Scuba vs Listening Library
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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Scuba is a new way to read books on your phone. Browse a curated bookstore, then read with Story Beatsβ’, 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 β’ Story Beatsβ’ designed for reading on your phone β’ Natural vertical swiping β’ Story So Far recaps to help you dive back in β’ Adjustable text size, themes and page design β’ Home Screen widget for your current book β’ Offline reading β’ A curated bookstore of classic books Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Listening Library
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The Listening Library app allows you to play audiobooks no matter where you decide to self-host them! With support for iCloud, Google Drive, Jellyfin, Plex, Audiobookshelf, and just locally on your phone, you just need this one app to get to all of your books. Listening Library has full audio control widgets, a customizable sleep timer, listening stats, the ability to stream or download the audiobook, and more! To be completely transparent, while local files, iCloud, and Google Drive are all free with the your download, if you want to use any of self-hosted servers (Jellyfin, Plex, and AudioBookShelf) you will be asked to pay a small, one-time fee via an In-App Purchase. However, If we add new sources behind the In-App Purchase, you will automatically get them!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Scuba at every 2 days against Listening Library's weekly. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Scuba sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Listening Library sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Scuba ships an update every 2 days, Listening Library weekly. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.
| Parameter | Scuba | Listening Library |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | β |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days β better | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | β |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch β better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 50 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Tim Brown | Matthew Hood |
In-app purchases
Scuba
- Scuba Reading Pass$4.991 Month
- Scuba Reading Pass7 Days trial$24.991 Year
Listening Library
- Server Sources$4.99









