Reading apps that pick a book back up without spoilers

Card set A: recaps that stop where you are

• Magic Bookmark. Works with: print, ebook, audiobook, library loan. Set your place: photo of the page, page number, or last words heard. Also: cast list from what you have read, questions, chat with characters. Where: iPhone. Cost: per book, $4.99 single or $1.40 each in a 50-pack.
• Kindle Story So Far. Works with: Kindle ebooks. Set your place: automatic. Also: Ask this Book, X-Ray. Where: US, Kindle devices and Kindle iOS app. Cost: included.
• Google Play Books, Catch me up. Works with: Play ebooks, select English titles. Set your place: automatic. Also: ask questions about a highlighted name or phrase. Where: Android, iOS, web. Cost: included.
• Spotify Recaps. Works with: Spotify audiobooks, select English titles. Set your place: automatic. Where: Spotify app. Cost: included with Premium listening.

Card set B: talk about the book without spoilers

• Thus Far. A chapter-gated feed; in its own words, "Chapter 13 stays hidden until you finish that one too". Set your place with a photo, screenshot, barcode or chapter tap.
• StoryGraph readalongs. Comments stay locked until you reach that point.
• Fable clubs. Spoiler-free chapter rooms.
• Readory clubs. Spoiler-safe notes that open as members catch up.

Card set C: low-tech helpers

• Bookly. A manual character log plus a reading timer.
• Bookmory. Notes tagged Summary, Thought or Question; export to text, Markdown or Excel.
• Book Tracker. A reading timer, Apple Watch logging, and the only app of the 30 whose privacy label says "Data Not Collected".

Quick facts from the study

• 4 of 30 apps: a recap that stops at your place. 2 more: partial.
• 1 of 30: covers print books with that recap (Magic Bookmark).
• 8 of 30: place-gated spoiler protection.
• 12 of 30: the App Store privacy label lists data used to track you.

What this means if you have ADHD

Stopping mid-book and losing the thread is one of the most common reasons ADHD readers abandon books. The study shows that recaps up to your place now exist, but each one is tied to where your copy lives: Kindle's to Kindle ebooks, Google's to Play ebooks, Spotify's to Spotify audiobooks. If you read paperbacks, library hardcovers or audiobooks from another app, Magic Bookmark is the only one of the 30 that covers print, and only for titles in its catalog, on iPhone.

If no recap tool covers your book, the spoiler-safe social features and the low-tech helpers still help: a character log as you read, a chapter-gated club, or a paper cast list. Our book recap apps shortlist ranks the tools on our reading shelf, and the guide on getting back into a book you stopped reading covers the method step by step.