Review Insights · Google Play
CookShelf
CookShelf · 81 ratings · ★ 3.5
3.5
★★★★★
81 ratings
🎯 Build a better version
Top complaints - extracted from 27 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"subscription"
12 negative reviews mention this · 44% of all complaints
★★★★★ "would pay to buy but not paying a subscription for this" - Patz Caruana Pisani
2
"books"
12 negative reviews mention this · 44% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Good idea, but I installed the app and started scanning my cookbooks barcodes. Only one was successful, the text came up with that it hadn't been put into the data base yet. When I got to the 6th book, it said I had to pay, which I'm not go…" - Judith Aitken
3
"paying"
6 negative reviews mention this · 22% of all complaints
★★★★★ "would pay to buy but not paying a subscription for this" - Patz Caruana Pisani
4
"free"
6 negative reviews mention this · 22% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Cool idea for an app and seems to work pretty well! BUT a subscription? No thanks... I get that things cost money and it's unreasonable to expect a good app for free, but just give us a one time purchase option please. I would happily pay $…" - Mark Symons
5
"idea"
5 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Good idea, but I installed the app and started scanning my cookbooks barcodes. Only one was successful, the text came up with that it hadn't been put into the data base yet. When I got to the 6th book, it said I had to pay, which I'm not go…" - Judith Aitken
6
"cookbooks"
5 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Good idea, but I installed the app and started scanning my cookbooks barcodes. Only one was successful, the text came up with that it hadn't been put into the data base yet. When I got to the 6th book, it said I had to pay, which I'm not go…" - Judith Aitken
7
"year"
5 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Disingenuous by not advertising the fact that it requires a monthly or yearly subscription to be used." - Sophie
8
"already"
5 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Overal I am enjoying the app. The limitations and subscription are frustrating. I am litterally paying for a collated list of recipies I already own. I have been using it to try and rediscover my cookbooks but as there are no details or pic…" - Charlotte Bentley
9
"month"
4 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Truly an absurd cost for the value that's being offered. This should not be $5 a month. A $5 one time fee would be acceptable." - Joe W.
10
"monthly"
4 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Disingenuous by not advertising the fact that it requires a monthly or yearly subscription to be used." - Sophie
11
"successful"
3 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Good idea, but I installed the app and started scanning my cookbooks barcodes. Only one was successful, the text came up with that it hadn't been put into the data base yet. When I got to the 6th book, it said I had to pay, which I'm not go…" - Judith Aitken
12
"until"
3 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Loved the idea until I couldn't add more books and noticed the reviews! The app itself could be really great and successful if it wasn't so expensive. Joining the petition for a one off fee but get rid of the subscription model!!!" - Lisa Doyle
📋 All 27 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
would pay to buy but not paying a subscription for this
Truly an absurd cost for the value that's being offered. This should not be $5 a month. A $5 one time fee would be acceptable.
Loved the idea until I couldn't add more books and noticed the reviews! The app itself could be really great and successful if it wasn't so expensive. Joining the petition for a one off fee but get rid of the subscription model!!!
I was looking forward to this as I have a lot of cookbooks, however, you can't look at your index unless the community is looking for it, kinda defeats the purpose of this, dont waste your time
$67 AUD a year so I can look up recipes in my own books? the idea is great but no way it's worth that much.
I downloaded this app to use when I travel. It turns out, it is totally pointless. The only thing it searches in the cookbook is an ingredient list ... an ingredient list with no quantities! That could have provided value ... for example, it would be useful if you're out at the store and can't remember how much of an ingredient you need. But, that is not the case. On top of that, it does not show you the recipe! The user only sees a list of ingredients, thats it! What is the point of this app?!
Great until you try and scan more than 5 cookbooks... why would I want to pay $80 a year to store my cookbooks so I can search them omg
I have just signed up to a premium subscription, but the app is not allowing me to add more books.
Would never pay a monthly subscription for this app, it needs to be a one time fee for it to make sense for this with large cookbook collections. subscription models ruin everything :(
I wanted to download this app, but ive learned from other reviewers that the app is essentially useless without paying for a subscription. here's a little tip to the app devs who want to get this app to be actually successful: it is foolish and stupid to trap the entire purpose of the app, which is to ACCESS WHAT WE ALREADY OWN, behind a pay wall. you will not be successful this way. given that you only have 3 stars, you really need to rethink your business model. actively discouraging this app
I like the concept. I'm not paying for 40 a year or monthly. it make sense to have a one time fee. I'll keep flipping and looking my books
wasted time. none of the cookbooks are indexed I own and they're famous cookbooks. the one recipe I did find was just a list of ingredients, no quantity of items, no directions, nothing. don't waste your time or money.
Fantastic idea... Right up to the £5 a month subscription. Uninstalled instantly and I'll continue to juat look through the books like an adult.
I agree with other commenters that I despise a subscription model for accessing what I already own. I would be fine with a reasonable 1 time fee, but I'm not paying $5 a month to access my own books. Otherwise the concept of the app is clever, and very convenient, but I could create a Google spreadsheet that does the same thing for free. In fact, I just might do that.
This could be a good app if you wasn't charged an annual fee. I wound buy an app that i really like. BUT I'M NOT GONNA PAY RENT ON IT!
$40/yr to have more than 5 books in the app. No thank you! I will keep flipping through my books as I usually do!
NOT A FREE APP. there's no point in getting this app to use when Google is free. Pinterest is free. looking at your books index that you already own is free! why would I pay for an app when I can do it all already for free.
I really want to love this but an annual subscription is crazy. I'd happily pay a one time fee but am so tired of every app making you subscribe to get the full effect. I added the 5 free books and it seems like it would be really great. Disappointing.
Doesn't say it's a subscription service. can only add 5 books unless you upgrade to premium. Thought it was too good to be true......
Not Free In order to use this app, you either have to pay $6.99 per month or $54.99 for the year with a two-week free trial. I didn't even get to see the app's interface because before you can proceed you need to sign up. I'm not going to provide contact and billing information along with my credit card in order to get a two-week free trial. It should be a two-week free trial and at the end if I'm interested in continuing, then providing my information, but not until.
Didn't find anything upfront to say it was a paid app only. Dissapojnted.
Unfortunately unusable on Android
Good idea, but I installed the app and started scanning my cookbooks barcodes. Only one was successful, the text came up with that it hadn't been put into the data base yet. When I got to the 6th book, it said I had to pay, which I'm not going to do, so I uninstalled. The 5 that did scan from the 20 I tried, the 4 that weren't in the database it gave a button to request uploading, so that's positive.
Disingenuous by not advertising the fact that it requires a monthly or yearly subscription to be used.
Overal I am enjoying the app. The limitations and subscription are frustrating. I am litterally paying for a collated list of recipies I already own. I have been using it to try and rediscover my cookbooks but as there are no details or pictures on most recipies its tricky to feel inspired. I also dislike that I can't add my own books / recpies- some of my books are nearly 100yr old so not available. Good concept poor exicution.
Cool idea for an app and seems to work pretty well! BUT a subscription? No thanks... I get that things cost money and it's unreasonable to expect a good app for free, but just give us a one time purchase option please. I would happily pay $5 or even $10 for this, but not $60 CAD a year
Useless without paying. I can only add five books for free. I already own the books. I don't want to pay you monthly or yearly to make them searchable.
Sentiment summary
59%
Positive (4-5★)
12%
Neutral (3★)
28%
Negative (1-2★)