Top 10: Social Reading apps

2025. AnyBook invented social book-kiosks for companies



Israeli startup AnyBook has come up with a new idea for companies how to unite employees into a friendly community - by identifying common interests (in reading books). To do this, a book kiosk is installed in your office (for example, in the reception area or in the break room). At first, it is filled with popular (professional or fiction) books by AnyBook itself, but the company management and employees can bring their own books from home and share them via this kiosk. Then, employees can borrow books to read. A mobile app is used to keep track of books - it shows which books are currently on the kiosk shelf and which ones have been borrowed by certain employees. In the same application, employees can share their reviews and recommendations. Thus, soon the team will read the same books and employess have something to talk about. In addition, the startup's AI tracks the company's book preferences and updates the kiosk library, pushing new books that are most likely to interest the employees. The service is already used by several companies such as the Tel Aviv Municipality, Elbit, Amdocs, Playtika, Pango, HiBob and Natural Intelligence.


2023. LillyPad.ai launches OpenBook – a personal AI Book Club feature



Imagine if the universe itself had a book club—one that knew exactly what you wanted to read, what you didn’t, and how best to make you laugh while doing it. That’s precisely what LillyPad.ai is aiming for with its latest, positively galactic invention: the Personal AI Book Club, affectionately titled “Open Book.” This is no ordinary literary gathering. It’s a dynamic reading experience where conversations spring up over anything from the latest science journal to a dusty classic to the headline you barely skimmed over your coffee. True to its slightly madcap vision of AI-driven English learning, LillyPad.ai has crafted “Open Book” to be as interactive and engaging as any good story. Genady Knizhnik of LillyPad.ai explains, in that understated way so beloved by inventors of groundbreaking technology, “Our aim was to create the cozy, intriguing ambiance of a classic book club, only with a personal AI twist, so each reader finds new wonders hidden between the lines.”

2023. Social reading app Fable now provides personalized book recommendations



In the grand galactic bazaar of technological oddities, Apple Books has rolled out an eyebrow-raising collection of audiobooks narrated by artificial intelligence—essentially, digital voices doing their best impressions of the Homo sapiens vocal cords. This move, which might one day inspire future historians to title a chapter "The Revenge of the Machines on the Narrators," seems aimed squarely at rattling the very lucrative and ever-expanding audiobook market. But, like any good drama, it comes with a subplot: potential accusations of anti-competitive shenanigans aimed at Apple’s shiny empire. If you pop into the Books app and type "AI narration" into the search box (because you’re curious, of course), you’ll find a collection of books proudly proclaiming their vocal origins as "a digital voice based on a human narrator." Naturally, this has stirred the pot for voice actors who might feel more than a little usurped, while some authors, faced with the double-edged sword of being asked to narrate their own works, find solace in a peculiar combo—upfront cash and the thought of reaching more eager ears.


2022. TikTok launches a new Book Club



Over the past couple of years, the #BookTok hashtag on TikTok has become a super-popular place to discover and discuss books. So TikTok has decided to open a special Book Club section that will function similarly to #BookTok, but with a more organized structure. Each month, a new book will be announced and community members will be able to read it together and then share their impressions and thoughts. The app will also have a #BookClub section, where users can easily find out the title of the book of the month, as well as start writing and sharing their reviews, comments on book aesthetics or new literary passions. The first book to be discussed will be Jane Austen’s Persuasion, a romantic classic from 1817 that will soon be getting a new film adaptation on Netflix. This choice reflects the #BookTok community’s love of classics, as other popular works like #thegreatgatsby and #prideandprejudice also find fans on TikTok.


2021. Social reading app Bookship adds video chat



Bookship, a social reading application targeted at the Snapchat and Instagram generation, now features secure video chat. It's free for unlimited users, allowing you to share reading experiences with friends, family and book clubs. Additionally, Bookship offers a "Meet the Author" program that connects your reading group with a diverse array of authors through video chat. It also includes many "bookish" features such as a “virtual highlighter” that captures quotes from physical books using your phone camera, spoiler tags, a book discovery environment and a public discussion area called the Cafe, where members can gather via the app and participate in public book readings.


2021. Glose - gamified social book reading app



At first glance, Glose is just another app that let you buy, download and read books on your devices (iOS, Android and web). But it also turns reading process into a multiplayer experience, as you can build a bookshelf, share notes with your followers and start conversations with other users with common interests. Sure, there are already several social platforms that let you talk about books, such as Goodreads. But Glose’s advantage is that the social features are closely linked with the reading features. It has also some gamification features that help you stay motivated as you read difficult books — you get streak rewards for instance. There are +1.000.000 eBooks and audio books to choose from — in literature, romance, history, science, economics, business and more.


2015. Scribd acquired social reading app Librify



Ebook subscription startup Scribd has acquired Librify, a social reading app, the companies announced today. In a brief press release, Scribd claims that Librify’s “emphasis on the social reading experience” made the acquisition worthwhile. The news comes at a competitive time for the publishing industry, as Amazon, Oyster and others vie to be the ultimate Netflix for books — all while offering remarkably similar products. Scribd intends to integrate the start-up’s social features to enhance its own platform with a more robust social e-reading experience. “We appreciate Librify’s focus on the social reading experience and the impressive work they’ve done within reading communities,” Scribd co-founder and CEO Trip Adler said in a statement today. “This acquisition is a natural extension of the existing Scribd product and something we and our readers, have been eager to explore further.”


2014. Glose - mobile ebook reader that turns reading into social experience



Glose is a new reading app for your phone, tablet and laptop, aiming to transform reading into a shared experience. You can discuss quotes with friends and other Glose users, take notes and more. You can also explore a feed of your friends' annotations to get a glimpse of books you haven't yet read. At its core, the team wants to build a small social network around inspiring books. Glose is also launching as an ebook store. On its debut, you will find 300,000 books available for purchase from traditional publishers, including 4 of the 5 major publishers — Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Hachette and Macmillan. Prices are competitive with the Kindle Store and the iBooks Store. As with other platforms, you buy a book once and can read it on all your devices.


2014. Oyster adds social Book Lists to drive discovery



Ebook subscription service Oyster introduces the new feature Book Lists, allowing users to recommend and share personalized collections of titles. Book Lists are now available to all Oyster subscribers at no additional cost, accessible through each user’s profile page. Readers can create lists of any length and share them selectively with other Oyster subscribers as well as on social media channels outside the e-reading platform. User generated recommendations brings Oyster readers a third way to discover new titles, in addition to the platform’s built-in recommendation system–which is driven by both an editorial team and an algorithm–and by browsing freely in Oyster catalog. The new feature arrives at a time when ebook subscription services are fine-tuning their discovery mechanisms and billing them as key selling points for readers. Entitle, another subscription ebook provider, recently upgraded its recommendation system to improve how users discover new content.


2014. Transmedia Story Stream wants to transform books into social games



Transmedia Story Stream is calling itself the Zynga of ebooks. Its revolutionary platform blends social video game mechanics with narrative to allow authors to build, distribute and engage fans in multi-media story worlds. Instead of a downloading a static, dead ePub, readers can log onto story worlds that are alive with fans and friendship and earn rewards while reading. The platform “gamifies” reading with an invitation to users: Don’t just read a book—play it! With Transmedia Story Stream storytellers can create story worlds that can include written word (READ), video (WATCH), audio (LISTEN), casual video games (PLAY), and live events (GATHER).  Transmedia Story Stream is being built on top of Pubsoft's proven HTML5-secure streaming platform. Story worlds can be viewed on any connected device, mobile or tablet.