The reading app that wants you to put it down

ReadiBean helps families with kids 0–12 build a reading habit around real paper books. Scan a book, put the phone away, and read together. Every book joins your Family library, with storytime voice recordings, personalized picks from cultures worldwide, and magical worlds that come alive as you read. We’re psychology researchers and parents of two. We built it on what actually helps kids keep reading. Earn up to $100 a year in book cards, our thank-you for reading together.

Why we built a reading app that gets out of the way

Hi Uneed 👋 I'm Phil, one half of the team behind ReadiBean. We're researchers with a strong background in psychology, and parents of two little girls.

Story time is the best part of our day. But every reading app we tried wanted more of our attention: more time on the phone, and sometimes with the kids staring at the screen for a long time. That felt backwards for something that's supposed to be about paper books and each other.

So we built the opposite. Scan the barcode (or ISBN), the book goes onto your family’s shelf automatically, and the phone goes back in your pocket. Logging takes a few seconds. The real job is building a reading routine that lasts. That’s the other half of the app.

What the research says

- We take screen time seriously. Kids with more screen time at ages 2 and 3 tended to do worse a year or two later on everyday skills like talking, movement, and problem-solving, regardless of what the screen was used for (Madigan et al., 2019).

- Paper books pull the other way: parents and toddlers talk more over them than over e-books (Munzer et al., 2019), and that back-and-forth is linked to stronger language skills years later (Gilkerson et al., 2018). These are correlational, so we're not saying screens ruin kids, but it's why the parts of the app your child sees only last seconds.

- It adds up. Kids who are read five books a day hear about 1.4 million more words by kindergarten than kids who aren't read to (Logan et al., 2019).

- Habits need cues, not guilt. You set one routine cue, like “after brushing teeth, two books”. It works better than a strict timer like 8 pm every day, because the routine still happens when the evening runs late. A routine like this makes people more likely to follow through (Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006), and is linked to better sleep in young kids (Mindell et al., 2015). Missing a day doesn’t undo a habit (Lally et al., 2010). So in ReadiBean, a missed day breaks nothing.

The fun side, and the long run

A magical library whose rooms wake up as you read. Mysterious companions who read alongside your child. You can record story time and keep those voices with each book; get picks chosen for your child, including stories from cultures around the world all year.

What Pro adds

An AI librarian that learns from each child’s reading. It writes weekly, monthly, and yearly reports with what to try next, puts the most promising books first with a reason for each pick, suggests a book for tonight, and gives richer prompts for talking about the story. For the data folks, there are nerdy charts that summarize reading so far and project where it’s heading.

Pro also unlocks every companion and room pack, lets up to five people share one live family library, and earns golden beans toward book cards: up to $100 a year. Cards are Amazon or Barnes & Noble depending on your country; neither is a sponsor.

Children's Book Week challenge

To celebrate Children’s Book Week (Nov 9–15), we’re running a 21-day reading challenge from Oct 26 to Nov 15. You can earn three rewards along the way: a printable bookmark, the Nine-Tailed Fox companion, and a $10 book card. The card needs all 21 days, so start by Oct 26.

1 month of Pro free for Uneed families

Valid until Dec 1. Scan the QR code in the third gallery image, or tap here: https://apps.apple.com/redeem?ctx=offercodes&id=6801960173&code=UNEED

Where you can get ReadiBean

ReadiBean is currently on iPhone and iPad, in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. An Android version is in the works.

How does it work in real life?

We’ve been using it with our kids for the past few months. We followed the app’s tips: a routine cue, immediate feedback, and no pushing. The habit started to grow on its own. Both kids now ask for stories every day as part of their routine, and we’re at 23 days in a row and counting. It’s a small sample, but it’s the pattern the research predicts.

We’d love for you to try it with your family. If you know parents who’d like it, please send it their way. Then tell us how it goes, what you wish a reading app did for your family, or simply your family’s favourite bedtime book. We'd love your feedback.