# Recently Photo Books — user reviews > 89 indexed App Store user reviews of Recently Photo Books by Recently, Inc., rated 4.60/5 from 1,222 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/recently-photo-books/id1021669594/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/recently-photo-books/id1021669594.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 956 · 4★ 166 · 3★ 40 · 2★ 21 · 1★ 39 ## What do users think of Recently Photo Books? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 👍 User-friendly and easy to use - 🚀 Effortless photo book creation - 💎 High-quality print and paper - 🎁 Great gift option - 🗓️ Captures memories over time - 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Shared albums for family/friends **Cons** - 🐛 Glitchy app with crashes and bugs - 🤔 Limited customization options - 💳 Subscription model issues - 🔍 Difficulty tracking orders/account - 🕰️ Slow shipping/long wait times **Commonly reported bugs** - App freezes during photo upload - Inconsistent password/account management - Incorrect billing and order tracking **Most requested features** - Ability to preview books before publishing - Option to save work in progress - More layout and editing tools - Easier subscription management ## Newest reviews (15 of 89) ### 2/5 — TAKES FOREVER!!! *2026-03-16, version 6.1.0* I thought it would be quick. Guess u was wrong!! If u want to wait 3 hours however, this app is for you 😤 ### 3/5 — Photo are badly displayed *2025-03-11, version 5.7.4* The app is going for “easy” and in the process creates books that are badly formatted. I have two horizontal photos and instead of stacking them they are squished to the top. There’s no cropping or fitting them, just get what you get, and you can’t edit the pages. ### 4/5 — Easy way to print memories *2024-12-27, version 5.7.0* The only thing I have to say is that if you have a low quality image the app won’t tell you and it prints blurry in your book. I love the ease of use and how quickly I can print a booklet tho! ### 3/5 — Great idea and quality, bad app. *2023-06-17, version 5.5.2* It seems like there’s a few minor tweaks that would make this so much better. I wish there was an option to switch photos order around without the app also switching the layout around every time. Like I don’t want a full page print of my burger, but I do want it to be in a page along with three other photos of the restaurant ya know? I have to redo every album 10-15 times before it finally picks a layout that works for the photos. Also, it advertises lots of different photo page layouts, but then only ever does the same two things with my photos. Where are the other layout options advertised? ### 3/5 — Love/hate *2023-03-30, version 5.5.2* Love the quality- HATE that you can’t select your favorite photos to print full page when selecting 50+ photos. Not sure that I will keep my subscription because of this ### 3/5 — Edit…no fun *2022-11-21, version 5.5.2* I appreciate the simple approach and result overall but the app editing capabilities are annoying AH. ### 5/5 — Love the updates *2022-10-08, version 5.5.1* I have been using this app since it was introduced and love it every time new features are added. On my last book I was able to preview the layout of my title page and view my introduction to the book. Thanks Recently! ### 5/5 — Love love love *2022-10-04, version 5.5.0* I made magazines for each of my boys of all their camp photos from this past summer. They came out so good, that I dug back into past photos and made one magazine for each past summer. Each one is my new favorite thing. I wish I had these from when I was a camper!!! And to note: I’m not usually this good. I am no Pinterest mom (although respect to those that are!) but this whole process was so easy. Minimal effort. And each mag exceeded my expectations. Like the title says: love love LOVE! Thanks so much, Recently. Looking forward to making more! ### 2/5 — Issues from the start. *2022-09-22, version 5.5.0* I really wanted to love this app. I signed up for a subscription, then went on to select photos for my magazine. When it came time to upload photos or preview the magazine, the app continued to load and eventually close on its on. I saw that many other reviewers had the same issue. I looked up FAQs on their site and made sure to go through all troubleshooting steps. I have only used the app at home with a steady wifi connection where I run a full business without internet issues. I Opened/closed the app. Uninstalled and reinstalled the app, etc. Still no luck. They have already charged my card even though I have not successfully created a magazine which is also frustrating. Now I have to message them and ask for my money back because I cannot continue trying to use this app unsuccessfully. ### 5/5 — Effortless chic photo books at a reasonable price *2022-09-16, version 5.5.0* I’m an artist, so I’m quite picky about things like this. We wanted a service to have photos printed of our baby as she grows. Tried a few options and this one wins for ease of use and classy outcome. I would prefer *slightly* sharper and brighter print quality. This lack of sharpness and brightness may be due to the paper used, which has a soft texture and off-white color. After making some books with Blurb on their higher end Mohawk photo-paper Recently books feel like I took a (very, very tiny) step toward printing on newsprint. The photos still look good - it’s just a different vibe, casual-chic instead of ultra crisp. It’s also SO much easier, I actually do it. Here’s the thing, when I have the option to painstakingly design every page - I just