Headway: Daily Book Summaries Reviews

by KristaDmore1

I opted into Headway from a Facebook ad. I have gone back-and-forth with Customer Service about charging me after the trial when it very clearly says when you sign up that several reminders will be sent when your trial period is about to run out so that you can decide whether you want to keep Headway or cancel the membership. I received zero and I mean zero notifications. I also did not see Headway in my recently purchased so there was no way for me to go back and delete it or unsubscribe until I was billed. I very respectfully wrote back two emails letting the customer service personnel know what had transpired and they could care less. I think this is very sneaky I am very aware of how trial periods work but I also believe that you can go back and see the history of the application being used or not used and I was not given any notification I think it’s garbage and really bad customer service and a really bad way to do business. I will eat the $40 but I feel like this is just mean and not a good way to attain and keep loyal customers. Tracking them into paying for something they don’t use and yes I said tricking because zero notification was sent even though your sign up process said it would.

by CandyDivine

Headway popped up in a social media add, I had been slacking in my reading recently so I decided to get a free trial. I get how trials work and why they set them up to auto bill after the trial, I accept that. I have never been so mad at myself for not canceling a free trial on time, and I’ve done it a few times with other apps I really didn’t want to pay for. If you are planning to ‘Listen’ to the book summaries, the robotic auto- read narration is so god awful I wished myself deaf. It does a horrible job at communicating the intent. I’m not sure if the summaries were written that poorly or the auto-read technology is that bad, lack of punctuation, pause, tone and human inflection often leave you confused at what you heard that you can’t even pay attention. I even tried listening to one of the books on focus and paying better attention, it didn’t help. The cards and summaries seemed to get the main points of books across I was familiar with, but I think you would have been better off reading a free summary online. The ‘cards’ and repetition features don’t seem like they would be helpful to most people or really add much value to make Headway worth even risking a free trial.

by SOFurious

I saw Headway being sponsored, and after looking into it, decided to try the “free” trial. Well, apparently there’s no such thing. I got charged immediately without my knowing. Within 2 days of trying it out, I realized I didn’t like the format because it wasn’t what I was expecting. I went into Headway , hit “unsubscribe,” and deleted Headway . I thought this was all set. Until I received my credit card statement with a charge for Headway on it. I was charged as soon as I downloaded Headway . Not after the free trial. So apparently, hitting unsubscribe wasn’t good enough. I was apparently expected to contact apple for a refund. But didn’t realize I got charged until I got my statement in the mail, and now I’m outside of the cancellation period. The funniest part is, if I go back into Headway , and hit “resubscribe,” I’m being notified that I’ll get charged. So I basically made a $64 donation to Headway when I downloaded it. This is all infuriating, and super scammy. I’ve never had any issues with apps before, nor have I ever written a review, but after being on the phone with customer service for over an hour and being told there’s nothing they can do, I can’t help but want to warn everyone that this is how Headway is operating. Shameful! Oh, and I was informed that if I contact my credit card to reverse charge, I could potentially lose my apple account. WOW!

by Cooooochie

I signed up for the free trial and usually when I sign up for those I set several reminders in my phone since I have ADD and need a process in place. When I signed up for Headway, there was language saying “don’t worry, we will send you reminders about when your trial period is ending“. That is a lie. God knows it sends 1, million notifications a day to continue your reading, but not a single one reminded me about my trial.

I have disputed this with my credit card, but conveniently that language that they used and I relied upon to my detriment is nowhere to be found anymore. So I have absolutely no proof.

So far I have had only experience with two books on Headway, the power of now, which was summarized really really well, and the Make your bed title, which seems like it was distilled by a third grader. So if you feel like spending almost $100, be my guest, but it’s a mixed bag and you’d better be aware of when your trial ends YOURSELF.

by New Alaskan

I have listened to about 20 book summaries over the past two weeks on this app. They have a great selection of books across huge variety of genres. I have found the summaries to be OK but not inspiring. One of the things about books that makes them great is the stories they tell, but you cannot fit a story into a 15 minute summary so while the content of the summary is good it lacks the impact that the real book has. I have yet to listen to a book read by a real human, they’ve all been either a male or female computer that does an OK job.

