Within today’s world of amazing speed, to be on the edge in your career means one thing: a continuous process of learning. Now, let’s be realistic here–who has the time to actually sit down and read a book? Among meetings, deadlines, and the general exhaustion of the job, finding time for a 300-page book may be impossible. Yet the need to be informed and updated on the latest industry trends, leadership strategies, and pieces of advice on personal development goes on.
Enter book summary apps , which tke all the important nuggets of insight from bestsellers and put them in a more digestible form so you could ingest really valuable knowledge in 15-minute bites. Whether it be during a commute, waiting for a meeting to start, or even finishing over coffee, these apps make learning on the go easy.
In this article, we discuss the top 10 summary apps for books every busy professional should know about in 2024. Each of them has something unique to offer, and we will be helping you find which one best suits your needs.
1. Blinkist
Why Blinkist?
That’s why Blinkist is one of the most popular book summary apps out there. It holds summaries of more than 5,000 non-fiction books in every category imaginable, from leadership and personal development to productivity. Each “blink” takes only 15 minutes to read, so it’s perfect for those small pockets of free time.
Key Features:
1. Audio and text summaries
2. Curated reading lists
3. Offline access
Who Should Use It?
If you are a professional in the fast pace of life and want to understand most of the key ideas of a book without having to delve deep into all the minute details, Blinkist is great for that.
2. Headway
Why Headway?
Headway focuses on personal growth and self-improvement. It summarizes popular books that attempt to help you form good habits, achieve your goals, and learn healthy mental habits. It’s easy to use, with daily insights to keep you going.
Key Features:
1. Personal development challenges
2. Daily inspirational quotes
3. Actionable, concise summaries
Who Should Be Using It?
Headway is ideal for professionals committed to their personal development who seek inculcation of new habits into their daily routine.
3. Instaread
Why Instaread?
Instaread is more than book summaries; it is an in-depth look at best-selling books, perfect for those who are in business and need more than a cursory overview. It also offers summaries of articles and reports that could easily pop up beneficial and help you stay current with the latest trends in your industry.
Key Features:
1. Deep dives into key concepts
2. Summary collections
3. Audio and text formats
Who Should Use It?
Instaread may be a good candidate if you like more in-depth information.
4. Shortform
Why Shortform?
Shortform is like the “CliffsNotes” of book summaries. Going one step further than summarization, it also provides detailed guides and analysis on how to apply the knowledge in your life and work. Shortform is particularly helpful for business people wanting to go a little deeper.
Key Features:
1. Interactive exercises
2. Detailed book guides
3. New summaries, updated weekly
Who Is It For?
Shortform is ideal for practitioners who need to dive deep into the content and apply it in real life.
5. getAbstract
Why getAbstract?
getAbstract is a powerhouse when it comes to business and professional development summaries. With a library of over 22,000 summaries, it’s tailored for executives, managers, and entrepreneurs. The app summarizes books, reports, and articles, making it all-in-one for keeping oneself updated.
Key Features:
1. Focus on business literature
2. Global perspective with multilingual content
3. Learning paths for structured growth
Who Should Use It?
Busy business professionals who are in leadership or who aim to rise through the ranks will especially appreciate gettingAbstract.
6. Uptime
Why Uptime?
Uptime is a bit of an outlier. It offers “knowledge hacks” from books, courses, documentaries, and podcasts. Each hack is in visual format and really attractive to those who learn best in a multimedia environment.
Key Features:
1. 5-minute visual knowledge hacks
2. Content sourced from various places
3. Shareable insights
Who Should Use It?
Any professional who likes different content formats to learn in a faster manner will be hooked with Uptime.
7. Koober
Why Koober?
Koober has a big catalog of book summaries across personal and professional development topics. This service is one of a kind in that it offers “learning paths,” curated lists of summaries put together with the intention of helping you reach your goals.
Key Features:
1. Learning paths for targeted growth
2. Community-driven recommendations
3. Audio and text options
Who Should Use It?
If you want a guided approach toward your learning journey, then Koober is an excellent choice.
8. Anyplay
Why Anyplay?
Anyplay is pure-play an audiobook service, but it also covers summaries of popular books. With its huge library and good quality audio, it will suit the bill for all professionals who prefer to listen rather than read.
Key Features:
1. Unlimited access to audiobooks and summaries
2. High-quality audio
3. Offline listening
Who Should Use It?
Busy professionals who spend much of their time driving or traveling will like the convenience of Anyplay.
9. 12min
Why 12min?
Doing exactly what it says on the tin, 12min provides you with book summaries you can read in 12 minutes. It’s a no-fluff app: straight to the point. That makes it perfect for those in search of fast, actionable insights.
Key Features:
1. Short, snappy summaries
2. Self-help and business focus
3. Multi-lingual
Who Should Use It?
This app will save you so much time because it will keep you updated on whatever you want to learn, minute after minute. In other words, if you’re short on time and need to make the most of every single minute, 12min is the app for you.
10. Scribd
Why Scribd?
While not exclusively a book summary app, Scribd is a digital library with unlimited access to books, audiobooks, and documents. So why include it in a list of book summary apps? Well, its vast collection includes summaries of the most popular books, making it an incredible learning tool for users.
Key Features:
1. Limitless access to books and audiobooks
2. Summaries of high quality
3. Access to documents and sheet music
Who Is It For?
Professionals wanting to have a more extensive reading experience with diverse titles at their fingertips will find Scribd invaluable.
Conclusion
Becoming and staying well-informed, and learning constantly, is very much part of professional development. Sometimes, in fact, reading a full book becomes increasingly impossible. Of course, that’s where the following top 10 book summary apps can help you learn-even with a tight schedule.
Be it a quick summary, in-depth insights, or a multimedia learning experience, there’s something in this list that will suit your needs. Next time you have some minutes to spare, why not use those to learn something new? Download one of these apps and start building those small pockets of time into gold mines of opportunity for growth.
Integrate these into your routine, and you’ll definitely stay ahead of the pack, not to mention keep your learning going. Read-and-listen happy!
