Customer Reviews (500)

Lauren Smith7987 • 2025-03-24T05:13:09-07:00

Great for tracking

Ggrannum20 • 2025-03-23T23:09:47-07:00

I love this app. From the stats, and the option to add reading challenges, how easy it was to make the switch from goodreads a couple of years back and now an avid user of this app. Quick suggestion - pls make the choice for reading updates (the notes) on current reads to be made public or stay private so my friends can heart/comment and likewise. Would love to see this feature!

JeGar8 • 2025-03-23T13:20:44-07:00

Started using as an alternative to Goodreads. I like the data options and graphs. I like the look and layout of the app. The things that frustrate me are: the inability to take photos of UPC codes to quickly scan and add books to my “read” or “tbr” lists, the lack of intuitiveness of the app when I’m searching for a book, and the overriding of books in multiple languages. Never once have I been able to get the scanner to pick up a UPV code and add it. Since many of the books I want to add are not options yet it leaves me having to add all the book details by hand. When I try to search a book I want to add it’s like the search function is not smart enough to anticipate what I’m looking for in the way other book apps do. For example, if I was searching a title and started typing “Lord” the options it would bring up are “Lord of the Flies” and “The Fellowship of the Ring” and “The Hobbit.” I’m looking for “Lord of the Rings Illustrated” so I keep typing and now have “Lord o” and then the options get further from what I want (eg, The Lord of the Flies, Lord of Shadows, Lord of Chaos). Can’t find the one I’m looking for so I decide to just select “Fellowship of the Ring” and try to look under the author’s name. So I click “JRR Tolkien” and while it shows a lot of his books, the first several are CS Lewis or Beowulf or other books not written by him. Why would I want that? Then these apps assuming everyone is monolingual is infuriating. Even when I find a Spanish or Irish or German version of something sometimes it still adds the English version of the book instead. Please stop doing that. Also, I read the same book in multiple languages on occasion as practice. Unfortunately the app will only recognize me as having read it once and in one language. If I read a book 10 times in 4 different languages, I want the app to reflect all 10 times and all 4 district languages. Please fix! I love the app otherwise!

Summary of Key Insights

The StoryGraph app is generally well-received as a Goodreads alternative, particularly praised for its data-driven approach, personalized recommendations, and support for an independent, woman-owned business. Many users appreciate the detailed statistics and graphs, the ability to rate books with quarter stars, and the content warnings feature. However, the app suffers from stability issues, bugs (especially around barcode scanning and import), and UI/UX concerns, which detract from the user experience. There's a strong desire for more social features and improved search functionality. Sentiment is predominantly positive, but negative reviews often highlight critical usability flaws.

Key Strengths:

  • Detailed reading statistics and graphs
  • Personalized recommendations
  • Content warnings
  • Support for independent developer/woman-owned business
  • Buddy read feature
  • Ability to rate with quarter stars

Key Weaknesses:

  • App stability and bugs
  • UI/UX clunkiness and unintuitiveness
  • Poor barcode scanning
  • Slow loading times
  • Inconsistent data import from Goodreads
  • Limited social features

Overall Sentiment: Positive

Quantitative Metrics:

  • Overall Rating: Approximated to 4.37 stars based on the weighted average.
  • Score Distribution:
    • 5-star: 59.4% (297/500)
    • 4-star: 12% (60/500)
    • 3-star: 10.6% (53/500)
    • 2-star: 5.2% (26/500)
    • 1-star: 12.8% (64/500)

Data & Methodology Overview

  • Data Sample Size: 500 reviews from the Apple App Store.
  • Time Frame: The reviews analyzed span a considerable time, with a higher concentration of recent reviews (late 2023 and early 2024). This is evidenced by mentions of specific updates, New Year's resolutions, and server issues related to a recent influx of users.
  • Analysis Methods:
    • Sentiment Analysis: Categorizing reviews as positive, negative, or neutral based on the language used.
    • Keyword Extraction: Identifying frequently mentioned keywords and phrases related to features, issues, and user experiences.
    • Thematic Analysis: Grouping related comments into broader themes such as UI/UX, stability, features, and recommendations.
    • Quantitative Analysis: Calculating star rating percentages and identifying the most frequent star ratings.

Key User Pain Points

  • App Stability and Bugs: Many users report the app freezing, crashing, or displaying a blank screen, especially after recent updates or during peak usage times. This is a major source of frustration and significantly impacts usability.
  • UI/UX Clunkiness: Users find the app's interface unintuitive and difficult to navigate. Specific complaints include a lack of back buttons, difficulty finding specific sections (e.g., "recently read"), and the need to click multiple times for actions to register.
  • Barcode Scanner Issues: The barcode scanner is frequently reported as being unusable due to being overly zoomed in, failing to focus, or simply not recognizing barcodes.
  • Slow Loading Times: Many users experience slow loading screens when navigating between different sections of the app, which detracts from the overall experience.
  • Data Import Problems: Issues with importing data from Goodreads are a recurring theme, including incomplete imports, incorrect language assignments, and long processing times.
  • Login Issues: Users are frequently logged out of the app, requiring them to re-enter their credentials.
  • Search Functionality: Users report that search results are often irrelevant or incomplete, making it difficult to find specific books.

