# Open Library Reader — Book reader for Open Library

> Mobile interface for Open Library's vast digital book collection. (iPhone/iPad app by Loomis House, LLC.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/open-library-reader/id1573989409 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Loomis House, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1573989411)
- Category: Books
- Price: Free
- Rating: 3.00/5 from 50 App Store ratings · 42 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 13.0 · 24 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2021-08-05
- Data updated: 2026-09-01
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/open-library-reader/id1573989409/reviews.md

## What is Open Library Reader?

Open Library is an online library with millions of books to browse or check out. You can track the books that you're reading, want to read, etc. and read many of them right there.

PLEASE NOTE: This app is an interface to the openlibrary.org web site — if you don't use that site to read books, you may have trouble figuring out what the app is for. I encourage you to familiarize yourself with the site first, and then you'll understand what the app offers.

This app is one reader's effort to create the ideal portable experience for taking advantage of Open Library's amazing collection.

You'll get the best experience out of this app on an iPad, but you can use it on a smaller screen (if you don't mind squinting).

The moment you open the app and log in, any books you've already saved on the Open Library site are laid out on your screen. You can sort them by title, author, publication date, and date saved, see which books are available to read, and open them with a single tap.

Once you've opened a book in the familiar reading interface, a tap at the top of the screen will trigger the full screen mode, removing every distraction and expanding the book pages to the limits of your screen for the perfect reading experience.

Other features include:
- Built-in search: find and add books to your shelves from inside the app.
- Shelf management: move books between shelves, remove books, change the edition of a book.
- Related title search: choose a book on your shelf and quickly find more books like it.
- Checkout tracking: see at a glance how long you have left on limited-access books you've checked out.
- Customization: choose which shelves you want to see and manage the size of the books and their titles.

This app is essentially an alternative interface to the Open Library site — all of your data is stored there, and the books you read are hosted online, not in the app. As a result, an active internet connection is required when you are using this app.


Open Library is an initiative of the Internet Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. The developer of this app has no legal or contractual relationship with Open Library or the Internet Archive, and bears no responsibility for the content found there.

## Key features

- Browse and check out millions of books
- Track reading progress and wishlists
- Built-in search and related title discovery
- Shelf management and edition changes
- Checkout tracking for borrowed books
- Customizable reading interface

## Recent user reviews (10 of 42)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/open-library-reader/id1573989409/reviews.md

### 3/5 — Please

*2026-08-15*

The download/signin glitch is now fixed. Thank you - I can now see a book. However, I do not understand the logic of having the two page display option flip pages but the single page display (really, the only reasonable way to read the book without a huge display) just scrolls.  Please fix this so we can read the book without getting video game thumb aches.

### 5/5 — Great & sometimes funny bugs

*2026-08-09*

First of all, thank you to the developers for continued development & maintenance of this app! 🙏

Reading consistency is simpler than a few months ago when sometimes the app logged me out while borrowing. 
Appreciate the fix. 

I Utilize Open Library Reader regularly to….

1) …. read available books,
2) …. update status of books or remove from shelves,  
3) ….find & add “new” books to my shelves (possibly better via the open library web interface currently, however the app is ok to add some books; some unfortunately do not yet show up in the app search).

Suggestions for future updates:
1) Maybe we can see easier whether a book is available to borrow and read *before* we click on the book and get feedback that it were unavailable? For example, a simple green circle 🟢 for available and red circle 🔴 for unavailable could help. 

Could be wrong for a reader app but if relevant: 
2) How could we improve the search? 🔍 
In my experience, the search seems quite strict and takes strings literal, therefore sometimes removing results the more words I give. I do not know how the search functions “under the hood” though. Idea: Maybe a looser “AI”-/ cosine similarity-based search could help here.

Thanks for reading my whole review; enjoy your day 🙏🥰

### 1/5 — Can’t use it if you can’t download a book

*2026-07-23*

I am logged in. I have logged out, and logged back in. I have logged out, and deleted the app, and re-downloaded the app, and logged back in. No matter what I do, when I try and select the book, it says it can’t download it because I’m not logged in.

