Canto: Book Tracker & Journal
John Zerbe Book iPhoneiPadiPod touch
Canto: Book Tracker & Journal is a free Book app for iPhone and iPad by John Zerbe. Rated 5.0/5 from 3 ratings. Requires iOS 15.1. Updated October 21, 2026.
- Rating
- 5.0
- 3 ratings
- Price
- Free
- on the App Store
- Size
- 48 MB
- Age 4+
- Updated
- Oct 21
- 2026 · v1.6.0
Screenshots
About Canto: Book Tracker & Journal
Canto is a reading companion with no feeds, no followers, and no public reviews. It is not a social network about books. It is a private record of your reading life, and it gets more personal the longer you use it. HOW IT WORKS When you finish a book, Canto asks you a few questions. Not generic prompts. Questions written for you, shaped by this specific book, what you hoped to find in it, and what you've written about books before it. Answer in a sentence or a paragraph, whatever you have. Then Canto writes you a short reflection: something specific enough that it could only be about you and this book. Every reflection you write makes the next one better. That's the whole idea. CHOSEN FOR YOU After you write about a book, Canto picks three to read next: one from your want-to-read list, one that matches the feeling of what you wrote, and one outside what you usually read. Each pick comes with a reason tied to your own words. Three at a time, no infinite feed, and every earlier set stays in Past sets. GOING DEEPER With Canto+, you don't have to stop at the first few questions. Keep reflecting on a book in one sitting, guided by a lens you choose (characters, themes, writing style, personal impact) or writing freely. However far you go, a book is always one reflection in your history. READER'S DNA After your fifth reflection, Canto writes a portrait of you as a reader. Not stats. Not a genre pie chart. Actual prose about the patterns in what you read and how you respond to it, with an archetype that names what kind of reader you are. It regenerates as you keep reading, so it changes as you do. WHILE YOU READ Capture a passage the moment it stops you. Set an intention before you start a book, and Canto will remember what you were hoping to find when you finish. Canto sends two kinds of notification, both rare and both about the book: a quiet check-in while you're partway through, and one question two weeks after you finish about how it's sitting with you. BRING YOUR LIBRARY Import your Goodreads or StoryGraph export in about a minute. Your read, reading and want-to-read shelves come with you. Ratings and reviews stay behind. WHAT'S FREE AND WHAT'S NOT Reflections, passages, your library and import are free, forever. They are the heart of the app and will never be gated. Every reader gets Canto+ for 30 days, with nothing charged. After that, Canto+ is $39.99 a year or $6.99 a month, and adds Chosen, extended reflection sessions, cross-book insights, and Reader's DNA. Everything you write stays yours either way. NOT SOCIAL, NOT FOR SALE Your reflections are yours. There is no feed for them to appear in, no followers to perform for, and nothing is public unless you choose to share a single line yourself. Canto stores your library and reflections so the app can work for you and remember what you've written. To write your reflections, your Reader's DNA, and your book picks, Canto sends the relevant parts to Anthropic's Claude, which does not use them to train its models. Your data is never sold, never used for ads, and never shown to another user. BUILT FOR EVERYONE Full VoiceOver support, including a custom rotor action to hear an entire reflection read continuously. Voice Control supported. Reduce Motion respected throughout. Nothing relies on color alone to convey meaning. Strong color contrast in both light and dark mode, checked against WCAG standards. Dynamic Type everywhere. Canto is made by one person who thinks a reading app should know you better every month you use it, and should never ask you to perform your reading for an audience. Your books. Your words. No feed. No followers. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
What’s new
Version 1.6.0 · Updated October 21, 2026
Canto+ for 30 days, for every reader. Chosen picks, extended reflections, insights and Reader's DNA are all included. Nothing is charged, and when the 30 days end, everything you wrote stays in Canto. Chosen is better. You get three picks after your very first reflection, each with a reason tied to what you wrote. Past sets keeps every earlier set, so a book you passed on is still there later. A yearly plan. Canto+ is now also available yearly, alongside monthly. Easier to write. The text stays in view while you type, and Canto asks before discarding an answer you started. Better with VoiceOver. Reflection questions now read in order, and the answer field is reachable and starts at the top.
App privacy
The developer, John Zerbe, reported these privacy practices to Apple.
Data Linked to You
The following data, which may be collected and linked to your identity, may be used for the following purposes:
- Identifiers: User ID
- Usage Data: Product Interaction
- Purchases: Purchase History
- Contact Info: Email Address
- User Content: Other User Content
Used for: Analytics, App Functionality
Alternatives to Canto: Book Tracker & Journal
Looking for apps like Canto: Book Tracker & Journal? Here are 6 similar apps on the App Store. The highest rated is Chapterly: TBR Book Tracker (5.0/5), and all 6 are free to download.
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Liburu: Your Reading Shelf
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Book Tracking: TBR Tracker
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Books This Year - Book Tracker
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Chapterly: TBR Book Tracker
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Books Tracker: Reading Tracker
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C Program
| App | Rating | Price | Last updated | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canto: Book Tracker & Journal | 5.0 / 5 (3 ratings) | Free | October 21, 2026 | |
| Liburu: Your Reading Shelf | – | Free | Jul 29, 2026 | Compare |
| Book Tracking: TBR Tracker | 3.7 / 5 (3) | Free | Jun 3, 2026 | Compare |
| Books This Year - Book Tracker | – | Free | Jan 29, 2026 | Compare |
| Chapterly: TBR Book Tracker | 5.0 / 5 (4) | Free | Jun 27, 2026 | Compare |
| Books Tracker: Reading Tracker | – | Free | Oct 21, 2026 | Compare |
| C Program | – | Free | Jun 10, 2024 | Compare |