BetterReads

BetterReads

In-app purchases

About this app

BetterReads is a serious reading system: help that stays beside the text, for curated classics, books you import, and papers you mark up.

Stay inside the book
Tap characters, terms, and difficult lines for short explanations—without leaving the page. Chapter, Stage, and Epic Lenses match the shape of the text. Optional companions sit next to the book; they never replace it.

Read
• Growing library of public-domain classics—pathways, curated lists, and original-language shelves
• LibriVox audiobooks on many titles—listen in the app or follow along beside the text
• Import EPUBs from Files; continue where you stopped with progress and reading time on that edition
• Track a book you read on paper or Kindle when the file lives elsewhere

Research
• Import PDFs—essays, scans, papers—and read them as books, not downloads
• Contents and notes in side panels; search, highlights, and Explain that jumps back to the page it quoted
• Native PDF reader on iPhone, iPad, and Mac

Study
• Today's Review turns glossary entries, notes, and saved passages into spaced recall
• Try in your own words first, then reveal what you saved—optional coaching only after your attempt

Your reading, not another shelf app
Progress, highlights, and study cards attach to the edition you opened. Want to read, Continue, Finished, or Did not finish—editable dates and half-star ratings when you're done. Link duplicate editions so one novel doesn't become three rows. (Import Goodreads history on the web bookshelf; sync keeps your library on phone and Mac.)

Built for depth—not feeds
No social graph, no summary skimming, no distraction feed. A calm reader for people who want to finish hard books—not just log them.

Sync your bookshelf with betterreads.online on phone, tablet, and web.

Scholar (optional subscription) unlocks full chapter companions and deeper study tools.

What’s new

• Saved is now Want to read; Did not finish is its own shelf; editable started dates
• Half-star ratings and re-read support; unfinish books from Finished
• Mac: EPUB/PDF in separate windows; PDF reader overhaul; font size back in reader menu
• Reading themes (light/sepia/gray/dark); glossary & highlight popups polished
• Saved annotation cards redesigned; glossary notes save in one tap
• More reliable sync — Goodreads import progress and shelf counts stay correct