Famous Books vs Swedenborg Reader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Famous Books
Explore a curated collection of 52 rare and world-famous manuscripts, incunabula, and printed works from the Bavarian State Library. View high-quality digital copies, zoom in on details, and discover cultural heritage from the Occident and Orient.
- Digital copies of rare books
- Zoomable high-resolution images
- Browse manuscripts and printed works
- Occidental and Oriental collections
- View cultural heritage
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The Bayerische Staatsbibliothek is one of the biggest and most important universal libraries worldwide. Its vaults accommodate some of the most precious and world-famous works of mankind’s written cultural heritage. The app "Famous Books. Treasures of the Bavarian State Library” presents an exquisite selection of these holdings: 52 splendid manuscripts, unique incunabula and rare, precious printed works from the Occident and the Orient Only very rarely can the public view the physical manifestations of these treasures in exhibitions. The brilliant, complete digital copies of the exhibits - formatted for presentation on iPad and iPhone - provide a fascinating insight into the treasures held by the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. Users can browse through and freely zoom into the manuscripts and printed works from the first to the last page. Among the exhibits are, for example, the manuscript A of the Nibelungenlied (The Song of the Nibelungs), the eight volumes of the Ottheinrich Bible, an edition of each the Gutenberg Bible and the World Chronicle of Hartmann Schedel, the Babylonian Talmud and Wolfram von Eschenbach’s epic poem Parzival.
Swedenborg Reader
Access and search the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg and the Holy Bible. Offers multiple translations and interfaces in 25 languages for in-depth study.
- Read theological works of Emanuel Swedenborg
- Search Holy Bible texts
- Multiple Bible translations
- 25 language interfaces
- Cross-reference texts
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The Swedenborg Reader is an app for reading and searching the theological works of Emanuel Swedenborg and the Holy Bible. It provides user interfaces in 25 languages and offers multiple translations of both Swedenborg’s works and the Bible for each supported language.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Swedenborg Reader at every 2 months against Famous Books's every 7 months. Swedenborg Reader also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and device support (4 vs 2). Famous Books's advantage is ratings volume (30 vs 10). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Swedenborg Reader holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 30 and 10 respectively.
Famous Books ships an update every 7 months, Swedenborg Reader every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Famous Books | Swedenborg Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (30 ratings) | 5.0 (10 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 94.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 30 — better | 10 |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 238 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Bayerische Staatsbibliothek | SkyMark Corporation |
Customer experience
Famous Books
Swedenborg Reader
In-app purchases
Famous Books
No in-app purchases
Swedenborg Reader
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Famous Books free?
Is Swedenborg Reader free?
Which has better reviews, Famous Books or Swedenborg Reader?
Do Famous Books or Swedenborg Reader have ads?
Which is updated more often, Famous Books or Swedenborg Reader?
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