Instaread: Learn Something New Reviews

by Aaron_Esq

I was very excited about Instaread. I read a lot, and wanted to be able to listen to book summaries while commuting and exercising. Unfortunately, the summaries are terrible. They are too short, too general and vague, and spoken much too quickly. I listened to five book summaries, and got very little out of it. Very disappointing. It’s okay if you want to get the general idea of a book to decide if you want to buy it or not. But you won’t glean much content from these summaries. Just canceled my subscription.

by Jerroldw70

I was excited to listen to my first book with Instaread. I listened to “things fall apart”by Pema Choodron. It was basically the same as reading the summary on the back cover of the book, total waste of time. I immediately cancelled the subscription. It would be a little useful as an intro to the book to know in general what the book is about before you buy the book. You could easily read a description by the publisher for free.

by John12SM

BE AWARE
Im a college student who likes to read. I saw this app and wanted to give a try so I signed for a trial. I was always planning that if I liked it i would go for the monthly subscription which is around $9. Well, it turns out that it charged me $90 dollars for a year round subscription that I didn’t sign for, and plus that, they don’t even have a customer service where I can try to fix this problem. I cancelled the subscription and it didn’t refund the money. It said: your subscription will still valid for 1 year. I haven’t see any similar online scams recently. They don’t refund, they don’t even switch from yearly to monthly. Once you paid, the money is gone. I needed that money for a college textbook.
So BE AWARE

by J.C.27

I am trying to cancel my subscription/free trial because I accidentally subscribed and the email this company gives for customer support is not a valid email and there is no point of contact. I assume it’s meant to confuse people and be able to charge them for their services. I do not like when companies make it so difficult or confusing to cancel your account so they can most likely confuse their customer and end up charging them. Not happy with this site and app.

by Aubreylynn1111

What the heck. I got an email today about how Democrats are hurting politics and the upcoming election. They also advertised a book saying that. I have no idea why this company is saying anything about politics. I got Instaread to quickly get through books not to have political agenda thrown at me. This is the first email I got from them on a book so please don’t say it was just for promoting the book.
I really like Instaread and I already paid upfront for a year subscription. I was so disappointed by getting this email. I have been talking to people about his great Instaread is. Stop pushing your political views on people!

by Zet Zero Zilch

I have a mild dyslexia, so reading books is literally painful, but hungry to read, I thought I'd give this a try. I loved the idea of cards, and having a paragraph or two surrounded by ample empty space was helpful for not losing my place. But the white text on different colors was hard on my eyes and I had to pause several times.

But what has prompted me to delete Instaread is it's just plain bad writing. Disjointed and uncomfortable turns of phrase made sense-making difficult. There were even incomplete sentences. It felt like it was written by a teenager. When the second book was just as bad, I decided to try a different app.

by Nikkihuy

I really enjoy the summaries but it seems like they should be a little shorter. 12-15 mins is about my attention span, but that’s just me. Also, why is the actual books cover art not being used? Having different covers makes it had to scan for a book and I don’t associate the knowledge to the actual authors’s visual interpretation of what the cover should look like, but it’s not a huge deal so I wouldn’t count a star off for that. Otherwise I really enjoy listening:)
Oh and being able to speed up the readers pace is really handy!

by DESIGINER

Good day ma’am or sir. I would like for you to remove my account from your app. I didn’t know there was a fee and due to my financial status I am unable . No I do not want to talk to anyone I just want my account removed , I have already unsubscribed from the newsletter and now I just want my account remove. See the funny thing is I cannot remove it myself so that’s why I am writing this review. You seem like you have a really nice app very informative and interesting. I just want my account removed. Please remove it. Best Regards.

by Nitrocoldblue

I love Instaread since iphone version. But when i try to use it on my ipad mini 1, it always crashes from the first page. I know my ipad mini is super old but it still can be used to read other reading apps so why can't this one? It would be great if this problem can be fixed

by Omsi96

I use it kinda weekly and in my travels daily!
I like the content, Instaread overall, and the quality of the recordings and summaries.

