LDS Couple Creates ‘Clean Reader’ for E-Books

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Bridget Kreis

Joined: Jan 2015

Jared and Kirsten Maughan, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, recently launched “Clean Reader,” an app that removes profanity and offensive phrases from e-books.

When the Maughan’s fourth grade daughter started reading seventh grade level e-books containing swear words, they were inspired to create an app to solve the problem.

Clean Reader allows readers to read e-books without swear words or offensive statements. Readers can choose from three settings or levels of clean: (1) Clean, which takes out the major swear words, (2) Cleaner and (3) Squeaky Clean, which essentially takes out all things offensive.

Screenshot 2015-02-26 11.28.27
The app replaces swear words with a more appropriate word. Image via iTunes.Apple.com

“More than anything, this gives readers a choice,” Kirsten Maughan told Magic Valley. “People deserve a choice.”

So far, the app has been very successful, reaching an audience of more than 58 countries including China, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Russia.

After extensive meetings with attorneys, the Maughans have ensured that their app doesn’t infringe on copyright laws.

The app is available in the iTunes App Store, and the app allows readers to access more than one million books within its integrated library.