Frequently Asked Questions

Reading List is free to use, has no ads and keeps your data private. Some specific features require a payment to unlock Reading List Pro; charging for these features helps support the development of the app.

No: if you purchase Reading List Pro it will be available on all of your devices logged in to your iCloud account.

If you've paid for Reading List Pro but it is not showing up in the app, tap the Restore button shown on the Reading List Pro screen. This will force the app to check whether the purchase has been completed.

Nope! Your book data stays on your own device, and in your private iCloud account (if Backup or Sync is configured) – user book data is hidden from me and from anyone else.

Goodreads is a useful app, but there few negatives when using it as a reading journal:

• It requires continuous internet connectivity to use. If offline (for example if on a plane or subway), it can't be used.
• The process of logging a book's start or finish date, or moving a book between shelves, takes multiple taps, often with loading screens between each tap.
• There are many more features than the book journal features. This means it can be quite confusing to use.

Reading List was developed out of a frustration of these kind of issues! The app is fully functional while offline, and has been developed to make the journal interaction aspects as simple and quick as possible.

The online book metadata lookup is provided by Google Books. Google Books does not index every ISBN that exists for a given book, so sometimes the barcode scan functionality will not find the book. In those cases, however, another edition of the book can be found by searching for the ISBN – if this occurs, tap Yes when asked if you wish to perform a more general search. If the book cannot be found even when performing a general search, it may be that Google Books does not know about the book. In this case, the book metadata may have to be entered manually into the app.

Make sure you have the latest version of Reading List installed, and follow Apple's instructions on how to add widgets to your homescreen or lockscreen.

When viewing any list of books, you will see a little up-and-down-arrows icon in the top right of the list. Tap this button to choose a different sort order.

Reading List automatically backs up your data to iCloud on a daily basis. So if you lose or replace your device, you'll be prompted to restore your data on the new device. The backup frequency can be configured at Settings > Backup & Restore.

Unfortunately, there are no plans to develop an Android version of Reading List: the app is only available on iPhone, iPad and macOS.