Tome User Reviews

Customer Experience

Positive experience73.0% of reviews
Neutral10.7% of reviews
Negative experience16.3% of reviews

~ Based on 196 written reviews from the US App Store.

What users say

Is Tome Safe?

Tome: Book Blog & Read Tracker appears safe based on user ratings. AppsHunter Safety Score for Tome is 94/100.

This assessment is based on 3,789 user ratings, with an App Store average of 4.7/5.

Safety Analysis

94.2% of ratings point to a safe experience
2.3% of ratings suggest some concerns
3.5% of ratings point to a risky experience

~ Based on 3,775 App Store ratings for Tome.

Is Tome Legit?

Tome: Book Blog & Read Tracker is no longer available in the App Store. AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for Tome is 35/100.

Based on 35 of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data.

Score capped because this app is no longer listed.

Top reviews

Will be missed

I really loved the layout of this app and it was so much fun.

Best app ever

Will be missed dearly

Love this app, sad to see it go

This app is so fun and such a good community. I love being able to make my profile as aesthetically pleasing as I want and I love the different things you can do it. It’s a bummer to see it go

Loving Tome🦋

I love that I can interact with others who love books as much as I do & that means of all genres✨you can still use the app as normal even if you’re not a tome keeper unlike other apps.

Account logged out

Logged me out, and had a awful time trying to get back in

Do not recommend

Overwhelmingly white. Very niche & specific demographic of people and books here. No thanks.

so disappointed

I’ve had this app nearly a full year, having been a part of the beta group of users. When it first launched, it felt intimate and exciting. Not only did it have so much potential, but it also felt like because the team was so small there was a unique community between the app user base and the developers that most all other apps don’t offer. What specifically attracted me to it was the tumblr-like design and functionality. The idea was it very much diary-like where you could post your bookish thoughts, reviews, memes, etc. there were so few users too that fast friendships were formed over common interests. However, like all good things, this secret corner of the internet was infiltrated by an unfortunate combination of cyberbullies, too many changes to the app, and wishy washy stances on things that’s should truly matter. What’s really pushed me from the app entirely is this latest redesign/update. The introduction of “Communities” has changed this unique space to reddit 2.0, which not only completely turns away those who joined for the tumblr/blog vibe, but also segregates the user base and essentially demolished engagement. No one asked for a redesign to a thread style (which is modded by the way further inhibiting posting). The beta testers and users in general have only ever asked for quality of life and bug fixes. Remember when I said they have an issue with horrible people on their app? Well god forbid you want to provide negative feedback in their discord, which serves as their main hub for all things surrounding the app. Their discord mods have over-inflated egos, will immediately shut down any negative opinion, and will let those same awful people drown out that opinion with *toxic*, and I mean *toxic*, positivity. As someone who had a lot of hope for tome’s beginnings and original concept, this has been the letdown of the year. Because toxic positivity is so rewarded, I do not see this app surviving long-term. There’s so many other reasons this gets one star, but this is a small window into the reason this gets the only ever app review I’ve ever left. If I could give negative stars at this point, I would.
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Fourth attempt

This is my fourth time trying to post a review that’ll stay up. My first two were just full on declined for some reason and the 3rd was removed after a few days. Not sure if this was a decision made by Apple or if the Tome Dev team ask for it to be removed. Nevertheless, here it is again :)

The Tome team (the Dev team) are exactly like the current US government, they love to silence people when they have differing opinions or when they call them out instead of dealing with the serious bullying issue that’s stemmed from their app. They allow users who’ve bullied, threatened (I’m talking death threats guys) and doxxed others to stay on the app, even after countless screenshots have been sent as evidence. They love to tell people to “block the bullies” instead of actually doing something; according to them since it’s occurred outside of the app they can’t do anything, but they refuse to understand THEIR APP IS WHERE THEY GET THEIR VICTIMS. They very openly admit to muting or removing posts that aren’t “relevant” (book related), but it seems to just be things they don’t personally agree with. There’s countless posts that aren’t book related that don’t get muted or removed, but god forbid someone calls them out for siding with bullies because they’ll immediately get muted or suspended from the app.

The amount of changes the app has gone through in less than a year is ridiculous and has made it impossible to enjoy your time on it. The book tracking feature? Not good enough for me to stop using other much better trackers. They just launched communities after a week of beta testing (was supposed to be longer) but ignored all the countless bugs they’ve been told about in order to push this update out. The communities have mods who have a bunch of expectations and duties, yet they’re getting absolutely nothing from it. The team gets free labor and the mods get to feel special for a lil bit. They also requested people make banners for the communities instead of utilizing the team member they have for art….so they’re asking users for free art they’ll end up using to promote the app and the users get nothing.