can’t stop myself! I usually love the outcome, but it’s not worth it! I want to print photos more than once every 3 years. With Recently you just select photos, rearrange ORDER if needed, pick a cover and BAM. The layouts look great and the whole thing is WAY classier than other “auto-format” options which.. do not do photos ANY justice at all. (Tip: get your photos narrowed down and write your intro before going through the app, because it doesn’t save a draft for you) I also LOVE that I can have these little book-zines sent directly to various addresses and that people can order their own without going through me! Thank you for making these! Never stop! ### 5/5 — Best way to “keep” kids’ art *2022-04-10, version 5.4.9* I snap a photo of my kid’s artwork and stash it into an album. Then I click two buttons in Recently and bam! We have an art book without all the clutter. This app couldn’t be easier to use and the print quality is fantastic. I order an extra book for grandparents - they love it. ### 5/5 — Great quality! *2022-04-01, version 5.4.9* I just switched over to Recently to print my many pictures that I have stored on my phone. The magazine I received exceeded my expectations and now I am hooked! ### 5/5 — Best gift for out of town grandparents *2022-03-31, version 5.4.9* My sister told me about this company. I sent these “magazines” of my two little ones to family in Denmark! We live in California. They are very stylish and high quality. You’ll make a loved ones day! Highly recommend ### 5/5 — Super easy *2021-11-18, version 5.4.7* Extremely easy I work full-time and am a mother to 3 children. I don’t have the time, patience, or desire to scrapbook. This is a perfect option. Also, GREAT customer service! I had a billing mishap due to just now using a gift certificate from several years ago. Scott from Recently worked hard to correct this issue and was great with communication. This is a great gift idea for anyone in your life but especially for those people short on time whose photos only exist on their phones. ### 2/5 — Subscription only *2021-11-11, version 5.4.7* I’d like to print a few books at once to catch up with a number of years of photos but it seems this isn’t an option - only signing up to a subscription model. Bad business model for my purposes. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Fix the app *2024-08-14, version 5.6.4* The product is great! The app is terrible. Try as a might I never could get a re-order to be sent to a new address. Changing the password is a nightmare. There is only a useless bot - no customer help. Get it together, folks. ### 1/5 — Customer Support Difficult, Unresponsive *2024-06-26, version 5.6.1* I used Recently, until recently. I cancelled my subscription after placing my last order which turned out to be a bad move on my part. Unfortunately, as soon as you cancel, you lose access to your account leaving you unable to track any outstanding orders. ‘No big deal’ I thought, I’ll just contact customer service to get a status (it’d been over a week since my order was placed at this point). It’s been three days and I’ve still been unable to get a status from customer service after numerous back and forths. Horrible, just horrible. Find another app to make your photo mags, you’ll be thankful you did. ### 1/5 — Unable to try interface *2022-08-14, version 5.4.9* The app makes you purchase a book before you can access the interface to see if it’s something you like or want to work with. This is very annoying. How do I know I like what it looks like? How do I know the app is easy to use? I can only find out if I pay $15. No thanks. ### 1/5 — Are You Sure You Want to Do This? *2022-06-28, version 5.4.9* I thought this app was a great idea and elected to take out a monthly subscription. After a few months I realized I didnt take enough pictures to justify the expense so I canceled my subscription. At least I thought my subscription was canceled. I was shocked to see that I was still being billed the monthly charge months after I canceled. I then tried to access my account to verify that the account was canceled but the app would no longer accept my password. So I reset my password and went to my account and clicked cancel my subscription, I got another message that said "Oops! Something went wrong". So I logged out and tried to access my account with the new password I just entered and again it wouldn't accept the new password. I went through the same process again with the same result. I then tried to contact the app support. There is no telephone number for the developer and the message I sent them detailing the problem I was having has been unanswered. So, are you sure you want this app because once you sign up it appears that they won't let you cancel. ### 1/5 — Haven’t received order *2022-06-05, version 5.4.9* I was very excited to try this service. However, it’s been 2 weeks and it still showing as “on press” even though the turn around time is supposed to be 5-7 days. Customer service is subpar with no phone number. I have cancelled the monthly subscription just hoping I still receive what I have paid for. ### 1/5 — Delete app minutes after downloading as no one shares cost of “membership.” *2021-05-12, version 5.3.8* No stars. HAD/obligated to click one! What if I can’t afford your fees? I need to see UPFRONT how much it will cost me!!! Geez. Couldn’t get a clear answer even in the website page. Stop the nonsense. ### 1/5 — Not “No obligation” *2021-01-30, version 5.3.6* I haven’t kept up with publishing my magazines monthly. I wanted to cancel my subscription so that the magazine credits