Literal vs Bookjournal.app
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Literal
This app transforms reading into an engaging group chat experience. It presents books with profile pictures and speech bubbles, making it easy to follow conversations. Users can read alone or invite friends to discuss books in real-time.
- Group chat reading format
- Interactive book discussions
- Invite friends to read together
- Track reading progress
- Access classic and modern titles
- Suitable for educators
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Wish you read more books? Literal is what would happen if your favorite messaging app and ebook app had a baby. We make the books you love even more addictive. Literal lets you read the world's best content (Books) in the world's most engaging format (Group Chat). Read for Free or upgrade to access even more books! Read like you chat and Never get lost or confused in a story again. Literal adds profile pictures and speech bubbles to an author’s original text. This makes it super simple to understand who is speaking and what they said. Even if you're an excellent reader. Literal delivers books in a format that will keep you more engaged throughout the entire book! Start a book group and read together. Invite your friends to join a book with you the same way that you would invite them to a group chat. See where everyone is in the story, chat, laugh, and comment. Together. Browse or binge – the choice is yours. No time to read? No problem. At home or on the go, Literal makes it easy. Browse or binge through our library of titles whenever and wherever you want. Unlike other chat fiction apps, Literal lets you read real books. This makes it ideal for English teachers, ELA instructors and literacy educators to provide an alternative reading format to students who need a modern way to read. Read classics like Shakespeare, pride and Prejudice and Alice in Wonderland. Or Enjoy modern tiles from our publishing partners.
Bookjournal.app
Easily log books you've read, record ratings, thoughts, and notes. Enhance your entries with stickers and share your favorite reads with others. This app offers a convenient digital alternative to traditional reading journals.
- Track read books
- Record ratings and notes
- Add stickers to entries
- Share favorite books
- Digital reading journal
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Keep track of all the books you've read, capture your ratings, thoughts and notes, add stickers and more. Share your favorite books with family, friends and colleagues. As avid readers, we craved a seamless way to journal, track, and share our literary experiences. Traditional journaling, though enjoyable, can be tedious and time-consuming. We wanted our journals accessible anytime, anywhere - from waiting rooms to school pick-ups. That's why we built BookJournal.app. Join us for an effortless and enjoyable reading journey! Link to our End User License Agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Literal at 94% against Bookjournal.app's 44%. Literal also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and rating (4.8 vs 4.5). Bookjournal.app's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 20 months) and ratings volume (251 vs 33). On price, ads 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
Both are free to download. Bookjournal.app sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Literal asks for nothing beyond the download.
Literal holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bookjournal.app has 251 ratings behind it against 33, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 94% of Literal's written reviews are positive against 44% of Bookjournal.app's.
Literal ships an update every 20 months, Bookjournal.app weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Literal | Bookjournal.app |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (33 ratings) — better | 4.5 (251 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 94.1% of reviews — better | 43.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 33 | 251 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 20 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 36 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Literal LLC | Rowan Trollope |
Customer experience
Literal
Bookjournal.app
Bugs and requests
Literal
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Bookjournal.app
Reported bugs
18 issues- Deleted books reappear
- Goodreads import does not work
- Incorrect book titles/covers after import
- Duplicate books
- App crashes
Show 13 moreShow fewer
- App won't open or stay open
- Error message when trying to cancel
- Messages marked as undeliverable on Discord
- Journal entries not saving or updating
- App refuses to open since update
- Books disappear after adding
- App not working after transfer
- Cannot add and save books read
- Reading goal reverts to 50
- No connection on home screen
- No results for searches
- App crashes immediately on opening
- Unable to access rating and date options
Requested features
13 requests- Connect with friends
- Add timer for reading tracking
- More information like a timer
- Audiobooks as a selection
- Add friends
Show 8 moreShow fewer
- Integrate Goodreads list without re-adding
- Fix journal saving/updating
- Fix series organization
- One-time payment option for premium
- More premium features for the price
- Dark mode option
- Improve search functionality
- Fix connection issues
In-app purchases
Literal
No in-app purchases
Bookjournal.app
- Monthly$4.991 Month
- Yearly$49.991 Year
