Pikeworks
Support
Last updated 12 October 2026.
Email bookvault@pikeworks.co.uk, or tap the speech bubble at the top of any screen in the app. I read every one myself, so please say which phone you're on and which version of the app you have. The version is at the bottom of Settings.
Common questions
How do I add a book?
Tap the plus at the top of Reading or Library, then pick one of three ways. Search takes a title, an author or an ISBN. Scan reads the barcode on the back of the book, and stays open after each one, so you can go along a whole shelf one book after another. By hand is for anything Open Library doesn't know. Then choose the format (print, ebook or audiobook) and the shelf it goes on.
How do I add a whole series at once?
Open the first book to add it. When the series is known, a panel under its details says so, for example "Book 1 of 5 in The Stormlight Archive", with Add the whole series. That lists every book of it in order, with the ones you don't have yet ticked. Change the ticks, tap Add, and pick the shelf for all of them: Want to read, Read, or reading the first with the rest to Want to read. Each book keeps its number in the series. For a book already in your library, open it and tap Add the rest of the series.
Series come from Wikidata, which knows most series but not all. For one it doesn't know, search for it, tap Pick several and tap the books in order. They're numbered as you go.
Where are my stats for every year?
At the top of the Year tab, tap All-time stats. It covers every book you've finished: your genres, the decades the books were written in and the average year, average length and rating, books per year, the authors and series you read most, and your records. Genres come from Open Library's subjects for each book, so a book added by hand has none.
How do I update my progress?
Open the book and tap Update progress. Use the buttons to nudge it along, type the page you're on, or switch to a percentage and slide. An audiobook counts in hours and minutes instead of pages. If your copy has a different number of pages to the one shown, change it in Edit details. Reaching the end offers to finish the book.
How do quarter stars work?
Tap a star for a whole or half star, depending on which side of it you tap. Slide your finger along the row for quarters, and you'll feel a small tick at each one. Tap the same rating again to clear it, because not rated and one star aren't the same thing.
I'm reading a book again. How do I keep both reads?
Move it from Read to Reading with the shelf button on its page. That starts a new read and the first one keeps its dates. For a re-read from before you had the app, use Add a read under Reading history. Tap Edit beside any read to change when you started or finished it. If you don't remember, leave the date out.
The cover or the page count is for the wrong edition.
Open the book, tap the menu at the top and choose Choose another edition. Pick the one that matches your copy and its cover and page count come with it. You can also take a photo of your own copy with Change the cover, or correct anything at all with Edit details.
How do I bring my books across from Goodreads?
On the Goodreads website, open My Books, then Import and export, then Export library. Save the file to your phone. In Book Vault, open Settings, then Import from Goodreads or StoryGraph, and choose the file. You see what will be added before anything is written. Shelves, ratings, reviews, tags, read dates and re-reads come with the books, and covers fill in by themselves afterwards.
And from The StoryGraph?
In The StoryGraph, open Manage account and choose Export StoryGraph library. Save the file it emails or downloads to your phone, then import it the same way, from Settings.
How do I back up my library?
Settings, Back up to a file, writes one file with every book, every read, your quotes and the cover photos you took. Keep it somewhere other than your phone. Restore from a backup puts the books in it back, replacing the same books if they're already there; books only on the phone stay as they are. Covers that came from Open Library aren't in the file, because they come back by themselves once you're online.
Settings also has Export a spreadsheet, a CSV in Goodreads' own layout, so your library opens anywhere and can go into another reading app. Both are free.
I'm getting a new phone.
If your phone backs up to your Google account or to iCloud, your library usually comes across with the rest of your apps. To be sure, make a backup file on the old phone first, copy it to the new one, install Book Vault and use Restore from a backup. If you're signed in to your Pikeworks account, sign in on the new phone and Book Vault offers to bring back its cloud copy instead.
Where is my library kept?
On your phone, whether or not you sign in. A Pikeworks account is optional. Signed in, a private copy is kept for you, and your shelves and stars go to the people you've chosen can see them, as Who sees my books? below explains. The app goes online to look books and covers up on Open Library, Libris and Google Books and series on Wikidata, and your library works without a connection.
Do I need an account?
No. Book Vault works fully without one. A Pikeworks account is optional. Signed in, it keeps a private copy of your log so you can get it back on a new phone, and it's what friends use. It's one sign-in for every Vault app. To make one, open Settings, then Pikeworks account, and choose how to sign in, such as with your email address or with Apple. With an email address you get a code by email, or you can set a password.
How does the buy list work?
Add a book from search or from its page with Add to buy list, and find it under Buy list on the Library tab. Tap Buy to go to the seller. When you're back, Got it moves the book to Owned. It's kept with your library and other readers never see it.
What is New from your authors?
Once a week the app looks for new books by authors you have finished or want to read, and shows them at the bottom of Reading. Tap Want to read to add one, or Not for me and it won't come back. Turn it off in Settings.
How do I find people?
Open the Social tab at the bottom of the screen, sign in to your Pikeworks account and choose a handle. Then search for a reader by handle, look through Community, or send a friend your link or QR code from Social settings. A public reader is followed at once; anyone else is asked. If you both follow each other you're friends, and so is anyone you're already friends with in another Vault.
Who sees my books?
You choose when you set up, and can change it in Social settings. Public: anyone signed in. Followers only: people you say yes to, and your friends. Private: nobody. They see your shelves, stars, dates and how far through you are, and what you start, finish, rate and want to read shows in their feed. Never your thoughts, quotes, tags, what you own, your buy list, your goal or your collection. Use Keep from friends in a book's menu to hide one book. The privacy policy has the whole list.
How do messages work?
Friends can message each other once both turn messages on in Social settings and say they are 18 or over. They're text only, and clearing a conversation clears your side only. Reporting one sends it to me with the few messages around it.
Somebody is being a nuisance.
Block and Report sit on every post, comment, message, person and request. Blocking works straight away, in every Vault, and they aren't told. I read every report myself and aim to do it within a day; the person you report is never told who reported them. If it's about a child, choose A child at risk, and it's hidden at once. If anyone is in danger right now, call 999. The community rules say what isn't allowed and how to ask for a second look.
Can I delete everything?
Uninstalling the app removes your library, because all of it is on the phone. Make a backup first if you might want it again. Your Pikeworks account, with everything friends holds about you, is separate: delete it in Settings, Pikeworks account, Delete account, or from the delete page without installing anything. Deleting the account doesn't touch your library.