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Bookshare Reader

Bookshare Reader

Read and listen to books

67 ratings
56 reviews
📚 Education
📚 Books
Free

Details

  • Released
  • Updated
  • January 5, 2023
  • September 28, 2026

Features

Developer

Benetech
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Bookshare Reader screenshot #1 for iPhone
Bookshare Reader screenshot #2 for iPhone
Bookshare Reader screenshot #3 for iPhone
Bookshare Reader screenshot #4 for iPhone
iphone
ipad
📌Ready
Reviews summary↘︎
⭐56
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📝3+ tags
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🔄6+ apps
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❓5 answered
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📦~ in 3 weeks
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About

Access a vast library of ebooks designed for individuals with reading barriers. Enjoy high-quality audio narration and customize your reading experience with adjustable fonts, colors, and speeds. Continue reading seamlessly from where you left off.

✓Access millions of ebooks
✓High-quality audio narration
✓Customizable reading experience
✓Adjustable font size and colors
✓Follow along with highlighted text
✓Offline reading
Show original description

What users say

Summarized from real user reviews of Bookshare Reader. Based on 67 reviews and a 3.3/5 average, it highlights the 16 positives and 45 negatives reviewers mention most about this Education app.

Positive things

  • 👍Great for dyslexic readers
  • 👍Realistic text-to-speech voices
  • 👍Offline book downloads
  • 👍Essential for blind users
  • 👍Significant improvements made
  • 👍Accessible tech development
  • 👍Awesome opportunity for print disabilities
  • 👍Background play works great
  • 👍Easier to listen to books
  • 👍Works well with Braille display
  • 👍Mobile app is easier
  • 👍Good interface for VI son
  • 👍Great app for reading Bookshare books
  • 👍Easy to read and listen
  • 👍Instant access to books on multiple devices
  • 👍Don't have to download every book

Negative things

  • 🐛Prolonged pauses in speech
  • 🐛Library not syncing across devices
  • 🐛Reading lists don't sync
  • 🐛Progress not saved across devices
  • 🐛Stuck on copyright page (manga)
  • 🐛Pages disappear while reading
  • 🐛Trouble downloading books
  • 🐛App crashes frequently
  • 🐛Cannot read books from app
  • 🐛App won't load books
  • 🐛App shuts down when typing
  • 🐛App crashing repeatedly
  • 🐛Books disappeared
  • 🐛Cannot download added books
  • 🐛Search closes the app
  • 🐛Barely works with VoiceOver
  • 🐛App crashes on click
  • 🐛Kicked out when changing TTS voice
  • 🐛Copyright issues preventing audio playback
  • 🐛Download errors
  • 🐛Playback stops when screen is locked
  • 🐛Clunky user experience
  • 🐛Picture books not populating with pictures
  • 🐛Unable to play videos
  • 🐛Form controls nonexistent for VoiceOver
  • 🐛Cannot delete searched titles
  • 🐛App forces to stay open while reading
  • 🐛Not accessible for login
  • 🐛Blank screen after orientation change
  • 🐛Too many bugs
  • 🐛No permission to download/read without teacher assignment
  • 🐛Next chapter won't load
  • 🐛Blank white page after pause
  • 🐛Table of Contents incomplete
  • 🐛App looks like phone screen on iPad
  • 🐛Cannot access reading lists
  • 🐛Synthesized speech not as controllable
  • 🐛Speech cuts off randomly
  • 🐛Only works if phone ringer is on
  • 🐛Restart from beginning of chapter on pause/play
  • 🐛Voices don't indicate language
  • 🐛Cannot select voice easily
  • 🐛Paragraph by paragraph reading only
  • 🐛Unusable due to no stop/start button
  • 🐛Limited speed options
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+1

What's New in Bookshare Reader

1.42.0

September 28, 2026

- MathML is read in Spanish when app language is set to Spanish - Updated discover screen for individual members - Bug fixes and general improvements