### 3/5 — Login issue

*2026-07-18*

There is an existing login issue that's blocking us from using the app. Please fix it

### 1/5 — Not working

*2026-07-17*

Though I am logged in, the app tells: This book requires you to be logged in. Please log in and try again.

### 3/5 — A good idea, but poorly designed app

*2026-05-11*

I really like being able to read from my phone, but the app is incredibly frustrating sometimes. It’s basically impossible to scroll through pages. The bar at the bottom has a tiny hit box and it doesnt scroll when you hold it. It also resets your progress through the book if another person checks it out (or sometimes just randomly for some reason). I’ve also been logged out for no apparent reason multiple times.

### 1/5 — Bad App

*2026-01-22*

App does not work. You can create an account, but you can not log in.

### 3/5 — Broken features

*2025-10-14*

This app would be great but I cannot save bookmarks which is a required feature. Instead it shows me a login button even when I’m already logged in. The bookmarks I’ve saved via the site I cannot see in this app.

### 1/5 — Awful

*2025-08-23*

It opens a book with this bubble on top with instructions but I can’t figure out how to get rid of the bubble so I can actually read the book!

### 1/5 — Great resource! But it lost my whole history.

*2025-07-27*

I was so excited to see how many classic text books were available to borrow for research in my field. I spent an hour searching by the names of several favorite scholars and putting them in my “To Read” collection. Then I logged out and tried to log in again, using the same email as before, but my whole list is gone now. What a loss and a frustration.

## Frequently asked questions about Open Library Reader

### What does the Open Library Reader app do?

This app serves as a mobile interface for the Open Library website, allowing you to browse, check out, and read millions of books directly from your device. It helps you manage your reading lists, track borrowed books, and discover new titles.

### What are the key features of this app?

Key features include browsing and checking out books, tracking books you're reading or want to read, a built-in search function, shelf management, related title discovery, and checkout tracking for borrowed books. You can also customize the reading interface.

### Is this app free to use?

Yes, the app is free to use. It acts as an interface to the Open Library website, which itself is a free initiative. There are no in-app purchases or advertisements mentioned.

### What are the system requirements for this app?

The app requires an active internet connection to function, as all data and books are hosted online. While it can be used on smaller screens, it is noted to provide the best experience on an iPad.

### How does this app relate to the Open Library website?

This app is an alternative interface to the Open Library website. All your data, including your shelves and the books you read, are stored on the Open Library site. You need to be familiar with the Open Library website to fully understand and utilize the app's offerings.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 2.0.2+25 — 2026-08-14

• Handled a change on the OpenLibrary.org server that was causing a "You must be logged in" error in the app.

### 2.0.1+24 — 2026-07-09

• Fixed when you turn off your device in the middle of a book and come back a few hours later to a black screen.
• Fixed intermittent "You must be logged in to read" errors.

### 2.0.0+23 — 2026-04-01

Welcome to the all new, completely rebuilt OL Reader! It looks the same, and all your favorite features are still there, but it's all new under the hood and there are some great new features:

• More information on the shelf pages, including book counts and author names
• An expanded search interface allows you to find books both on your shelves and in Open Library, with more search and sorting options
• OL Reader now supports Open Library Lists (still a bit experimental)
• Poke around and see what else you can find!
• OL Reader is now an open source project — see the app help page for more information

### 1.0.16+23 — 2025-10-28

Hello, OpenLibrary readers! Just a small update this time to help things run more smoothly.
• Changes on the OpenLibrary server broke the way we were retrieving availability information, which sometimes made it hard to change editions or open books that should have been available. This update resolves those problems, but also turns off some of the up-to-date availability reporting. Hopefully we'll get everything working again soon.
• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused books without covers to not display the placeholder image.

### 1.0.15+21 — 2025-01-24

• Updates required to support OpenLibrary API changes
• Fixed a few small bugs, probably introduced some new ones.

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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 2026-09-01.*