Comparison

Book Tracker vs Actually Read

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

Head to head
About

Book Tracker

Capture, organize, and revisit key passages from your books with advanced text recognition. Create collections, add tags and notes, and easily export your highlights. Stop forgetting what you read and make your reading more impactful.

Highlights
  • Text recognition
  • Book collections
  • Tags and notes
  • Highlight export
  • Page number detection
  • Search functionality
  • Photo highlighting
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

4x App of the Day - Apple Remember more of what you read. Highlighted helps you capture meaningful passages from books, organize them into a searchable library, and revisit the ideas you do not want to forget. Point your camera at a page, select the text that matters, and save it with the book, page number, notes, and tags. Build your personal bookshelf, group books into collections, import highlights from Kindle or CSV, export everything in bulk, and share beautiful quote cards. Trusted by 150,000+ readers. ______ CAPTURE • Best-in-class text recognition • Smart sentence and paragraph detection • Photo highlighting from your library • Page number detection • ISBN barcode scanning • Kindle highlights import • CSV highlights import ORGANIZE • Personal book library • Book collections and reading status • Tags, notes, page numbers, and favorites • Powerful search and filters REVISIT • Highlight reminders • Home Screen widgets with random highlights • Siri Shortcuts • Offline mode SHARE & EXPORT • Beautiful highlight sharing cards • Bulk highlights export • Export to multiple formats • Include notes, tags, and page numbers • iPad drag and drop highlighting Highlighted is free to start. The core reading and highlight experience is free, and Highlighted+ unlocks optional power features. ______ Privacy Policy: https://highlighted-app.webflow.io/terms-and-policies#privacy-policy-heading Terms: https://highlighted-app.webflow.io/terms-and-policies#terms-of-service-heading ______ ABOUT ME I'm Damir, an independent creator from Europe who loves to read. Say hello at damir.stuhec@gmail.com

About

Actually Read

Enhance your reading experience by tracking books, blocking distractions with Deep Focus, and utilizing an AI companion for deeper comprehension. Import your own files or discover public domain books to build a consistent reading habit.

Highlights
  • Track reading progress
  • Deep Focus distraction blocking
  • Import EPUBs and PDFs
  • AI-powered book companion
  • Summaries and recaps
  • On-device AI processing
Features
Read full description

Actually Read helps you track your books, protect your reading time, and actually read—whether you’re reading an EPUB, a PDF, or a physical book. • Focus on the book you chose. Start a reading session, set a timer, and use Deep Focus to block the apps, categories, and websites you choose with Screen Time. • See your reading add up. Track books and focus sessions, create custom reading lists, review your reading history, and return to a calm, customizable reading space built around your current book. • Read your way. Import EPUBs and PDFs, discover free public-domain books, search within books, save bookmarks, highlight passages, and pick up where you left off. • Ask better questions with grounded AI. Actually Read uses retrieval-based AI to help you engage with a book, not replace it with an AI digest. Ask about a theme, scene, or passage, get a Story So Far recap, or request a chapter summary when you’re ready. • Stay grounded in the text. Actually Read retrieves relevant passages from your book and uses them as context for each answer. Responses prioritize cited supporting passages you can open directly in the reader and can respect your reading progress to help avoid spoilers. • Keep your content close. Book indexing, embeddings, and retrieval happen on-device. On devices with Apple Intelligence enabled, on-device AI can answer questions without sending your questions or book content to the cloud. • Choose Advanced AI when you want it. Only your question and the relevant excerpts retrieved to answer it are sent to the cloud—never the full book. Actually Read is for reading with more attention, more context, and fewer distractions. Some features require compatible hardware, Apple Intelligence, Screen Time permission, or an internet connection. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Book Tracker4 screens
Actually Read3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Actually Read at every 5 days against Book Tracker's every 5 weeks. Book Tracker's advantage is ratings volume (733 vs 9) and chart position (#163 vs unranked). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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. Book Tracker sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Actually Read sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Book Tracker against 5.0 for Actually Read. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Book Tracker has 733 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 93% of Book Tracker's written reviews are positive against 100% of Actually Read's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Book Tracker ships an update every 5 weeks, Actually Read every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Book Tracker versus Actually Read: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBook TrackerActually Read
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (733 ratings)5.0 (9 ratings) — better
Positive reviews93.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings733 — better9
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#163 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.4 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size63 MB46 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDamir StuhecPrism32 LLC

Customer experience

Book Tracker

All ratings733 ratings
Positive96.9%
Neutral1.6%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews356 reviews
Positive93.0%
Neutral3.7%
Negative3.4%

Actually Read

All ratings9 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Book Tracker

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Occasional crashes or freezes
  • Issues with recognizing text from curved pages
  • Problems with losing previously saved highlights

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to highlight and annotate PDFs
  • Integrate with ebook readers like Kindle
  • Implement cloud sync and backup
  • Add more customization options for highlights
  • Improve search and filtering functionality

Actually Read

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Book Tracker

Subscriptions3
  • Highlighted Club Monthly$2.991 Month
  • plus weekly$4.997 Days
  • plus yearly3 Days trial$44.991 Year
One-time3
  • Small tip$9.00
  • Medium tip$25.00
  • Large tip$49.00
1 purchases

Actually Read

Subscriptions1
  • Actually Read Plus3 Days trial$9.991 Month

Questions

Is Book Tracker free?
Book Tracker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Actually Read free?
Actually Read is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Book Tracker or Actually Read?
Actually Read is rated higher. Book Tracker averages 4.9 out of 5 from 733 ratings, while Actually Read averages 5.0 from 9 ratings.
Do Book Tracker or Actually Read have ads?
Neither Book Tracker nor Actually Read shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Book Tracker or Actually Read?
Book Tracker ships an update every 5 weeks, and Actually Read every 5 days. Most recently, Book Tracker was updated on October 12, 2026 and Actually Read on October 13, 2026.

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