# Etched: Reading Journal — Don't stop reading

> Don't stop reading (iPhone/iPad app by JiHyeong Lee.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/etched-reading-journal/id6784272488 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [JiHyeong Lee](https://appshunter.io/developer/1886175423)
- Category: Books, Lifestyle
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 16.4 · 68 MB
- Languages: English, Korean
- Released: 2026-07-12
- Data updated: 2026-10-28

## What is Etched?

Etched is a reading journal for paper books: photograph a line that moves you, write it out by hand later, and reflect on it briefly at night. No account, no subscription — every record stays on your device.

Don't stop reading.
On the bus, or in bed before sleep, you meet a line that stays with you. Stop to underline it or copy it out, and you lose the thread of what you were reading. Etched lets you keep the line as a single photo and push transcribing and reflecting to a quiet moment. Keep → Write it out → Reflect: a ritual for reading slowly, one line a day.

■ A day with Etched
· Keep — Snap the line and it files itself under the book you're reading. Focus stays centered, and you can pick the book before or after you shoot. Press the shutter and go back to the page. Quiet enough for the library or the bus.
· Write it out — A little later, a single reminder. Read the line in the photo and type it yourself, character by character. No autocomplete, no auto-fill. The time it takes is the point.
· Reflect — At the end of the day, a short note on how the line landed today. One reminder, only if you've transcribed a line in the last two days.
Every step can wait, or be skipped. Lines you never get to are set aside quietly — no nagging.

■ A book, recorded
Note what you hope for when you add a book, and leave an afterword when you finish. Then export the finished book as up to 20 images: cover and expectations, chosen lines with reflections, and your afterword (Premium).

■ Straight from your iPhone Lock Screen (iOS 18 and later)
Add "Etch a Line" to the Lock Screen, Control Center, or the Action Button, and the camera opens without unlocking. It's silent and saves exactly what you saw. Lines you capture there are waiting the next time you open Etched. On iOS 16 and 17, a circular Lock Screen widget opens the camera directly.

■ Where your lines live
· Your library — Lines gather under each book. Unlimited books; see the ones you're reading and the ones you've finished separately.
· Three views — Gallery, list, and calendar. The days you etched a line show as dots on the calendar.
· Highlight — Mark the line on the photo with a highlighter. When you transcribe, only that part is shown, enlarged.

■ When you'd like to share
Turn a line into a single image card — square, portrait, or story. Include your reflection, and a long one simply spans several cards. Not to show off; just a quiet way to pass something on.

■ What Etched doesn't have
· No streaks, badges, points, or rankings.
· No statistics dashboard, no social feed, no endless timeline.
· No notifications designed to pull you back in.
It's not about how many lines you've gathered, but how deeply one line is etched. The goal isn't time spent in the app — it's getting you back to the book.

■ Your records stay with you
No account, no login. Everything is stored only on this device and never sent anywhere. No ads, no tracking. Export and restore a backup file, or let Etched back up automatically on a schedule you choose.

■ Premium
Free to keep unlimited books and up to 12 lines at a time. One purchase unlocks unlimited lines and book export — not a subscription.

■ Questions people ask
Q. Do I need an account? — No. Install and start; records stay on your device.
Q. Is it a subscription? — No. Premium is a single non-consumable purchase, with Restore Purchases.
Q. Does it turn the photo into text for me? — No. You type the line yourself. That slowness is the point of Etched.
Q. Does it work with e-books? — It's made for paper books, but you can pick a screenshot from your photos.
Q. What if I change phones? — Export a backup file from Settings > Data, then restore it on the new device.
Q. Who is it for? — People who read paper books and want to keep the lines they love, without statistics or social features.

Read slowly, keep deeply — Etched.

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Etched Premium | $6.99 | one-time |


## Is Etched safe?

Not enough ratings yet to assess Etched.

## Is Etched legit?

Etched: Reading Journal appears legitimate, with a few gaps. The AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for Etched is 65 out of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data.


## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 3.0.0 — 2026-10-27

The app is now called “Etched: Reading Journal.” Your features and records stay the same.

