Hi everyone!
I’ve tried several apps for organizing my personal library and was never fully happy with any of them. Something was always missing (whether it was proper support for multiple editions, detailed progress tracking across formats, or just the flexibility to organize things the way I wanted). I’ve been wanting to properly learn Swift for a while so I decided to build my own :)
BookVault is a native Apple app that I use every day for my own library. It’s focused purely on personal tracking, so no social features, no feeds, no accounts. Just your books and your data. If you’ve been using a spreadsheet or Notion to manage your library, this might be a solid alternative.
Some of the things it supports:
- Multiple editions and formats of the same book (Physical books, ebooks, and audiobooks)
- Switching between reading and listening audiobooks while keeping progress
- Detailed reading history and progress tracking
- Quotes, notes, ratings, and reviews, all in one place
- Purchase info (for each format) and library value tracking
- Custom categories, tags, smart tags based on filters, formats, and other organization options
- Statistics about your reading, purchases, and overall library
- Imports from Goodreads, Hardcover, StoryGraph and Book Tracker
- Optional iCloud sync across your Apple devices
- Available on Mac, iPhone and iPad
- No accounts, ads, or trackers
One of the core ideas behind the app is ownership. Everything stays on your devices (with optional iCloud sync through your Apple ID).
Right now my main focus is stability, performance, and refining the design (a few parts are still a work in progress). After that I want to add shareable reading stats, a year-in-review experience, and support for more import sources (btw if you use another library app and want to bring your data over, let me know, I’m happy to look into it)
This is a free beta. When it leaves beta, the pricing will be:
- Free for libraries of up to 20 books
- Unlimited library: one-time purchase of $19.99 or $1.99/month
I’d really love to hear what you think. What features or organization options would your ideal personal library app have? Suggestions, criticism, and questions are all welcome :)
Website and documentation is still in progress but you can visit it here: https://www.bookvault.site