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Barcode Scanner in iPhone app
The latest version of the iPhone app (1.1.5) features a barcode scanner! We added this feature for two reasons: to scan your books and easily add them to your Goodreads account, and to quickly pop up information about a book, if for example you are in a bookstore trying to decide which book to buy.
The scanner is available in the iPhone app under My Books. After each scan you will see the book title and cover appear at the top of the screen: if you tap on that, you can quickly see reviews about the book you just scanned. Regardless, all your scans will be saved in a list that you can browse once you close the scanner. From there, you can add them to your shelves or simply read the reviews whenever you want.
There's one known issue though: the scanner will close on its own if you leave it open for too long. This is necessary to work around a problem in the actual barcode scanning software, which is not under our control. Your scanned books won't be lost. A workaround to this issue is to force-close some of your other apps running in the background.
We hope the barcode scanner will make it even easier to add your books on Goodreads and improve your experience at your favorite bookstore!
UPDATE: I added some topics in the help section for the most common problems related to the barcode scanner (and the iPhone app in general). Please refer to those first for a possible answer to your questions.
UPDATE 2: version 1.2.1 adds the widely requested "mass-add" feature: add all your scans to the read or to-read shelves, as well as the ability to just clear your scan list.
The scanner is available in the iPhone app under My Books. After each scan you will see the book title and cover appear at the top of the screen: if you tap on that, you can quickly see reviews about the book you just scanned. Regardless, all your scans will be saved in a list that you can browse once you close the scanner. From there, you can add them to your shelves or simply read the reviews whenever you want.
There's one known issue though: the scanner will close on its own if you leave it open for too long. This is necessary to work around a problem in the actual barcode scanning software, which is not under our control. Your scanned books won't be lost. A workaround to this issue is to force-close some of your other apps running in the background.
We hope the barcode scanner will make it even easier to add your books on Goodreads and improve your experience at your favorite bookstore!
UPDATE: I added some topics in the help section for the most common problems related to the barcode scanner (and the iPhone app in general). Please refer to those first for a possible answer to your questions.
UPDATE 2: version 1.2.1 adds the widely requested "mass-add" feature: add all your scans to the read or to-read shelves, as well as the ability to just clear your scan list.
Comments Showing 251-300 of 348 (348 new)
Melissa wrote: "The DROID app is called MyBookDroid. It will also allow you to load into Goodreads. Its also FREE!!!!"MyBookDroid is *NOT* "the DROID app" ... it is a third-party app, and really needs work / does not integrate well with goodreads ... yes you can import from goodreads, and add books to goodreads *one at a time* .. i tried it now i am uninstalling it and waiting *yet again* for an Android app ..
That's my pet peeve: everyone thinks once they make an iPhone app they think they are finished, and they will be if they keep thinking that way.
Fantastic!! Thank you so much for this! Works really well on my iPod Touch.The only improvement I would love would be a way to clear the scanned books list.
Thank you.
I tried to download this app and it said it is no longer available...how come???
would this allow one to check the prices and availability of books. if so the shrewd shopper could scan a title in the book store and then check to see if he can get it cheaper on the internet. Also would be very useful to the book scouts (those who search for rare and out of print items for resale) Besides all the wonderful uses for the bibliophile, this ap could be a valuable tool for the bargain hunter.
I am really excited about this app! However, after scanning about 40 books last night, it crashed (froze up and shut down) and I lost my entire list. I'm kinda reluctant to start again in case it crashes again. How do you shift the list from your phone to your account online? Do you need to assign them individually to your shelves?
Ettore wrote: "Stacy wrote: "Same here. I updated, double checked I have Version 1.1.5, restarted my iPhone. No scan choice."Weird. Then the only other possibility is that your device is not on iOS 4. I forgot ..."
Hi-Would be great to put something in the advertising for this telling us antiquted iphone users that unless we have the iphone 4, we are out of luck!
If this works then its pretty cool.Great job,
If this works then its pretty cool.Great job,
The scan shows up on my app on my iPhone, I center it over a bar code but there is no apparent way to tell it to scan! I push, swipe, tap, etc. every possible spot but nothing happens. Help!
Do you have to have the latest iPhone for the scanner to appear?
I figured it out - you just have to be sure to get the barcode centered in the area defined for it, hold it still and it will scan without pushing any buttons and a little beep indicates it has done so - patience is the key - and I'm not the most patient of people but it works very nicely now that I know that.
Nancy wrote: "Do you have to have the latest iPhone for the scanner to appear?"
Unfortunately, yes.
Unfortunately, yes.
My iPhone is a 3G that is more than a year old and the scanner works so you don't need 4G or the very newest phone.