More

User reviews

Most RecentHighest RatedLowest Rated

Improved and updated

Overall improved with update. No longer pauses. They are experimenting with natural voices. It is a good mobile option now and the webpage still works better.
Jen-chanJen-chan

Amazing for dyslexic people

The interface is great and this app helped me read all of my college textbooks. I’m so happy about the new voices for text to speech- they sound super realistic which is something that was lacking before. Also it’s nice to be able to download free books and read them offline too
JaydenhayyyJaydenhayyy

Response from developer

We're thrilled the app has helped you read your college textbooks and glad the new voices are landing well; a lot of work went into making them sound more natural and we're continuing to improve them. Enjoy the offline reading, and thanks for taking the time to share this!

Recent update added problems

Use previous versions of Bookshare reader. Recent update added prolonged pause at the end of each sentence. Even if the words are sped up, there’s a one second pause between paragraphs, sentences, and any page breaks. Attempted to navigate fixing it, and it is not fixable at this point. I will only be using website until next update. Hopefully it improves.
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Jen-chanJen-chan

Response from developer

Thank you for flagging this. The pausing issue should be fixed now (available in our latest update). We'd love for you to give the mobile app another try and let us know if read-aloud is working better for you now. If you run into any more issues, our team at mobilereader@benetech.org actively reviews and responds to all incoming feedback. Reach out any time.

Amazing app but it has a bit of a bug that makes it difficult to use

I have been a user of bookshare since I was in 7th grade on the old read to go app and now as an adult on an individual membership. It’s the best thing to happen for blind people so that we can access books and information. However, there appears to be a new emerging bug. My library is not syncing across my devices. When I download a book on my ipad to read, it doesn’t download on my phone which is logged into the same account, I have to go manually go download it on my phone too. Reading lists also don’t sync. If I start reading a book on one device, I can’t pick up on another later, it also doesn’t save progress. I don’t know if I’m being unreasonable, but I feel like books should sync across devices and your most recent position in them should sync across devices. I had managed to keep syncing the read to go app to all my new devices until a couple of months ago via the icloud transfer, yes it survived until 2026, but it finally quit and I have to use the new bookshare version now. Book syncing across devices was never an issue on the old read to go app, even when I was on IOS 18 using an app intended for IOS 9. Lol. If you can get this syncing issue fixed on the bookshare reader app I will switch my review to five stars. Thanks.
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IfupfpjcpydosIfupfpjcpydos

Response from developer

Thank you for taking the time to write this out in detail and for being with Bookshare from the start! Good news on two of the three areas you've mentioned: your reading lists and your reading position do sync across devices today. Reading lists: if a list isn't showing up on a second device, the screen is likely showing cached data. With VoiceOver on, a three-finger swipe down on the screen will refresh it and pull in the latest version of your reading lists. Reading position: this is saved to your account, not the device. If you read to page 50 on your iPad, download that same book on your iPhone and select "Read Now", and it will open at page 50. Downloading a book on each device is expected behavior today and enables you to read whether or not you have a stable internet connection. That said, we absolutely hear you, and we've heard the same request from other readers. So no you're not being unreasonable at all! We're actively exploring offering both (download-to-read-offline and streaming) so you can pick whichever works best for you. Thank you for all of these questions and feedback. Please don't hesitate to reach out to us at mobilereader@bookshare.org if there are more areas you'd like to discuss. We aim to earn those additional stars from you, so please keep in touch!

Help

I like this app and use it a lot but after the most recent update it won’t work I opened a manga (I thing I spelled that wrong) and I can not go to the next page it is stuck on the copy right please fix
BoookcattBoookcatt
See 51 more reviews

