Tutorial
A complete guide to setting up your library, adding books, tracking progress, and organizing your reading.
When you first open Mybrary, you'll see a clean interface with five main sections accessible from the bottom navigation:
No account is needed. No sign-up, no login, no email. Just open the app and start building your library.
Barcode scanning is the fastest way to add books you already own.
How to scan:
Camera permission:
The first time you scan, you'll be asked to grant camera access. If you decline, you can still add books by search or manual entry.
Supported barcodes:
Mybrary reads standard book barcodes—EAN-13, EAN-8, and UPC-A. Nearly every printed book published in the last few decades uses one of these formats.
If a book isn't found:
The ISBN will still be filled in for you. Just add the title, author, and any other details manually, or switch to a title search instead.
Use this method when you don't have the physical book in front of you, or when you want to add a book to your Want to Read list.
How to search:
What gets auto-filled:
When you select a search result from Open Library, Mybrary automatically fills in the title, author, cover image, page count, and subjects (genres). You can edit any of these after adding the book.
What is Open Library?
Open Library is a free, public catalog of books run by the Internet Archive. Mybrary uses it to look up book details so you don't have to type everything by hand. Your library is never sent to Open Library—only search requests.
Use manual entry for books that aren't in Open Library, self-published books, very old books, or when you want complete control over the details.
How to add manually:
When to use manual entry:
Every field in a book's details can be edited at any time.
How to edit a book:
Editable fields:
Title, author, ISBN, genre, total pages, total minutes, format (Book, E-book, or Audiobook), narrator, cover image, reading status, progress, dates, rating, review, and favorite status.
For individual books:
For multiple books at once (Fetch Missing Covers):
This is the easiest way to add covers to books that don't have them yet.
Tip: Books with an ISBN have the best chance of finding a matching cover. If you imported books without ISBNs and covers are missing, try adding ISBNs manually and running "Fetch Missing Covers" again.
Mybrary uses five statuses to track where each book stands in your reading life:
Want to Read: Books you plan to read someday
Currently Reading: Books you're actively reading right now
Finished: Books you've completed
Paused: Books you've started but aren't currently reading
Abandoned: Books you started but decided not to finish
How to change status:
What happens when you mark a book "Finished":
Track your reading progress in different ways depending on the format.
Physical Books
Track your current page out of the total page count.
How to update progress:
Your progress percentage is calculated automatically. When you reach the last page, you can mark the book "Finished" with one tap.
E-books
E-books can be tracked by page number or by percentage, depending on what your e-reader shows.
Choosing your tracking mode:
Audiobooks
Audiobooks are tracked by listening time in hours and minutes.
How to update progress:
Adding a narrator:
Open the book, tap edit, and fill in the Narrator field. This is optional but helpful if you want to track which narrators you enjoy.
How to rate a book:
Ratings help Mybrary generate better recommendations and contribute to your stats (average rating).
How to write a review:
Your reviews are great for remembering what you thought about a book months or years later. They're also helpful when recommending books to friends.
Mark books you love as favorites so you can find them quickly.
How to favorite a book:
Where favorites appear:
View Modes:
Mybrary offers two ways to view your library:
Toggle between views by tapping the grid/list icon in the top right of your Library screen.
Sorting Options:
Tap the sort icon to arrange your books by:
Filtering:
Tap the filter icon to narrow down your library by:
You can combine filters—for example, show only "Currently Reading" books in the "Fantasy" genre.
Collections are custom groups you create to organize books your way. Think of them as shelves, tags, or playlists for books.
Examples of collections:
Creating a new collection:
Adding books to a collection:
One book, multiple collections:
A single book can belong to as many collections as you want. A book club pick might also be in "Favorites" and "Want to Reread."
Viewing a collection:
Use the search bar at the top of your Library to quickly find books by title or author. This searches only your library, not Open Library.
Search tips:
Your Home screen shows key stats about your reading:
Total books: How many books are in your library
Books finished: How many you've marked as Finished (this year and all-time)
Currently reading: How many books you're actively reading
Favorites: How many books you've favorited
Average rating: Your average star rating across all rated books
Total pages read: Sum of page counts for all finished books
Total minutes listened: Sum of listening time for all finished audiobooks
These stats update automatically as you add, edit, and finish books.
Set a yearly goal to stay motivated.
How to set your goal:
Tracking progress:
Tip: Start with a realistic goal based on your past reading habits. You can always increase it if you're ahead of schedule.
Tap "Pages Read" on your Home screen to see your total page count.
How it's calculated:
Mybrary generates personalized book recommendations based on your library and reading habits.
The algorithm considers:
If you don't see recommendations yet:
Recommendations get better as you add and rate books. If your library is small or you haven't rated anything, there isn't enough data yet. Add a few books and rate the ones you've read—recommendations will appear soon.
If your library is empty or unrated:
Mybrary shows popular and award-winning books as placeholders until you've built up enough reading history.
How to add a recommendation:
Recommendations are pulled from Open Library in real-time, so they require an internet connection.
Backups are local snapshots of your library saved on your device. They let you restore your library to a previous state if something goes wrong—or if you want to undo recent changes.
How to create a backup:
Where backups are stored:
On your device, in the app's private storage. They're not uploaded to any server or cloud—they stay local.
Automatic cleanup:
Mybrary keeps your most recent backups and automatically deletes older ones based on your retention limit (5, 10, or 20 backups). You can change this in Settings → Backups → Backup Limit.
