Smart Steps Mobile vs Bookshare Reader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Smart Steps Mobile
This app guides individuals with disabilities through challenging everyday situations with step-by-step instructions and helpful prompts. It offers customizable decision trees, safety tips, and emergency contact features to foster independence and reduce anxiety.
- Step-by-step decision trees
- Read-Aloud buttons
- Profile screen for information sharing
- Map button for directions
- Emergency contact features
- Customizable decision trees with images (upgrade)
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Take the next step with confidence. Smart Steps helps teens and adults with disabilities handle tricky moments—one tap at a time. Whether it’s starting a new job, getting around campus, or asking for help, this app walks you through what to do. Designed by a teacher, Smart Steps is built for neurodivergent users, including those with autism, ADHD, intellectual and developmental disabilities, Down syndrome, or brain injuries. With simple Decision Trees and just-in-time tips, it’s like having a calm coach in your pocket. How it works: Pick a Decision Tree and follow one step at a time. You’ll get reminders, social cues, and safety tips when you need them most. End with a Success screen—or call for Backup if you need extra help. Features include: • Read-Aloud buttons (great for speaking out loud too!) • A Profile Screen to share helpful info • A Map Button for directions • Emergency Contacts for calls/texts (with upgrade) • A Decision Tree Maker to customize steps and add images (with upgrade) Plans available: Free Plan – Try it out! Includes built-in Decision Trees, Profile Screen, Map, and Read-Aloud. Monthly/Annual Plan – Unlock tree editing, image uploads, contact storage, and color customization. Group Plans – Share trees with a classroom, workplace, or family (2+ licenses). Build independence, reduce stress, and support problem-solving—one small win at a time. Learn more or sign up at SmartSteps4me.com Watch a quick intro: bit.ly/SmartStepsMobileIntro
Bookshare Reader
Access a vast library of ebooks designed for individuals with reading barriers. Enjoy high-quality audio narration and customize your reading experience with adjustable fonts, colors, and speeds. Continue reading seamlessly from where you left off.
- Access millions of ebooks
- High-quality audio narration
- Customizable reading experience
- Adjustable font size and colors
- Follow along with highlighted text
- Offline reading
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Get the official Bookshare Reader app. Access millions of ebooks from Bookshare, the world's largest library of ebooks for people with reading barriers like dyslexia, blindness, low vision, and physical disabilities. Listen to books in high quality audio and customize your reading experience in ways that work for you. Read bestsellers, new releases, textbooks and educational books, children’s books, young adult, mysteries, biographies, and more. Read your way with these customizable features: • Listen to books in high quality audio • Adjust reading speed, font size, and colors • Follow along with highlighted text • Navigate by page and chapter • Stop reading and pick up from your last spot • Download books and read offline To use Bookshare Reader, you must have a Bookshare membership. Learn more by visiting the Bookshare website.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Smart Steps Mobile at 4.3 against Bookshare Reader's 3.3. Smart Steps Mobile also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.4). Bookshare Reader's advantage is review sentiment (36% vs 0%) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 8 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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.
Smart Steps Mobile holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bookshare Reader has 68 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 0% of Smart Steps Mobile's written reviews are positive against 36% of Bookshare Reader's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Smart Steps Mobile ships an update every 8 months, Bookshare Reader every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 20, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Smart Steps Mobile | Bookshare Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (3 ratings) — better | 3.3 (68 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 35.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 68 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 8 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 23 MB | 81 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | SmartSteps | Beneficent Technology, Inc. |
Customer experience
Smart Steps Mobile
Bookshare Reader
Bugs and requests
Smart Steps Mobile
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Bookshare Reader
Reported bugs
42 issues- Prolonged pauses in text-to-speech
- Library not syncing across devices
- Reading lists not syncing
- Reading progress not saved across devices
- Manga stuck on copyright page
Show 37 moreShow fewer
- Pages disappear during reading
- Trouble downloading books
- Frequent app crashes
- App won't load books
- App shuts down when typing
- App crashing repeatedly
- Books disappearing from library
- Cannot download added books
- Search tab closes the app
- Poor VoiceOver compatibility
- App crashes on any click
- Text-to-speech voice change kicks user out
- Copyright issues preventing audio playback
- Download errors
- Playback stops when screen is locked
- Clunky user interface
- Picture books not displaying images
- Unable to play videos from other sources
- Form controls not coded correctly for VoiceOver
- Cannot delete searched titles from library
- App requires screen to be on for reading
- Blank screen after orientation change
- Too many bugs and crashes
- Next chapter fails to load
- Blank white page after pausing and resuming
- Table of Contents only shows first few chapters
- App displays as phone screen on iPad
- Cannot access reading lists
- Synthesized speech has limited control
- Speech randomly cuts off
- Reading stops if phone ringer is off
- Pause/Play restarts from chapter beginning
- Text-to-speech voices do not indicate language
- Voice selection process is cumbersome
- No functional stop and start button
- Limited speaking speed options
- Paragraph by paragraph reading limitation
Requested features
38 requests- Fix prolonged pauses in text-to-speech
- Sync library across devices
- Sync reading lists across devices
- Save reading progress across devices
- Fix manga page navigation
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- Fix disappearing pages bug
- Improve book download reliability
- Fix app crashes
- Fix app shutdown when typing
- Improve VoiceOver compatibility
- Allow adjustment of speaking rate by specific value
- Make reading lists accessible
- Add highlighting for textbooks
- Improve navigation of Contents menu
- Highlight current location in Contents menu
- Include missing video content in textbooks
- Fix copyright issues for audio playback
- Allow background playback
- Add ability to listen to human-narrated audiobooks
- Add 'Read Now' for periodicals
- Add VoiceOver gestures for page turning
- Add percentage of reading completed on mobile devices
- Make downloaded books tab default on opening app
- Fix inability to delete searched titles
- Add 'where am I' feature (page/percentage)
- Fix blank screen after orientation change
- Make app accessible for students without teacher assignment
- Fix next chapter loading issue
- Fix blank white page after pause
- Fix incomplete Table of Contents
- Improve app scaling on iPad
- Fix inability to access reading lists
- Allow users to choose which word reader begins reading
- Fix paragraph by paragraph reading limitation
- Indicate language for text-to-speech voices
- Improve voice selection process
- Add functional stop and start button
- Increase speed options for text-to-speech
In-app purchases
Smart Steps Mobile
No in-app purchases
Bookshare Reader
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Smart Steps Mobile free?
Is Bookshare Reader free?
Which has better reviews, Smart Steps Mobile or Bookshare Reader?
Do Smart Steps Mobile or Bookshare Reader have ads?
Which is updated more often, Smart Steps Mobile or Bookshare Reader?
Other comparisons
