BookOwl: Reading Tracker
A reading tracker that actually gets out of your way
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Phil Getzen

BookOwl: Reading Tracker - A reading tracker that actually gets out of your way

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BookOwl is a free reading tracker for iOS and web. Import from Goodreads, StoryGraph, or Audible. Barcode scanning, half-star ratings, custom shelves, Year in Review, series tracking, and a Reading Autobiography that captures your identity as a reader. No ads.

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Phil Getzen
Maker
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Hey Product Hunt! I'm Phil, product leader turned solo dev. 12+ years at Disney/ESPN, Twitter, and Microsoft, and I built BookOwl because I got tired of waiting for someone to fix the reading tracker experience. Every year I'd think "maybe this is the year Goodreads finally updates their app." It never was. So I built my own. BookOwl has been on the App Store for a about a month, and I've been iterating quickly. v1.3.0 just shipped, and here's what I'm most proud of: You can import from Goodreads, StoryGraph, AND Audible (beta). I believe you should be able to own your data and bring it with you (export in progress for BookOwl). In Goodreads/StoryGraph, export your CSV or point your camera at your Audible library, and your entire reading history comes with you. Ratings, shelves, reading dates, everything we're able to bring over. Year in Review generates Wrapped-style shareable cards with your reading personality type, top genres, longest streak, and total pages. After requests, shareable cards are now available for Books as well. Series tracking identifies series and shows your reading order. No more Googling "what order do I read this in." It's not just an iPhone app anymore. There's a full web app at bookowlapp.com, and Android is in active development with core features already working. The Reading Autobiography is still my favorite feature. Instead of just showing you "you read 47 books this year," it tells the story of your reading life. What themes keep drawing you back. How your tastes have shifted. It's the feature I wish existed when I was trying to put into words why I love the books I love. And it keeps up with you. As your reading tastes change, so does your autobiography. There are many more features to love (book scanning, reading insights, book recommendations, progress tracking, quarter/half star ratings! and more), so I hope you'll give it a try. This is still a solo project, just me. Every piece of feedback matters. Tell me what's missing, what's broken, what would make you switch. Thanks for checking it out, Phil
Klara Minarikova

I track a lot of things — habits, goals, work streaks — but somehow never my reading. The closest I got was a reading diary in elementary school. The idea of seeing how my taste changes over time might finally get me started. Does it work well for someone who reads in bursts rather than consistently?

Phil Getzen
Maker

@klara_minarikova Yes! That's how I tend to read as well. We do have a few signals we use around reading updates, but the majority of the insights are driven by your overall reading history and recent content. So there will be plenty to enjoy even if only reading in bursts.

Danielle

Love the design. How are you sourcing your book data?

Phil Getzen
Maker

@dolson Thank you! And great question. There are 2 primary ways: 1) Open Library offers data dumps that anyone can use with public book metadata. I use that, and then I cross-enrich the metadata with other services like Hardcover, ISBNdb and Google Books. 2) Users of BookOwl contribute to the overall book database - new books are added to our Book Database, enriched (as needed) by our services and then become available to anyone else reading that book.

Andrei Tudor

Congrats on the launch! The Reading Autobiography is a genuinely interesting idea, most trackers just give you stats but the "why you read what you read" angle is something else entirely.

Curious how it handles rereads. Do they count separately or does it track how your relationship with the same book changes over time?

Juhi Sharma

WOW! As an avid reader, I have always wanted an app / tracker where I can actually track my books and understand the patterns of my reading habits, genres, authors and much more. Goodreads was the only platform which was close to a "tracker" I had. I always wanted something like a Spotify Yearly wrap-up or Youtube Music journey which summarises my yearly music habits and tastes.

A quick suggestion... can you also have a widget feature where I can place this as my widget in the homescreen?

I'll definitely definitelyyy try this app! Thanks much for releasing this!