When to create a backup:
Best practice: Create a fresh backup before every import or major change. That way, you can always roll back if something doesn't look right.
Restoring a backup replaces your current library with the snapshot.
How to restore:
When to restore:
⚠️ Important:
Restoring overwrites your current library. If you want to keep your current state, create a backup first.
Exporting saves your library to a file you can share, back up externally, or open in other apps.
JSON Export (Full Backup)
What it includes: Everything—titles, authors, ISBNs, genres, page counts, formats, narrators, reading status, progress, dates, ratings, reviews, favorites, collections, and cover URLs.
When to use it: Backing up your library to cloud storage, moving to a new phone, or keeping an external backup.
How to export to JSON:
CSV Export (Spreadsheet)
What it includes: Book data in a spreadsheet format—title, author, ISBN, genre, format, narrator, status, rating, page counts, dates, and reviews. Does not include collections or cover images.
When to use it: Importing into another book tracking app, analyzing data in Excel/Google Sheets, or sharing with friends.
How to export to CSV:
Best practice: Always create a fresh backup (JSON export) before making major changes, switching phones, or uninstalling the app. Store the backup file somewhere safe outside the app.
Best Practices for Importing
Importing from Goodreads
How to export from Goodreads:
How to import into Mybrary:
What carries over: Title, author, ISBN, reading status, rating, review, dates, page count, format, and genres/shelves.
What doesn't: Cover images (fetch them in Mybrary), custom bookshelves (use Collections instead), Goodreads-specific data.
Importing from a CSV or Spreadsheet
You can import from any spreadsheet as long as it has Title and Author columns.
How to prepare your CSV:
How to import:
Importing from a Previous Backup (JSON)
If you exported a JSON backup from Mybrary before, you can import it to restore your library.
When to use this: Moving to a new phone, reinstalling the app, or restoring after data loss.
How to import: Transfer the JSON file to your new phone → Mybrary → Settings → Data → Import Data → select the file.
JSON backups include cover URLs, so you won't need to fetch covers again.
Switching themes:
Go to Settings → Appearance and choose:
Customize how your Library screen looks by default.
Available preferences:
The app remembers your last-used sort, view mode, and filters.
Backup Retention Limit:
Last Backup Time:
Settings shows when you last created a backup, so you know if it's time to make a fresh one.
Fetch Missing Covers (Bulk Operation)
Go through your entire library and download cover art for any book missing a cover image.
Best results: Books with an ISBN have the best chance. If a book doesn't have one, add it manually.
Export and Import Data:
See sections 7 (Backups, Import & Export) above for detailed instructions.
⚠️ Delete All Books:
This permanently removes every book from your library.
Always create a backup before deleting all books!
Fastest way to add multiple books:
Use barcode scanning. Line up your books, tap Scan Barcode, and scan them one after another. Each scan adds the book and returns you to the scanner automatically.
Batch operations:
After importing a large CSV or adding many books manually, use Settings → Data → Fetch Missing Covers to download cover art for all of them at once.
Using Collections for reading challenges:
Create a collection called "2026 Reading Challenge" or "Book Club Picks" and add books as you go. You can view the collection anytime to see your progress.
I just finished a book:
Starting a new book:
Moving to a new phone:
Book not found when scanning:
Covers not showing:
Imported data doesn't look right:
Progress not updating:
Mybrary is built privacy-first. Here's what that means:
What stays on your device:
Everything. Your entire library, reading history, ratings, reviews, collections, progress, and stats are stored only on your device. No accounts, no servers.
What Mybrary doesn't collect:
What leaves your device:
Only search requests when you search for a book, scan a barcode, fetch cover art, or load recommendations. These requests go to Open Library, not to Mybrary servers. Open Library receives the search query but has no idea who you are or what's in your library.
Your data never syncs to the cloud (unless you manually export). This is intentional—keeping your data local keeps it private.
Mybrary only asks for two permissions, and only when you use a feature that needs them.
📷 Camera (for barcode scanning):
Why it's needed: To scan the barcode on the back of a book and read the ISBN
When you're asked: The first time you tap "Scan Barcode"
If you decline: You can still add books by search or manual entry. Barcode scanning just won't work.
How to re-enable: Go to your phone's Settings → Mybrary → Camera → Allow
📁 File Access (for importing and exporting):
Why it's needed: To read CSV or JSON files when importing, and to save files when exporting
When you're asked: The first time you import or export data
If you decline: Import and export won't work, but the rest of the app is unaffected.
How to re-enable: Go to your phone's Settings → Mybrary → Files → Allow
Mybrary doesn't sync automatically between devices (no accounts, no servers). Use the export → transfer → import workflow.
How to move your library:
Why no automatic sync?
No sync means no servers, no accounts, and no way for anyone to access your data. This is a deliberate privacy design choice.
Using the FAQ:
The FAQ covers the most common questions about Mybrary. You can find it on the website or in the app.
Contacting Support:
If you have a question, need help, or want to send feedback:
You'll get a response as soon as possible (usually within 1-2 business days).
The full Privacy Policy is available in the app.
How to read it:
Summary of the privacy-first approach:
Mybrary does not collect, store, or analyze your data. Your library is yours alone. What you track stays with you, and how you organize your reading is entirely private. There are no ads, no analytics, and no third-party tracking.
You now know how to use every feature in Mybrary. Start adding books, track your reading, and build a library that's truly yours.