Nowl

Nowl is an RSVP reader (Rapid Serial Visual Presentation) that runs entirely in the browser. The idea is simple: instead of scanning the page with your eyes, the text is projected one word at a time onto a fixed point, and the eye stops moving. The result is faster reading without consciously trying to "read faster."

Why it exists

Every QR generator, RSS reader, and notes app has equivalents. RSVP readers, on the other hand, barely exist outside of paid native apps. The web ones are heavy, require accounts, or send the text to a server. Nowl solves what I wanted: paste a text, read, close — and nothing leaves the browser.

How it works

The engine is small and independent of the UI:

tokenize → orp → pacing → useReader

• tokenize — splits the text into readable chunks, chopping overlong words
• orp — finds the pivot letter (optimal recognition point) of each chunk, highlighted in the theme color
• pacing — computes the dwell time per chunk (long words and punctuation get extra time)
• useReader — the state machine behind the view (play/pause, speed, end)

Features

• Fixed ORP pivot — every word lands with its recognition point in the center, in theme color
• Smart pacing — long words and punctuation get extra dwell time
• Speed control — a number from 100 to 700 (default 250), changed with arrow keys or slider
• History — last text plus up to 20 previous readings, all in localStorage
• Light and dark theme, with system default
• PT and EN switched by cookie, no locale in the URL

Storage

Everything lives in localStorage, in your browser only:

Languages without spaces (CJK) are out of scope: RSVP relies on word boundaries.

Stack

• Next.js 16 with App Router
• TypeScript strict
• Tailwind 4
• React 19
• next-intl for PT/EN via cookie
• OpenNext for deploy on Cloudflare Workers