Blinkist: Big Ideas in 15 Min Reviews

Great idea!

Pixel-pirate

I downloaded several blinks before getting on a flight. They’re a great median between reading the entire book and reading a quasi informed blog. There are a lot of books who’s core idea I’d like to benefit from but don’t quite make my long reading list. This is the perfect solution for the in-between reads.

Good but needs work

MissMel01

First, I love the concept of learning on the go. Blinks give me enough information to determine if I need to read the book or the summarized concepts are enough to go on. I have recommended the app to several friends and the free version is a great option to introduce new users. The 7 day FULL trial is another perk - there is a lot to discover and help you make the right decision and subscription plan. As others have said the audio playback is an issue and I know they are working on it. I'm looking forward to this update because if I am playing over Bluetooth and it restarts or just stops a blink it's a pain to go back to my phone to get back on track. I think recommended reading could be better, more intuitive based on previous interests and/or items added to reading f list. Feed recommends items already on my reading list or the same items (do not change) over and over. Perhaps a thumbs up or thumbs down option on recommendations would be a good future update to deliver the most relevant content to subscribers. Despite the website that states there is a place to pay online and enter a promo code the website redirects me back to the App Store and wants to charge me the full amount and I am unable to enter the promo code for a year subscription. Also there is no option to select which sub option you want. Adding this feature to the app and the website should be standard. Found they answer questions on their site and there is a walkthrough for the screens and promo box you should see on the website but the walkthrough does not match what is on the site. Finally, I could entice more people to purchase a sub with the promotional price point or an option to recommend 2 purchase price points for read vs audio.

Buggy app, beware

sewbiwan

In the free trial I downloaded this evening, I’ve found the following: easily reproducible highlighting bug that crashes app and forces restart (I’ve hit this bug six times tonight), repeats of content (Dr. Gregor’s book How Not to Die has double “blinks” - every chapter is repeated), and a filtering bug where sorting by progress doesn’t work. Oh, and it doesn’t sync between my iPhone and iPad, even though I’m logged into the same account on both. I’m impressed by the idea, as I spend mountains of cash on non-fiction, but really unhappy with their execution. I can’t focus on the content when the app keeps crashing or not working. Tried a competitor, found different problems that amounted to the same feeling: Seems like no one has really nailed the dismount on this idea. I’ll keep hoping, but I’m not buying anything yet.

Could be great with a few improvements

idontwantanicknamefam

I love the idea of this app. However, it is a serious problem that literally everything on it requires some sort of payment. How do you expect people to buy into your new idea right off the bat? I would recommend adding a free section, rather than just one book a day. Even if it’s just three a day, a few options is a far better marketing strategy to get people to actually use this more than once. More importantly, these free books should have a read-aloud option. This is why people are coming to your app, right? Because they don’t have time. If you’re going to advertise the way that you do, I think this is going to have to change in order to reach any kind of success. If you do make these changes, I will happily continue to use this app and recommend it to friends. Great idea, but needs improvement!

Really addicted

fenild

Some books are badly summarized but most books are good. The key is to figure out which kind of books to stay off on Blinkist. I am learning a lot while putting only 1/3rd of the time! I would rate 5 but he app wouldn’t let me highlight quotes (that take a full page)!

Fix highlighting on iPad and integrate Apple Pencil support

Duttadip

Fix it, this is inexcusable for an app I pay every year. Should be rudimentary

Nice Idea. Terrible Product Support

djcinohio

The content in this app is succinct and well written. I subscribed to premium and therefore, have read several summaries including a few for books I have already read. The summaries were good refreshers of the basic ideas in those I read. My problem is that many of the downloads to my phone have duplicate pages in the written summary. If you listen to the Audio version, the audio repeats the page as it appears in the written summary. I have written to customer support on this issue twice and never received a response. The $70 premium plan price is not too high given the wealth of content, but is high when the app is buggy and creates duplicate pages.

The usual pop culture selection

Ardiril

Pretty much the same selection of books one would expect a Book of the Month Club to offer. No depth whatsoever.

gross

Z123

I appreciate the need/desire to monetize this but the way it's set up to auto charge you in 8 days for 80$ feels intentionally trap-y

Only one disappointment, otherwise great!

Kevinobie1

My one disappointment about this really handy app is that the free version doesn’t let you go back and finish a book the next day even if you’ve already started it. I was interrupted and unable to finish the book that day and found that my book was locked the next day when I was able to return to reading/listening, so I didn’t get to finish the rest of the book. I can understand wanting people to get the paid unlimited access to all books, but it would be nice at least to keep the books you’ve already read or started even in the free version. Otherwise, I do enjoy this app, and the price for unlimited access seems fair if you can go that route. I see some people complain about the Blinks/summaries being incomplete. But this is really subjective. Everyone would summarize and focus on different points, so I’m not going to criticize that unless there’s blatant misdirection. Thank you for this app! Keep up the good work!

Blinkist: Big Ideas in 15 Min Reviews – Page 40