Quincy
Show HN: A beautiful and local-first PDF reader for studying dense things
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What is Quincy?
Quincy is a local-first PDF reader for Mac designed specifically for working through dense documents. It transforms reading from a chore into an enjoyable experience by combining AI-powered study tools with motivation features. Users can ask questions about the exact page they're reading, summarize sections, quiz themselves on the content, take notes, and listen to passages read aloud.
The app features a lightweight, fast reader that copies PDFs into local app storage and remembers your page position and zoom level per book. The AI assistant stays grounded in the current page, providing answers that stay next to the source material instead of pulling you into another app. This keeps your reading flow uninterrupted while giving you instant access to explanations and summaries.
Quincy is built for students, researchers, professionals, and anyone who needs to understand dense PDFs more effectively. It works on any PDF - whether it copies real text or uses on-device OCR for scanned documents. The app includes a compact toolbar with the controls you use most, making navigation seamless.
The motivation system turns reading into visible progress with stackable badges (earned every 10, 100, 500, and 1,000 pages), streak tiers that climb from Spark to Flame to Inferno, and reading levels where every page earns XP toward your next title. Badge notifications slide in mildly when you hit milestones without interrupting your reading.
To get started, users enter their email once to receive the Mac download. Your email is only used for release updates, keeping privacy in mind while providing ongoing improvements to the app.
Quincy pricing
Pricing model: Freemium
Quincy is free to download for Mac. Users enter their email once to receive the download link. The app includes all features: local-first reader, AI assistant, read aloud, summaries, quizzes, and rewards system with badges, streaks, and levels. No paid tiers or subscription mentioned on the website - all functionality appears to be included in the free Mac app.
Quincy pros
- Local-first architecture keeps PDFs in local app storage
- AI assistant grounded in the current page you're reading
- Ask follow-up questions about the exact page
- Answers stay next to source material
- Generate focused page summaries instantly
- Create five-question quizzes to test yourself
- Wrong quiz answers show right choice with explanation
- Read aloud feature for selected text passages
- On-device OCR works for scanned PDFs
- Works with any PDF format
- Lightweight and fast reader performance
- Remembers page position and zoom per book
- Compact toolbar with most-used controls
- Stackable badges for 10, 100, 500, 1000 pages
- Streak tiers from Spark to Flame to Inferno
- Reading levels with XP per page
- Badge notifications never interrupt reading
- Email only used for release updates
- Simple download process with email entry
- Study tools a click away from reader
Quincy cons
- Only available for Mac, no Windows or iOS version
- Requires email entry for download
- AI assistant only works with current page, not whole document
- No cloud storage or cross-device sync mentioned
- OCR is on-device only, no server option
- No note-taking export features mentioned
- Limited to five questions per quiz
- No mobile app for reading on phone
- No collaboration or sharing features
- No annotation tools beyond basic selection
Frequently asked questions about Quincy
What is Quincy?
Quincy is a local-first PDF reader for Mac designed for working through dense documents. It lets you ask the page questions, summarize sections, quiz yourself, take notes, and read passages aloud while earning badges and streaks to make reading fun.
Is Quincy free to use?
Yes, Quincy is free to download for Mac. You enter your email once to get the download link, and your email is only used for release updates. All features including the AI assistant, summaries, quizzes, and rewards are included.
What PDF formats does Quincy support?
Quincy works with any PDF. It copies real text from PDFs that have it, and uses on-device OCR for scanned documents that don't have selectable text.
How does the AI assistant work?
The assistant opens beside the PDF and lets you ask follow-up questions grounded in the current page you're reading. Answers stay next to the source material instead of pulling you into another app, keeping your reading flow intact.
What is the read aloud feature?
Press R or click Read, then drag over the part of the page you want to hear. Quincy cleans the extracted text before handing it to macOS speech, so you can select exactly the section you want to listen to.
How do the rewards work?
Quincy turns reading into visible progress with stackable badges every 10, 100, 500, and 1,000 pages, streak tiers from Spark to Flame to Inferno for daily reading, and reading levels where every page earns XP toward your next title.
Can I quiz myself on the content?
Yes, you can generate a five-question quiz for any page. When you get wrong answers, Quincy shows you the right choice with an explanation without hiding the original page, so you can learn from mistakes.
Does Quincy sync across devices?
Quincy is a Mac app that copies PDFs into local app storage and remembers your page and zoom level per book. The website doesn't mention cross-device sync or cloud storage, suggesting it's designed for single-device Mac use.
How do I download Quincy?
Enter your email once on the website to get the Mac download. Your email is only used for release updates, not for marketing or other purposes.
What makes Quincy different from other PDF readers?
Quincy is built specifically for dense documents with AI grounded in the current page, study tools like summaries and quizzes a click away, read aloud for selected passages, and a rewards system with badges and streaks that makes reading habit easier to start and keep going.