Reading Time Truth
Tells you how long an article really takes, before you commit.
What you're making
Sites say 'a 5 minute read' and they're usually lying. This measures the actual article — words, code blocks, images — and gives you an honest estimate based on how fast you personally read, which it learns over time. It also strips out the newsletter box and the cookie banner so you're only counting the real thing.
An extension that extracts an article's real content, estimates reading time from the reader's own measured pace, and shows it before they start. Personalising the estimate is what makes it more than arithmetic.
Hosting · Free forever
Deploys free on Firefox Add-ons or GitHub Releases.
Firefox's store is free. Chrome's charges a one-off developer fee, so ship Firefox first if you'd rather pay nothing.
Free on Firefox Add-ons; Chrome's store charges a one-off developer fee.
Core features · 7
- Extracts the real article text, ignoring navigation and adverts
- Estimates time from your own measured reading pace
- Counts code blocks and images at a different rate to prose
- Shows the estimate before you start reading
- Learns your pace over time from actual sessions
- Shows progress through the article as you scroll
- Degrades gracefully on pages it can't parse
The interesting part
- Finding the real article on a page full of chrome and adverts
- Measuring reading pace without counting the tab you left open at lunch
- Code and images break word-count estimates badly
Once it works
- Add a queue of saved articles with total time
- Distinguish skimming from real reading
- Add a per-site accuracy report