Let’s talk about AI: before launch and for maybe 5-6 months after, the creator (Nick) was constantly shouting from the rooftops about how much they were against AI. Slowly he started bringing up how they’d eventually have to include a bit of AI in the app for certain things they had planned, which threw everyone for a loop as they were supposedly against it. Well turns out Nick is not against AI at all and actually fully supports its use. Now it makes sense why they let users get away with using AI to make badges, even after people have reported them.

They say they’re open to feedback, but just know they only want positive feedback. Any negative feedback will cause: the team members to treat you like you’re gum stuck to their shoe, discord mods to attack you and tell you to calm down, and other users to gang up on you. You’re only allowed to praise everything they do as if they’re gods and we’re just the mortals who depend on them.

Run. Run as far away as you can from this app. Trust me, it’s not worth it.
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Wow.

Fourth attempt. Horrible business practices. Liars. Allow bullying. Allow threats. Ask j for screenshots.

Miss the old Tome

I’ve been using Tome since before its debut, it was a place of community, of belonging, of safety for all readers. I understand the creators wanting to make it the best possible, but it has become so far from what their marketing presented. I don’t find it to be user friendly anymore, and I can only imagine how difficult it must be for new users to navigate. It saddens me because this was THE space I came to where I could be myself and now the platform feels performative and like a popularity contest, particularly with the addition of reading buddies (which is reminiscent of MySpace top 8) and communities, where sure you can connect with people of similar interest, but posts get little to no recognition. Add in posts to your profile that aren’t in a community and you’re basically speaking to the void. Traffic on the app has, seemingly, be slowing more and more with each change rolled out and it leaves one to wonder if the creators are scrambling to keep retention of users through all these changes in hopes it will be the “it” thing, when in reality all the changes are driving people away. I love this app in spite of this all and wish to see it the way it used to be again. Bring tags back, change communities (because giving each mods who can create separate rules at their discretion for it is very off-putting) and make it the welcoming space again. It’s previously been stated they wanted to remove some aspects because it wasn’t new-user friendly and felt alienating, but this newest change with communities undermines that entirely. Please, be receptive to feedback. Those who’ve been with you as long as I have believe in this app, but there’s definitely a common consensus it’s not what it used to be and we wish it was.
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Used to love it

I used to really like time but several of the new updates have really ruined the app for me. The idea of communities is cute but not I can’t access the FYP and can only see the communities time has selected for me based off of one single book I marked as read. The app used to be user friendly but it has declined recently, I also wish they would let us block tags the only option is to block people, I’m tired of seeing the same books or memes unrelated to books all over my fyp which I could block from my feed if we were able to block tags bc people are really good about tagging I’ve noticed. I just don’t like that now I can only access the community pages and I can’t see who I follow unless I directly go to their account. I hope these improve and the app becomes more user friendly bc I used to love this app
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So much potential!

I love having an app that’s dedicated just for scrolling through book content. My time on TikTok has gone down and my TBR list has gone up. However, there has been a lot of changes lately and it can get a bit overwhelming. Great app and waiting for more communities!

Please do yourself a favor and avoid this app if you wanna protect your mental health

The Tome team (the Dev team) are exactly like the current US government, they love to silence people when they have differing opinions or when they call them out instead of dealing with the serious bullying issue that’s stemmed from their app. They allow users who’ve bullied, threatened (I’m talking death threats guys) and doxxed others to stay on the app, even after countless screenshots have been sent as evidence. They love to tell people to “block the bullies” instead of actually doing something; according to them since it’s occurred outside of the app they can’t do anything, but they refuse to understand THEIR APP IS WHERE THEY GET THEIR VICTIMS. They very openly admit to muting or removing posts that aren’t “relevant” (book related), but it seems to just be things they don’t personally agree with. There’s countless posts that aren’t book related that don’t get muted or removed, but god forbid someone calls them out for siding with bullies because they’ll immediately get muted or suspended from the app.

The amount of changes the app has gone through in less than a year is ridiculous and has made it impossible to enjoy your time on it. The book tracking feature? Not good enough for me to stop using other much better trackers. They just launched communities after a week of beta testing (was supposed to be longer) but ignored all the countless bugs they’ve been told about in order to push this update out. The communities have mods who have a bunch of expectations and duties, yet they’re getting absolutely nothing from it. The team gets free labor and the mods get to feel special for a lil bit. They also requested people make banners for the communities instead of utilizing the team member they have for art….so they’re asking users for free art they’ll end up using to promote the app and the users get nothing.

Let’s talk about AI: before launch and for maybe 5-6 months after, the creator (Nick) was constantly shouting from the rooftops about how much they were against AI. Slowly he started bringing up how they’d eventually have to include a bit of AI in the app for certain things they had planned, which threw everyone for a loop as they were supposedly against it. Well turns out Nick is not against AI at all and actually fully supports its use. Now it makes sense why they let users get away with using AI to make badges, even after people have reported them.

