Comparison

ShortBook vs Avalon Reader for FB2 books

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

Head to head
About

ShortBook

This application offers a comfortable reading experience for fb2 format books on your iPhone. It features a handy interface, night reading mode, quick bookmarking, and customizable font settings. It also supports XDXF dictionaries for instant word definitions.

Highlights
  • FB2 ebook reading
  • Night reading mode
  • Quick bookmarking
  • Customizable font and size
  • XDXF dictionary support
  • Wi-Fi book downloading
Currently charting
Read full description

ShortBook is an electronic book reader using unique capabilities of your iPhone. It has everything that is necessary for comfortable reading of books in fb2 format: contents, figures, footnotes and unique text makeup. Handy interface allows finding books quickly and reading them with comfort. Night reading mode will reduce discomfort for those who suffer from sleeplessness and Quick Bookmark function will ensure free browsing through a book. Book downloading is available via Wi-Fi being handily implemented through the web browser. For your further comfort there are options of choosing font, its size and other settings. The program supports dictionaries in XDXF format. Detaining a finger on a word and activating the button of searching through dictionaries, you'll virtually in a matter of seconds learn the meaning of the tricky word. Reading can be quickly restarted after a break with one touch of the screen. Don’t seek for compromises, use ShortBook. With ShortBook even a big book will become short.

About

Avalon Reader for FB2 books

Read your FB2 ebooks with this intuitive reader. Easily import books from various sources, customize your reading experience with adjustable fonts and color schemes, and sync your progress across devices via iCloud. Enjoy a seamless reading journey on your iOS devices.

Highlights
  • Import FB2 books from web, iTunes, cloud drives, and OPDS catalogs
  • Synchronize reading position across iOS devices via iCloud
  • Adjustable fonts, line spacing, page width, and color schemes
  • Easy navigation and book text search
  • Translate words and phrases using Yandex Translate
  • Book sharing and image gallery view
Features
Read full description

Avalon Reader - ebook reading application with simple and intuitive interface. You can collect unlimited number of titles in your Library and read them for you own pleasure. Application optimized for all iPad and iPhone models and high resolution Retina Display graphics. It is possible to load ebooks in fb2 format into application by a number of ways, like: - download fb2 books using your favorite web browser application and open it with Avalon Reader using "Open In..." iSO feature - use iTunes file sharing to copy files from you computer - import books from you preferred cloud drive - Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive currently supported, more options coming in next versions - find and download book in any OPDS internet catalog You can read book on any iOS device you own and synchronize reading position over iCloud account (require internet connection) Avalon Reader features: - Turn pages with a tap or swipe - Easy navigation inside the book - Open electronic books from any source - Automatically expands fb2 files from zip archive - Adjustable fonts and font sizes - Adjustable line spacing - Adjustable page width - Three color schemes - Sort books by File name, Book Title, Author or Recently opened - Book Information Page - Book Images Gallery View - all embedded images on one page - Book sharing - possible to transfer book to any destination supported by iOS or any application which can handle this file type - book text search - words and phrases translation using Yandex translate service (require internet connection)

Screenshots

ShortBook3 screens
Avalon Reader for FB2 books4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Avalon Reader for FB2 books at 5.0 against ShortBook's 3.9. Avalon Reader for FB2 books also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and price ($1.99 vs $4.99). ShortBook's advantage is ratings volume (15 vs 1) and chart position (#146 vs unranked). On review sentiment, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

ShortBook costs $4.99 and Avalon Reader for FB2 books $1.99 up front. ShortBook sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Avalon Reader for FB2 books asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Avalon Reader for FB2 books holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ShortBook has 15 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 57% of ShortBook's written reviews are positive against 65% of Avalon Reader for FB2 books's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ShortBook ships an update monthly, Avalon Reader for FB2 books every 5 weeks. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
ShortBook versus Avalon Reader for FB2 books: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShortBookAvalon Reader for FB2 books
Price$4.99$1.99 — better
Rating3.9 (15 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews57.4% of reviews64.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings15 — better1
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#146 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB15 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperJury ShortkiYuri Staloverov

Customer experience

ShortBook

All ratings14 ratings
Positive78.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative21.4%
Written reviews197 reviews
Positive57.4%
Neutral10.2%
Negative32.5%

Avalon Reader for FB2 books

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive64.7%
Neutral5.9%
Negative29.4%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

ShortBook

One-time2
  • "Sub rosa dictum" style$0.99
  • "Para bellum"$0.99
None

Avalon Reader for FB2 books

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ShortBook free?
ShortBook costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Avalon Reader for FB2 books free?
Avalon Reader for FB2 books costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ShortBook or Avalon Reader for FB2 books?
Avalon Reader for FB2 books is rated higher. ShortBook averages 3.9 out of 5 from 15 ratings, while Avalon Reader for FB2 books averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do ShortBook or Avalon Reader for FB2 books have ads?
Neither ShortBook nor Avalon Reader for FB2 books shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ShortBook or Avalon Reader for FB2 books?
ShortBook ships an update monthly, and Avalon Reader for FB2 books every 5 weeks. Most recently, ShortBook was updated on October 29, 2026 and Avalon Reader for FB2 books on October 29, 2026.

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