The functionality of Headway itself is pretty bad. I get emails or notifications recommending certain books, but when you tap on that notification it opens Headway back to the last page you were on instead of sending you to the recommended book. It takes forever to load the audio, and does not have any controls available in CarPlay. Today it told me “continue reading for zero minutes to meet your daily goal!”

Overall I am using it as a way to screen books to decide what I’m interested in actually reading, rather than finding inspirational summaries like I expected.

by Melrod0711

I saw Facebook ads for this app in the form of these 28 Day Challenges and I was very intrigued. I’m always down for a good challenge, especially one in the self growth department. I downloaded Headway and was all excited that it was going to create my OWN personalized challenge tailored to my interests. Wow! Well, when you make it to the home page, your personal plan vanishes. Gone, never to be seen or accessed again. That was very disappointing but I was still willing to give it a try. The audio recordings are awful. I’m a VO artist and I actually wondered if these summaries were recorded by humans. The cadence is off, it sounds hollow, there are no gaps between sentences. I could barely comprehend. And before I could cancel (because I wanted to see if all the recordings were that bad or just a few) I get charged $80 for 6 months. Not worth the money and I haven’t used it in months. Like I said, excellent concept, but the technical execution (the vanishing of your plan and the audio recordings) leaves much to be improved.

by Samchamploo

I listen to a lot of audio/audible books in various for of strategic self and business development. The problem I have is that sometimes books drag on. What could be said in a half a book can be condensed to a chapter.
I love that Headway provides a way for me to listen to the main idea(summary) of the book in a condensed manner. If the summary doesn’t feel like enough, or if I just really want to hear more about it, then I know it’s worth getting the full book on Audible or possibly hard book.
I rated 4 instead of 5 stars because not all the books are read by a person. Instead, it’s a robotic like voice that’s an absolute pain to digest. I find myself distracted from the books content because the delivery of the message is just botched. I read from other reviews that they are working on changing them all over so I think with time, Headway will get better and better.
I’m more than satisfied with the year price I paid and plan on using it often. I hope that in the meantime while they work on getting these robotic voices replaced, they provide a filter for their selection so I can exclude those from playlists.

by Garzajp93

Hello,

I have been using the this app app for a month now and so far I have enjoyed it very much. While many things about it are great I thought I could help point out a couple things to improve the this app iPad app.

I think a great way to get ideas on how to improve Headway id by looking at the “Books” app from apple. I’ve been using that for years and many its pretty amazing.

Anyways, here are somethings I noticed:

1. iPad Landscape mode. This would be a great add since a lot of the iPad cases don’t allow you to place the iPad on portrait mode.

2. Font size at max seems to mess a lot of things. Line spacing is small. Highlight is hard seems like i need to point below the words for them to be selected.

3. Be consistent with font usage. I believe font consistency between paragraphs, quotes, and header might make it more visually plesuarable and easy to use.

4. Background color, the Books app from apple does a great job with this. It would be nice if you guys can add 2 more backgrounds. Black, and sand.

5. Highlight, i would also look into the Books app they do a great timed highlighting feature instead of highlighting something and showing a button. Also, sometimes when I highlight the button doesn’t show up.

Sent from my iPad

by Djvigna

I’m enjoying the summaries of the books included, and there are many, however… they include some editorializing in the summaries which is not useful and gives rise to suspicion they may be, even if inadvertently, editing the authors intended message throughout the rest of the summary.
Regarding the audio versions, the human read summaries are well done and easy to follow, only occasionally using mismatched inflection or cadence. But the machine read summaries are of little value. The software’s attempts at inflection are more often wrong and the pacing/cadence of the reading often confuses or obscures the intended meaning of the text.
The reminder cards, snippets of the summary are useful but would be better at bolstering retention if they were presented as a question, maybe fill-in-the-blank, instead of just the quote with no real recall required.

by Ronnie Simmons Jr

I love the ideas behind Headway and the self development Headway drives for its user. However, there are some parts of some books that I wish I could listen to over and over, daily basis type deal. Also, I wish there was a link with every book that will direct you to a purchasing destination for that book.
The lady’s voice is too robotic as well as one of the men’s voice is to fast. It would be nice if you could choose which voice to have as your reader for the books because there are two men’s voices used by Headway that is perfect for my reception.
Overall this is a very inspiring app that is worth a one year subscription, Headway can turn your life around. Thank you to the individuals behind the ideas and production of Headway, you truly have helped me become a improved person with renewed purpose because of Headway! Thank you!