by RockandorRoll

This is THE best reading app out there. For instance, you can buy a lifetime subscription so you never have to worry about losing any data. The support is awesome!! (Although, at first the support link in Instaread didn’t work so I had to find an email in the reviews). They had to fix a bug in my app and it was not an easy fix. They worked and worked and worked at it and even gave me a discount for waiting. These guys are the absolute best! As far as the books go, they’re so in depth (unlike most reading apps) they’re set up with bullet points and you really get the MEAT of the story. I just can’t say enough good things about Instaread. Get it!

by Dp560pd

Sneaky, continued charging my credit card long after my subscription ended.
Book selections were just eh...

by Fwertyu

Great app, only functionality missing is that it should remember what I’m currently reading and have a folder of books I’ve read, if I don’t save them manually I have to search for them.

by 2dum2no

******** UPDATED REVIEW *********
this app Tech Support reached out to me and fortunately fixed my issue with Instaread freezing up.

Based upon their timely response, I am changing my review to 5 stars. Instaread is great for catching up with the books I have been interested in without having to commit to buying and reading. (I think of it like the “Cliff Notes” version.) If I really like the book, I am able to purchase it and read the entire thing knowing that I won’t be wasting my time and/or $$$. I recommend Instaread for anyone with limited time and a desire to stay “current” with their reading.

*************************************

I used to love Instaread. I’ve had Instaread for a long time (I purchased a “lifetime” subscription). However, I’ve noticed, over time, the quality of Instaread was deteriorating to the point of rarely working. It was my go to app when traveling because it allowed me to catch up on new reads. It’s disappointing to see a once great app become useless! I was also shocked to find, when deciding to write a review, that Instaread automatically defaults to a 5-star glowing review that is pre-written for you. Really?? Shame on you, this app!!

by All I Wanted Was Storage

Extracting the essence of a book, makes reading fast and easy. Learning is fun and and even easier to understand then the actual book at times. Recommended for those who have a lot of unread books lying around like I do because of a busy lifestyle.

by SomaliGuy

The fact that Instaread has the full coverage of best selling books, makes amazing and enjoyable to read or listen to the insights are the most important part of the books and having Instaread makes me digest the best in every book

by Mikester1983

I love staying on top of the best business reads but don’t have the time or money to buy and read the actual books. I had no idea this app existed till a friend told me about it. It’s been a month and I’ve read more books in this app than I have in the past year the “old” way. My only feedback is that I want MORE books!!!

by Peso

I have this habit of buying books I don’t read. Mostly that’s because I fall in love with the idea of a book, and I don’t want to forget to read it. As you can imagine that get’s expensive and time consuming.

this app helps me “vet” out books I think I might like without actually buying them.

by DubbyDuBose

Instaread is very much worth the cost. I have learned so much from the book summaries, as well as the general life success tips shared. You will not be disappointed with this service. You’ll never have the time to read all the books you want to read. Instaread allows you to capture the key take-always from all of the best sellers and classics.

by Gleeshy1

Great app here and have some suggestions for you guys, first off when I download something I would like an option for the audio to download offline as well. Also when I am listening to something the media drawer on the bottom is useless because I would wanna press it and go back to the page of the audio. Last but not least on my iPad I would prefer to see what I'm reading full screen not the square border that doesn't take up the full screen. Other than those little things amazing app.

by Ally143Redd

Amazing app. One of my favorites, but it needs a little work. Currently, Instaread will not open. This is not the first time. It tried to load and force closes repeatedly. Last two times this happened, i was without Instaread for over a week each time, but still paying. No reimbursement was ever offered. I still recommend Instaread to everyone bc it offers so much. I do wish that you could save favorites, rate the titles and see what's been read from the main page, with out having to enter your library to see. I don't want to delete and reload Instaread bc it deletes my library every time i did that to fix this big and then it also deletes what's been marked read and not read. Very annoying. But love Instaread still. Great content. Love the new additions of fault thoughts abs articles. Love the read and listen options.

by Sosomall

Best app ever. I never thought it was possible for me to read so much, so wisely and in less time. I read small parts of books they offer per my taste. If I like it, I read the whole book. Easy!

by Canada Laura

Great for that book you’ve always wanted to read but felt like you don’t have the time. Awesome value. I use this app while taking public transit and I’m so glad I found it ☺️

by Zubinmo

This has been the most engrossing ap to date. This could change the way we learn— the access to insight is overwhelming!