Why I built Pick Up

It was 9:24am on a train out of London St. Pancras. I had just finished the last chapter of a book I'd been reading for three weeks, and I tried to log it (on that rainforest app, you know the one 😅). No signal. The spinner just sat there, going nowhere. I waited. Nothing. I put my phone away. The engineer in me thought: I just want to note that I finished a book. Why does it need the internet?

I started building Pick Up that weekend. Offline-first: your data lives on your phone, no connection required. But as I built it I realised I wanted more than a log. I wanted to capture how a book made me feel while I was still inside it: a line that stopped me on the commute, a thought I wanted to remember later.

I cared just as much about how the app felt in your hands. Every interaction had to earn its place. The interface needed to feel calm, polished, and intentional, with nothing gratuitous and nothing getting in the way. An app that quietly respects your attention.

Pick Up is free. Most things you need to track your reading and capture thoughts cost nothing and always will. Premium unlocks cloud sync, advanced reading insights, unlimited voice transcription, The Shelf for unlimited book recommendations, creative themes and bookshelf styles, early access to new features, and more. It's well worth it, and it keeps the app going.

There's also a section called Built With Readers. Readers are first-class citizens here. Some of the best features in Pick Up came directly from people like you using it. If you've got an idea, I want to hear it. And if I ship it, your name goes in the credits.

I built Pick Up for people who want reading to be a meaningful, lasting part of their life, not just by finishing books, but by engaging with them and building a habit that lasts.

If you want to share a thought, ask a question, or just say hello, I read every message sent to pickupreader@gmail.com.