User experience

🐞

Reported Bugs

42 issues

Prolonged pauses in text-to-speech

Bug

Library not syncing across devices

Bug

Reading lists not syncing

Bug

Reading progress not saved across devices

Bug

Manga stuck on copyright page

Bug

Pages disappear during reading

Bug

Trouble downloading books

Bug

Frequent app crashes

Bug

App won't load books

Bug

App shuts down when typing

Bug

App crashing repeatedly

Bug

Books disappearing from library

Bug

Cannot download added books

Bug

Search tab closes the app

Bug

Poor VoiceOver compatibility

Bug

App crashes on any click

Bug

Text-to-speech voice change kicks user out

Bug

Copyright issues preventing audio playback

Bug

Download errors

Bug

Playback stops when screen is locked

Bug

Clunky user interface

Bug

Picture books not displaying images

Bug

Unable to play videos from other sources

Bug

Form controls not coded correctly for VoiceOver

Bug

Cannot delete searched titles from library

Bug

App requires screen to be on for reading

Bug

Blank screen after orientation change

Bug

Too many bugs and crashes

Bug

Next chapter fails to load

Bug

Blank white page after pausing and resuming

Bug

Table of Contents only shows first few chapters

Bug

App displays as phone screen on iPad

Bug

Cannot access reading lists

Bug

Synthesized speech has limited control

Bug

Speech randomly cuts off

Bug

Reading stops if phone ringer is off

Bug

Pause/Play restarts from chapter beginning

Bug

Text-to-speech voices do not indicate language

Bug

Voice selection process is cumbersome

Bug

No functional stop and start button

Bug

Limited speaking speed options

Bug

Paragraph by paragraph reading limitation

Bug
✨

Requested Features

38 requests

Fix prolonged pauses in text-to-speech

Feature

Sync library across devices

Feature

Sync reading lists across devices

Feature

Save reading progress across devices

Feature

Fix manga page navigation

Feature

Fix disappearing pages bug

Feature

Improve book download reliability

Feature

Fix app crashes

Feature

Fix app shutdown when typing

Feature

Improve VoiceOver compatibility

Feature

Allow adjustment of speaking rate by specific value

Feature

Make reading lists accessible

Feature

Add highlighting for textbooks

Feature

Improve navigation of Contents menu

Feature

Highlight current location in Contents menu

Feature

Include missing video content in textbooks

Feature

Fix copyright issues for audio playback

Feature

Allow background playback

Feature

Add ability to listen to human-narrated audiobooks

Feature

Add 'Read Now' for periodicals

Feature

Add VoiceOver gestures for page turning

Feature

Add percentage of reading completed on mobile devices

Feature

Make downloaded books tab default on opening app

Feature

Fix inability to delete searched titles

Feature

Add 'where am I' feature (page/percentage)

Feature

Fix blank screen after orientation change

Feature

Make app accessible for students without teacher assignment

Feature

Fix next chapter loading issue

Feature

Fix blank white page after pause

Feature

Fix incomplete Table of Contents

Feature

Improve app scaling on iPad

Feature

Fix inability to access reading lists

Feature

Allow users to choose which word reader begins reading

Feature

Fix paragraph by paragraph reading limitation

Feature

Indicate language for text-to-speech voices

Feature

Improve voice selection process

Feature

Add functional stop and start button

Feature

Increase speed options for text-to-speech

Feature

FAQ

What is Bookshare Reader?

Bookshare Reader is the official application that provides access to Bookshare's extensive library of ebooks. It is specifically designed for individuals with reading barriers, offering features like high-quality audio narration and customizable reading settings.

What are the key features of Bookshare Reader?

Key features include access to millions of ebooks, high-quality audio listening, adjustable reading speed, font size, and colors, highlighted text for following along, chapter navigation, and the ability to download books for offline reading.

Is Bookshare Reader free to use?

The Bookshare Reader app itself is free to download and use. However, to access the ebooks within the Bookshare library, users must have a Bookshare membership. More information about membership can be found on the Bookshare website.

Who is the target audience for Bookshare Reader?

This app is designed for individuals who experience reading barriers due to conditions such as dyslexia, blindness, low vision, or physical disabilities. It aims to provide an accessible and personalized reading experience for these users.

Can I read books offline with Bookshare Reader?

Yes, you can download books from the Bookshare library and read them offline using the Bookshare Reader app. This feature allows you to access your reading material even without an internet connection.