Comparison

ShortBook vs Stan Taylor

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

Stan Taylor

Access and engage with author Stan Taylor's books, including "The Black Book of Power" and "The Little Dictator." Read, listen to audiobooks, and interact with exclusive content and a private community. Offline access and multi-language support are available.

Highlights
  • Read books with customizable typography
  • Listen to full audiobooks with playback controls
  • Sync highlights, notes, and bookmarks across devices
  • Offline access to downloaded content
  • Multi-language support for books and journals
  • Private community forum and messaging
  • Create shareable content from quotes
Features
Read full description

The official app for Stan Taylor's books, The Black Book of Power and The Little Dictator. The opening chapters of both are free to read and to hear. If you own the books, your full library unlocks the moment you sign in. BUILT FOR THE WORK These books ask you to dismantle a self you have been running for decades, and that deserves better than a reader that forgets where you were. The typography is tuned for hours of work, with 5 typefaces including 2 designed for dyslexic readers, adjustable size, pages or scroll, and a dark interface with a light mode when you want it. THE COMPLETE AUDIOBOOKS Every chapter narrated. It plays in the background with lock screen controls, speed control, a sleep timer, and a full chapter list. Tap the headphones inside the reader and the narration follows the chapter you are on, so you can move between the page and the voice by chapter. BOOKMARKS & HIGHLIGHTS Press and hold a passage, drag to where it ends, and add a note when the thought deserves one. Every highlight, note, and bookmark is private to your account and synced to every device you sign in on. Arrange the shelf by hand. YOURS, OFFLINE Download the books and every hour of audio to your device. Use it in Airplane Mode. IN YOUR LANGUAGE The books and the companion journals are in thirteen languages. Open Extras, then Translations, and add an edition to your shelf: its opening chapters are free to read, and the rest comes with the book you already own. THE FEED Stan's posts, open to everyone, with no algorithm deciding whether you see them. Behind them, a members-only community for adults who read the books: posts, comments, reactions and private messages, every post screened before it appears. No ads, no strangers. On your first visit you choose how you appear, the real name from your order or a pen name made on the spot, and you can switch post by post. THE ESSAYS Stan's essays, in the app and on the web, set in the reader's own typography, with audio where it exists. Some are kept for readers with a book. THE FORGE Turn the line that rewired you into a wallpaper for your lock screen or a card worth posting. THE EXTRAS The printable companion journals, the FAQ and the wallpapers live beside the books. HOW ACCESS WORKS This app sells nothing. It is a reader for books you already own. Sign in with the email you used at checkout and your shelf fills itself. PRIVATE BY PRINCIPLE It carries no ads, tracks nothing, runs no analytics, and sends no push notifications. There are no streaks and nothing engineered to pull you back in. You open it because you decided to do the work, and it gets out of the way while you do. To your power and freedom, Stan Taylor

Screenshots

ShortBook3 screens
Stan Taylor4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Stan Taylor at Free against ShortBook's $4.99. Stan Taylor also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 57%) and rating (5.0 vs 3.9). ShortBook's advantage is chart position (#149 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 16.4). On ratings volume, 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

Stan Taylor is free to download; ShortBook costs $4.99 up front. ShortBook sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Stan Taylor asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Stan Taylor holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 15 and 7 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 57% of ShortBook's written reviews are positive against 100% of Stan Taylor's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ShortBook ships an update monthly, Stan Taylor every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
ShortBook versus Stan Taylor: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShortBookStan Taylor
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating3.9 (15 ratings)5.0 (7 ratings) — better
Positive reviews57.4% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings15 — better7
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#149 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS8.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB76 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperJury ShortkiHashtag Publishing LLC

Customer experience

ShortBook

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

Stan Taylor

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

ShortBook

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

Stan Taylor

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ShortBook free?
ShortBook costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Stan Taylor free?
Stan Taylor is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ShortBook or Stan Taylor?
Stan Taylor is rated higher. ShortBook averages 3.9 out of 5 from 15 ratings, while Stan Taylor averages 5.0 from 7 ratings.
Do ShortBook or Stan Taylor have ads?
Neither ShortBook nor Stan Taylor shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ShortBook or Stan Taylor?
ShortBook ships an update monthly, and Stan Taylor every 4 days. Most recently, ShortBook was updated on November 6, 2026 and Stan Taylor on November 8, 2026.

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