What's new
· A book, recorded — note what you hope for when you add a book, and leave an afterword when you finish it
· Export a finished book as a set of images (up to 20): the cover and your expectations, the lines you chose with your reflections, and your afterword (Premium)
· My Library now opens on the books you're reading, keeps finished books on their own tab, and shows how many lines you etched from each book
· Captures from the iPhone Lock Screen are now silent and saved exactly as they appeared on screen (iOS 18 and later)
· The camera keeps its focus on the center of the frame — fingers or the desk at the edges no longer pull focus
· Choose the book for a line before or after shooting — tap the book name on the camera or confirm screen to open your books, or add a new one right there

Fixes
· If the app quits during a restore, your existing records are kept — it returns to the previous state on the next launch
· An interrupted auto backup no longer leaves a partial file; Settings shows the reason for a failure and the time of the last backup
· Deleting a line also deletes its transcription and reflection — they no longer come back after a backup and restore
· Fixed an issue where photos captured from the iPhone Lock Screen could be lost while moving into the app
· Share cards are saved at 1080 resolution, and sharing a line without a book asks you to pick its source first
· Larger system text sizes no longer overlap or clip cards and screens
· A line that fell asleep past its deadline returns to reflection once you transcribe it
· A book cover is saved exactly as it appeared inside the frame on screen — before, it was captured wider than you saw
· Pages you capture are saved exactly as they appeared on screen — before, they were captured wider than you saw
· The reflection reminder comes once, at your next reflection time, only if you transcribed a line in the last two days
· Photos and transcriptions are no longer lost when storage runs low or the app quits midway; extending a highlight keeps the transcription you already wrote
· Fixed an issue where leaving the app with the book picker open right after a capture left the screen unable to close
· Auto backup and restore no longer overlap; they run one after the other
· Turning on notifications takes effect as soon as you come back, and finished reminders clear from Notification Center

### 2.1.1 — 2026-09-30

Fixes
· With many photos, the app could hang on the start screen for a long while — auto backup now runs quietly after the home screen appears

### 2.1.0 — 2026-09-20

What's new
· When you share a line with your reflection and the reflection is long, the card splits into several — the first card holds the line, the following cards your reflection (up to 10)
· Swipe through the cards on the share screen; all cards are handed to the share sheet at once (save several images, send several in Messages)

Fixes
· Reflections were cut off after four lines when included in a share
· Single-line highlights were clipped at both ends on home cards

### 2.0.0 — 2026-09-09

Widget is now available !

· Add the "Etch a Line" button to the Lock Screen or Control Center — the camera opens without unlocking (iOS 18 and later)
· Lines captured from the Lock Screen are saved automatically the next time you open the app
· On devices with an Action Button, the capture action can be assigned there as well
· On iOS 16–17, a circular Lock Screen widget opens the camera directly
· When the free limit is full, Lock Screen captures are held and activated automatically, oldest first, as space becomes available

### 1.2.0 — 2026-08-05

What's new
· The home list shows a small mark on each line you've transcribed or reflected on.
· Finished a book? Mark it as "Finished" in your library — finished books step aside when you capture a new line. Tap "Select" at the top of your library to tidy several at once.
· A long reflection can now be tapped to unfold in full.
· When there's news, a small dot in Settings will let you know — quietly.

Fixes
· Writing a long reflection now scrolls with you as you type.

## Apps similar to Etched

| App | Rating | Price | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [한쪽](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/id6754595777) | — | Free | Books |
| [밑줄긋기](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/id6760542925) | — | Free | Books |
| [페이지로그 - 가장 쉬운 독서 기록 & 문장 수집](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/and/id6758984879) | — | Free | Books |
| [hanjul-note: Book Quote Widget](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hanjul-note-book-quote-widget/id6760209563) | — | Free | Books |
| [indexx](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/indexx/id6757661654) | — | Free | Books |
| [북토리지](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/id6759242319) | 5.0 (2) | Free | Books |

## More apps by JiHyeong Lee

- [Draw & Throw: Coloring on TV](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/draw-and-throw-coloring-on-tv/id6760775552)
- [YAMM: Notes & Idea Board](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/yamm-notes-and-idea-board/id6787441174)
- [Link Do Work](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/link-do-work/id6788784062)

All apps by JiHyeong Lee: https://appshunter.io/developer/1886175423

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-10-28.*