Literal Helps You Find Books. Screvi Helps You Remember Them.
Literal is a social reading platform (think of it as a modern Goodreads). Screvi is a highlights manager that makes sure the things you underlined don't disappear into a book you'll never reopen.
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What Is Literal?
Literal set out to build a better Goodreads, and in many ways, it succeeded. The interface is clean, the book data is solid, and the social features feel thoughtful rather than noisy. You can track what you're reading, share recommendations with friends, join book clubs, and browse curated lists from other readers.
Literal also lets you add highlights and notes to books, and there's a camera scanner for capturing text from physical pages. But these are supporting features, not the main event. Literal's heart is social book discovery: finding your next read, seeing what people you trust are reading, and keeping a public reading log.
That's a different goal from managing your highlights across every source you read (Kindle, Kobo, web articles, YouTube, newsletters, and more). If you're looking for a place to remember and revisit what you highlighted, rather than a place to discover what to read next, you'll want something built for that purpose.
An Honest Look at Literal
What it does well
- Beautiful, modern interface, a genuine improvement over Goodreads
- Strong social features: book clubs, recommendations, reading activity
- Good book database with clean metadata and cover art
- Camera scanner for capturing text from physical books
- Public API for developers
- Free to use for book tracking and social features
Where it falls short
- No auto-import from Kindle, Kobo, or Apple Books
- No AI search across your highlights
- No spaced repetition or daily review
- No article reader or web highlighting
- No browser extension for saving web content
- No YouTube, PDF, or newsletter support
- No daily digest email to resurface past highlights
- No iOS widget for quick access to highlights
- Highlights are tied to books only (no cross-source library)
Feature Comparison
Literal shines at social book discovery. Screvi is built for highlights management and retention.
Screvi: 19/22 features · Literal: 7/22 features
| Feature | Screvi | Literal |
|---|---|---|
| Book tracking | ||
| Social reading features | ||
| Book clubs | ||
| Book recommendations | ||
| Highlights & notes | ||
| Camera scanner | ||
| Public API | ||
| Kindle highlight import | ||
| Kobo highlight import | ||
| Apple Books import | ||
| AI semantic search | ||
| Spaced repetition | ||
| Highlights feed | ||
| AI topic discovery | ||
| Article reader | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| YouTube transcript highlights | ||
| Newsletter inbox | ||
| Daily digest email | ||
| iOS widget | ||
| Tags with colors | ||
| Share highlights as images |
Why Readers Choose Screvi for Highlights
Auto-Import from E-Readers
Your Kindle, Kobo, and Apple Books highlights sync automatically. No manual entry, no copy-pasting. Literal requires you to add highlights by hand.
More Than Just Books
Articles, YouTube videos, PDFs, newsletters, physical books. Screvi handles highlights from everywhere you read and watch, not just books.
AI-Powered Search
Describe what you're looking for in plain language. Screvi finds relevant highlights by meaning, not just matching keywords. Search "advice on creative blocks" and find highlights about writer's block, artistic resistance, and motivation.
Built-In Retention System
Spaced repetition resurfaces highlights at intervals proven to help memory. The highlights feed brings back things you saved weeks or months ago, so they don't just collect dust.
AI Camera Scanner
Both apps can scan physical books, but Screvi uses AI to automatically detect highlighted or underlined passages and extract the text. No manual selection required.
Organize Your Way
Color-coded tags, collections, and AI-generated topics give you multiple ways to organize highlights. Find things by browsing, searching, or letting the AI surface connections you missed.
They Work Well Together
Literal and Screvi solve different problems, and there's no reason you can't use both. Use Literal to discover your next book, track your reading, and see what friends are recommending. Use Screvi to capture, organize, and revisit the highlights from whatever you end up reading. One helps you find great books. The other makes sure you keep what's in them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Try it with your highlights
Create your account, add your highlights and see how Screvi can change the way you read.