Comparison

Shelfie vs Focus Reader

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Shelfie

Effortlessly manage your reading notes by scanning book barcodes or using your camera with advanced OCR. Organize your collection, track progress, and share insights with elegant templates. Syncs across all your devices.

Highlights
  • Scan books by barcode or search
  • Capture notes with OCR technology
  • Organize books by shelves
  • Track reading progress
  • Share notes with templates
  • Full-text search of notes
  • Export notes as PDF/HTML
Features
Read full description

Collect your books reading notes in one place by simply pointing your camera at the paperbacks. Managing your reading notes has never been so effortless! KEY FEATURES * Find books and add to your collection by scanning bar code, searching keyword, or entering book info manually. * Take a photo of the printed text and save your reading notes in a flash, empowered by revolutionary Optimal Character Recognition (OCR) technology. * Recognize texts in 45+ languages: English, Chinese, France, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, German, Italian, and many more. * Record your reading data. * Save images directly as your notes. * Organize your books by shelves. * Create a table of contents for your books and navigate your notes by chapters. * Set short title for your notes. * Share your notes and thoughts with multiple elegantly designed templates. * Search full-text and find your notes. * Track your reading progress. * Export your notes as PDFs or HTMLs. * Support various iOS features such as Handoff, Multitasking, and Search. * Website: https://shelfie.app HIGHLIGHTS * Access your notes anywhere: Everything is synced automatically and instantly across any computer, phone, or tablet. Once you create your account, your date stays in sync so that you always have the up-to-date version of your favorite quotes and inspirations (yeah we do not rely on iCloud). * Advanced OCR technology based on Google: Fast and precise. * Auto recognition of tables of contents: Take a photo of a book’s table of contents and we automatically turn it into chapters matched with pages. * Simple, but powerful. SUBSCRIPTION We offer monthly and yearly Premium subscriptions. App Store will renews the subscription during 24 hours before it expires. You can stop the auto renewal in the system settings of iPhone. When start auto renewal in trial period, the trial will stop automatically. If you encounter any problems, please try to restart Shelfie, or tap the restore button below. Privacy: https://yanwai.net/privacy/en Terms: https://yanwai.net/terms/en SUPPORT We love hearing back from you and we are constantly improving our app based on your suggestions! E-mail: hi@yanwai.app

About

Focus Reader

Features
Read full description

Lose your place in long documents? Focus Reader reflows PDF and EPUB books to fit your screen and keeps only the part you're reading in sharp focus. Open the books you already have and adjust text size, font, line spacing, and column width to suit your eyes. No more fighting cramped PDF columns or tiny print. Features - PDF & EPUB reflow: the current page or chapter is re-typeset into one comfortable column. - Focus band: a clear reading band with the rest of the page dimmed, so your eyes stay on the line. Adjust the band's height, dim level, and position. - Typography: serif and sans-serif fonts for Latin and Korean, with size, line height, and UI scale controls. - Reading themes: paper, sepia, green, solar, night, and dim. - Dictionary lookup: long-press a word for an offline definition in the bundled English-Korean and Korean dictionaries. - Library: saved books with reading progress. - Korean and English interface. Free and Pro The core reading features and dictionary lookup are free. Focus band fine-tuning, all reading themes, and column width are unlocked with Focus Reader Pro — a one-time purchase, not a subscription. The Korean App Store price is ₩4,000; prices in other regions are set by Apple. Supported formats: PDF, EPUB

Screenshots

Shelfie4 screens
Focus Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Focus Reader at every 6 days against Shelfie's fortnightly. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Shelfie sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Focus Reader sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shelfie ships an update fortnightly, Focus Reader every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Shelfie versus Focus Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShelfieFocus Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (201 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews76.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings201 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscription—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size85 MB58 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer志鹏 刘Daejin hyun

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Shelfie

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Monthly Subscription$2.991 Month
  • Premium Annually Subscription$12.991 Year
One-time3
  • Shelfie Lifetime (for yearly)$6.99
  • Shelfie Lifetime (for monthly)$14.99
  • Sheifle Premium Lifetime$19.99
1 purchases

Focus Reader

One-time1
  • Focus Reader Pro$1.99

Questions

Is Shelfie free?
Shelfie is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Focus Reader free?
Focus Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Shelfie or Focus Reader have ads?
Neither Shelfie nor Focus Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shelfie or Focus Reader?
Shelfie ships an update fortnightly, and Focus Reader every 6 days. Most recently, Shelfie was updated on November 6, 2026 and Focus Reader on October 31, 2026.

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