Comparison

Scuba vs Folio Reader

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

Head to head
About

Scuba

Discover and read classic books with a modern, mobile-first approach. This app breaks down stories into digestible beats, using vertical swipes for natural phone navigation. Story recaps and offline reading features help you maintain your reading habit.

Highlights
  • Story beats for easier reading
  • Recaps to remember story progress
  • Vertical swiping for phone reading
  • Home screen widget for current book
  • Offline reading support
  • Curated bookstore
Read full description

Scuba is a new way to read books on your phone. Browse a curated bookstore, then read with Story Beats™, a new reading experience designed for your phone. Natural vertical swiping, beautifully designed pages and Story So Far recaps make books feel at home on your screen. Your first book is free. Features • Story Beats™ designed for reading on your phone • Natural vertical swiping • Story So Far recaps to help you dive back in • Adjustable text size, themes and page design • Home Screen widget for your current book • Offline reading • A curated bookstore of classic books Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Folio Reader

Organize your reading life by tracking books, saving quotes, and writing personalized reviews. This app provides a private space for your literary journey, syncing your library securely via iCloud.

Highlights
  • Organize books by reading status
  • Scan barcodes to add titles
  • Extract text from book pages using camera
  • Customizable book ratings and reviews
  • Share book recommendations
  • Private, iCloud-synced library
Features
Read full description

A home for the books you read. Folio keeps the books you've read, the passages you saved, and the reviews you wrote. All in one place, and all your own. Your library Every book has its place: Reading, On the Shelf, Finished, or Set Aside. Add a title by searching for it or scanning the barcode, and it shows up with its cover. Open Folio and pick up right where you left off. Quotes and notes Found a line worth keeping? Point your camera at the page and Folio pulls the words off it. Note the page, mark who said it, and the passage joins the rest of what you've collected. Snap the line and keep reading. More than stars Rate the prose, the characters, the pacing, or make up your own categories. Write the kind of review that actually sounds like you, not a row of stars and a shrug. Pass a good book Turn a book into a card worth sending, or share a link that drops it straight into a friend's Folio with one tap. The good ones are meant to travel. Privacy first No social feed, no social anxiety. Your books, quotes, notes, and reviews live on your devices and in your own iCloud, synced privately between them. There's no Folio account, and nothing we can see. You decide what to share, if anything at all. Always yours, always safe Your library syncs through your own iCloud, so it's safe even when your phone isn't. Get a new iPhone or reinstall Folio, and everything's right where you left it. Nothing to set up, nothing to remember. Folio is for readers who'd rather keep their reading close and private.

Screenshots

Scuba4 screens
Folio Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Folio Reader at none against Scuba's 1. On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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. Scuba sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $24.99 per year. Folio Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Scuba ships an update every 3 days, Folio Reader every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Scuba versus Folio Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScubaFolio Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 6 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size50 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTim BrownVinner Escobar

Customer experience

Scuba

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Folio Reader

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Scuba

Subscriptions1
  • Scuba Reading Pass$24.991 Year
None

Folio Reader

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Scuba free?
Scuba is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Folio Reader free?
Folio Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Scuba or Folio Reader have ads?
Neither Scuba nor Folio Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Scuba or Folio Reader?
Scuba ships an update every 3 days, and Folio Reader every 6 days. Most recently, Scuba was updated on October 8, 2026 and Folio Reader on October 17, 2026.

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