What is Groove Reads?
"Groove Reads" is a Chrome extension that displays text by splitting it at spaces and bolding the first character. The mechanism is surprisingly simple, but it guides the reader's gaze and makes text much easier to read.
The number of characters to bold can be adjusted in the settings.
Note: the effect is subtle in these images, but the leading characters are bolded.
How to use
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Install from the Chrome Web Store.
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Click the extension icon to enable it.
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Use the slider that appears to adjust how many leading characters are bolded.
(Note): The mirrored-ball icon is the slider handle. -
You can fine-tune it on the fly to achieve your preferred readability.
About security risks
The administrator reviewed the source code, and as of version 3000 [updated August 20, 2025] the status is as follows:
- No external access: It does not communicate with external servers.
- No data collection: There are no processes that collect personal information or tracking data.
- Very simple structure: The codebase is approximately 500 lines in total and is straightforward.
In addition, it was featured on Product Hunt (https://www.producthunt.com/products/groove-reads) and has received recognition from a portion of the user community.
Note: Product Hunt is a popular international community site for showcasing new products.
Therefore, the security risk is low, and it can be considered a safe extension to use.
However, Chrome extensions may change behavior in future updates, so it is recommended to verify the current behavior before using it.
Opportunity to create a Japanese version!
Unfortunately, it currently supports only English.
Although Japanese and other languages will technically work, the mechanism simply splits by spaces and bolds, so it is not very effective for languages without spaces.
In other words, creating a Japanese-adapted version would be a significant opportunity.
- Japanese does not use spaces, so you would need to devise a method to split by phrases or particles.
- Adding adjustments for font size and emphasis would further improve readability.
Because the mechanism is simple, optimizing it for Japanese could make it highly successful.
Conclusion
Groove Reads is a winning idea: a simple "split by spaces + bold the leading character" feature that can transform the reading experience.
With no Japanese support yet, now is an opening for individual developers to take on the challenge.
👉 It might be interesting to prototype a Japanese version.
Hatena
