Christianbook Reader Reviews

This, unfortunately, is the poorest functioning app I have used. It lists every book as part of the Pentateuch. When you search it randomly jumps all over when you put in the chapter you want. When you try and scroll or change pages it sometimes jumps entire chapters. When you are able to capture the right chapter in a search it will randomly jump back to somewhere in the Old Testament. It is astounding to me that the creators of ChristianbookReader with a history of complaints against it have not fixed it. I am trying to use it for a Weirsbe commentary and it is incredibly inept. If anyone knows another reader I can use please advise. I would appreciate it.

Granted, I only just downloaded it and haven’t tried using the Notes or Bookmark functions. But the only thing I wish I could adjust so far is the page margins as it feels like the words are creeping off the page to the right and left and top and bottom. Other than that, it’s quite similar to Kindle. Wish me luck! Going to work a Francis Chan study as my first e-book here: Remembering the Forgotten God.

I have a 4 book series and it has been a struggle getting through it…ChristianbookReader keeps either freezing or the words disappear from the page or you can’t turn the page…you then have to either uninstall and reinstall ChristianbookReader or reboot your device…when I am done with this series I am deleting ChristianbookReader…very frustrating!

ChristianbookReader would be a great app if it didn’t go to the February 19th reading EVERY time I open it. The bookmark is off on every date but the next days reading.
ChristianbookReader goes completely blank at least once a month. This means I have to delete ChristianbookReader and reinstall it each time.
There are times I get locked out of ChristianbookReader and it does not recognize my password. Yes I have typed it correctly and yes I have not forgotten my password. There seems to be no way to reset a password also.
Please fix these issues. I am behind in my readings. Thx

ChristianbookReader is very disappointing, especially if you are used to reading on Kindle. The pages sometimes move one page and sometimes two. Anytime I highlight a passage and then turn the page, the highlight goes away. I can click on the icon in the top right and see a list of the highlights, so I know that I am doing it right. But I like to flip back through the devotional and see the highlights as I turn the pages. It’s a shame that they make us use a poor app for e-readers instead of letting us use Kindle, etc.

I thought I would save a few dollars and get the ebook from Christian Books. I did save a few dollars and now I’m regretting it. ChristianbookReader is so inferior to both Apple Books and Kindle. It’s horrible and not well thought out or designed. Clicking on Footnotes take you to the end of the chapter without any way of returning. The page layout is full justification with terrible spacing of letters and words. It is difficult to read. And I can’t return it because of their policy. So, I just bought my first and last ebook from them.

ChristianbookReader is very frustrating. I ordinarily use Kindle or Apple iBooks. If I try to highlight a portion that is close to the top or bottom of the page it just turns the page. Trying to turn the page intentionally is difficult, the swipe in either the lower or upper corners does not work very well, or very often. I wish I would have refused ChristianbookReader and just figured how to get my book in Kindle or Apple. I am very dissatisfied with this. I am giving it one star only because I cannot give less.

The reader is excellent... consistent with other readers (Kindle, Google Books).

Access to a lot of great material. Prices are quite reasonable. I’m not sure what other folks have. BTW, I am reading this on my iPad.

Last drop of ChristianbookReader was two months ago... These folks must have put in a Herculean effort!

I used to have issues with ChristianbookReader crashing or freezing. The new update seems to have solved those problems. Also, I noticed highlighting works much better, though I don’t really highlight in my books.

I just bought this program to use with the Men of Character Bible on my laptop, iPad, and iPhone only to find out it does not work. You tap on Feature Set Table of Contents but it jumps to the extended Table of Contents on each of my devices. I tried contacting support they told me to redown load it for a newer verision - but I just purchased it. They also told me to wait for an update. I would try to get my money back but I know that will not happen.

The highlighting feature is cumbersome and turns the page rather than highlighting half the time. Notes are stored on a separate page and not visible while viewing the book making the feature useless. I’d prefer the option to print so the document could be marked up manually for study.

Deleted ChristianbookReader a few years ago because it was so frustrating, but there was a book on their website so I thought I would give it another try. My mistake just as frustrating as before and now after using for several days it says my password is incorrect, and won’t let me sign and read the book I just bought. Password is saved on my device

I’m on a 2020 iPad Pro and ChristianbookReader will not even load the sample of a Bible I got. Kindle had no issues downloading, opening, and allowing me to navigate smoothly. ChristianbookReader took forever to download the sample and then would not load the sample once it was downloaded. I tried closing ChristianbookReader and reopening. I closed all background apps to no avail. Please fix this or take ChristianbookReader down before people waste money on pricy Bibles.

ChristianbookReader was fine until I actually purchased an ebook from the website. Now ChristianbookReader immediately closes after I open it. Each link in the directions takes you to ChristianbookReader and doesn’t allow access through a browser. The FAQ isn’t helpful for this problem. Literally, how am I supposed to read the book when I can’t even open ChristianbookReader ?

