diff --git a/apple/OmnivoreKit/Sources/App/Views/WebReader/WebReaderContainer.swift b/apple/OmnivoreKit/Sources/App/Views/WebReader/WebReaderContainer.swift
index c8e26c311..182f3aca2 100644
--- a/apple/OmnivoreKit/Sources/App/Views/WebReader/WebReaderContainer.swift
+++ b/apple/OmnivoreKit/Sources/App/Views/WebReader/WebReaderContainer.swift
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import WebKit
     @State private var navBarVisibilityRatio = 1.0
     @State private var showDeleteConfirmation = false
     @State private var showOverlay = true
+    @State private var progressViewOpacity = 0.0
     @State var increaseFontActionID: UUID?
     @State var decreaseFontActionID: UUID?
     @State var annotationSaveTransactionID: UUID?
@@ -186,9 +187,16 @@ import WebKit
               }
             )
           }
+        } else if let errorMessage = viewModel.errorMessage {
+          Text(errorMessage).padding()
         } else {
-          Text(viewModel.contentFetchFailed ? "Unable to fetch content." : "Processing...")
-            .padding()
+          ProgressView()
+            .opacity(progressViewOpacity)
+            .onAppear {
+              DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + .milliseconds(1000)) {
+                progressViewOpacity = 1
+              }
+            }
             .task {
               await viewModel.loadContent(dataService: dataService, itemID: item.unwrappedID)
             }
diff --git a/apple/OmnivoreKit/Sources/App/Views/WebReader/WebReaderViewModel.swift b/apple/OmnivoreKit/Sources/App/Views/WebReader/WebReaderViewModel.swift
index 97017cfd8..2daef7731 100644
--- a/apple/OmnivoreKit/Sources/App/Views/WebReader/WebReaderViewModel.swift
+++ b/apple/OmnivoreKit/Sources/App/Views/WebReader/WebReaderViewModel.swift
@@ -10,15 +10,16 @@ struct SafariWebLink: Identifiable {
 
 @MainActor final class WebReaderViewModel: ObservableObject {
   @Published var articleContent: ArticleContent?
-  @Published var contentFetchFailed = false
+  @Published var errorMessage: String?
 
   func loadContent(dataService: DataService, itemID: String) async {
-    contentFetchFailed = false
+    errorMessage = nil
 
     do {
       articleContent = try await dataService.fetchArticleContent(itemID: itemID)
     } catch {
-      contentFetchFailed = true
+      // TODO: check if this is a network or parsing error
+      errorMessage = "Unable to extract your content."
     }
   }