Comparison

iBOOKLIGHT vs Bookly

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

Head to head
About

iBOOKLIGHT

Transform your iPhone or iPad into a convenient book light for nighttime reading. This app offers a simple, clean interface to illuminate your pages without disturbing others. Position it upright or on a pillow for a fuss-free reading experience.

Highlights
  • Turns device into a book light
  • Simple and clean interface
  • Adjustable positioning
  • Stays on indefinitely
  • No fussy controls
Features
Read full description

Turn your iPHONE or iPAD into a book light. iBOOKLIGHT is now simple & clean. It will illuminate your reading while the rest of the world sleeps. Stand it upright or rest it on the pillow, on yourself or behind your shoulder. Goodbye fussy book lights that awake your partner. Stays on indefinitely We appreciate simple, clean design. This is the answer, you can read your book without fussing with too many controls. GET IT NOW FOR FREE! Support development with in app purchase. BY: www.nomadcandy.com GREAT Reading Light for your favorite fiction and non fiction: Freakonomics, An Innocent Client, Where the Crawdads Sing, Pachinko, Before We Were Yours, Circe, Defending Jacob, We Were The Lucky Ones, Everything I Never Told you, Becoming, Educated, The Matriarch, The Right Side of History, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, Commander in Cheat, Ladies Who Punch, Doing Justice and Bad Blood. Anything you read to fall asleep this is for you.

About

Bookly

This app helps you track your reading habits in real-time, manage your library, and set reading goals. It offers detailed statistics, custom ratings, and ambient sounds to enhance your reading experience and build a consistent reading habit.

Highlights
  • Real-time reading timer
  • Detailed reading statistics
  • Custom book ratings
  • Book library management
  • Reading goals and reminders
  • Character tracking
  • Readathon tracking
Features
Read full description

Bookly helps you track your reading in real-time, manage your books, make a habit out of reading and see your progress over time. Add books, e-books or audiobooks to your collections, use the timer to track your reading and get access to awesome stats that will help you improve and read even more. Set goals and reminders to stay motivated, get weekly and monthly or yearly reports on your progress. You can better rate your books by going beyond the classic five star ratings by adding custom ones like: inspiration, heartfelt, love, spice, humor, and many more. Bookly also allows half-star ratings. TRACK YOUR READING IN REAL-TIME - Start the timer every time you read with a simple tap - Record your current page number of the books you're reading - See how long it will take you to finish the book at your current pace - Set a Book Goal to finish your book by a given time - Add your own rating, thoughts, and quotes for each book - Play ambient sounds while you read - Generate awesome Infographics style reports for every book - Unlock achievements to stay motivated and read even more GET READING STATS & RESULTS - Get tons of insightful Stats: total read time, pages read, reading speed, estimated book finish time, daily reading time, days you read in a row, reading streak and more - Generate Reading Reports with graphs and stats per book/month/year - Set Monthly or Yearly Goals in number of hours, pages or books - Set daily reminders to keep you motivated to achieve your reading goals - Use the powerful Bookly Assistant to read more, get personalized reading suggestions, reminders, reports and a lot more - Share your progress directly from the app KEEP TRACK OF YOUR BOOKS - Track and manage your entire library of books, e-books and audiobooks - Setup your own custom book Collections, like "Wishlist", "Favourites" - Get book details by scanning the ISBN barcode or searching online directly in the app - Store and sync your books among devices using iCloud - Never lose a book again, mark a book as lent or borrowed KEEP TRACK OF YOUR BOOK CHARACTERS - Track and manage all characters that you meet in your reading journey - Track how they evolve over time, what challenges they face, the relationships between them and much more. KEEP TRACK OF READATHONS - Track your readathon progress in real time - Track books read, reading time and pages for any period of time - Track readathon prompts - Get notifications and stay on track - - - Bookly is free to download and use. No online account or signup needed. The Pro version is free with a 7 day trial, after which we offer three subscription packages: $4.99/month (1 Month Subscription), $19.99/6 months (6 Month Subscription), and $29.99/year (1 Year Subscription). All other features remain free to use indefinitely. These prices are for United States customers. Pricing in other countries may vary and actual charges may be converted to your local currency depending on the country of residence. Subscription service conditions: - Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase - Your subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period - Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period - You can manage your subscription and switch off auto-renewal by accessing your Account Settings after purchase - Refunds will not be provided for any unused portion of the term - Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable - All personal data is handled under the terms and conditions of Bookly’s privacy policy. More details can be found here: http://getbookly.com/privacy-policy/ http://getbookly.com/terms-of-use/ *Important: This app is for book TRACKING and MANAGEMENT. Book content and the actual reading is not done in the app.*

