Apple App Picks

Books & Reading

Best Reading Apps for 2026

Five apps for actual reading.

We tested for three weeks before we wrote this. No review units, no affiliate compensation, no sponsorship.

Reading apps split cleanly into two categories: ebook readers and read-it-later apps. Most “best reading app” lists conflate them, which is why most lists are useless. Kindle, Apple Books, and Libby are ebook apps. Readwise Reader and Bookly serve different reading modes. We list all five because most serious readers use at least two.

This list is the same five we’ve recommended through 2025 and 2026. The category is mature; there are no surprise newcomers we’d add.

How we tested

I (James) read on Kindle, primarily, and have for over a decade. I used Apple Books as a parallel for six months specifically for this update. Libby I have used for years. Readwise Reader I have used since the beta. Bookly I added during this round and ran for two months. No promotional licenses were taken.

1. Kindle — Top Pick

Best for: most readers, full stop.

Kindle’s defense is unsexy and complete: the largest catalog of any reading app, the best cross-device sync, the most mature highlights-and-notes system, and Kindle Unlimited’s $11.99/month subscription that pays for itself if you read more than a book and a half a month. The reader experience is excellent — typography is good, the dark mode is good, the X-Ray feature for tracking characters in long books is the best in the category.

The case against Kindle is real and we acknowledge it: Amazon dependency, the in-app purchase situation on iOS is annoying (Apple’s 30% cut means you can’t buy books inside the iOS app), and the Kindle ecosystem locks your library to Amazon. We acknowledge those and still recommend Kindle, because the catalog and sync moats are insurmountable for the alternatives.

Pros:

• Largest catalog in the category
• Best cross-device sync
• Kindle Unlimited makes the math work for heavy readers
• Mature highlights and notes

Cons:

• Amazon ecosystem lock-in
• In-app purchase friction on iOS (book buying happens in the browser)
• DRM on most titles

Pricing: Free app. Books purchased à la carte. Kindle Unlimited $11.99/month.

2. Apple Books — Best Indie-Friendly Default

Best for: readers who want native iOS integration without Amazon.

Apple Books has improved meaningfully over the past three years. Typography is excellent (better than Kindle, in our opinion). Native iOS integration is seamless. No 30% in-app friction since Apple owns the storefront. The Audiobooks integration is good. The reading-stats and goals are well-designed.

The case against is the catalog. Apple Books just does not have the breadth that Kindle does, especially for backlist titles, niche presses, and self-published work. If you only read mainstream new releases, Apple Books is a viable alternative. If you read broadly, you’ll hit the catalog wall.

Pros:

• Best typography in the category
• Native iOS integration
• No 30% in-app friction
• Solid audiobook support

Cons:

• Catalog is meaningfully smaller than Kindle’s
• Backlist coverage is weak
• No subscription equivalent to Kindle Unlimited

Pricing: Free app. Books purchased à la carte.

3. Libby — Best Free Reading

Best for: anyone with a library card.

Libby remains one of the best free apps on iOS. If you have a public library card (most US adults do, and the signup is usually online and free), Libby gives you access to ebook and audiobook loans from your local library. The interface has stayed clean, the loan system is fair, and the catalog of public-library-licensed titles is large and growing.

The case against Libby is the loan model — popular new releases have wait times, and your library determines what’s available. But for free, this is the best reading deal in iOS, full stop.

Pros:

• Free with a library card
• Audiobooks included
• Clean, focused interface
• Catalog grows with library funding

Cons:

• Wait times on popular titles
• Library-dependent catalog
• No personal-purchase fallback

Pricing: Free with library card.

4. Readwise Reader — Best for Articles and Beyond

Best for: anyone reading articles, PDFs, or RSS, not just books.

Readwise Reader is where I (James) read everything that isn’t a book. Articles saved from the browser, PDFs, RSS feeds, Twitter/X threads, YouTube transcripts. The reading experience is excellent — typography is genuinely good, highlights sync to Readwise’s review system, the AI-summary feature is opt-in. The cross-platform support (iOS, Android, web, Mac) is strong.

A transparency note on the AI features: Readwise Reader has an opt-in AI summarization feature. As with Snipd, we mention this because Picks By Humans does not use AI to generate editorial content; this is a feature description of the app, not an endorsement of AI-generated text in our own work.

Pros:

• Best reading experience for non-book content
• Cross-platform (iOS, Android, web, Mac)
• Highlights sync to Readwise review

Cons:

• Subscription only
• Some users find the highlight workflow heavy
• Best when paired with the broader Readwise ecosystem

Pricing: $9.99/month or $99.99/year (Readwise+Reader bundle).

5. Bookly — Best for Tracking

Best for: readers who want stats on their reading.

Bookly is a reading tracker, not a reader — you log books and reading time, and the app produces statistics, streaks, and reports. For readers who care about how much they’re reading and want a Goodreads alternative without the Amazon dependency, Bookly is the best polished option in the category. The Apple Watch app is genuinely useful for starting/stopping reading sessions.

The case against Bookly is that it’s a layer on top of your reading, not a place you read. If you’re already reading in Kindle and don’t care about stats, Bookly is unnecessary.

Pros:

• Cleanest Goodreads alternative
• Strong reading-stats and quotes features
• Apple Watch app for session tracking

Cons:

• Not a reader — you read elsewhere
• Subscription required for most useful features
• Manual session-start friction

Pricing: Free tier. Premium $32.99/year.

Quick Comparison Table

Verdict