Comparison

Mango Bookshelf vs My Pocket Library App

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

Head to head
About

Mango Bookshelf

Easily track your reading progress and time spent with this app. Scan book barcodes or add them manually to build your digital library. Monitor your reading habits over time and encourage a love for books.

Highlights
  • Scan book barcodes to add to library
  • Manual book entry
  • Organize books by reading status
  • View detailed book information
  • Built-in reading timer
  • Track reading statistics
Features
Read full description

Mango Bookshelf makes reading more fun! Built for young readers and their families, it's the easiest way to keep track of what you're reading and how much time you spend doing it. SCAN & COLLECT Use your camera to scan a book's barcode and instantly add it to your bookshelf. No barcode? Add books manually with just a title and author. YOUR BOOKSHELF See all your books organized into "Still Reading" and "Finished" sections. Tap the emoji to mark a book as done, and swipe to remove books you no longer want. BOOK DETAILS Tap any book to see its cover image, synopsis, publish date, page count, subjects, and more books by the same author — all loaded automatically. READING TIMER Start the timer when you sit down to read. It keeps tracking even when your iPad is locked! Stop and save your session when you're done. READING STATS See how much you've read today, this week, this month, this year, and all time. Watch your reading time grow! Mango Bookshelf was built by a parent and a child learning to code together. We hope it helps your family fall in love with reading too.

About

My Pocket Library App

Features
Read full description

Your books deserve more than a list. My Pocket Library turns your reading into a personal, hand-arranged bookshelf. Add the books you own, place them exactly where you want, photograph their covers and spines, write notes on index cards, track every page, decorate your shelves, and watch your reading carry you across the Earth and out through the universe. BUILD YOUR OWN BOOKCASE Your library begins as an empty bookcase. Every book has its own position. Move it. Leave a gap. Stack it flat. Turn it face-out. ADD A BOOK YOUR WAY - Scan the barcode with your camera. Real book identifiers only, and scanning a book you already own opens it rather than quietly making a second copy. - Type an ISBN, checked before anything is fetched. - Photograph the cover with the document scanner, then crop it. A guided camera does the same for spines. - Enter everything by hand. Google Books and Open Library are both consulted and their answers combined: title, author, pages, publisher, year, description, subjects and cover art. Nothing is added until you press Place on Shelf. CHOOSE THE COVER THAT MATCHES YOUR BOOK Every candidate cover is tested before it is offered, and your own photograph is always an option. OPTIONAL AI COVER READING Cover recognition starts on your device. If it cannot settle the book, you may press Ask AI to Read the Cover. Only then is the image sent for AI-assisted reading, and the result is checked against the catalogues before being offered to you. MAKE EVERY BOOK LOOK LIKE YOUR BOOK Photograph the cover, spine and back. Your spine photograph can appear on the shelf itself, or design the spine yourself: label, thickness, height, colour and binding style. TRACK WHAT YOU ARE READING Reading, Completed, Want to Read, On Hold or DNF, with progress by page. Rate books out of five and mark favourites. Write notes styled as ruled index cards, each with an optional page number and date. DECORATE YOUR LIBRARY Hundreds of illustrated objects, from plants, lights and art to curios, book nooks, music and travel pieces, placed wherever you like. Choose the bookcase wood, the room frame, shelf backgrounds, lighting and fairy lights, shelf labels and your default binding. Rename and reorder shelves, and invent your own categories. SEASONS AT WINTERLIGHT Around Christmas the library dresses for the season: snow on the shelves, frost on the frame, a countdown to a gift on Christmas Day and a best-library contest. Turn the Christmas look off in Profile at any time. YOUR TOP SHELF ON THE HOME SCREEN Add the widget and your first shelf, photographs included, sits on the home screen. FIND ANYTHING Search by title, author or shelf. Filter by status or shelf. Sort by shelf order, date added, title, author, progress or rating, without losing the layout you arranged by hand. WISHLIST, STATS AND READING LOG Want to Read books collect in your Wishlist. Stats show books finished, reading now, pages read, average rating, favourites and your shelf mix. The Reading Log keeps a dated timeline. THE ATLAS Pages you finish become distance. Your journey begins around the Earth and continues into space, past the Moon and the planets and on toward the edge of the observable universe. New drives unlock as distances grow, and milestones earn badges in a Mission Log. Start from your own location, or choose a city. WORKS OFFLINE, SYNCS EVERYWHERE Add books, move things and write notes with no connection; everything syncs when you return. Sign in on another device and your library is there. The app speaks more than 30 languages; choose yours in Profile. FREE AND PRIVATE BY DESIGN Free to use, with no purchases. No public feed, no messaging, no advertising. Measurement and notifications run only if you allow them, and you can change your mind any time in Profile. Camera, photos and location are asked for only when needed. Terms of use: https://mypocketlibrary.com/terms.html Privacy policy: https://mypocketlibrary.com/privacy.html

Screenshots

Mango Bookshelf3 screens
My Pocket Library App4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: My Pocket Library App at 15.4 against Mango Bookshelf's 18.1. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 days. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
Mango Bookshelf versus My Pocket Library App: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMango BookshelfMy Pocket Library App
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 daysEvery 4 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.115.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB158 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperStuart KochDNA TECHBASE SRL

In-app purchases

None

Mango Bookshelf

No in-app purchases

None

My Pocket Library App

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Mango Bookshelf free?
Mango Bookshelf is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is My Pocket Library App free?
My Pocket Library App is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Mango Bookshelf or My Pocket Library App have ads?
Neither Mango Bookshelf nor My Pocket Library App shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Mango Bookshelf or My Pocket Library App?
Mango Bookshelf ships an update every 4 days, and My Pocket Library App every 4 days. Most recently, Mango Bookshelf was updated on October 31, 2026 and My Pocket Library App on October 31, 2026.

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