don’t keep piling up but if I cancel, I can’t use my old credits. So, they just keep piling up and I keep getting charged every month. ### 1/5 — Feeling scammed *2020-11-02, version 5.3.1* These people will bill you every month whether or not you use the service- which just leaves me feeling scammed when I don’t spend the time to publish photos in a month. Would feel much better if they took payment when they actually did something, and made the service compelling enough to use a lot. ### 1/5 — App doesn’t show active subscriptions *2020-02-01, version 5.2.4* When you go into the subscriptions part of the app, it doesn’t show that you have an active one. The “Cancel Account” option at the bottom is light gray on a white background like its grayed out. This easily makes you think you don’t have an account. Customer service is no help in cancelling a subscription when provided the reference number on the charge in your checking account, saying instead to check in the app. Makes it difficult to track down someone’s subscription and cancel it. ### 1/5 — Still being charged after I cancelled *2020-01-04, version 5.2.3* The magazines always arrive much later than the estimated arrival time and the quality of the prints is poor. I tried to cancel my subscription last month after they lost my order for 2 magazines. They would not refund me for the subscription charge and I was charged again this month. The person I emailed with about the issue last month argued back and forth with me saying I was never billed and had to send a screen shot of my bank statements. I would not recommend this app and I would not trust them with your credit card information. - Kelsey ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Love it *2026-04-02, version 6.1.0* I take so many photos and Recently has been a dream for making hard copies without having stacks of crummy drugstore photos. The process is simple, and the results are beautiful. ### 5/5 — Best! *2025-09-08, version 6.0.0* User friendly and directly from phone- great quality paper and print - been using monthly for more then a decade *** ### 5/5 — Five Stars! A Perfect Replacement for Groovebook *2025-04-18, version 5.7.4* I’ve been searching for a good replacement for porting my phone photos into a physical photo album ever since Shutterfly shut down Groovebook — and I finally found it with Recently! The app is beautifully designed: the UI is clean, intuitive, and modern without feeling overcomplicated. It makes selecting, arranging, and ordering albums so simple that it actually feels fun rather than like another task. You can tell a lot of thought went into making the experience effortless. What I love most is how it captures that same spirit I missed from Groovebook — taking everyday moments off my phone and into a tangible, high-quality format. The albums themselves look amazing, and the whole process from photo selection to checkout is seamless ### 5/5 — Effortless *2025-02-07, version 5.7.1* Love how quick Recently is. It takes a huge weight off my shoulders being able to quickly print out kid’s photos without a huge process or tons of time. And the magazines are such high quality - ### 5/5 — Love recently *2024-08-04, version 5.6.4* This is perfect for all the pictures in your phone that you swear you will one day print and never do. I now create shared albums for trips or certain events, have everyone share there, then grab that folder in recently and lay out my book. They look adorable stacked on your bookshelf and the kids love looking through them! ### 5/5 — Great way to get photos off your phone *2024-06-29, version 5.6.1* I like this app because it’s simple and easy to use and the photo books are great. You get to choose the photo that goes on the cover of the book. I recommend only doing 50 photos per book, then all the photos are a larger size. I have made over 20 of these books and I give them as gifts and keep many for myself, so much better than photo albums and the quality is great! ### 5/5 — Recently Magazines are AMAZING *2024-06-04, version 5.5.3* I order one every month and they sit on my coffee table! They are always a bit and my kids LOVE looking through them all the time!! Great quality and SO easy to make!! ### 5/5 — Best printed albums ever *2023-02-24* I’ve gone through so many different versions and apps for printing photos, but Recently is the best! I’ve been using them for years. Reliable, heavy stock that feels premium, easy to do straight from your phone. Love them! ### 5/5 — Better than advertised results *2023-01-06, version 5.5.2* I was thoroughly pleased with the results of using Recently. I pulled together the photos with ease, and the product that came out was spectacular. It will form a marvelous keepsake for my family and I am thoroughly impressed. Great value for the money invested. ### 5/5 — Best way to make photo books! So easy to use! *2022-12-09, version 5.5.2* I’ve been using this app for several years, I have over 25 albums and I’ve sent Recently photo books to many family and friends and they all love them. You can send the Photo books as gifts straight to the recipient and you can even have it mailed internationally . It’s simple to use and the photo books turn out so well. Every time they update the app, they add some thing that makes it even better and I never thought it needed improvement! The credits roll over so you’re never going to lose them. You can create a photo book a month (great for newborns) or you can do one of a family vacation or do five of the same album and send it to friends and family. --- *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.*