They say they’re open to feedback, but just know they only want positive feedback. Any negative feedback will cause: the team members to treat you like you’re gum stuck to their shoe, discord mods to attack you and tell you to calm down, and other users to gang up on you. You’re only allowed to praise everything they do as if they’re gods and we’re just the mortals who depend on them.

Run. Run as far away as you can from this app. Trust me, it’s not worth it.
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So much potential

Initially this app was promoted as a fantasy book app that fellow readers could come together and talk about fantasy books, it’s changed quite a bit since then. Over time I’ve watched lots of updates roll out that definitely needed to be tested for much longer before being released. The Tome team claims they are against Ai but there are tons of Ai badges being released in the app. Also before they created tome they had another app that had to do with Ai so a part of me wonders if this entire “against Ai” stance they claimed was just to interest users who are against Ai and get more traction overall. They claim they are open to feedback about the app but I have watched countless users share their constructive feedback and 9 times out of 10 they are only interested in the positive feedback. The other major thing is the bullying. There are many book clubs that have been created in the tome community, I’ve seen so many users be bullied by the people in these book clubs and hardly anything has been done about it sadly. Overall as Lewis Capaldi once said “don’t waste your time” (unless they make some major changes)
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Still has growing pains

I’ve been with Tome since before the official launch (I have the badge and everything), and, despite my current three star rating, I do actually love it. Maybe it’s more fair to say I love parts of it, but lately Tome has been making changes to some of my favorite aspects of the app that made me love it in the first place, and some features I’ve always had an issue with have remained.

There’s also never been a fix implemented for the fact that whatever database is being used for the books is basically useless for independent, lesser-known, or brand-new titles. Never mind new releases that have a similar title to books that have been out longer.

I would like an email option for receiving Tome news, because Discord’s interface isn’t friendly to me, and so I’m betting there are others in the same position.

This latest communities update (I’m writing this review on 11/09/2025) is not only the most inelegant thing I’ve seen on the Tome app, but it’s also the most presumptuous. Frankly, it’s also offensive. It only gives you a choice of three communities you can join based off the last book you entered into the database. Based off of The Bookshop Below by Georgia Summers I was offered Fantasy, Romance, and Dark Romance. Yeah, no thanks. Not interested in any of those. I finally found how many communities there are (not many) and what they are, and I noticed that there isn’t a SINGLE community dedicated to any kind of diversity: no BiPOC Authors, OwnVoices, Disability Rep, Mental Health Rep, LGBTQIA+ Fiction, etc. At the very least there should’ve been a LGBTQIA+ Fiction community and a Diverse Reads community. Representation is too important in bookish spaces to not have spaces for these readers provided. Also? It’s 2025. Y’all should know better and have done it from the outset.

Can I make a huge request? DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE GEN AI ALL OVER YOUR APP. It’s so offensive and wrong. It takes all I am not to block people left and right for this blatant IP theft, ethical nightmare, and ongoing ecological disaster.
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LOVE THIS APP

I’ve been on Tome since the release date, and I adore this app. I have met some of the most amazing people and now have lifelong friends. I love designing my profile and sharing all my bookish thoughts and memes. This is exactly what I needed from a book social media app. The Tome team is always working on cool, new designs, and they never miss. I couldn’t recommend this app more. If you love everything books (and pets and food and art), this app is for you! They also have a Discord where they’re super open to suggestions and discussions. Give it a try.
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Why I Gave Tome 2 Stars After Beta Testing

I’ve been using Tome since the beta days and was genuinely excited at first. It felt like the perfect space for book lovers. The concept was fresh, and the customization options were a fun way to make the app your own. It really seemed like it could be a thriving, supportive community.

But honestly, if I were a new user coming in now, I’d feel completely lost. The layout is congested, confusing, and lacks any real guidance. Nothing is intuitive, and with how the algorithm and community function, it feels nearly impossible for new users to be seen. Unless you’re already part of the in-crowd, you disappear into the noise.

I was deeply invested. I subscribed, became a Tome Keeper, and actively participated because I had faith in the product and believed in its potential. But over time, that faith turned into disappointment.

The app often feels like posting into the void unless you’re part of a tight-knit group. The badge system is tied to tokens, which you either have to buy with real money or receive as a gift from someone who spent their own. Tokens are then used to buy profile badges that are mostly tied to obscure inside jokes or designed for specific cliques. As a subscriber, you receive a monthly allowance of 1400 tokens, but beyond buying badges, I honestly don’t know what the point of them is. The system feels more cosmetic than meaningful.

People can also gift tokens by reacting to posts with a bread emoji—yet another inside joke that isn’t explained anywhere in the app. It’s a system that largely benefits users already plugged into the culture, especially those active in the Discord.

