Quick Read, sentence focus and auto-scroll: Lectern’s reading modes explained

Short answer: use the normal page for most reading. Quick Read is useful for skimming and triage, sentence focus for text that feels visually busy, and auto-scroll when your hands are occupied or you want a steady pace through a long read.

These modes are not separate apps or noisy toolbars. They are reading states you can enter when they help, then leave when you want the page quiet again.

Quick Read

Quick Read is a word-by-word RSVP mode. Each word appears in the same place, with its recognition point highlighted, so your eyes do not need to travel across the page. You choose the pace in words per minute.

It is most useful when you are deciding what deserves a slower read: clearing a backlog of articles, finding the relevant part of a chapter, or getting the shape of a document before returning to the page. Removing eye movement can create momentum, especially when the alternative is rereading the same first line.

Sentence focus

Sentence focus replaces the page with one centered sentence at a time. Its timing follows the number of words in the sentence and your chosen reading speed, which can make dense or visually busy text easier to follow.

This is the gentler option for readers who lose their place in a crowded page, find surrounding text distracting, or simply need a narrower field of attention that day. The whole sentence stays visible, so punctuation and structure remain available in a way they do not in word-by-word reading.

Auto-scroll

Auto-scroll moves the normal reading page at the pace you set. Put the phone down and let the text move, then touch the screen whenever you want to pause or take control again. Audio playback must be stopped before auto-scroll starts.

It suits the moments when turning pages is the nuisance rather than reading itself: following a recipe while cooking, reading on a treadmill, or settling into a long chapter without breaking the rhythm every screenful. Because the normal page remains visible, it is also the least disruptive of the three modes.

Quick Read has limits

RSVP-style reading can feel very fast because your eyes stop moving, but speed and understanding are not the same thing. At high words-per-minute, many readers retain less, especially when a text has unfamiliar terms, complicated syntax or an argument that depends on looking back. The missing context around the current word matters.

Treat Quick Read as a skimming tool, not a way to read novels at 600 wpm. It can help you find what deserves attention. If you notice that you are following words but no longer building a picture, an argument or a memory, the pace is too high or the normal page is the better tool.

A sensible way to set them up

• Start at 250 wpm. That is Lectern’s default and a useful first test, not a target. Try one familiar page, then move in small steps until the pace feels steady rather than urgent.
• Drop back to the normal page when the text asks for it. Dialogue, names, footnotes, equations and sentences you want to revisit all benefit from visible context. Switching modes is not losing momentum; it is choosing the right view.
• Use read-aloud as the audio counterpart. It has its own sentence highlighting, so the visual focus modes do not need to duplicate it. Use focus modes when the screen is leading and read-aloud when the voice is. As things stand, audio must stop before auto-scroll can start.

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