# NetGalley Shelf — user reviews > 299 indexed App Store user reviews of NetGalley Shelf by NetGalley, LLC, rated 2.10/5 from 77 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/netgalley-shelf/id1499581600/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/netgalley-shelf/id1499581600.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 6 · 4★ 7 · 3★ 14 · 2★ 13 · 1★ 37 ## What do users think of NetGalley Shelf? Overall sentiment: negative **Pros** - 🚀 Works fine for some users - 👍 Keeps user logged in - 👍 Audiobooks work well - 🚀 Able to read ebooks **Cons** - 🐛 Narration speed issues - 🐛 Confusing interface - 🔒 Login issues - 🐛 Bookmarks and positions don't sync - 🐛 No built-in dictionary - 🐛 Limited font and formatting customization - 🐛 Audiobooks have quality issues - 🐛 Audiobooks stop unexpectedly - 🐛 Difficult to navigate - 🐛 Crashes frequently - 🐛 Doesn't remember reading position - 🐛 Formatting issues - 🐛 Slow performance - 🐛 Glitchy scrolling - 🐛 Difficult to remove downloads **Commonly reported bugs** - Login issues - Downloading issues with audiobooks - Books disappearing from shelf - Inability to remove expired books - Inconsistent behavior when opening books **Most requested features** - Add ability to write reviews within the app - Improve audiobook playback controls - Add font size adjustment - Implement dark mode - Sync reading progress across devices - Add highlighting and note-taking features - Improve organization and sorting of books ## Newest reviews (19 of 299) ### 2/5 — Just awful *2026-09-05, version 1.4.0* The app is not ideal for reading within it. It doesn’t keep track of where I leave off is switching between my iPhone and iPad which is frustrating. I definitely will not keep this app. It’s unfortunate but I can read elsewhere with greater ease and fluidity between devices. ### 2/5 — Not user friendly *2026-08-02, version 1.4.0* The issue I have is that page I flip to is not the next one but the page after. It’s also crashing and closing down frequently. Not sure if I am going to continue using . ### 3/5 — could be so much better *2026-04-03, version 1.4.0* i keep skipping to the next chapter on accident when i swipe wrong and i wish there were options to customize the text ### 2/5 — Incredibly User Unfriendly *2026-03-30, version 1.4.0* I’ve had this thing forever and have never had access to Pending requests, so no idea if they get approved or not. Which obviously makes it difficult to build a good profile. This an incredibly valuable community but it could be so much simpler. ### 3/5 — Page Jumps *2026-03-27, version 1.4.0* This app works great with the website but it’s not super user friendly. Sometimes when I was flipping the pages it wouldn’t stay in sync with the page number I was actually on. And when I use the book marker it doesn’t really do much. I wish this app was similar to Kindle. ### 1/5 — Doesn’t sync *2026-03-11, version 1.4.0* The website user interface is straightforward and user friendly. The app doesn’t sync with the website and has very few to no options to search for book. Terrible app. ### 1/5 — Horrible *2026-03-09, version 1.4.0* The app skips words if you zoom in. I like reading in bigger font but I can’t. Delete. I’ll use a different app to read the books. ### 1/5 — Unable to Login *2026-02-28, version 1.4.0* Unable to Login via the app but the website is 100% fine. ### 3/5 — Needs improvement *2026-02-19, version 1.4.0* When the app works, it works. However, it takes forever for it to sync that I have a newly approved title and sometimes won’t register it at all. ### 2/5 — So bad…. *2026-02-17, version 1.4.0* Audiobook player is HORRIBLE! It sounds bad; it has long delays between chapters; if I leave it off for a little while, it won’t play again and I have to restart my phone in order to start it again; and it has taken me back several chapters on multiple occasions when I stopped the book and came back to it. Just so bad!! ### 1/5 — Useless for reviewers *2026-02-17, version 1.4.0* It’s ironic, isn’t it? Netgalley’s role is to act as a conduit between publishers and reviewers - it wouldn’t exist without reviewers. However, this app doesn’t have the facility even highlight passages, never mind making notes. It is far worse than the usual apps such as the Kindle app on my ipad. I had to use the app to review a book that cannot be sent to Kindle but will never use it again, no matter how attractive the book. ### 2/5 — Not the best e-reader *2026-02-16, version 1.4.0* App is overall buggy. If you navigate away from your book, it doesn’t remember what page you were on nor does it keep the book open, so you have to remember your own spot. It doesn’t always update from your Netgalley account, so books won’t show up even if you’re approved. Once