Shelf Conscious

Judge me by my cover.

Shelf Conscious turns your iPhone into a book with a title that deserves a second look. Open it and the story plays along: the hamster book really is about hamsters, and the vicar really does want Christmas lunch.

20 BEST BITS, WITH MORE TO READ
A hand-picked shelf of 20 favourites, starting with Unclench. Each has a title page, dedication and three comic chapters. Read about household rebellions, competitive vegetables, alarming golf-club committees and the very serious business of pudding. More than 15,000 words across these expanded editions.

60 ORIGINAL COVERS
Explore the full shelf of 60 invented titles and authors, with ten cover styles, original illustrations and a written opening for every book. Save favourites or use search to find your next read.

MADE FOR IPHONE DUO
Close the phone and the front screen is just your selected cover. Open it to carry on reading. Facing pages and page turns make the inside feel like a book, and your reading position follows you as the layout changes.

REGULAR IPHONES, TOO
Hold your phone upright to show the cover. Turn it sideways to read. A manual cover display has a direct way back to reading. Reduce Motion provides a simpler page transition.

DESIGN A WALLPAPER
Every cover saves as a full-cover wallpaper, edge to edge. Pick a layout, background and up to three stickers, then save or share it. Designing your own book? Preview it as a wallpaper straight from Studio. Regular iPhones use their own screen resolution. iPhone Duo has four formats for the outer and inner screens in portrait and landscape. Apply saved images through Settings > Wallpaper.

MAKE YOUR OWN BOOK
Write a title, choose a design and picture, customise the colours, add a sticker and write your own opening. Save drafts, try another look or make a version of an existing cover.

FOUR COMPLETE CLASSICS
Read Pride and Prejudice, Frankenstein, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in the same reader.

OPTIONAL PERFORMATIVE MODE
On an open iPhone Duo, show the cover on the outside screen while you read inside, and see who's judging you: a small live view from the back camera shows the people looking at your cover. The live view can be hidden at any time. Nothing is recorded, saved or sent, there's no microphone, and the green camera light stays on while the mode runs. It starts only when you choose it, and stops when switched off, the phone closes, the app leaves the foreground or the outside display is not offered. Camera permission is optional; reading and wallpapers work without it.

One purchase. No subscriptions, in-app purchases, adverts, accounts or tracking. Reading and creation work offline.

By Shawn Britto, SBCombinator Inc.