Disappointing App. My book opens on the same page every time I reopen no matter how far I am in reading.
There’s no way to continue from where you left but you have to search first because even the page numbers keep changing.
I wish I had read the reviews before purchasing this ebook.
I would not recommend ChristianbookReader to anyone who reads on their devices.

I wanted to be excited with an updated version as I use this on my iPad constantly but I am finding it will lock up, either a page or often a blank screen when I open the reader.
My only solution I have found to date is to reboot my iPad, very frustrating.

I have to download the book to a computer before I can access it in ChristianbookReader . Not everyone has a computer.
The highlighter is super buggy. They don’t save reliably. It can be very difficult to remove a highlight as well.
Frankly, I was in tears from all the frustration.

I bought two Tony Evans e-books through this website. Don’t waste your money on ebooks for Christian reader, as you must read them through ChristianbookReader. The pages have trouble turning and the layout is confusing/very hard to read. I had the worst time trying to read these, I ended up buying the books again in the physical copy.

Update 2021- Crashes less. Jumps pages, highlighting disappears. Search won’t go to chapters.

Sill, it’s better and I am glad to be able to read teaching series and books on ChristianbookReader , that are available only in print form. *So, on that note alone-3 stars.

Sadly, this is one of the worst apps I’ve ever had. I have a brand new phone and I am unable to load the books that I’ve already been reading/studying. This is highly disappointing and frustrating!!! It NEVER saves my bookmarks, and sometimes the pages freeze up! Won’t be buying a book from ChristianbookReader again!

Using the Kindle app spoils you for anything less. This proprietary app for ebooks from the CBD "store" is very frustrating, if not disappointing. It is often slow to load, making you think it has "hung up" in the process. The same thing often happens when it syncs your library. The most frustrating part is when trying to read- you flip to the next page, and nothing happens. You try it again, and still no response. Any gesture does not register. Then, ranging anywhere from a few to many (usually many) seconds later, the page will turn. This is not an isolated occurrence; it happens frequently. Another maddening thing is that sometimes, if the last page of a chapter happens to have just a few lines- 1 to 3 sentences- it may completely skip that page when you turn to it and go straight to the next chapter. If you try to back up to it, it will go back two pages to the last full page. Too bad another reader can't be used instead!
One would think they would try to fix ChristianbookReader, especially since there are NO positive reviews! Apparently they don't care about iOS customers.

I will start by saying I do like and appreciate the company. I purchased two Bibles during one of their sales and the reading experience is painful and something you’d expect from a company at the beginning of the smart phone/tablet introduction. Reading the commentary is very unproductive and doesn’t have a cross reference feature that I would come to expect and appreciate in this day and age. When going from one chapter to the next there are a few blank pages. It seems like they copied and pasted the books into the software with little or no thought to how it should be laid out. I make no joke when I say I’ve seen better reference formatting from Microsoft Word. I say all of these things in hopes they will seek to improve their app as they are a great company, but this falls very short of expectations. Until they fix this I would recommend using the Olive Tree Bible study app or Tecarta. Both are user friendly with access to books and audio. Tecarta lets you try some Bible translations before you buy.

I'm confused as to why there's so much hate for ChristianbookReader. It's been great for me.

I've read about it being incredibly slow and it's been very reasonably fast (and I'm no stranger to apps running slowly on my phone). I've read that it doesn't automatically bookmark but it does for me. I've read that it doesn't offer any of the features of a typical e-reader app; full disclosure - I've never used one before this so I may not be qualified to talk - but ChristianbookReader has as many features as I could hope for: a progress bar by chapter as well as the whole book, bookmarks, notes and more.

Every negative thing I've read about ChristianbookReader has been contrary to my experience. ChristianbookReader has served me well and I look forward to using it more in the future :)

It is wonderful that I can highlight sections, make a note, and bookmark a page. This is the minimal functionality required of an e-reader. I cannot, however, copy or cite text in a word processing application. Nor can I use the more recently added functionality of two apps running concurrently on the same screen on an iPad Pro. ChristianbookReader was last updated about four years ago. Please revamp ChristianbookReader.

I love CBD and purchase a lot from them. That being said I need to make a reminder to never purchase an ebook from them again. This reader will not bookmark a specific page. I mark on and later try to go back to it and it has marked multiple pages or just sends me to the front of the chapter. I started highlighting the first word in the next paragraph to use as a bookmark but it still doesn't take me right to it so I have to scroll through to find where I left off. I've also had to lock my screen so it won't accidentally flip to landscape because if that happens and I turn it back to portrait then it throws me to the beginning of the the chapter. Love the ease of having an ebook so as not to worry about carrying something else around but ChristianbookReader needs to work!! I would never randomly close a book without marking the page and this is what ChristianbookReader does. PLEASE FIX THE BUGS!!!