by NOVABABECRYSTAL

I was referred to Headway by my mentor and it is now my daily go too I never was a fan of reading long drawn out books because for some reason my brain wouldn’t retain the information after the first chapter I’ve read. To find an app that would summarize a books key points give key tips and read it aloud was like finding GOLD for me this app has drastically changed my life I was seeking to know a lot more than what I already knew clarity on this I was unsure of I sought to better myself and to find my purpose here in life and this app not only helped me with these answers I was seeking but they’ve helped me to be the better person I knew I could be. When I’m in distress I no longer feel the need to reach anywhere for anything else but to this app because 90% of the time there’s a book I can listen to that will speak directly to what I’m going through which sets me right back on track. I would recommend Headway to the world if I could because of it s life changing effects
Big Thanks to the developers!

by Conscientious Buyer

So far, great range of books. The audio option means I can plug it into my car on the way to work, although I would like a way to skip back a paragraph rather than a whole chapter. I generally still take notes or return to a book - nothing takes very long as each book takes less than 20 minutes to complete, typically a good deal less. Also, I’ve been driven to find the full book at the library or order online when I want to learn more. As a recovering compulsive book-buyer, I’ve found Headway helps me get through what end up being “one idea books” quickly and without blowing $20. Totally worth it for those with a desire to learn but without a ton of time or an ability to read quickly.

by Sean-sull

I saw this on Headway Store as I was looking for an app that could help me improve myself, and I am SO glad I downloaded it. Headway has a ton of book summaries and it breaks them down into bite size pieces so it’s really easy to understand the gist of a book. The coolest thing about Headway, though, is that it’s made me start reading again. I actually bought a few of the books whose summaries I read in Headway because I wanted to get the full experience, and I think Headway really made me want to do that. I wouldn’t have bought and read actual self improvement books if I hadn’t first seen them here, so I’m really happy I found Headway. It makes you appreciate good books and actually makes you WANT to read them, which is really cool. Definitely recommend

by Nella M.

I’m really not one to post reviews, specifically, this is the first one I’ve taken the time to write in the past decade that I’ve been an Apple user. That’s how much I’ve enjoyed using Headway. As someone who grew up reading every chance they could, reality has hit and I’ve realized that I cannot keep up the same amount of reading as I once did. Using Headway has slowly helped me strengthen my retention and focus while reducing the information overload usually presented with most books. I love listening to podcasts already and the listening feature Headway offers is similar enough to where I can now absorb this information without having to be on my phone. All in all I can tell this will be a great tool in my life.

by Bobbysmallsocks

I have had Headway for three days now and I ended up buying a premium subscription. It was very good on the free version because you’ll get a book recommend it to you every day for free. If you end up getting premium you can download your books and listen to them without internet. I personally use them while I take my dog on a walk in the woods where there’s no Internet connection. If you get it during the holiday season I got a 70% off discount from premium so it was really worth it. Headway has tons of different challenges like the 28 day wealth challenge and hundreds of different books to either listen to, read from, or listen to while you’re following along. Are usually don’t write apps but I felt very inspired to do so. Thanks this app for changing my life!

by Rico Suave 737

Headway is amazing! Great books, great content. I love reading but I don’t read very long and long books normally make me quit them. But this short book that you can read in 16-20 minutes is perfect! Suggestions: 1. I will like to see a check Mark next to a book I read. Right now if you wanna check you have to go the library and check if you read it. This feature is common sense and is missing. 2. Customize feature that allows you to choose a book journey route: meaning you can choose all the books you want to read next and have them set up like the challenges are set up now but with each book set up from first to last in a creative way. 3. The ability to review each mini book once you’re done. And to show each books reviews easy.