you’ve opened a book, pages are slow to load and render, so turning pages takes a while. Just have a lot of patience while using it! ### 1/5 — No features *2026-01-28, version 1.4.0* There is no way for me to change the settings on the app for iPhone 17. I generally read on my kindle but sometimes I do not have it with me and would continue reading on my phone. I cannot jump to my current chapter. Nor can I change my viewing preferences. Junk. ### 1/5 — Can’t log in *2026-01-26, version 1.4.0* I have attempted to log into my net galley shelf and the app does not accept my credentials. I am unable to access my shelf. ### 1/5 — Grosses améliorations à prévoir *2026-01-15* C’est une cata. L’application est complètement vide, absolument pas reliée à notre compte initial. Ne figure aucun badge Peu d’onglets, pas accès à notre compte personnel… De grosses MAJ s’imposent car en l’état, l’application ne sert strictement à rien. A peine installée, déjà désinstallée ### 4/5 — Works for me *2026-01-10, version 1.4.0* I see a lot of negative reviews about the functionality of the app, but personally it works fine for me. It keeps me logged in on my device, the audios worked great. And I have used it for ebooks with no issues. Some titles won’t link to it, but the author has the right to choose to remove that option so, it’s not always a guarantee anyways and in no way the fault of the app. ### 1/5 — まったく使えない *2026-01-07, version 1.4.0* 入れない方が良いです ### 3/5 — Narration Speed *2025-10-29, version 1.4.0* I mainly use the app for audiobooks and hate that there is only pre selected narration speeds. Like sometimes depending on the narrotor 2.5x is too slow but 3.0x is too fast. I need more options in between. Give me a sliding scale to adjust and select my own speeds! ### 1/5 — Hörbücher erscheinen nicht in der App *2025-10-22* Mir wurden Hörbücher bestätigt und egal was ich mache (Aus- und einloggen), App löschen und wieder installieren… das Hörbuch erscheint einfach nicht in der App. EBooks klappen komischerweise… Aber das nervt nur ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Not user friendly *2026-08-20, version 1.4.0* If I could give it zero stars, I would. It is the must difficult app ever! I gave up on this app years ago, only to win a book from an author who wanted to send it through Google. It won’t work! Based on the poor ratings, I’m not the only one who thinks this, either. ### 1/5 — Used to be perfect. *2026-08-08, version 1.4.0* The accessibility reader on here used to be good, and I like that there is a sleep timer incorporated into it. Several months ago, there must’ve been an update for bug or something, but now the accessibility reader is essentially unusable. The pages flipped back-and-forth during each sentence. This makes it quite literally impossible to read along. ### 1/5 — Worse than worthless *2026-07-30, version 1.4.0* Can’t even get my titles to load. It just sits there with the spinning wheel of death for minutes on end. No way to log out and back in, and force closing doesn’t help. I want to be able to review these books but this app is actively hurting my review ratio. Edited to add that support told me to try deleting the app and reinstalling. If your app is so dysfunctional that this is your best solution, then you have a bad app. ### 1/5 — Cant log in *2026-06-09, version 1.4.0* When this app works it’s great, but on my ipad it stopped syncing my library and now when I try to login to see my books there, it just redirects me to the website, i put in my correct log in info, but then both the mobile app and mobile webpage act like i haven’t logged in at all, and the cycle starts all over again. Just want to read my arcs outside on my tablet this summer, but alas. ### 1/5 — Worse than worthless *2026-05-13, version 1.4.0* Can’t even get my titles to load. It just sits there with the spinning wheel of death for minutes on end. No way to log out and back in, and force closing doesn’t help. I want to be able to review these books but this app is actively hurting my review ratio. ### 1/5 — App doesnt work *2026-05-04, version 1.4.0* Every time I login or try to contact help, the Paige doesn’t navigate me as expected. How am I supposed to get my content if the website is directing me to the app but the app doesn’t work? ### 1/5 — Ne marche pas *2026-04-06* L’application n’est pas reliée à mon compte. Aucun livre n’apparaît. Il vaut mieux passer par le site internet. ### 1/5 — Incredibly User Unfriendly *2026-04-04, version 1.4.0* *Edit, to be clear, this is a review of the unusual separate/tandem system of this app and the associated website. I’m sure the app is functioning as expected, but the system in general is inefficient. I’ve had this thing forever and have never had access