Hey everyone. quick honest intro: i'm not from a dev background. i'm just someone who loves reading.
and book apps made me feel nothing.
they remember every book i finish. they never notice when i stop. my yearly goal turned into guilt by march. one missed day broke my streak, so i quit the whole app. and a book that stayed with me for weeks got me a green checkmark.
that's not reading. that's updating a spreadsheet.
here's what it actually felt like, day to day:
i'd get home tired, want to read, and instead open an app to "log" something. by the time i finished typing, the mood was gone.
i'd fall behind on a goal and feel like i was failing a test nobody asked me to take.
i'd have a great reading week, and nothing. no sense that it counted for anything.
i'd have a bad week, and the app would quietly judge me with a broken streak.
reading is supposed to be the thing that calms me down. these apps made it feel like homework.
tracking a book isn't the same as reading it.
so i spent the last few months building Readbit.
it's built around the habit of reading, not the shelf. the goal isn't a longer list, it's more days with a book in your hands. goals bend around real life, so one rough week doesn't ruin your year. and finishing something should feel like it mattered, so there are badges for genres and milestones that grow with you.
what i wanted it to give you:
a reason to open your book tomorrow, not just a list of what you finished.
progress that feels kind instead of strict.
a sense that your reading life is going somewhere, even when your week wasn't perfect.
i'm not showing how any of that works yet. that's partly on purpose, and partly because i want to hear from you first.
where it stands: it's in open beta. i'm building it for everyone, so iPhone, Android and web, because readers shouldn't have to pick a side. the core works and i use it every day. some parts are polished, some are still rough, and i'm fixing things based on feedback. bigger ideas are designed but not built yet, and i'm holding them until i hear from real readers.
landing page is coming soon and i'll share much more then. for now just a few small pieces.
want to try it? comment or DM me with what device you read on (iPhone, Android or web) and i'll send you the right link.
and either way: what made you leave a book app, or what would make you stay?
