Comparison

BorrowBox vs Sunshine Stories

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

Head to head
About

BorrowBox

Access a vast collection of eAudiobooks, eBooks, eMagazines, and eNewspapers from your local library. Browse, borrow, and enjoy digital content seamlessly across all your devices with features like language browsing and automatic new issue downloads.

Highlights
  • Borrow eAudiobooks, eBooks, eMagazines, eNewspapers
  • Read or listen directly in the app
  • Curated collections and themes
  • Multi-language browsing
  • Automatic new issue downloads for subscriptions
  • Cross-device sync for reading/listening progress
  • Adjustable playback speed and sleep timer
Features
Read full description

Discover the Ultimate Library Experience – Borrow eAudiobooks, eBooks, eMagazines, and eNewspapers – All in One Place. With BorrowBox, browsing, borrowing, reading, or listening has never been simpler. Take your library with you, wherever you go, whenever you want. If your local library offers BorrowBox, simply sign in with your membership details to unlock a world of digital reading and listening. ALL YOUR LIBRARY FAVOURITES, ONE APP Explore eAudiobooks, eBooks, eMagazines, and eNewspapers – all the formats your library offers, all in one place. EVERYTHING IN ONE PLACE Read or listen to your borrowed titles directly in the app. No extra downloads, no extra steps. MADE FOR YOU Enjoy curated collections and themes that make discovering your next read and listen a breeze. BROWSE IN ANY LANGUAGE Our Language Browsing feature makes it simple to find content in multiple languages, tailored for different audiences. NEVER MISS A RELEASE Subscribe to your favourite eMagazines or eNewspapers, and they’ll be borrowed and downloaded automatically as new issues arrive. STAY IN SYNC Your reading and listening progress seamlessly follows you across all your devices. TAILORED TO YOU Set a sleep timer for your eAudiobooks, add your favourites to your reading lists, and adjust playback speed to suit your listening style.

About

Sunshine Stories

Create personalized picture books starring your child and their loved ones. Choose themes and interests to generate unique stories with custom illustrations and narration. Review and edit every page before adding it to your digital family library.

Highlights
  • Personalized story creation
  • Custom character portraits
  • Child-interest driven narratives
  • Editable pages before finalization
  • Full-page illustrations
  • Optional narration
  • Print-ready PDF export
Features
Read full description

Sunshine Stories turns the people your child loves into storybook stars. Pick the cast — your child, siblings, pets, grandparents — and tell us what they love right now: dinosaurs, rocket ships, mermaids, monster trucks. We write a one-of-a-kind picture book around them, illustrate every page, add narration, and put it on your family shelf, ready to read together. MADE AROUND YOUR CHILD • Build a cast from the people (and pets) your child loves — anyone can star in the story • Snap or upload a photo and we create a storybook portrait that actually looks like them • Stories shaped by your child's interests, written for ages 3–7 • Weave in an optional lesson — sharing, bravery, trying new things — naturally, never preachy YOU APPROVE EVERY PAGE • Read and edit every word before a single page is painted • Ask for a rewrite or a fresh painting on any page until it's just right • Give the final "Looks great" before the book joins your shelf A LIBRARY THAT GROWS WITH THEM • Warm, full-page illustrations in a consistent style from cover to cover • Narration that reads each book aloud, page by page • Keep every book on your family shelf and read it any time • Share a book with grandparents and friends, or export a print-ready PDF SUBSCRIPTION Sunshine Stories is free to download and browse. Creating books requires a subscription, billed through your Apple account. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; manage or cancel any time in your Apple account settings. Terms of Service: https://sunshinestories.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://sunshinestories.app/privacy

Screenshots

BorrowBox4 screens
Sunshine Stories4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: BorrowBox at none against Sunshine Stories's 2. BorrowBox also leads on ratings volume (878 vs 4) and chart position (#83 vs unranked). Sunshine Stories's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 77%) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). On price, ads and iOS requirement 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. Sunshine Stories sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. BorrowBox asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sunshine Stories holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: BorrowBox has 878 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 77% of BorrowBox's written reviews are positive against 100% of Sunshine Stories's.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
BorrowBox versus Sunshine Stories: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBorrowBoxSunshine Stories
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (878 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.6% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings878 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 6 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterSubscription
Best chart rank#83 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size172 MB91 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBolinda digitalErik Galloway

Customer experience

BorrowBox

All ratings876 ratings
Positive92.4%
Neutral3.1%
Negative4.6%
Written reviews1,593 reviews
Positive76.6%
Neutral10.5%
Negative12.9%

Sunshine Stories

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

BorrowBox

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App crashes after recent update
  • Loses reading progress when switching devices
  • Night mode issues with invisible text
  • Audiobook controls not working with Bluetooth
  • Inconsistent behavior when using sleep timer

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add a wishlist or reading list feature
  • Improve search and filtering capabilities
  • Implement bookmark/progress tracking for audiobooks
  • Integrate with Apple CarPlay for safer driving
  • Add user reviews and ratings for books

Sunshine Stories

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

BorrowBox

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Sunshine Stories

Subscriptions2
  • Storyteller$9.991 Month
  • Family$19.991 Month

Questions

Is BorrowBox free?
BorrowBox is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Sunshine Stories free?
Sunshine Stories is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, BorrowBox or Sunshine Stories?
Sunshine Stories is rated higher. BorrowBox averages 4.7 out of 5 from 878 ratings, while Sunshine Stories averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do BorrowBox or Sunshine Stories have ads?
Neither BorrowBox nor Sunshine Stories shows ads.

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