Frequently Requested Features

  • Improved Social Features: Users desire more robust social features, such as the ability to comment on friends' updates, share reading lists, find friends more easily (e.g., via contact sync), and see who their friends are following.
  • Customizable Lists/Shelves: Many users request the ability to create custom lists or shelves to organize their books beyond the existing "To Read," "Read," and "Currently Reading" options.
  • Widget Support: Users want widgets for their home screen to display reading progress, TBR lists, or recommendations.
  • Improved Search and Filtering: Users want to be able to filter and sort their TBR list by community rating, genre, mood, and other criteria.
  • Reading Calendar: A calendar view to see what books were read on specific dates.
  • Chapter Tracking for Buddy Reads: For audiobooks, the option to track progress by chapter rather than just percentage or page number.
  • Ability to Follow Authors: A feature to follow authors and receive updates about their new releases.
  • Private Notes: The ability to record private notes about a book before reading it.
  • Spoiler Warnings: A more robust system for marking and reporting spoilers in reviews.

Strengths and Positive Aspects

  • Detailed Statistics and Graphs: Users love the comprehensive data and visualizations of their reading habits, including breakdowns by genre, mood, pace, and book length.
  • Personalized Recommendations: The app's recommendation engine is praised for providing relevant and insightful suggestions.
  • Content Warnings: The ability to add and view content warnings is a highly valued feature for avoiding potentially triggering material.
  • Independent Developer: Users appreciate supporting an independent, woman-owned business that is not affiliated with Amazon.
  • Buddy Reads: The buddy read feature is well-received as a way to read and discuss books with friends without spoilers.
  • Quarter Star Ratings: The ability to rate books with quarter-star increments is seen as a significant improvement over Goodreads.
  • Clean and User-Friendly Interface (Generally): While some users find the UI clunky, many others appreciate its clean and simple design.
  • Responsive Support: Several reviews mention positive experiences with the app's support team, noting their quick responses and willingness to address issues.
  • Constant Improvements: Users appreciate the developer's commitment to regularly updating the app and adding new features based on user feedback.
  • DNF and Paused Functionality: The ability to mark books as "Did Not Finish" or "Paused" is valued for providing a more accurate reflection of reading habits.

Prioritized Action Recommendations

High Priority:

  • Improve App Stability and Fix Bugs: Address the frequent crashes, freezes, and blank screen issues that are plaguing the app. This should be the top priority, as it directly impacts usability and user satisfaction.
  • Fix Barcode Scanner: Resolve the issues with the barcode scanner to make it a reliable way to add books to the app.
  • Optimize Data Import: Improve the reliability and accuracy of the Goodreads data import process.

Medium Priority:

  • Enhance UI/UX: Improve the app's navigation and overall user experience by adding back buttons, making key sections more easily accessible, and addressing other UI/UX concerns.
  • Optimize Loading Times: Reduce loading times when navigating between different sections of the app.
  • Expand Search Functionality: Improve the search algorithm to provide more relevant and complete results.
  • Implement More Social Features: Add features that allow users to connect and interact with each other, such as commenting on updates and sharing reading lists.

Low Priority:

  • Add Widget Support: Develop widgets for the home screen to display reading progress and other information.
  • Implement Customizable Lists/Shelves: Allow users to create custom lists or shelves to organize their books.
  • Develop more robust content warning system: Make this more easily accessible and visible.
  • Improve App Aesthetics: Improve the visual appeal of the app while retaining the simple and clean design.

Opportunities for Startup Ideas

  • AI-Powered Book Summarization and Analysis: Develop a feature that uses AI to generate summaries, character analyses, and thematic explorations of books, providing users with deeper insights and facilitating discussions.
  • Personalized Reading Plans: Create a tool that generates customized reading plans based on user preferences, goals, and available time, helping them discover new books and achieve their reading goals.
  • Integration with E-Readers: Partner with e-reader manufacturers (like Kobo, as mentioned in the reviews) to provide seamless integration with the StoryGraph app, allowing users to automatically track their progress and leave reviews directly from their e-reader.
  • AI-Powered Content Warning System: Develop an AI model to automatically detect and flag potentially triggering content in books, improving the accuracy and comprehensiveness of content warnings.
  • Community-Driven Translation Platform: Create a platform within the app that allows users to contribute translations of book descriptions, reviews, and content warnings into different languages, making the app more accessible to a global audience.
  • Bookish Rewards Program: Partner with independent bookstores and publishers to offer exclusive discounts, giveaways, and other rewards to StoryGraph users, incentivizing them to support independent businesses and engage with the app.

Trends and Observations

  • Migration from Goodreads: A significant number of users are actively seeking alternatives to Goodreads and are choosing StoryGraph as their replacement. This is driven by concerns about Amazon's ownership of Goodreads, a desire for more features, and a preference for supporting an independent developer.
  • Impact of Updates: Recent updates have had a mixed impact on the user experience. While some users appreciate the new features and improvements, others have experienced stability issues and bugs.
  • Peak Usage Issues: The app appears to be struggling to handle peak usage times, such as the beginning of the year, when many users are setting new reading goals.
  • Importance of Community: Users value the sense of community that StoryGraph provides, but there is a desire for more robust social features.

Conclusion

StoryGraph has a strong foundation as a compelling alternative to Goodreads. Its data-driven approach, personalized recommendations, and support for an independent developer resonate with many users. However, the app's stability issues, UI/UX concerns, and limited social features are holding it back from reaching its full potential. By prioritizing bug fixes, improving the user interface, and adding more social features, StoryGraph can solidify its position as the leading book tracking app for discerning readers.

Overall Recommendation: Focus on stability and usability improvements as the top priority. Address the social feature requests to increase engagement and community.

Original App Link

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/storygraph-reading-tracker/id1570489264?uo=2