Fable is built around book clubs, reading together and its own ebook store. Volumes is built around you: what you're reading, the books on your shelves, who's borrowed them, and the lines you want to keep.
Fable is a social reading app built around book clubs and shared reading, now part of Scribd. Volumes is a private app for your own reading and the books you own.
Volumes and Fable, feature by feature
Feature
Volumes
Fable
No account needed
YesKept in your own iCloud
NoLogin needed
Not tracked across apps
Yes
NoPrivacy label lists tracking
No ads
Yes
Yes
Native Mac app
YesNative on iPhone, iPad and Mac
No
Barcode scanning
YesOne book or a whole shelf
Not listed
Track who borrowed a book
YesPlus hand-over links
Not listed
Record which shelf a book is on
Yes
Not listed
Save your own quotes
YesPhotograph the page
PartlyHighlights in Fable's ebooks
Import from Goodreads
YesAlso StoryGraph, LibraryThing
YesIn beta, on the web
Export your library
NoComing soon
Not listed
No subscription or paid tier
YesEverything included
PartlyFable Plus from $5.99 a month
Android or web
NoComing soon
YesAndroid and web
YesPartlyNoNot mentioned in their own listing or help pages
Fable doesn't document a library export. If you came to Fable from Goodreads, import that export into Volumes; it reads it as it is. Otherwise, scan your shelves in, a whole shelf at a time.
Open Settings in Volumes
Under the library title on iPhone, the gear on iPad, and ⌘, on a Mac.
Import from Another App
Tap Choose a File and pick the export. Or share the file to Volumes from Files or Mail.
Add to My Library
Check the count, then add. Volumes tells you what came in and anything it couldn't use.
Which is for you
An honest choice
Choose Fable if…
You want book clubs and to read along with other people.
You read ebooks and want to highlight and discuss them in one app.
Choose Volumes if…
You read physical books and want them catalogued, with where each one lives.
You want your reading private, with no account and no tracking.
You lend books, keep quotes from the page, and want a native Mac app.
Privacy and price
What it costs you
Fable
A login is needed. Fable is now part of Scribd, and its App Store privacy label lists identifiers as used to track you across apps and websites.
Free, with Fable Plus at $5.99 a month or $49.99 a year. It also sells ebooks.
Volumes
No account and no ads. Your library is kept in your own iCloud, and Volumes doesn’t track you across other apps or websites. The privacy policy sets out the little that leaves your device.
Free on the App Store, with no subscription.
Fable
Book clubs, or your own shelves
Fable is built for reading together: clubs, discussions and highlights inside its own ebooks.
Volumes is for the books on your shelves and your reading of them: no clubs, no feed and no store, and the quotes you keep come from the page in front of you.
Questions
Good to know
Can I move my Fable library to Volumes?
If you have a Goodreads or StoryGraph export, import that: Volumes reads both. Volumes also reads any spreadsheet with an ISBN column.
Can I get my books out of Volumes later?
A full library export is coming soon. Until then you can share any single book or quote, and your library lives in your own iCloud rather than on our servers.
What do I need to run Volumes?
An iPhone or iPad with iOS 26 or later, or a Mac with macOS 26 or later. Volumes is free on the App Store.
Everything else
Everything else in Volumes
Your reading, your shelves, your loans and your quotes, in one private app on iPhone, iPad and Mac.
