ReadingRate · What's new · 2026-10-28
Add a book by pointing your camera at its cover
The scanner you use to add a book recognises the book from its cover, not only from its barcode. Point the camera at the front of the book and it is found. This is now open to free accounts, with five covers a day; Reader gets fifty.
Available on web and iOS.
Old books, books with a sticker over the barcode and books whose barcode leads nowhere are exactly the ones a reading log needs most. A cover is always there.
Only a cover that is recognised counts toward the day's allowance. A frame with no book in it costs nothing, and on the iPhone the scanner says why a cover was not recognised.
What it can't do
- Five recognised covers a day on a free account and fifty on Reader, counted from midnight UTC.
- It reads one book at a time. For a whole shelf, use the shelf scan.
- On the website you need to be signed in.
- It sends the camera frame to an AI model, so it needs your Allow to AI features.
- Reading a barcode happens on your device and is not counted.
Questions people ask
- Can I add a book without a barcode?
- Yes. The add-book scanner recognises a book from its cover. Free accounts can recognise five covers a day and Reader fifty.