GetAbstract is a fantastic book summary app, but it is not the only book summary app that is available, so is Getabstract worth being the one that you choose?
Many apps like this have their own distinct pros and cons, which will be discussed here. And like any fantastic book summary app, we need to know if the summaries which are offered are good enough.
There is also the fact that with many popular book summary apps, the user experience can be lacking, and the normal app can be hard to navigate in this Getabstract review.
In this review we will go through all of these aspects and more and explore getAbstract with a huge library, to ensure that you know if this book summary app is worth your time.
So, if you are planning on using getAbstract, but you are unsure whether this is the right book summary app for you, keep reading this Getabstract review
to find out if it is!
getAbstract Overview
This service has been running since 1999 making getAbstract one of the more well-established and older fantastic books summary app.
Because of this, they have one of the largest selections and oldest book summary apps to choose from which is why they are such a big contender.
While this app is primarily used to give favorite summaries for specific books, there are all the features included in this getAbstract review as well like; reports, articles, TED talks, and other videos!
There are specific advantages and disadvantages to reading popular summaries, but today we will not be focusing on this specific issue, and will instead be focusing on the merit of getAbstract as an app for getting book summaries.
Firstly, let’s get into how the Getabstract review app works so you can get a good impression of what using this service is like!
How Does getAbstract Work?
You can use getAbstract on a web browser, but you can also download the app version of the service for Android and iOS devices.
Using the app is a free version, however, only for the 3-day trial, once you have completed this, you will have to pay for a subscription plan, but luckily 3 days is enough to work out if you are enjoying the service or not.
You can make your account very easily and you can link it to your email, or another social media platform like; Twitter, Facebook, or Xing.
The app has quite a simple interface which makes it simple to navigate, so even if you are not that good with technology, you will still be able to use this service quite easily.
You will be shown everything you need to quite clearly, and the focus is obviously on how useable the app is, and not on aesthetics.
If you have any experience using other fantastic book summary apps, using the getAbstract app works and should not be a problem.
After you have managed to log into the app, there will be 5 different sections to choose from at the bottom of the screen which is split into tabs.
The tabs are; the Home tab, Explore tab, Search tab, My Library, and your Profile. To get a better understanding of how each of these works, let’s go through each of them individually.
The Home Tab
The home tab has a simple layout and you can scroll down it to reach different sections which are clearly labeled, these include;
- The recommended section will show you generated recommendations based on the interests you have listed as well as your user history on the app.
- The featured channels, channels will be the topics that you have chosen to follow, and this section will highlight the top channels available out of the ones you are following. You will then be able to browse the channel and get descriptions and chosen books within the topic.
- The editor’s pick section will highlight curated selections of books and the best favorite summaries which are on the service.
The Explore Tab
The Explore tab will also be split into different sections which are focused on you finding different book summary services, books, and channels that you may not actively be looking for. This tab is split into:
- The trending channels, this will as the name suggests highlighting the channels which are trending searches based on use from other users of getAbstract
- The latest summaries, which as you can imagine, show the newest summaries which have been put onto getAbstract
- The popular summaries which will show the summaries on getAbstract have been receiving significant attention
- Then the library section will show you all the different topics which are available to browse on getAbstract
The Search Tab
Like most book summaries apps, the getAbstract app has a dedicated search section which is easy to use all you have to do is type in the title of what you are looking for, and if it is on getAbstract, it should show up.
My Library Tab
This is the most personalized tab on the book summary service, and it will be unique depending on how you have been using getAbstract. It is also split into different sections which include:
- Your playlist is where you can put book summaries in order and choose which ones you want to listen to next. This is where you will find all the summaries which you have added to playlists. It is worth noting here that audio summaries are included in the Starter Plan, but organizing them into audio playlists needs the Pro plan.
- The read later section will feature the summaries which you have saved, or want to listen to later. If you are using the Pro version of getAbstract, you will also be able to download and listen to these summaries by having offline access.
- There is the Liked section which is where summaries you have liked will show up.
- There is your reading history which will show all the summaries which you have read.
- There is the sent to you section where you will find summaries that have been sent your way by other getAbstract users.
