Method
How we rate smart bookmark apps
Every app gets a whole-number score from 0 to 10 on seven criteria, and the total is a weighted average computed from the weights on this page. All evidence is public: App Store and Google Play listings and the app makers' own pages. Vendor facts read September 2026, updated 2026-10-11. We did not test the apps hands-on, and Yomu, the maker of Magic Bookmark, is a client of the agency that publishes this site.
By The Margin Desk · Smart Bookmark Compare · Published 2026-10-08 · Updated 2026-10-13
What question do the scores answer?
The question
Which app does the best job as a smart bookmark: saving your exact place in the book you are reading, and helping you remember the story when you come back to it, in print, ebook or audiobook?
The score measures how well an app does this one job. It is not a verdict on the app overall: an app built for tracking stats or running a book club can be excellent at that and still score low here.
Which criteria and weights do we use?
| Criterion | Weight | What we ask |
|---|---|---|
| Exact place | 30% | How precisely does the app save where you stopped in the book you are reading, and how little work does it take to record it? |
| Story recall | 20% | When you come back, what helps you remember what happened and who is who: recaps, cast lists, your own notes, highlights or a journal? |
| Print, ebook and audiobook | 10% | Do its published features cover all three ways you might be reading the same book? |
| Works with any book | 10% | Can you use it with whatever you happen to be reading, or only with titles the app supports? |
| Phones and platforms | 10% | Does it run on the phone and devices you already have: iPhone, iPad, Android, web? |
| Price | 10% | What you get free, what you pay after that, and whether there is a subscription. |
| Privacy | 10% | What the app's store privacy label or data safety section says: data used to track you scores lowest. |
Why these weights?
Exact place carries 30% and story recall 20% because together they are the question: knowing where you stopped and remembering what happened. Exact place counts more because it is the first thing you need when you open the book again. The other five criteria carry 10% each. Formats, works with any book and platforms decide whether an app can help you at all with the book in your hands and the phone in your pocket. Price and privacy are what the help costs you. No criterion carries more than 30%.
How did we score before weighting?
We scored every app on every criterion from the published facts first, with a one-line reason for each score, and chose the question and weights afterwards. Where a criterion matches one used on another site we work on, we kept that score unless a fact justified a change. Scores move only when a published source changes, never to change a ranking.
How is the total calculated?
Total = sum of (score x weight) / 100, shown to two decimals. Apps with equal exact totals share a rank.
For example, Magic Bookmark: (10 x 30 + 10 x 20 + 7 x 10 + 3 x 10 + 2 x 10 + 5 x 10 + 4 x 10) / 100 = 7.10.
| App | Exact place | Recall | Formats | Any book | Platforms | Price | Privacy | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magic Bookmark | 10 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 7.10 |
| Bookly | 7 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 6.90 |
| Basmo | 5 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 6.10 |
| The StoryGraph | 5 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 6.40 |
| Literal | 3 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 6.20 |
| Goodreads | 4 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 5.40 |
| Fable | 4 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 5.60 |
Who wins each criterion?
- Exact place: Magic Bookmark (10)
- Story recall: Magic Bookmark (10)
- Print, ebook and audiobook: Bookly (9)
- Works with any book: Goodreads (10)
- Phones and platforms: tie at 10 (The StoryGraph, Goodreads and Fable)
- Price: Literal (10)
- Privacy: Literal (8)
What does a score mean?
- 9 to 10: the best in this set for the job, clearly published.
- 7 to 8: strong, with a gap.
- 5 to 6: works, with real limits.
- 3 to 4: basic or partly missing.
- 1 to 2: not published or not really offered.
Where does the evidence come from?
US App Store listings for prices, in-app purchases, platforms and privacy labels; Google Play listings for Android features and data safety; each app maker's website and help pages for features; Rakuten Kobo's announcements for the Kobo and StoryGraph sync; Wikipedia only for company history. Every fact on an app page has a source link and the date we read it. If we could not find something on the pages we read, we say so instead of guessing.
Which apps are not ranked?