Thank you for ChristianbookReader ereader for Christian books from CBD... I’m enjoying reading my ebooks on my iPad and have experienced no problems ...running smoothly here...I have purchased many books, tracts and Bibles over the past 20 years and I have always received EXCELLENT friendly service from CBD...your prices are great...your sales on books, tracts and ebooks are amazingly low and keeps me coming back...I recommend and tell all my friends about your great prices and above five star service. Many thanks and God bless. James...Tacoma, WA

I seldom write app reviews “caveat emptor” and all that. But I decided after ten minutes of using this execrable app that I might need to make an exception. It’s that bad...

pros:
It’s free. That’s it. And frankly given the level of annoyance ChristianbookReader creates, free is way too costly. You couldn’t pay me to use it again. Honestly, it is going to cost me because I am going to have purchase a hard copy of the book to escape the aggravation of having to use ChristianbookReader again.

cons
Page turning-Incredibly touchy...let a finger touch anywhere near either outside margin and the page goes forward or back...even if you are just trying to highlight.
Highlighting - hot mess... try to highlight a large block of text and it may just not let you, must be a character limit or some such? Highlight across pages? Not a chance? Want a color different than yellow? Nope. Want to cut a quote and paste it? Yeah riiight.

I could go on but I’ve already wasted too much time on this lousy app. Truly disappointing. Buy the book or get it on kindle or some other competent e-reader.

Forget all these skeptics that you see giving ChristianbookReader a bad review. Now I'm not trying to knock kindle or anything like that but, I've never had the pleasure of using a kindle. With being said, ChristianbookReader is perfect. I like to set my phones back lighting to "night shift mode". It creates a nice tint while reading on ChristianbookReader. Of course the regular back lighting is ok too. Just as long as you adjust the brightness. But I, myself, can read longer with that tinted background light than the regular light. Great app team!

Had ChristianbookReader for several years and its getting worse! Have over 50 books in library and its frustrating to read any of them! I get halfway through a chapter and have to put the book down, set the bookmark and guess what - when i pick it up again ChristianbookReader opens at the BEGINNING of the chapter - have to turn several pages to try to locate where i left off! I agree with all of the negative reviews. The most disappointing part: you are a CHRISTIAN company and should strive for excellence - ChristianbookReader is a very poor witness. I am sad about ChristianbookReader on so many levels. Discontinue selling e-books if you're not willing to bring up your standards. You're cheating your customers...

I received a gift card for Christmas and downloaded two books. I hVe had the worst time trying to read the books. 1. There isn't a way to download the book, you must have an Internet connection. 2. Constantly freezes. 3. It doesn't do a good job of saving my place. When I reopen ChristianbookReader it will be quite a ways behind where I left off. 4. It really lags when turning a page 5. Sometime when you turn a page it's just blank. If you have to use a specific app for your downloaded books you better have a good app. I will not buy another e book from Christian books again. It is such a pain to read a book

I hate to say this but ChristianbookReader just doesn't work! It's very frustrating to try to highlight something; I have to attempt it several times and I just give up after 3... I am constantly getting the "read" screen when I am trying to highlight or just even turn the page; it seems with every page turn there is an issue. I just don't understand why a basic function is so hard. I will not buy another book from them even if the cost is higher from the competitors because it's just that annoying. I never had a problem with the the first book but this time it's horrible.

I bought my college books as e-books this time. Using ChristianbookReader is frustrating. When I go to highlight, it brings you back to the beginning. It doesn't have page numbers but screen numbers (ex. screen 23, part 1) so hard to know where you are in the book. You can't copy information then paste it in another document to quote or reference. I'm very disappointed with ChristianbookReader and will not buy e-books from CBD again. CBD is a great company, when ordering books, etc they always come onetime. Unfortunately, the e-book option was not a good decision.

Just purchased an ebook from CB and downloaded ap to iPad and iPhone. I can use it on my phone fine but on my iPad the ap won’t allow me to enter anything in the password field so I can’t open it on my iPad, which is where I prefer to do my reading. I tried removing the ap and reloading but still had the same problem. I contacted CB customer service using the customer service link provided in the confirming email but it bounced back, undeliverable. I tried again just using the email provided, not the link, and it bounced back again. I am so disappointed. Lesson learned. No more ebooks from CB.

I don't know why cdb does not fix their app and is forcing me to buy books from apple and barnes and noble! There are so many things wrong with ChristianbookReader , my review would be pages and pages long if I were to list them all! Please... hire a company (actually there are people out there proficient in these areas!) to come in and develop an easy to use app that everyone is happy with and does what a reader app is suppose to do, mainly let you read an ebook! Plus as a side benefit, you will actually make alot of money, being that e-reading is how the majority of people read these days!

Have been using ChristianbookReader for years and works fine for it’s purpose but could use a few additional features. When I scroll through to find previous books, not all of my purchased books are listed. It’d be great to have a search feature to make it easier to find what your looking for. Also a link to the CBD ebook store would be great!