Screenshots

iBOOKLIGHT2 screens
Bookly4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Bookly at 4.6 against iBOOKLIGHT's 3.5. Bookly also leads on review sentiment (84% vs 46%) and update cadence (monthly vs every 12 months). iBOOKLIGHT's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 16.0). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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. iBOOKLIGHT sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Bookly sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Bookly holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bookly has 61K ratings behind it against 41, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 46% of iBOOKLIGHT's written reviews are positive against 84% of Bookly's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iBOOKLIGHT ships an update every 12 months, Bookly monthly. The most recent releases landed on June 11, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
iBOOKLIGHT versus Bookly: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriBOOKLIGHTBookly
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.5 (41 ratings)4.6 (61K ratings) — better
Positive reviews46.0% of reviews83.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings4161K — better
Update frequencyEvery 12 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#56 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS10.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB510 MB
Age rating4+9+
Developerjami beckerTwoDoor Games

Customer experience

iBOOKLIGHT

All ratings41 ratings
Positive53.7%
Neutral17.1%
Negative29.3%
Written reviews124 reviews
Positive46.0%
Neutral5.6%
Negative48.4%

Bookly

All ratings61,057 ratings
Positive92.0%
Neutral4.3%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews2,584 reviews
Positive83.6%
Neutral7.2%
Negative9.2%

User reviews

iBOOKLIGHT

From 41 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💡 Simple and straightforward design
  • 📖 Perfect for bedtime reading without disturbing others
  • 🔆 Adjustable brightness for comfortable reading
  • ⏱️ Stays on indefinitely when configured properly
  • 🆓 Free app with no mandatory payments

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Screen turns off after 30 seconds to a few minutes without proper settings
  • 📱 Just adjusts phone brightness - limited functionality
  • 💰 In-app purchases for hue changes that don't work properly
  • 📢 Intrusive ads that pop up frequently
  • 🔊 Ads with sound can wake sleeping partners

Bookly

From 61K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Helpful for tracking reading progress
  • 🚀 Motivates users to read more
  • 📊 Provides detailed reading statistics
  • 💡 Allows adding quotes, thoughts, and new words
  • 👍 User-friendly interface and design

Room to improve

  • 💰 Paywall for many features
  • 🔒 Limited functionality in free version
  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 🔍 Difficulty finding/adding some books
  • 🔢 Limit on number of books that can be added

Bugs and requests

iBOOKLIGHT

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • Screen goes dark after 30 seconds despite claims of indefinite operation
  • In-app hue purchase feature non-functional
  • Page number saves don't persist after closing app
  • Settings button does nothing or is non-functional
  • Brightness changes affect phone's system brightness permanently
Show 5 more
  • App causes excessive battery drain in some cases
  • Ads block portions of the light display
  • Incompatibility issues with iPhone 6 and newer models
  • Auto-lock setting gets overridden by app
  • Porn ads appearing in some versions

Requested features

8 requests
  • Built-in brightness adjustment within app without phone settings
  • Auto-lock settings integrated into app
  • Multiple color/hue options that actually work
  • Clear in-app instructions for first-time users
  • Dark mode or warmer light options for eye comfort
Show 3 more
  • Swipe-based brightness adjustment
  • Different light bulb shapes or designs
  • Remove or customize ad placement and type

Bookly

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Reading sessions not always accurately recorded
  • Inconsistencies in page count/progress tracking
  • Syncing issues between devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to delete/edit books
  • Option to track audiobook progress
  • Sync reading progress across devices
  • More customization options
  • Integration with other reading apps

In-app purchases

2 purchases

iBOOKLIGHT

One-time2
  • Remove Logo on Light Screen$0.99
  • Change light screen color hue$0.99
16 purchases

Bookly

Subscriptions10
  • Monthly Pro7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Monthly Pro Family Plan$9.991 Month
  • Monthly Plan7 Days trial$9.991 Month
Show 7 more
  • Yearly Pro 50% OFF$14.991 Year
  • Six Months of Pro$19.996 Months
  • Yearly Pro 30% OFF$19.991 Year
  • Yearly Pro$29.991 Year
  • Yearly Pro (50% OFF 1st year trial)1 Year trial$29.991 Year
  • Yearly Pro 20% OFF3 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Yearly Pro Family Plan$49.991 Year
One-time6
  • 10 extra reading days$0.99
  • A handful of Diamonds$0.99
  • A big bag of Diamonds$2.99
Show 3 more
  • A chest of Diamonds$5.99
  • Bookly Pro$79.99
  • Bookly Pro Lifetime$149.99

Questions

Is iBOOKLIGHT free?
iBOOKLIGHT is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Bookly free?
Bookly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, iBOOKLIGHT or Bookly?
Bookly is rated higher. iBOOKLIGHT averages 3.5 out of 5 from 41 ratings, while Bookly averages 4.6 from 61K ratings.
Do iBOOKLIGHT or Bookly have ads?
Bookly shows ads; iBOOKLIGHT does not.
Which is updated more often, iBOOKLIGHT or Bookly?
iBOOKLIGHT ships an update every 12 months, and Bookly monthly. Most recently, iBOOKLIGHT was updated on June 11, 2026 and Bookly on September 30, 2026.

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