About Owls vs BookOwl
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
About Owls
Explore the fascinating world of owls with this informative book for young readers. Discover what they eat, where they sleep, and how they differ from each other. Learn about specific owl species and their unique characteristics.
- Answers common owl questions
- Details different owl species
- Explains owl diets and hunting
- Discusses owl habitats worldwide
- Covers owl mythology
- Focuses on Elf, Barn, and Great Horned Owls
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What do owls eat? Where do they sleep? Can they see in the daytime? Young readers will find answers to these and many other questions about owls in this lively, informative book. They’ll discover that there are many different kinds of owls, living in every country in the world. They’ll learn what all owls have in common, how they differ from each other, and some of the popular mythology that surrounds them. The author focuses on three owls – the Elf Owl, the Barn Owl, and the Great Horned Owl. She tells what each looks like… where he lives… what he eats… how he hunts for food… and how he escapes his enemies. May Garelick is the author of many award-winning books for young readers, including Where Does the Butterfly Go When It Rains?, Look at the Moon, and What Makes a Bird a Bird?
BookOwl
Organize your reading life with this free companion app. Build your personal library, track your progress, and customize your profile. Import data from other services and scan books instantly. Enjoy personalized recommendations and share your reading insights.
- Barcode scanner for instant book addition
- Import from Goodreads, StoryGraph, Audible, Libby
- Customizable profile with aurora colors
- Half and quarter-star rating system
- Custom shelves and curated book lists
- Reading progress tracking
- Yearly reading goals and streaks
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Your reading life, delightfully organized. BookOwl is a free reading companion for people who love books. Build your personal library, track what you're reading, and make the app feel like yours, all without ads, clutter, or data harvesting. Available on iOS and at bookowlapp.com. NEW: THE SIT TAB The Sit tab gives reading sessions a home. Start a sit, set a timer, and read. BookOwl keeps you company. Capture a mood, a scene, or a pinned moment mid-read without losing your place (speak it instead of typing, if you like). When you close the book, a wrap-up card logs how far you got and how the sit felt. A COMPLETELY REDESIGNED LIBRARY: Your library now opens like a magazine. A masthead greets you with the books you're reading now, The Lead carousel keeps your current reads one swipe away, and your shelves sit beneath. Pinch to zoom from big covers down to a compact index. The new Contents view puts shelves, filters, and sorting in one place, with breadcrumb chips showing what's active. YOUR THOUGHTS, ORGANIZED BY BOOK: Everything you capture lands where you'll find it again: pinned passages on the book's page, your moods across the book's arc, even why you set a book down. Make the capture chips your own with custom moods and scenes. Your written thoughts stay private, always. TRACK PROGRESS WITHOUT THE FUSS: Update your page, your status, and your reading dates in one place with the new progress editor. Edit or delete any past read. Your history stays accurate and syncs everywhere. MAKE IT YOURS WITH 12 THEMES: Every theme hand-tuned, from the warm sepia of Quiet Warmth to the banker's-lamp green of Reading Room, all meeting accessibility contrast standards. YOUR PROFILE, YOUR WAY: Five tabbed sections: Overview, Collections, Reviews, Stats, and Personal. Choose which reading stats sit front and center. Pick your aurora colors. Arrange your sections. PRIVACY THAT MAKES SENSE: One toggle. Three options: Public, Friends Only, or Private. Visitors see a friendly banner explaining what's shared. IMPORT FROM ANYWHERE: Switching from another app? Import your full reading history from Goodreads, StoryGraph, Audible (via OCR), or Libby. Your ratings, shelves, and reading dates all come with you. Export to CSV or JSON anytime. Your data belongs to you. SCAN BOOKS IN SECONDS: Point your camera at any barcode. BookOwl identifies it instantly and adds it to your library. Stack of books at a used bookstore? Scan them all in one session. ORGANIZE YOUR WAY: Custom shelves and curated lists for any purpose: "Beach Reads," "Book Club," "Lent to Friends." FIND YOUR NEXT READ: Personalized recommendations, author pages, series with reading order, and a catalog of millions of books. USE IT ANYWHERE: Web app at bookowlapp.com with the same profile and achievements. Your data syncs across devices. BUILT FOR READERS, NOT ADVERTISERS: No ads. No engagement tricks. No data selling. Just a calm, thoughtful space for your reading life, built by a reader, for readers. • Sit tab: timed reading sessions with a wrap-up card • Capture moods, scenes, and pinned moments mid-read • Voice capture: speak your thoughts without stopping • Redesigned Library: The Lead carousel and pinch-to-zoom shelves • Barcode scanner: add books in seconds • Import from Goodreads, StoryGraph, Audible, or Libby • Export your library to CSV or JSON • Progress editor: pages, status, and dates in one place • Edit or delete past reads anytime • 12 hand-tuned themes and alternate app icons • Customizable profile with aurora colors and hero stats • Half-star and quarter-star ratings • Custom shelves, collections, and curated book lists • Yearly reading goals and streaks • Year in Review: shareable reading personality cards • Series tracking with reading order • Privacy controls: Public, Friends Only, or Private • Social features: follow friends, reviews, profiles Whether you read 5 books a year or 50, BookOwl helps you remember every one. Whooo's ready to get started?
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Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: BookOwl at every 11 days against About Owls's every 2 months. BookOwl also leads on ratings volume (44 vs 4). About Owls's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 18.0). On price, review sentiment, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
About Owls holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: BookOwl has 44 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of About Owls's written reviews are positive against 92% of BookOwl's.
About Owls ships an update every 2 months, BookOwl every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | About Owls | BookOwl |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better | 4.8 (44 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 92.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 44 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 11 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 234 MB | 50 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Daniella Alpher | Phil Getzen |
Customer experience
About Owls
BookOwl
In-app purchases
About Owls
No in-app purchases
BookOwl
No in-app purchases









