Instaread Review: In-Depth Look at Features and Content

Instaread is a highly-rated book summary app on the App Store, with a solid 4.6-star rating from around 7,000 reviews.

While exploring the app, I discovered some amazing features that make it truly worth trying.

But, like anything, it’s not without its flaws.

In this review, I’ll walk you through everything—what works, what doesn’t, and why Instaread might (or might not) be the right fit for you.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Clean and simple user interface with dark mode.
• In-depth book summaries (around 30 minutes).
• Unique card-based insights for quick learning.
• Social features: create cards, gain followers, and engage with other users.

Cons:

• Limited categories and book titles.
• Lack of interactive tools like rewards or trackers.

App Interface

Instaread has a clean and simple user interface, which makes it easy to use.

It also has a dark mode, which is great for nighttime reading.

When you open the app, you’ll land on the Featured tab, where some highlighted book summaries are displayed. Below that, there’s a Daily Pick section.

The app organizes book summaries into different categories, all of which you can find in the Discover tab.

But there’s more than just this one tab.

Let me give you a quick overview of the other tabs:

Discover: Browse all book titles grouped into various categories.

Library: This is where you’ll find the books you’re reading, finished reading, or planning to read. It also includes the lists you’ve created and the cards you’ve liked, neatly categorized by book.

Cards: All the cards are stored here for quick access.

Search: You can look up books, authors, categories, or even user profiles.

Profile: Your profile page shows how many titles you’ve finished, your followers, and more. I’ll go into more detail about this tab later in the review, so keep reading.

Each tab is easy to navigate, so I won’t spend too much time on the basics.

Instead, let’s dive into what makes the Instaread app worth trying.

Read more: StoryShots review

What Stands Out

Let’s dive into the features that make Instaread stand out from other book summary apps.

1. Cards

The Cards feature is the star of the Instaread app. 

There’s even a dedicated tab for it.

When you open the tab, you’ll see cards in a format similar to Instagram Reels. You can swipe left or right to explore new cards, like, comment, or share them. 

If you want to revisit the previous card, there’s a handy little refresh icon at the bottom left.

I really love how Instaread uses this format—it’s fast, engaging, and way more exciting than the boring highlights you see in other apps.

The best part is you can create your own cards.

Here’s how to create a card:

• While reading, long-tap a piece of text and select Highlight.

• Choose a label: Quotes, Insights, Highlights, or create your own.
• Pick a background, hit Post, and your card is live for everyone to see and interact with.

Other users can like, comment, and share your cards too. It’s like social media, but meaningful—no mindless scrolling.

You can also sort cards by Trending or Following and apply filters to narrow down what you see. Just tap the filter icon in the top right corner.

There’s even a section in the Discover tab called Books in Cards, where you can explore entire book summaries through cards. It’s ideal when you’re short on time.

What Could Be Better?

While I enjoy the Cards feature, I have one complaint: there aren’t enough fresh cards. 

It would be great if Instaread offered rewards or incentives to encourage users to create more content. 

This could boost both engagement and the amount of new material.

Read more: Headway app review

2. Social Media Vibes

As I mentioned earlier, Instaread has a bit of a social media feel, especially in the Profile tab. 

Here’s what you’ll see:

• Your name, bio, and web link (I added my blog link, of course).
• Stats like the number of books you’ve finished, likes on your cards, followers, and people you’re following.

You can follow other users, and they can follow you back. If you want to attract more followers, just create cards that really stand out.

The Profile tab also has four sections:

Library: Just like the Library tab, it shows what you’re reading, finished, or yet to start.

Notifications: All your app notifications—new followers, likes, and comments—appear here.

Cards: A list of all the cards you’ve created and liked.

Comments: Shows any comments you’ve made on cards.

That said, I ran into a couple of issues.

Despite finishing over 40 books, the app only shows one in my stats. Also, I tried updating my profile picture but couldn’t.

Hopefully, Instaread will fix these bugs soon.

Read more: Retell app review

3. Lists

Under the Discover tab, you’ll find a section called Lists. Think of these as curated collections of books. 

There are also fun challenges like a 30-day Personal Growth challenge to read one book every day for a month.

Most lists are created by users, but the Instaread team has only made four so far. 

I’d love to see more lists and challenges from them. 

Of course, you can create your own lists too. I made one called iAppList, and here are the books I’ve added so far:

• The Psychology of Money
• Rich Dad Poor Dad
• The 50th Law
• The Plan
• Millionaire Mission
• Character Limit

Creating a list is super simple. Just click Create Your Own List, give it a name, and start adding books.