- There is my channel section where you will be able to make your own personalized channel and then organize summaries in there, however, this is a Pro exclusive feature.
- Finally, there is the following section where you can peruse the channels which you are following already.
You have the option to select view all on any of the sections in this part of getAbstract and this will show you all of the books which you want to see in the section, you are able to filter this based on specific requirements to make it easier to sort through as well.
The Profile Tab
Finally, there is the profile tab which will let you see the subscription plan which you are using, as well as app information, terms of use, privacy policies, and support features.
This is also where you can change settings, like notifications, day and night mode, and the types of summaries you want to see.
One of the best features is being able to filter languages since where getAbstract stands above rivals are the number of languages supported being; English, Chinese, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.
getAbstract Features And User Experience
Once you have opened a summary found through the many avenues of getting recommendations on getAbstract, there are a few things you will find as you are scrolling through it:
- First, there is the recommendation which will give you a brief and full review of the book as well as tell you what the book is about. It is there to set expectations and let you know what the rest of the summary will be like.
- Then there are the takeaways that highlight what you should be taking away from the book. This will go over the lessons learned from the book, and will then let you know if going through the effort to read the summary will be worth it. It is a good idea to revisit this once you have finished reading the summary that is well written.
- Then you will find the key points of the summary. In this, you will find headings as well as bold text to emphasize certain areas, as well as quotes from the text. These are designed to make scanning the summary a viable option. getAbstract designs their summaries to be concise and short so you will be able to get through as much information as possible in a short amount of time. However, this does mean that some of the summaries skip certain details which means you are not getting the most well-rounded summary possible.
- After the summary of the main points you will get some information about the author, which is sometimes just interesting to know, but sometimes will be relevant context which is important to have a good understanding of the text.
- Finally, you will find more main points in this topic section which will lead you to related summaries which you may want to read.
Other than this, there are some other options that you will get when reading summaries:
- You will get to control display preferences, for example, if you want the background to be a different color to make it easier to read, or perhaps change the brightness, or text size.
- A lot of the summaries on getAbstract also come with audio summaries. Some of these are properly recorded, while others just use a text-to-speech engine which some people find useful, while others may find hard to listen to.
- You have the option to rate, like, and comment on the summaries which will make using getAbstract easier for other users.
- You also have the choice to add summaries to your read later, add it to a playlist, download it to listen to later, or share it.
getAbstract Selection
We mentioned this earlier, but the selection in getAbstract is overly impressive and has one of the biggest libraries of any book summary platform available.
There may be some summaries that will not be available to you depending on your plan, but we will get to this in the pricing section.
Some of the topics which are in channels on getAbstract include; career, management, leadership, life advice, innovation, strategy, marketing, project management, technology, HR, economics, science, society, politics, environment, and even biographies, as well as many more!
How Much Does getAbstract Cost? (getAbstract Pricing And Plans)
You will get full access online to getAbstract during the 3-day trial, but after this, you will have to choose which plan you want to go with.
The Starter Plan
This plan includes 5000 summaries and will cost a $99 yearly subscription, making it a bit more expensive than rivals like Blinkist.
However, you will receive far more new titles than those available on Blinkist. But you will not have unlimited access to some topics, and you will not have some features like making playlists or downloading summaries.
The Pro Plan
This plan costs significantly more expensive $299 yearly, but it comes with more than 20,000 summaries and you will get unlimited access to all topics related to personal and professional development.
While you get a far more extensive selection than that available on the Starter Plan, it of course also costs triple the amount
The Enterprise Plan
This plan comes with the same features as previously mentioned as well as a customized company portal, curated company channels, as well as advanced reporting and some other features.
This plan is a great option for certain companies, and the cost will depend on the level of support and use the company needs.
The Student Plan
This plan has two options you can have unlimited online access with a valid student ID.
The first is student starter which is free and is essentially the starter plan, but free for a year, and then Student Pro which is only $59 yearly and is very similar to the Pro plan, but with a few features missing.
The Gift Plan
Finally, you can gift someone a specific plan, this costs the same, but it is a good option to have.
Final Verdict
getAbstract is a great book summary service to invest in if you know you will get used to it. Make sure that the plan you are going for has the summaries you want and you will be set!
