Comparison

Learn with Forward Chess vs BookFusion

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

Head to head
About

Learn with Forward Chess

This app is an interactive reader for chess books, allowing users to play through chess lines directly within the book. It offers a vast in-app store with over 100 chess eBooks and a growing collection of opening theory periodicals via subscription.

Highlights
  • Interactive chess book reader
  • Play through chess lines
  • In-app chess eBook store
  • Subscription for opening theory
  • Tactics training
Features
Read full description

Forward Chess is an Interactive reader of chess books. Play through the lines in the book, or try your own, it's like having a chess board and a chess book in the palm of your hand. Forward Chess includes the ability to purchase over 100 chess eBooks through our In-App Store. Check it out. Our collection is growing weekly! Forward Chess also contains the following subscription options - ChessPublishing's monthly periodical for the latest in opening theory - We offer a choice of 4 different auto-renewing subscriptions - 1 Section for 1 Year @ $19.99 USD - 3 Sections for 1 Year @ $39.99 USD - 6 Sections for 1 Year @ $69.99 USD - 12 Sections for 1 Year @ $99.99 USD - Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period - Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal - Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase - No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period - Links to Your Privacy Policy and Terms of Use - Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication. Forward Chess takes your privacy seriously See our privacy policy here: https://forwardchess.com/privacy-policy and term of use here: https://forwardchess.com/terms-of-service

About

BookFusion

Manage, read, and organize your entire eBook collection across all devices with cloud synchronization. Customize your reading experience with extensive settings, highlights, and annotations. Supports various formats and offers text-to-speech functionality.

Highlights
  • Cross-platform eBook reader
  • Cloud synchronization
  • Organize with virtual bookshelves
  • Highlights and annotations
  • Text-to-Speech (TTS)
  • Send to Kindle
  • Calibre integration
Features
Read full description

Thousands of readers use BookFusion to manage, read and enjoy over 2 million eBooks. BookFusion is the best cross platform eBook reader and manager with cloud sync that allows you to easily read, organize and manage your eBooks across all your devices. ◇ Features ◇ Integrated Reader - Read all your EPUB, PDF, & CBZ/CBR eBooks both online and offline with clean and intuitive interface . Extensive Reader Settings - Customize your reading experience from vertical/horizontal margins, line spacing, fonts, bold/italics, colors and much more. Seamless Syncing - Sync your reading progress, highlights & annotations, eBooks and bookmarks across all devices. Pick up exactly where you left off. Organize & Manage - Easily organize and access all your eBooks seamlessly whether offline or online. Organize your eBooks using virtual bookshelves or place them into Series. Quickly find the eBook you are looking for using the category, tags or author filters. The perfect eBook Organizer & eBook Manager in one. Light & Dark Mode – Dark or Light the preference is yours! Highlights & Annotations - Highlight with your preferred colors and add tags to highlights to keep them organized. Sort your highlights by date or reading progress and easily export them to use in other apps in CSV, Markdown, HTML and PDF formats eBook Cloud - Keep your entire eBook collection at the tips of your fingers by storing them in the cloud and downloading them to read offline only when you need to. Any title just a click away. Text-to-Speech (TTS) - Listen to your favorite eBooks with Apple's native natural-sounding text-to-speech feature. Customize reading speed, voice and accessibility. Ideal for audiobook lovers busy lifestyles and accessible for all readers. Send to Kindle – Organize and quickly send your next read to your Kindle device with one click. Calibre Integration - The perfect Calibre Ally. Sync metadata, custom columns, series, tags and incremental updated PDF & EPUB files to all your devices. Your entire Calibre library on your devices when you need it. Vertical Writing Support - Read Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese eBooks with ease. Image/Area Highlights & Annotations (PDFs) - Easily annotate/highlight images, tables, graphs or even text. Any element at all in your PDF can now be highlighted and annotated. EPUB 3 Support - With support for the full EPUB 3 spec. You can read eBooks with rich interactivity support that includes video, audio, Q&A, games and much more. Widgets – Quickly view and jump back into your last read, currently reading, or highlights right from your home screen with iOS Widgets. Multi-Window Support (iPadOS & macOS) – Open multiple books side by side, drag books into Split View, or read and view highlights simultaneously. Perfect for multitasking, studying, or comparing texts. NOTE: You will need to install the BookFusion Calibre Plugin to sync your eBooks to all your devices. See the tutorial at https://support.bookfusion.com/hc/en-us/articles/360018852052-Installing-Using-the-BookFusion-Plugin-for-Calibre Open With - Don’t like the integrated reader? Use the open with functionality to send and read your eBooks with your preferred app. No lock-in Metadata & Book Details – Know what an eBook is about at a glance or easily edit the cover, description, author tags and other information. Additional Formats Supported via Web - These include: AZW, AZW3, AZW4, CBC, CHM, DJVU, DOCX, FB2, FBZ, HTML, HTMLZ, LIT, LRF, PRC, PDB, PML, RB, RTF, SNB, TCR, TXT, TXTZ in a single app. These must be uploaded via the Web App before using the iOS App Choose from over 70,000 eBooks ◇ Other ◇ Have feedback or just want to chat? We would love to hear from you. Drop us a line at support@bookfusion.com or join us for a chat on Discord at https://www.discord.gg/7v34UYq Terms of Service - https://www.bookfusion.com/terms Privacy Policy - https://www.bookfusion.com/privacy