I scanned about 30 books and they were all showing up on my list of scanned books. But the next time I looked the list was gone and it says there are no scanned books and they never showed up on web-based Goodreads.com account. Do I need to start all over again? And if so, how do I get them to sync with Goodreads.com? And then how do add them to their appropriate shelves? Or do I have to do them all one at a time?UPDATE: OK, so I figured out the problem...after you scan each book you have to click on the name of the book which takes you to another page to add it to your bookshelves and then click "Submit" which THEN puts it into Your Books.
Nyssa wrote: "Can not find the option to scan?? I've updated/synced the app, and went into "My Books". My choices are to "View My Profile" or choose one of my bookshelves. Nothing about scanning...."Ya me too can't see the option to scan?
Those of you who cannot find the option to scan: have you updated the app in the last few days? Try updating the app and syncing your phone again.
Alfonso wrote: "Great! but when it comes out for Android OS???? don't get me wrong! Iphones are great!* but more people have droid!"Yes! It would be wonderful to see a blog post on when we will see a Goodreads app for the Android OS. It's already ahead of Apple in market share, and continues to make rapid gains:
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-sm...
If someone could please let us know a timeline on when we can expect to see this, I think many users would greatly appreciate it. Many thanks!
Excellent! I hope my nudging you for this feature had some impact on your decision to implement it! I think you said you had been talking about something similar to a barcode scanner; I think the barcode scanner was the best choice. This will definitely encourage me to use the iPhone app more. Thanks!
I was delighted when I discovered this feature. I wrote an article on Connected Magazine in which I quote the Goodreads barcode reader as a example: Beyond the Flat World, http://www.connected.org/is/flat-worl...
Could we please have an update on this blog to say that it is available for android phones?
Alan, thanks for posting that Connected Magazine link to your
Beyond the Flat World
article about the gr scanner feature. I liked your description of how using apps to go beyond a flat online world to one that interacts more fully with the offline world represents unique and appealing form of connectivity.
Alan wrote: "I was delighted when I discovered this feature. I wrote an article on Connected Magazine in which I quote the Goodreads barcode reader as a example"
Natalie wrote: "Alan, thanks for posting that Connected Magazine link to your Beyond the Flat World article about the gr scanner feature. I liked your description of how using apps to go beyond a flat online ..."
Thanks Nathalie. I was so delighted with the Goodreads App I really had to figure why it seemed ground-breaking.
For me the difference between the gr app's scanner feature and just using the redlaser app is that the gr scanner feature links a book for sale -or your own personal books immediately with both your "outside world" (aka your friends' feelings about the book) or your personal world (your decision about what am I going to read next?)Alan wrote: "I was so delighted with the Goodreads App I really had to figure why it seemed ground-breaking."
Like many others, I'm eagerly waiting for the Android version. That barcode scanner feature sounds incredibly awesome!
This is excellent. I used it with the iphone 4, and am very satisfied!! Thanks a lot!
has it worked for anyone using the original iPhone?
Sounds good,When will you have an android app with scan function?
Lars
Whoever was in charge of not making an Android app, epic failed their common sense check. iPhone has never come close to being a global leader of phone sales. Android recently did exactly that. Woops?
Justin wrote: "Whoever was in charge of not making an Android app, epic failed their common sense check. iPhone has never come close to being a global leader of phone sales. Android recently did exactly that. Woops?"To each his own reality, Justin! I'm sure there must be loads of novels about such things.
I dont see the scan option either and I have 1.1.5 (77) on my 3GS I am still on the 3.x version of iOS... whats wrong?? This would have been fantastic to get all my books in.
does anyone know how many books you can load?
Antiquemom, there's no limit to how many books you can scan.
Everyone, I added some help topics for the barcode scanner issues and gotchas. They are all available in the help section with the other iPhone related topics. Please check there to see if you can find an answer, but feel free to contact us if you are still experiencing problems.
Alan wrote: "Justin wrote: "Whoever was in charge of not making an Android app, epic failed their common sense check. iPhone has never come close to being a global leader of phone sales. Android recently did ex..."Ah, dear Alan, somebody is wrong on teh Internet! http://blog.appboy.com/2010/05/4-reas...
One of the limits is the age of the books you have in your library. Many of my earlier books don't have barcodes. And some that do are not recognised. There's also the limitation that there are only so many books in the Goodreads database. Maybe they should have a way of switching to other sources when they don't find a book in their database. That way they could extend their database.
how do you get it to work, i just downloaded the app and went to "my books" and there is nothing there for the option to scan??
I downloaded it to both iPhone and iPad, but it doesn't want to work for me. What am I missing?
Linda wrote: "I downloaded it to both iPhone and iPad, but it doesn't want to work for me. What am I missing?"It wouldn't work with the (current) iPad because it uses the camera to scan the barcode.
I also have an Android phone. Do you guys have an Android app?
HELP! This is the message I'm getting:The app "Book Scanner" was not installed on the iPhone because it is not compatible with this iPhone.
I agree totally!