to Pending requests (on app or site) so no idea if they get approved or not. Which obviously makes it difficult to build a good profile. This an incredibly valuable community but it could be so much simpler. ### 1/5 — Hard to read on *2026-03-19, version 1.4.0* Really tiny is you have bad eyesight . I don’t know if there is a way to make the font bigger, but it’s really hard to read . Such a bummer because I was so excited about the book i received ### 1/5 — Can’t log in (Updated) *2026-03-17, version 1.4.0* It’s now been over a year!!!!!! It has been 7 months! Still can’t log in. Customer service stopped responding to me 4 months ago. keep adding the CORRECT username and password and it just keeps cycling me to the page telling me to sign up. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Seamless *2026-03-03, version 1.4.0* This is my preferred way of reading Arcs received from NetGalley. It’s easy to use and there are none of the formatting issues that I’ve had when reading in other apps. I have no complaints. ### 5/5 — Great reader for ARC books! *2025-02-26, version 1.4.0* Works great for my ARC books and I love the different customization options like fonts etc. ### 5/5 — Tolle App *2024-08-03* Tolle App, nutze sie von Anfang an und im Laufe der Zeit hat sich viel verbessert.Gerade für die Hörbücher unterwegs ist das sehr angenehm. ### 5/5 — It works and isn’t terrible *2024-03-30, version 1.3.2* I don’t have any true cons for this app. It works as advertised and gets the job done. It is basic and a little dated and clunky for a reading and listening app, but why does it need to be fancier? I do wish it showed percentage complete without opening the book, though. I also wish there was an accompanying Apple CarPlay app and a homepage widget for my phone. I haven’t had any glitches. Not sure why this is rated so low. ### 5/5 — 国歌を作った男 *2024-01-13, version 1.3.2* 初めて宮内氏の著作を読んだ。 一編ずつの書き出しはバラバラなようで、気づけば他の話と繋がっている。これが宮内ワールドの特徴か。 ウォーミングアップのような巻頭の短編から、トップギアまであっという間に惹きつけられ、ノンストップで読ませる力のある文章。 肉体で例えるなら、毎日筋トレを欠かさないような、無駄な贅肉や飾り物を削ぎ落とされたシンプルで美しいスタイルの文章。 「自らの幽霊を殺し、化け物になってしまう人間はいる。化け物であることにつきあってくれる人間も、またいる。」（夢・を・殺す） どこにでもいる、だからこそ目を背けられるような存在に対して、なんと温かな眼差しを向ける作者だろう。 ちらっと中島敦の世界を感じた。 宮内氏は、長生きしたら途方もない作家になったと惜しまれている、早逝の中島敦の再来か？ 宮内氏のこれからの作品に目が離せない。 ### 5/5 — The Book of Doors *2024-01-13* “Any door is every door” I originally signed up for this book because, well, it was about books. And what could be better than reading a book about books? The fantastical story begins immediately after an old man dies and leaves a mysterious book full of seemingly gibberish and swirls for Cassie at a bookstore. She learns that this book will transport her anywhere if she can imagine a door through which she once walked. What an incredible opportunity! But although she only sees the good use of this, maybe there can be ways to abuse this gift. And could there be other magical books out there? Well, of course, we find out there are. However there are also persons who want to use these books for selfish and sadistic purposes. We meet other colorful characters on Cassie’s journey to understand the book and how she fits into this unbelievable world. She visits with her beloved grandfather who raised her and he gives her sage advice: “Don’t waste your life hidden away in your own mind. Make the most of the time you have, otherwise before you know it, you’ll have no time left.” But, we the reader, love to fall into the magical world of books. And this adventure is full of fantastical and horror elements. There are twists I didn’t see coming. It was so fun to discover other enchanted books out there. If you enjoy a book about books, then you will not be disappointed with this amazing modern day fantasy. Thank you to NetGalley for my free copy. ### 5/5 — I’m going back *2023-10-11* We can get ### 5/5 — I’m going back *2023-10-11* We will ### 5/5 — Audio part is much improved. *2023-09-07, version 1.2* Originally there were glitches in the audio portion. I am currently listening to a “new book” and no problems or complaints. The delivery is smooth, volume consistent, I can bookmark, connect via bluetooth to different devices and control from those devices. There is a sleep timer and a range of speed choices. I find this comparable to Chirp, Audibles, Hoopla and Libby. Actually better than some others. The particular publisher/providers at times don’t have their product as polished, just like when I read an ebook on my Kindle and the format is lacking. I do like being able to preview audio books since narrators can make a huge difference and it is definitely the only way some readers can get a book. ### 5/5 — For sure I have a *2023-08-01* I’m not going back to the --- *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 2026-09-09.*