Screenshots

Learn with Forward Chess4 screens
BookFusion4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Learn with Forward Chess at 12.0 against BookFusion's 15.1. On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Learn with Forward Chess sells 70 one-off in-app purchases and BookFusion sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Learn with Forward Chess against 4.7 for BookFusion. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 334 and 519 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 75% of Learn with Forward Chess's written reviews are positive against 77% of BookFusion's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Learn with Forward Chess ships an update fortnightly, BookFusion every 10 days. Both last shipped on October 17, 2026.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Learn with Forward Chess versus BookFusion: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLearn with Forward ChessBookFusion
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (334 ratings) — better4.7 (519 ratings)
Positive reviews74.8% of reviews76.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings334519 — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size188 MB158 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperForward Chess, LLCBookFusion

Customer experience

Learn with Forward Chess

All ratings334 ratings
Positive96.1%
Neutral2.4%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews123 reviews
Positive74.8%
Neutral9.8%
Negative15.4%

BookFusion

All ratings519 ratings
Positive92.7%
Neutral2.5%
Negative4.8%
Written reviews223 reviews
Positive76.7%
Neutral9.4%
Negative13.9%

User reviews

Learn with Forward Chess

From 334 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great app for chess-book lovers
  • 🚀 Easy to follow or analyze moves with the implemented chessboard
  • 👍 Simple and effective interface
  • 👍 Great to use on mobile device
  • 👍 Larger board and text than Chessable

Room to improve

  • 💰 Books are a little expensive for digital purchases
  • 🐛 App crashes or freezes occasionally
  • 🐛 Loses user's place when reopening the app
  • 🐛 Buggy when navigating between libraries and books
  • 🐛 Analysis engine sometimes doesn't recognize castling possibilities

BookFusion

From 519 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent cross-platform sync
  • 👍 Highly customizable reading experience
  • 🚀 Seamless Calibre integration
  • 👍 Responsive and helpful developers
  • 🚀 Smooth reading experience

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
  • 💰 Subscription model may be costly for some
  • 🔒 Requires account creation to use
  • 🐛 Inconsistent page turn behavior
  • 🐛 Issues with PDF and fixed-layout EPUB support

Bugs and requests

Learn with Forward Chess

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Login issues when changing devices
  • Books not properly filing into libraries
  • App crashing when trying to add books to libraries
  • Losing current position when switching between full screen and normal view
  • Inconsistent behavior when navigating through a book

Requested features

7 requests
  • Allow users to upload their own book PDFs
  • Implement spaced repetition learning program within books
  • Improve search and filtering options in the book store
  • Add more language support beyond English books
  • Provide better syncing of purchases across devices
Show 2 more
  • Improve text formatting and readability
  • Implement highlighting, bookmarking, and note-taking features

BookFusion

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Highlights and notes not always saving properly
  • Reading position sometimes resets unexpectedly
  • Widget not functioning as expected
  • Occasional crashes and freezes
  • Issues with importing certain ebook formats

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add page numbers instead of just percentages
  • Implement a true dark mode
  • Improve PDF viewing and annotation capabilities
  • Add support for DJVU format
  • Provide an option to purchase a lifetime license
Show 1 more
  • Implement better organization tools like folders/shelves

