Support & Help

How to add a book

Tap the + button on your library screen. You can:

• Search by title or author — Booklore looks up book details from Open Library (with Google Books as a fallback). Booklore makes network requests for exactly two things: looking up book details, and — unless you switch it off — downloading a cover image once.
• Scan a barcode — Point your camera at the ISBN barcode on the back cover. Booklore uses Apple's built-in AVFoundation barcode detection — the scan runs entirely on your device, and no image is ever uploaded.
• Add manually — Enter the title, author, and other details yourself.

How the reading timer works

Open a book from your library and tap Start Reading to begin a session. The timer tracks your reading time. When you're done, tap Stop and log the page you reached. Booklore saves the session — you can see all your past sessions and total reading time in your stats.

The timer pauses properly — paused time is not counted as reading time.

How to import and export CSV

Import: Go to Settings and tap Import CSV. Select a CSV file from your device. The file should have columns for title, author, and optionally pages, rating, and reading dates. Booklore will match and add the books to your library. Coming from Goodreads? See the step-by-step Goodreads import guide.

Export: Go to Settings and tap Export CSV. Booklore will create a CSV file with your full library that you can save, share, or open in a spreadsheet.

How to turn cover art downloads off

Go to Settings → Cover Art. You can switch off automatic cover downloads entirely. When cover downloads are off, Booklore makes no network requests for images. You can also delete all stored covers from this screen to free up space.

How iCloud backup works

Booklore can back up your library to your personal iCloud account. Go to Settings → Backup to enable it. This uses your own iCloud storage — no Booklore server is involved. When you install Booklore on a new device signed into the same Apple ID, you can restore your library from the backup.

How to save quotes

Open a book and go to the Quotes tab. Tap + to add a quote. You can type it manually or use Scan Text — this uses Apple Vision (on-device text recognition) to capture text from a physical page through your camera. No image or text is sent anywhere.

Widgets and Live Activities

Booklore offers home screen and lock screen widgets that show your current read. When a reading session is active, a Live Activity appears on your lock screen and Dynamic Island so you can see your session at a glance.

Siri shortcut

You can create a Siri shortcut to quickly start a reading session. Go to the Shortcuts app, create a new shortcut, and search for Booklore actions.

Contact the developer

For bugs, feature requests, or questions, email suasion.78.hymn@icloud.com.

Don't have Booklore yet?

Booklore is a free download for iPhone (iOS 15.0+).