A lot of the app’s culture and inside jokes come from the Tome Discord. While it includes various channels, I felt its original purpose was to report bugs, receive updates, and give feedback. But now it primarily reinforces the exclusivity already present on the platform. Some users are so involved in maintaining their presence that they update their profiles multiple times a day to match ongoing jokes. That level of effort is a lot, and it only seems to pay off if you’re already known.

Tome also runs monthly profile contests that require a huge amount of time and design effort. In theory, they’re creative and fun. In practice, the winners almost always come from the same social circles. Votes are cast by other users, but the algorithm boosts the same few popular accounts - making it hard for new or outside voices to be seen. It feels more like a popularity contest than a celebration of creativity.

Users are encouraged to promote Tome on their social platforms, but there’s no real reward. Even ambassadors, who are given access to a private Discord channel, get nothing more than a sparkle emoji visible only to other ambassadors. It often feels like a lot of unpaid labor for superficial recognition.

You also can’t actually track your reads in a structured way. There’s no reading log, goal setting, or progress tracking. Instead, you can make a subpage to post your current reads, but it’s more like blogging than actual reading organization. Thoughtful reviews are often ignored, while most engagement goes to posts about shadow daddies or thirsting over app creators. It feels more like a fandom-heavy Tumblr than a space for genuine book connection.

Tome had a great idea, and I respect the original vision. But the current version feels performative, cliquish, and overwhelmingly busy. It doesn’t prioritize the reader experience—and definitely not the new reader experience. I’m giving it 2 stars for the concept and potential, but it’s not the inclusive or functional book space I hoped it would be.
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Lost the plot

This is my second attempt to post a review. Again, being silenced by the tome team. Date of second attempt 10/28/25.

The Tome team (TT) in general has lost the plot. There are constant changes on the app. It feels like a brand new app every week. If that's your thing then you're in for a treat because it's nonstop! The app released too early. It is still buggy, and the constant changes don't allow for these bugs to be worked out. The purpose of the app has changed several times, going from a social bookish space, to a forum based app. Becoming a Tome Keeper is not worth the money. There are not additional perks other than a "Tome Allowance" which is basically tokens equivalent to $10. You can buy badges or gift bread... but you don't need to be a tome keeper to do so. There are cliques, and the TT does show favortism towards certain cliques. In their own words, they suppress posts from the feed, and it makes it difficult for some to get their message out to others. The best example is a book club stating they are leaving Tome. This was suppressed as "it is not relevant to all users." What about the people who wanted to join or were looking for more information? The TT listens to those who are essentially sucking up and willing to offer no criticism or feedback. If you provide feedback, all the lackeys and TT will gang up on you. Bullying is a huge issue on this app. I understand the TT stated they will not be having DM'ing services on the app in order to avoid bullying issues. Even without DMing available, there is still bullying. People have gone out of their way to doxx, threaten, intimidate, gaslight, and be manipulative in general towards other users. One user even received death threats for doing nothing but existing on the app. DEATH THREATS. The TT stated they cannot and will not do anything in regards to these concerns. If you want to use this app, please go in the knowledge that you are not safe, and will not be protected in any way shape or form. There are far better book apps out there. If you'd like an example of their previous work, please look up Seam Social, their last app that failed.
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Lost the plot

The Tome team (TT) in general has lost the plot. There are constant changes on the app. It feels like a brand new app every week. If that's your thing then you're in for a treat because it's nonstop! The app released too early. It is still buggy, and the constant changes don't allow for these bugs to be worked out. The purpose of the app has changed several times, going from a social bookish space, to a forum based app. Becoming a Tome Keeper is not worth the money. There are not additional perks other than a "Tome Allowance" which is basically tokens equivalent to $10. You can buy badges or gift bread... but you don't need to be a tome keeper to do so. There are cliques, and the TT does show favortism towards certain cliques. In their own words, they suppress posts from the feed, and it makes it difficult for some to get their message out to others. The best example is a book club stating they are leaving Tome. This was suppressed as "it is not relevant to all users." What about the people who wanted to join or were looking for more information? The TT listens to those who are essentially sucking up and willing to offer no criticism or feedback. If you provide feedback, all the lackeys and TT will gang up on you. Bullying is a huge issue on this app. I understand the TT stated they will not be having DM'ing services on the app in order to avoid bullying issues. Even without DMing available, there is still bullying. People have gone out of their way to doxx, threaten, intimidate, gaslight, and be manipulative in general towards other users. One user even received death threats for doing nothing but existing on the app. DEATH THREATS. The TT stated they cannot and will not do anything in regards to these concerns. If you want to use this app, please go in the knowledge that you are not safe, and will not be protected in any way shape or form. There are far better book apps out there. If you'd like an example of their previous work, please look up Seam Social, their last app that failed.
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meaningless

It's basically a twitter-like platform with users less than a class😅