Comparison

Mobile Bookshelf vs Reading Memory

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

Head to head
About

Mobile Bookshelf

Features
Read full description

The Ultimate App for Managing Your Books and Tracking Your Reading. With Mobile Bookshelf โ€“ Reading Log, your personal bookshelf is always at your fingertips! Easily keep track of your reading history, too. Manage your entire collection of books conveniently from your smartphone. You can also easily manage your reading progress โ€“ track which books you've read, when you read them, or if you're still reading. As an avid reader who often buys and records books, I developed this app based on what I personally wanted. I hope you enjoy using it. [FAQ] Q: Isn't adding books to the app a hassle? A: Not at all! You can easily retrieve book information by scanning barcodes โ€“ no manual input required. Q: Can I add eBooks too? A: Yes! You can manually add eBooks. And in the future, we plan to add a keyword search feature so you can easily fetch book details from search results, making eBook registration even easier. Q: I often forget what each book was about... A: No worries. With the tagging feature, you can link custom keywords to your books. You can quickly find what you're looking for by searching by tags in the book list. Since there's no fixed genre system, the tagging system offers high flexibility and ease of use. [Features Available by Plan] Free Plan โ€“ Add and Update book information (up to 100 books) โ€“ Retrieve book details by barcode scanning โ€“ Book Stats & Charts โ€“ Add and Update tags (unlimited) โ€“ Use tags for searching and organizing Standard Plan โ€“ All features from the Free Plan โ€“ Add and Update book information (up to 500 books) Advanced Plan โ€“ All features from the Standard Plan โ€“ Add and Update unlimited books Prices and features are subject to change. [Payment Information for Paid Plans] Payments will be charged to your App Store account and will automatically renew each month. [Details About Auto โ€“ Renewal] Unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the subscription period, your subscription will automatically renew each month. [Checking Subscription Status & Cancelation] You can check or cancel your subscription from the Settings app on your device. For details, visit Apple Support: https://support.apple.com/118428 [Terms of Service] https://www.houkagomotokiclub.com/activity/app/bookManager/agreement/ios [Privacy Policy] https://www.houkagomotokiclub.com/activity/app/bookManager/policy

About

Reading Memory

This app helps you build a consistent reading habit and retain information from the books you read. It allows you to track reading days, manage your to-read pile, and take private notes on your books. Advanced features like AI-powered key point extraction are available through an optional subscription.

Highlights
  • Build daily reading habits
  • Track reading streaks and finished books
  • Organize to-read and finished book piles
  • Take private notes and sticky notes
  • Search and add books via barcode or title
  • Generate reading cards and badges
  • AI-powered key point extraction (subscription)
Features
Read full description

Make reading a daily habit, and remember the books you've read. Reading Memory keeps every book you read and every line you write, one book at a time, on your own bookshelf. You want to read more, but it never sticks. You finish a book, then can't recall what was in it. The books you bought sit on a pile, unread. Reading Memory is made for that. MAKE READING A DAILY HABIT On days you read, tap "Read today" once. Even a day with one page counts. Your reading days fill a calendar, and your streak and the number of books you finished this year go up. You can also tap from Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets. NEVER FORGET WHAT YOU READ Notes you write while reading show up on your bookshelf a few days later, with how long ago you wrote them ("written 72 days ago"). Read them again and add a line right there. When you reread a book, the notes from your last read are on that book's page. FINISH YOUR TO-READ PILE, ONE BOOK AT A TIME Books you own but haven't started sit in a pile at the bottom of your bookshelf. Tap the pile to start the top book. When you finish one, the app picks the next book from your pile. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No social feed, no followers, no public reviews. Only you can read what you write. โ€” WHAT YOU CAN DO โ—† Bookshelf Finished books stand on a shelf for each year. Books you're reading lie face up, and books you haven't started are stacked. You can also add the books you've already read, one after another. โ—† Add books Search by title or scan the barcode. Book data comes from Google Books, Open Library, openBD, and Rakuten Books. There is no limit on how many books you can add. โ—† Sticky notes for novels Write about characters, lines you loved, and how you felt on sticky notes, and stick them at the page you're on. Move the bookmark to record your page and "Read today". โ—† A notebook for nonfiction Write the book's words and your own thoughts with page numbers. Snap a page to read its text and add the lines you pick as the book's words. Vertical Japanese text works too. Export your notebook as text. โ—† A reading card when you finish Give stars, write one line, and stamp the card. It goes into that year's card box. Save or send the card as an image. โ—† Reading log and badges See your reading days on a calendar, your streak, and how many books you finished. Earn badges at milestones. โ—† Want-to-read list Note who recommended a book or where you saw it. โ—† iPad Works on iPad, in portrait, landscape, and Split View. โ€” MEMORY PLUS (auto-renewable subscription) Adding books, sticky notes, notebooks, reading text from pages, reading cards and stamps, the calendar, and widgets are free for good. Memory Plus adds: โ—† Turn the lines you picked from a page into key points (uses AI) โ—† Look up a word from your notebook across all your books (free shows the number of books and the first line) โ—† Your year in books: everything you read and wrote in a year, in one place โ—† Detailed statistics: books finished per month, genres, ratings, and how books made you feel โ—† Summaries of the notes you wrote (uses AI) Pricing in the US: $39.99 per year / $3.99 per month. Prices vary by region. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically at the same price and period unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel it in Settings โ€บ Apple Account โ€บ Subscriptions. Terms of Use (EULA): https://taniguchi-kyoichi.com/en/products/reading-memory/terms Privacy Policy: https://taniguchi-kyoichi.com/en/products/reading-memory/privacy โ€” Sign in with Apple or Google. No ads. Feedback and bug reports: tap "Contact us" in the app's Settings.

Screenshots

Mobile Bookshelf4 screens
Reading Memory4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Mobile Bookshelf at 15.5 against Reading Memory's 26.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Mobile Bookshelf sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Reading Memory sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 7 level
Mobile Bookshelf versus Reading Memory: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMobile BookshelfReading Memory
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviewsโ€”100.0% of reviews
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetizationโ€”Freemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.5 โ€” better26.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size37 MB48 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerkouten motokiKyoichi Taniguchi

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Mobile Bookshelf

Subscriptions2
  • Standard Plan$0.991 Month
  • Advance Plan$1.991 Month
2 purchases

Reading Memory

Subscriptions2
  • ใƒกใƒขใƒชใƒผใƒ—ใƒฉใ‚นๆœˆ้กใƒ—ใƒฉใƒณ$3.991 Month
  • ใƒกใƒขใƒชใƒผใƒ—ใƒฉใ‚นๅนด้กใƒ—ใƒฉใƒณ$39.991 Year

Questions

Is Mobile Bookshelf free?
Mobile Bookshelf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Reading Memory free?
Reading Memory is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Mobile Bookshelf or Reading Memory have ads?
Neither Mobile Bookshelf nor Reading Memory shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Mobile Bookshelf or Reading Memory?
Mobile Bookshelf ships an update every 2 months, and Reading Memory every 2 months. Most recently, Mobile Bookshelf was updated on October 25, 2026 and Reading Memory on November 5, 2026.

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