4. What’s Missing?

While the app has a lot going for it, I wish it included some interactive tools. 

For example:

• Badges or rewards when you finish a summary.
• A leaderboard to track your progress against other users.
• Daily trackers to keep you motivated.

These features would make the experience even more engaging and fun.

Audio Summaries: My Experience

The audio summaries on Instaread are honestly a mixed bag, but mostly in a good way. 

Let me start with the positives.

Most of the time, it feels like someone’s sitting down and narrating a story to you.

The voice quality is really good, and it’s clear that human voices are used in most cases. 

But yeah, I did notice a few summaries with AI-generated voices. 

It’s not a deal-breaker because they still sound fine, but the human ones definitely feel more natural.

Listening to a summary is super simple. 

You tap the Listen button, and it even tells you how long it’ll take. 

This little detail is so helpful because you know exactly how much time you need to set aside.

Now, let’s talk about the audio player. 

It’s easy to use—there’s play, pause, and jump buttons, and at the bottom, you’ll find options like next/previous and the table of contents. 

But here’s something that bothered me: the app doesn’t play the whole summary as a single audio file. Instead, they break it into sections, just like the text version, and it plays one section after another automatically.

Maybe it’s just me, but I didn’t love this setup. 

I like when I can hit play and listen to the whole thing without interruptions. 

It feels smoother that way. 

But, if you’re someone who likes listening in chunks, this might work for you.

Text Summaries: My Experience

Now let’s move on to the text summaries. 

I’ll say this: Instaread does a good job here. 

The summaries are broken into pages, and you just swipe through them. It’s clean, easy, and doesn’t overwhelm you with too much text at once.

That said, I think the structure could use a little love.

You know what I’d like? Quotes sprinkled in between the summaries. 

It’s something I’ve seen in the Uptime book summary app, and it makes the reading experience so much more engaging. 

Imagine coming across a powerful quote that stops you for a moment, makes you think, or even inspires you.

That’s the kind of touch I feel is missing here.

On the bright side, you get some nice customization options—change the background color, adjust brightness, or tweak the font size to make reading more comfortable.

These little things show that the app cares about how you experience the content.

Content Quality

Instaread stands out for its variety and depth of content. 

Let’s start with the book summaries. 

Most of them are around 30 minutes long, which shows the effort the Instaread team puts into delivering detailed insights. 

Unlike those apps offering quick 5-10 minute summaries that barely scratch the surface, Instaread takes its time to go deeper.

And here’s what I truly love—they include fiction titles too. 

That’s a rare find. 

Many popular apps, like Blinkist, focus only on non-fiction. But Instaread? It’s an all-rounder, catering to both fiction and non-fiction readers.

That said, I do have one small issue—the categories feel a bit limited. 

Here’s what’s available right now:

• Business & Economics
• Self-Help
• History, Political & Social Science
• Health & Fitness
• Fiction
• Science
• Arts & Entertainment
• Religion
• Sports & Recreation

While these cover some key areas, I’d love to see more categories and, of course, more titles.

Another unique feature is the Instaread Originals section.

These are shorter, 10-15 minute summaries crafted by the Instaread team on specific topics or people. 

They even list the references used to create these summaries, which I appreciate—it shows credibility. 

However, there are only 35 Originals right now, and I’m hoping they’ll add more soon.

And let’s not forget the Cards. 

They’re a fantastic way to get quick insights from books in just a few minutes. It’s a feature that genuinely adds value to the app.

Pricing Plans

Now, let’s talk about what it’ll cost you. 

You can technically use Instaread for free, but it comes with limitations—you’re allowed to read or listen to only one summary per day, and that too from the Daily Pick section on the Discover page.

If you’re serious about exploring more, the app offers a 7-day free trial, which is a great way to test the waters. 

Here’s the breakdown of their premium plans:

• Monthly: ₹499 ($8.99)
• Yearly: ₹2,999 ($89.99)
• Lifetime: ₹9,900 ($299.99)

The plans are pretty straightforward, and the lifetime option is a solid deal if you plan to use the app long-term.

While the free option is nice for casual users, I’d recommend going premium if you want full access to everything the app has to offer. 

My Takeaway

After spending time with Instaread, I can confidently say it offers more than just book summaries. 

The original content, the card-based insights, and the ability to connect with others through followers and profiles add a refreshing touch that makes learning enjoyable.

That said, the app does have its limitations, especially when it comes to the number of categories and available content.

Still, weighing all the features and drawbacks, I’d say Instaread is definitely worth a try. 

It’s fun, engaging, and brings something unique to the world of book summaries.