BookBuds: Read with friends

Name: BookBuds: Read with friends
Rating: 4.3 (135 reviews)
Author: Saif Ali

By: Saif Ali

Social book reading & friends

Features & Capabilities

BookBuds turns reading into a cozy, social experience. Gather around a virtual bonfire, start reading sessions, and let automatic timers track your minutes while friends join in. Watch your streaks grow, climb a shared leaderboard, and celebrate wins together.

Perfect for building reading habits, tackling your TBR, or simply staying motivated with friends, BookBuds makes reading feel social, fun, and sustainable. Core features are free, with optional subscriptions offering advanced analytics, deeper customization, and Pro tools.

User Growth & Download Statistics

App Community Education Books Social Media Content

By:

Saif Ali

Rating:

4.30

(135) 1 new ratings

Version:

1.0.35 Last updated: 2026-04-01

Version code:

883985621

Creation date:

2025-12-22

Compatible devices:

Size:

46.68MB

URLs:

Full description:

Source:

Apple Apps Store

Data ingested on:

2026-06-07

Compare stats and ranking:

Ranking

# 136,981 ▲ 1,229

For Developers

Monetize with App Pass Boost with Extension Booster

Contact the developer

Chrome-Stats does not own this Apple app. Please use these information below to contact the Apple app developer.

Developed by:

Saif Ali

Apple Apps Store

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bookbuds-read-with-friends/id6755941845

User Reviews

Users love the social angle—reading with friends and time tracking—along with ongoing development. However, the experience is clouded by intrusive ads and aggressive monetization, plus recurring bugs (login, search, book adding) and onboarding friction. The app shows strong potential, but needs UX polish and a less aggressive monetization approach to realize its promise.

Pros

Social reading with friends (bonfires/leaderboards) helps accountability and makes it fun to read together.
Reading time tracking and streaks add motivation and visible progress for group reading.
Fresh app with strong potential; many reviewers see it could replace Goodreads for some users.
Active development and responsiveness to feedback with frequent updates.

Cons

Heavy ads and multiple popups, including full-screen upgrade prompts on startup.
Aggressive monetization: forced free trials, upsells, and high-cost paid plans.
Technical reliability issues: login problems, inconsistent search, and difficulty adding or finding books.
Onboarding friction: trouble finding friends, sending/receiving requests, and joining bonfires.

Recent reviews

Fairly certain this app is coded with AI or the assets are AI generated. The idea is good. It could use more features, but genuinely this could have replaced Goodreads for me. However they introduced 3 popups for the paid version every time you open the app, even in the middle of reading sessions; I joined the Dev’s discord to point out this bug. Multiple people did. Lo and behold, the Dev turned it back on due to a “dramatic drop in revenue” and then told me to stop asking about it (despite the fact it had been a while since I even asked and that I wasn’t the only one having issues). I deleted the app after that because what’s the point if the dev won’t listen to community feedback? Now after a bit I downloaded it again to see if maybe it’s been updated, and now it’s completely unusable. Big screen roping me into a free trial with no way to cancel, and a weird gif with a buggy popup. Can’t even program an app right but begging for money. What absolute money-grabbing garbage.

by na*****, 2026-04-22

A great way to read with friends and keep track with each other and hold each other accountable!

by NA*****, 2026-04-15

The ads that pop up when I open the app are really annoying. It happens every time and takes at least a minute each time to get through them all. Otherwise I love the app and being able to grow my reading streak as I record my reading time. It’s fun to do with friends.