by Chiefsfan02

I have always known that personal development and investing time into it was a key to being more content and successful, and I would buy book after book that I would start but rarely finish. Since finding this app a few months ago, I have been able to meet my daily reading goal, and I have finished summaries of 34 books! Some I want to read more so I can get the entire book if I want, others I just take notes on how they apply to me and move on to the next. My personal life is immensely better, and I am having my best year in my 30 year sales career, even during the pandemic! I can’t imagine my days without Headway, it is so worth it! Don’t even think about it - get it! Then commit to a few minutes a day and it will become habit. Im living proof!

by AyeDeezy

Lol who knew how hard trading can go in your life 🖤🖤 I’m amazed that i found writers that have written books that confirm thoughts about elevation that i never knew to actually be like law in the universe. i thought i was the only one which made me self conscious all the time. Whoever made Headway in the way they made it was genius and i’m so grateful. It would probably of took a few more years to be able to read these books because i just didn’t have a way to do it or a way to figure out how to read these much needed books. i’m so grateful to the creators of Headway. and that it found its way me. not to sound corny but i’m grateful for the chance to read these books and then it helps you with time management; its just out of this world. may they continue to bless the world with their ideas 🖤🖤🖤

by Bigtymplaya9

This has to be the best app I’ve downloaded in a long time. I’m constantly finding ways to absorb new information. I have books on top of books that I get through about 1-2 chapters a week. Although it’s progress. It doesn’t get straight to the concepts I’m looking for. Since I’ve read a ton of books already I have a general idea of what exactly I’m looking for. Headway has saved me tons and tons of research and time.
Repetition is the key to mastery. The second problem I have is integrating new concepts into my life. Taking notes can lead to lots of time lost. Instead I find all the books I’ve already read and add them to my library so I can study them frequently so it truly becomes part of my life. It’s like going to the gym with your lifting partner for one week then you stopping and expecting to have the same excitement, push, and motivation to make lifting a new habit.
this app is my lifting partner for my mind.

by Laycee182

I wasn’t really sure of the purpose or function of Headway initially. I have ADHD so it took a a bit to really focus on the utility here. Once it clicked that Headway provides a summary of larger books ( the keynotes) I fell in love! As I mentioned I have ADHD, which makes it difficult for me to read, I get lost in text of a book as my mind starts to wander. Headway reads to you and you can follow along with the text, that has made a huge difference in what I retain. It’s also a great way to get the keynotes and help me decide if I want to read the whole book or can I just take away the summary and put it to use. For Gen-X the best way I can explain it is this - Cliffnotes and the speak and spell had a brilliant baby and it’s this app! Hope it helps you as much as it’s helped me - total game changer!

by Sparkle Faerie

BEWARE! There’s no way to cancel your subscription, even with the “Free Trial”. Can’t cancel in App Store, can’t within Headway , no website support. Tried to contact through their website but contact form is broken and will not submit. Finally found support email in the description, but also found the subscription policy which pretty much forces the user to pay the 6-month subscription despite the 7 day free trial. Found similar people having the same problem reading the reviews. Deceptive, I’ll be reporting this.

by Sendthedogsin

From the start this company is clearly preying on it users by advertising $3 a week after the free trial but really you get charged $80 unless you cancel before the 6th day of the trial. They make it very hard to cancel. Using two different time scales is misleading (only $3/week, auto enrolled for 6 months). “Cancel anytime”- but your already enrolled in a 6 month subscription. Don’t get tricked. I will be reporting this to the FTC and the better business bureau. It’s just not kind.

by Faiaflyn

First of all, I haven’t even used Headway yet so I don’t know if I will even like it. The interface to start is a problem. It is confusing when initial setting up. I was trying to start a free trial, but was instead charged a monthly subscription fee.
After trying to get a refund through apple, I was denied and trying to get in contact with the company is a joke. I tried sending them a direct message on their website, but it would not even send.

by KizuNeko

Extremely deceptive trial signup screen. Claims $0 per week and the small print says “$3.46/week/week” but they charge for a full 6 months after a week. What does that even mean? Why not say exactly what you are charging on the trial screen unless you are trying to deceive people? The book content is poorly “curated” since the focus of the snippets misses the mark (compared to books I’ve already read). Now I’m stuck with a 6 month $90 subscription I won’t use and no way to get a refund. Don’t get duped by Headway’s developers.

by Bopsauce

While the concept is cool, it’s disappointing that no part of this is free except for the trial. I wish it was advertised up front that after you download the free app, in order to do ANYTHING... you need to agree to pay them 4 bucks a week.