In-app purchases

70 purchases

Learn with Forward Chess

One-time70
  • True Lies in ChessFree
  • CHESS INSIGHT 01/2026$2.99
  • Simple Attacking Plans$9.99
Show 67 more
  • Simple Chess$10.99
  • The Power of Pawns$12.99
  • My System: FastTrack Edition$12.99
  • Play the Mackenzie!$12.99
  • 1001 Ways to Checkmate$12.99
  • My System$13.99
  • The World's Most Instructive Amateur Game Book$14.99
  • Openings for Amateurs$14.99
  • Modern Chess Strategy$14.99
  • Techniques of Positional Play: 45 Practical Methods$15.99
  • American Dream$16.99
  • Zurich Chess Tournament, 1953$16.99
  • Chess Endgame Calculation 1$16.99
  • Chess Strategy for Club Players$16.99
  • 100 Endgames You Must Know$17.99
  • Capablanca the Great Minimalist 1$17.99
  • Attacking Chess for Club Players$17.99
  • Openings for Amateurs - Vol. 3$17.99
  • Capablancas Best Chess Endings$17.99
  • The Most Instructive Games$17.99
  • Improve Your Chess Pattern Recognition$17.99
  • Steps to Giant Improvement$19.99
  • Perpetual Chess Improvement$19.99
  • Playing 1.e4 e5 - A Classical Repertoire$19.99
  • Amateur to IM$19.99
  • The Complete Manual of Positional Chess$19.99
  • Chess Tactics from Scratch$19.99
  • COR: The London System$19.99
  • Attacking the English/Reti$19.99
  • COR: Accelerated Dragon$19.99
  • Mastering Chess Exchanges$19.99
  • Study on Your Own Workbook 3$19.99
  • OR: Strategic Play with 1 e4$19.99
  • Playing 1.d4 d5$19.99
  • Reimagining 1.e4$19.99
  • Beating the QG – Indian Style!$19.99
  • Endgame Studies You Must Know$19.99
  • Pawn Endgames$19.99
  • 100 Tactical Patterns$19.99
  • 100 Tactical Patterns Workbook$19.99
  • Drill Your Chess Strategy!$19.99
  • Thinking Inside the Box - Grandmaster Preparation$19.99
  • Chess Imbalances - a GM Guide$21.99
  • The Modernized Colle-Zukertort$21.99
  • Ding Liren's Best Games$22.99
  • Winning Chess Middlegames 2$22.99
  • Dream Moves$22.99
  • Rock Solid Chess: Volume 3$22.99
  • Positional Decision Making in Chess$23.99
  • Pump Up Your Rating$23.99
  • Chess Structures - A Grandmaster Guide$23.99
  • The Woodpecker Method$23.99
  • Mastering Chess Defence$23.99
  • Associative Thinking$23.99
  • The Philosopher&the Housewife$23.99
  • The Real Paul Morphy$23.99
  • 50 Mistakes You Should Know$23.99
  • The Woodpecker Method 2$23.99
  • Chess Informant 158$24.99
  • A Killer Guide to Attacking Chess$25.99
  • School of Future Champions 1$25.99
  • Chess Informant 161$26.99
  • Vasily Smyslov: Volume II$27.99
  • Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual$27.99
  • Akiba Rubinstein (UCC Series)$29.99
  • Pushing Horizons$29.99
  • OR for Black after 1...e6$29.99
6 purchases

BookFusion

Subscriptions6
  • Casual Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Advanced Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Power Monthly$9.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Casual Yearly$18.991 Year
  • Advanced Yearly$47.991 Year
  • Power Yearly$95.991 Year

Questions

Is Learn with Forward Chess free?
Learn with Forward Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is BookFusion free?
BookFusion is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Learn with Forward Chess or BookFusion?
Learn with Forward Chess is rated higher. Learn with Forward Chess averages 4.8 out of 5 from 334 ratings, while BookFusion averages 4.7 from 519 ratings.
Do Learn with Forward Chess or BookFusion have ads?
Neither Learn with Forward Chess nor BookFusion shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Learn with Forward Chess or BookFusion?
Learn with Forward Chess ships an update fortnightly, and BookFusion every 10 days. Most recently, Learn with Forward Chess was updated on October 17, 2026 and BookFusion on October 17, 2026.

Other comparisons