Has got me more motivated to read!!
Response from developer
Hi there! I'm thrilled to hear that you're loving Bookshelf, and that it has helped you reach your reading goals! I'm excited to let you know that you can now add home screen and lock screen widgets, and if you're on iOS 16.1+ you'll also be able to enjoy Live Activities on your lock screen and Dynamic Island to easily access your in progress reading session! Happy reading and happy holidays!
Was good until they updated
Response from developer
Hi there! I'm sorry to hear your frustration with the free tier book limit. Candidly, I've been working on this app entirely by myself for the past 3 ½ years, and in order to continue development and keep up with costs I've had to look for adjustments in my pricing model. I'm still working to find the right balance, so I appreciate your feedback. Feel free to email me at alexandergerrese@gmail.com to let me know what approach you think would be the most fair. Happy reading and happy holidays!
Amazing App
Unusable
I liked being able to import my Goodreads file, but I found it was really poor at matching the books up to its database. I couldn’t add images where they were missing. I had to manually add books to replace each unmatched book.
Deleted the app.
Response from developer
Hi there! I'm excited to announce that you can now access the books you're currently reading right from the home screen! Also, book previews now show reading progress so you can quickly scan your library and see where you are in each book. Unfortunately, Goodreads often does a poor job at exporting full data such as valid ISBNs, which sometimes causes issues during the import process. However, you can always edit all data related to your books, including updating cover images. I hope you'll reconsider downloading the app, but either way, happy holidays and happy reading!
A Few Suggestions
App is Great/Prices Are Questionable
Really good app! Disappointing widget..
After getting the hang of the app, I decided to really start adding my different collections of books. As someone with ADHD, organization is a biggie for me (I’m really meticulous about my Home Screen layout). I’ve come to find out that the widget is totally inactive for me. None of my ‘currently reading’ books display in the widget but I would still give the app a strong 4 stars! If you get a chance to read this, I’d appreciate suggestions on how to maybe get the widget to work. Thanks!
Response from developer
Hi Ryan, I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying Bookshelf's UI and functionality! Fortunately, the widget bug you're referencing has been fixed since version 2.6.2, and a slew of new home and lock screen widgets are about to launch with version 2.6.4! Happy reading, and feel free to let me know if you have any other feedback or questions from the app!
Amazing app
That being said there are a couple things I wish were included such as: an option to batch scan books into the app, being able to look at stats for specific years (current options are weekly stats and all time), and being able to add pictures into the notes (I read a lot of manga and wish I could insert pictures of my favorite panels).
There was also one problem I encountered with tracking audiobooks. You have to manually put in the time in minutes your audiobooks are but when you do that the app doesn’t correctly translate that into hours. Example: I had a 12 hour audiobook and put it that it is 720 minutes and then the app translated that into 24 hours. Normally this wouldn’t be a big issue because I’d just alter the minutes until it’s correct but then when you’re timing reading sessions it makes the stats wrong.
Although I think there are some things that could be added, this app is amazing and I will continue to use it for tracking my reading😊
Fresh Interface with some flaws
Here’s where I find the app has a few flaws:
- I wasn’t able to find the audiobook I was listening to in the online search, so entered manually. Selecting “time” in the progress type would for some reason revert to the page count until it just updated itself.
- When in reading mode, there’s an “add note” section however it converts to a flash card, not a note, which then is saved in a completely different section of the app and not really with the corresponding book. I had to finish my session first then go add the note I wanted to make, which kind of defeats the purpose.
- Which leads me to my next gripe - I hate the “cards” and the “quizzes” part of this app. I wish this was a feature you could toggle off, as aside from wanting to just jot down real time notes of what I’m reading, it serves no purpose for me and it takes away the attention from the more important aspects of the app.
- When in collections, my books don’t stay in date order for when I started reading them, despite having toggled by reading status. Kind of frustrating when I want them all in month by month order.
Overall, for anyone wanting to record what they’re reading in an app, have a handy way to add books to a tbr (there’s an isbn scanner which is fab!), and track trends of how you read, this is a great app for you to use.
Great app
Feedback: the “add note” button in reading mode adds a flash card, would be nice to be able to add a note instead
