plappa vs Bookoscope
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
plappa
This app is a client for self-hosted media servers like Jellyfin and AudioBookShelf, designed specifically for playing audiobooks. It supports common audio formats, reads metadata, and allows for offline listening with optional in-app purchases for advanced features.
- Jellyfin, Emby, AudioBookShelf client
- Supports common audio formats
- Saves and syncs playback states
- Reads audiobook metadata
- Offline listening (via IAP)
- Podcast and collection support (AudioBookShelf)
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Disclaimer: plappa only works in connection with a Jellyfin or AudioBookShelf media server! plappa is an audiobook player/client for Jellyfin, Emby and AudioBookShelf, the popular self-hosted media server. Features: - Support for most common audio formats - Purpose built for audiobooks - Save and sync playback states via iCloud or your AudioBookShelf server - Reads metadata like author, narrator and others - Download audiobooks and podcast episodes for offline listening* - Support for podcasts, collections and series with AudioBookShelf * plappa allows you to unlock additional features like downloads and customization options through optional in-app purchases: You can choose between a one-time purchase or an auto-renewing subscription (1 month free trial included). The one-time purchase unlocks all current and future updates. With the subscription, all features are available for the duration of your subscription. Both the subscription and one-time purchase can be shared with your family. plappa is licensed under the Apple standard EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Bookoscope
Browse and download public domain ebooks or access your own self-hosted library. This app crawls OPDS endpoints, caches book data, and allows quick export to your preferred ereader.
- Browse self-hosted ebook libraries
- Download public domain classics
- Searchable by metadata
- Cached feeds
- Quick download and export
- Compatible with Calibre-web, Kavita, Ubooquity
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Bookoscope is a fast, searchable ebook catalog. With Bookoscope, you can browse your own self-hosted ebook library as well as download public domain classics from Project Gutenberg. FEATURES: - Fast - Easy on the eyes - Includes over 70,000 public domain books from Project Gutenberg - Uses cached feeds (refresh on demand) - Searchable by any available metadata - Quick download and export to the ereader of your choice COMPATIBLE WITH: - Calibre-web - Kavita - Ubooquity - Any ebook server with OPDS 1.0 functionality WHY USE BOOKOSCOPE? Some ereader apps can connect to OPDS endpoints, but the functionality is tucked away and awkward. There's no way to browse and search all the ebooks you have access to, all at once. Bookoscope fills that niche. It crawls your OPDS endpoints, finds and caches all the books it can, and lets you easily download any of them to your device. From there, you can export them to your preferred ereader. BOOKOSCOPE IS NOT: - An ebook reader, sync client, or annotator, like Apple Books, Google Books, or Kindle. - A metadata editor or organizer, like Calibre. - A self-hosted ebook server, like Kavita, Ubooquity, or calibre-web. Bookoscope may be used with any of the above, but is not affiliated with any other app or tool. WHAT IS OPDS? OPDS is the open standard for web endpoints that expose catalogs of ebooks. Many people use home OPDS servers for their personal ebook libraries. WHAT IF I DON'T HAVE AN OPDS SERVER? That's okay! You can use Bookoscope to browse and download free, completely legal books in the public domain. Start with classics like: - Moby Dick - Frankenstein - Pride and Prejudice - The Great Gatsby - The complete works of William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Frederick Douglass, and more!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: plappa at 87% against Bookoscope's 0%. plappa also leads on price (Free vs $2.99) and ratings volume (338 vs 1). Bookoscope's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 5 weeks). On 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
plappa is free to download; Bookoscope costs $2.99 up front. plappa sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per year. Bookoscope asks for nothing beyond the download.
Bookoscope holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: plappa has 338 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 87% of plappa's written reviews are positive against 0% of Bookoscope's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
plappa ships an update every 5 weeks, Bookoscope every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | plappa | Bookoscope |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $2.99 |
| Rating | 4.7 (338 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 86.5% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 338 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 34 MB | 35 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Leo Wehrfritz | Isaac Lyman |
Customer experience
plappa
Bookoscope
Bugs and requests
plappa
Reported bugs
2 issues- Can't login Audiobookshelf
- Podcasts library not listing all podcasts
Requested features
9 requests- Auto download when start playing book
- Auto delete when finished book
- Option to add multiple servers
- More sorting and filtering options in the library section
- Refresh button for libraries
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- Easy way to change server address without logging out
- Sync the unplayed/unlistened flags with AudiobookShelf
- Shortcut to bookmarks from within the player
- Slider for fine-tuned control of playback speed
Bookoscope
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
plappa
- Subscription (1 Year)1 Month trial$1.991 Year
- Full Version (Lifetime)$4.99
Bookoscope
No in-app purchases