- Hardcover: Tracks want to read, reading, read and did-not-finish, with lists, tags and a public API, but its pages describe no progress or place-keeping features, so it does not answer this question.
Source: Hardcover website · Read 27 Sep 2026
- BookBuddy: Catalogues the copies you own, where each one lives and who has borrowed it, which is a different job from keeping your place inside a book.
Source: BookBuddy, US App Store · Read 27 Sep 2026
Reviewed, not scored
- Amazon Kindle app: Recaps and Story So Far (reviewed, not scored): Amazon says Story So Far gives spoiler-free recaps up to where you stopped reading, and Recaps refresh the last book you read in a series. Both cover best-selling English-language Kindle ebooks you bought or borrowed, for U.S. customers on Kindle devices and the Kindle iOS app. Amazon creates the recaps, and authors cannot opt out or edit them. They work only inside Kindle ebooks, not print books or audiobooks, and our sources do not cover every criterion, so Kindle is listed without a score.
Source: About Amazon: Kindle Recaps and Story So Far · Read 11 Oct 2026
Source: Amazon help: Kindle Recaps · Read 11 Oct 2026
Source: Kindle Direct Publishing help: Recaps · Read 11 Oct 2026
- Audible clips and bookmarks: In the Audible app on iPhone and Android, +Clip saves the last 30 seconds as a clip you can trim and add a note to, and every clip also adds a bookmark. Go to Bookmark resumes playback from that exact position, and the browser Cloud Player can add bookmarks too. It keeps your place inside Audible audiobooks only, with no print or ebook side and no recap, and our sources do not cover every criterion, so Audible is listed without a score.
Source: Audible help: clips and bookmarks · Read 11 Oct 2026
What changed on 2026-10-11?
- Magic Bookmark: the App Store listing now says iPhone only (it had named Macs); platforms score lowered. Its website lists ebooks but the App Store names physical books and audiobooks; formats score lowered. Its recap feature raised story recall.
- Bookly: more platforms (Mac, Apple Vision, Apple Watch) raised platforms; a privacy label with data used to track you and data used for third-party advertising lowered privacy.
- Basmo: lists ebooks and audiobooks, raising formats; iPhone only on the App Store (no iPad), lowering platforms.
- The StoryGraph: listening goals raised formats.
- Goodreads: ebook and audiobook editions raised formats.
- Fable: its ebook reader, notes and Everand audio link raised exact place, story recall and formats; iPad support raised platforms; its App Store privacy label lowered privacy.
- Kindle Recaps and Audible clips and bookmarks were reviewed and listed without a score.
The new order is Magic Bookmark 7.10, Bookly 6.90, The StoryGraph 6.40, Literal 6.20, Basmo 6.10, Fable 5.60 and Goodreads 5.40.
What are the limitations?
- Public sources only: we did not install or test the apps.
- No interviews or briefings with the app makers.
- Prices are US prices read September 2026, updated 2026-10-11 and differ by country and over time.
- Privacy labels and data safety sections are written by the developers; we report them, we do not audit them.
- A feature that exists but is not on the pages we read may be scored lower than it deserves. Send a correction through the contact page and we will check it.
Can an app maker change its score?
No. Every score, reason and weight is on this site, totals are computed from them, and Magic Bookmark is shown scoring lower wherever another app scores higher. On these weights Magic Bookmark ranks 1 of 7; it is highest in set on exact place and story recall and lowest or tied lowest on works with any book, phones and platforms and price. We do not use affiliate links, and no app maker can pay to change a score.
How do we handle corrections?
Send a correction through the contact page with the topic Correction and a link to the source. We check it against the app's own listing or page, update the data, and the totals recompute.
Frequently asked questions
Did you test these apps?
No. Scores come from desk research on public listings and pages. Vendor facts read September 2026, updated 2026-10-11.
Why are price and privacy only 10% each?
Because the question is about getting back into a book, and all seven apps are free to try. Price and privacy still count, and they are where several apps, Magic Bookmark included, score lower.
Would different weights change the order?
Yes. With all seven criteria weighted equally, the order changes and Magic Bookmark no longer ranks first. That is why we publish the weights and let you change them in the pick-up calculator.