise: For my use case (listening to articles), this is so much better than readwise reader. Rarely it gets messed up on the TTS.
  22. [R63] Beanstack Tracker 2/5 · US Too time consuming: I have three readers in two library summer reading programs. Why can’t I log the books per child and it counts them towards each library’s challenges It just took me 40 min to log the books they’ve read this June, but only shows up on one of the library spheres That’s absurd to have to re enter the same books for the same child just to count for the other library challenge.
  23. [R69] Beanstack Tracker 1/5 · US Not a quick way to track: My library solely uses this and it makes it challenging to log for myself and my three children. It’s not user friendly or intuitive. You have to click way too many things before you can log minutes. I wish there was a way to do a quick log where you can select multiple days while looking at the calendar for 30 minutes for example for multiple readers.
  24. [R72] Beanstack Tracker 1/5 · US Oh no, summer reading with the worst app in existence again.: I can’t believe how much I hate this app. It’s just a reading tracker. I really wish summer reading was just done on paper again. My kid is not motivated by an app that lives on my phone, so she is not excited for summer reading, beyond her normal enjoyment of reading. Also, you are supposed to be able to sign up as a family for summer

Synthesized from 110 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store