gutenbrick

Gutenbrick is an app I built to help make phone time into reading time. Obviously, you should read real books, but if your attention span is atrophied to the point where reading a full page is a challenge, then this is the app for you. Gutenbrick converts (or reformats) public-domain books so each page holds one to five sentences you tap through. Your phone will vibrate a bit with each tap. This is intended to increase “engagement.” If the reader requires more stimulus, I’ve added “iPad kid” mode, which is designed to maximize dopamine release through vibrations, lights, and an XP system. I do not encourage its use nor do I actually think it will encourage any reading. But on the other hand, if Gutenbrick can be the reason that somebody reads a few words of Dickens, Shelley, Dostoyevsky (or any other writer whose words have entered the public domain), instead of scrolling on TikTok, then all my work will be worth it!