I would rather they just charge the $89 up front so that I didn’t waste my time. Of course it’s understandable that there is a charge for your service. Just don’t be so sneaky about it.

Even in Headway Store where prices for premium upgrades as most apps have.. there are multiple packages of the same name and even a free trial package that costs $89?! WHAAT?!

by Mollydoll88

this will be for people with a lot of disposable income if you want to market to everyone with this concept (which is good) make the price something people can fathom for the pay off. I was excited to listen to one book today but that did not motivate me to spend 90 bucks I was really surprised. maybe try charging per book so people can feel like they might stand a chance to partake in your app. if you’re just market to rich people then nvm do your thing.

by Collycollins

Liked Headway when it’s working, but it rarely works. Every single time I open Headway I have to re-enter my starting preferences and bamboozle my way to my library by clicking restore purchases. Now I can’t even reach my library without doing another trial or adding on to my year subscription with an additional 6 month. Going on makes me feel frustrated and anxious when the intent is supposed calm and self growth. I also feel like I’m constantly being asked for money and reminded of deals a might have missed since it’s always asked me to pay. I’m loosing trust and ready to find an app that meets my needs.

by Mingwahaha

It said you could cancel the service after 7 days trial period, this is NOT TURE!

I wanna cancel my subscription after 5th day trial period, and I found I could not find the “unsubscription” option under Apple ID. ( I have done cancel subscription or cancel trial for other apps, so I know exactly what I am doing). So I contact to the support team with attached picture with my Apple ID.

They just keep reply the steps that how to unsubscribe an apps over IPhone (3 times). I express that I understand the step, I follow through the steps, but I can’t find “subscription”tag. So I said I don’t wanna be charged for sign up the service, because I can’t stop the trial service. The reply is

Hello!

Sorry for the auto-reply.

We can't check your subscription status, because Apple doesn't give us contacts of the users.

You can check inside the phone settings by yourself.

regards, this app team

I guess I m stuck!? The apps itself is fine, but I would rather it is a pay apps or a free app with in store purchase. Dishonest!!!!!!! Think twice before you download Headway.

by MrsMichonnegrimes

I am not a book reader what SO EVER. So when I came across this (ig ad I believe) I thought why not try it. Will save me time in having to sit down and read an entire book. I get impatient what can I say. Things you guys can work on: the robotic voice when you do listen mode makes my head spin. Please improve by adding voice choices or just an alternative to that CREEPY robotic voice. AND Too many notifications!!!!!!! I’m swear almost every waking hour it was sending notifications to finish the book, finish your chapter. OK I get it!!! And forget using Headway if you’d battery is less than 30%. My battery was draining so quickly and Headway was glitching, not scrolling and getting stuck, couldn’t click on bookmarks either to save. Also the pricing model is confusing, if I would try to exit a free trial page another one would pop up and offer a lesser price. It was showing the pricing in too many ways.. weekly, monthly and yearly. Needs some refinement.

by Iearmstrong11

I love the concept, and got to listen to two books before Headway started to act up. It forgot that I already subscribed (trial) and when listening to books it sometimes froze mid-way AND then switched to text view randomly. Headway also restarted at the splash screen where I had to re-enter things I already chose. At this point, because my initial experience was less than smooth, think I'm going to stick with reading books the old fashion way (or electronically).

by JHop19

The two books that I have checked out so far have had multiple typing errors. It seems as though a non-native English speaker wrote the summaries or there is no second person taking a look at the summaries. This is distracting when reading, would also like to see a list of books I recently have read or opened. Other than this Headway is great.

by Blyuher

I love the idea of Headway, as I often find myself interested in reading a book, but never having enough time to read it. Headway highlights the main ideas of books and gets specific, which is hard to do.

by Ooueida

Need to have the option to mark and unmark read books

Need to have the option to list all read and completed books

by От AdvertApp

More than pleased. found all the books I have heard so much about but never have time. Think and Grow Rich, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People are must

by Abhineet87

I have been wanting to read almost all of these books but just couldn't find time.
Headway is great in giving a complete brief of the books in almost no time with the ease of going back to the books to revise exactly the things the you want.