I’ve always been a bit of a bookworm, but let’s be real—life gets busy. I wanted a way to get the most out of my reading without having to spend hours flipping through pages.
I tried a few popular ones, but something always seemed missing—either the summaries felt too brief, or they lacked actionable takeaways.
That’s when I cross upon Shortform.
What really caught my attention was how Shortform wasn’t just about quick summaries. It promised detailed guides that dive deeper into each book, along with exercises designed to help you actually apply what you learn.
As someone who’s always looking for practical ways to implement new ideas, this sounded like exactly what I needed.
The idea of going beyond the basics and making real improvements in my learning routine got me excited to give it a try.
What Exactly Is Shortform?
At its core, Shortform is a book summary service, but it’s not your typical one. Unlike apps that offer quick, surface-level summaries, Shortform provides in-depth guides for over 1,000 of the best non-fiction books.
It covers a wide range of genres—from productivity and psychology to entrepreneurship and self-development.
What sets Shortform apart is its focus on depth and logic. Each guide not only summarizes the book’s main points but also includes critical insights that dive deeper into the ideas presented.
The guides often compare the concepts with those found in other books, offering a well-rounded understanding of the topic.
Another standout feature? The actionable exercises that accompany each summary. These exercises push you to reflect, apply what you’ve learned, and genuinely improve your skills or habits.
What Makes Shortform Stand Out?
When you dive into a Shortform guide, you’ll notice it includes information from related books, adding more depth to the core concepts. For example, if you’re reading a guide on habits, it might pull in ideas from other well-known books on behavior change, providing a richer understanding.
One of the coolest features of Shortform is its AI browser extension, which comes free with the service. This extension can summarize any content you come across online. You just click the extension, and it condenses the content into key points within seconds.
The Handy Chrome Extension
While Shortform's in-depth book guides were already impressive, the team went a step further by launching Shortform AI in 2023. This Chrome extension brings the power of Shortform to the broader web, making it possible to quickly digest information from virtually any online content.
How Does Shortform AI Work?
It’s super easy to use. After adding the extension to your Chrome browser, you log in to your Shortform account, and the magic begins. Whenever you come across a long article, blog post, or even a YouTube video you want to summarize, just hit the “Summarize” button from the extension, and it does the rest.
The AI doesn’t just spit out a bland summary—it offers a layered breakdown that’s pretty unique:
- You get a quick summary of the main points, with the number of bullet points depending on the content’s length.
- It also provides some extra context, which is great when you need a bit of background to understand the material.
- You can even find links to related resources for more exploration.
- And here’s the cool part: it can generate opposing viewpoints, helping you see different sides of the story. This adds depth to your understanding, especially when the topic is complex.
What Can You Summarize with Shortform AI?
The best part? The AI can handle a wide variety of content:
- From news stories and research papers to social media posts and Google Docs.
- It can even tackle emails, Amazon reviews, and, yes, YouTube videos too.
What You Can Explore on Shortform
Shortform offers an impressive selection of book guides that cover over a thousand titles. Plus, they’re constantly adding new summaries each week to keep things fresh.
Here’s a quick overview of what you can dive into:
And if you ever can’t find a specific book, Shortform allows you to request a summary, making it easy to have your favorite titles added to the collection.
A Peek Inside Shortform: My First Impressions
When I first opened the Shortform app, I was pleasantly surprised by how clean and straightforward the layout was. It has five main tabs, each serving a specific purpose:
The Features You’ll Love (Here’s What Worked for Me)
Shortform is packed with features that truly enhance the reading and learning experience. Here’s a look at how each feature adds value, reshuffled for variety:
Engaging in Discussions
Let’s start with one of the more interactive features—the discussion section. At the end of each guide, you can join discussions with other readers. It’s a space where you can ask questions, comment on others’ insights, and even share your own thoughts.
Listening to Summaries
If you’re a fan of audio learning, Shortform’s listening options will appeal to you. You can adjust the playback speed, making it easy to listen while commuting or exercising. The app offers a mix of AI-generated and human narrations, and you can also download audio for offline listening.
Applying What You Learn
After reading each guide, you’ll find exercises and reflection questions that prompt you to apply what you’ve learned.
Customizing Your Reading Experience
Shortform offers a range of formatting options to make reading more comfortable. You can adjust the font size, style, line spacing, and margins, plus switch between dark and light modes.
Navigating Through Book Summaries
The navigation experience is smooth and straightforward. Each guide starts with a one-page summary, giving you the main points up front, followed by the full book guide with detailed chapters and exercises. You can even download these summaries as PDFs, allowing for offline reading.
Highlighting and Note-Taking
One of my favorite features is the ability to highlight important sections and add notes while reading. These notes are saved in your profile for easy access later. You can also sync your highlights with Readwise or Notion, making it simple to organize and revisit your insights.
Comprehensive Reading Experience
Shortform isn’t just about summarizing—it connects ideas from various books to create a broader context. It includes notes, commentary, and cross-references to other resources, giving you a well-rounded view of the topic.
How to Get Started with Shortform: My First Week Using It
Getting started with Shortform is pretty straightforward, even if you’re new to book summary apps. Here’s how I handled the sign-up process and made the most of my first week.
Signing Up and Setting Preferences
The sign-up process was quick—just enter your email, choose a password, or use an existing Google or Apple account to register. Once inside, you’re prompted to set up your reading preferences.
This is where you can select the topics and genres you’re interested in, such as productivity, self-help, or psychology. It helps Shortform tailor recommendations to your taste, which I found really handy.
Exploring the 5-Day Free Trial
Shortform offers a 5-day free trial that gives you full access to all its features, so I made sure to use this period wisely. I focused on reading a mix of popular titles and exploring new categories to get a sense of the variety available.
The trial was an excellent opportunity to test the waters without any commitment. If you’re considering subscribing, I’d recommend using this period to dive deep into a couple of guides and see how well they match your learning style.
My Approach During the First Week
During my first week, I aimed to explore different features to understand the app’s potential fully. Here’s what I did:
Picked 2-3 popular guides that aligned with my interests.
Tried both reading and listening to summaries to see which format worked best for me.
Made use of the highlighting and note-taking features to capture key ideas.
Attempted the exercises in each guide to actively apply the concepts.
Played around with the formatting settings (e.g., dark mode, font adjustments) to make reading more comfortable.
By the end of the week, I had a good grasp of how the app worked and which features I found most valuable.
Is the Price Justified? My Take on Shortform’s Pricing
Let’s talk about one of the most important aspects—pricing. Is Shortform worth the cost? Here’s how it breaks down:
Pricing Options: Monthly vs. Annual
Shortform starts you off with a 5-day free trial, which gives you full access to all the features. After the trial, you can choose between two payment plans:
Monthly Plan: $24 per month
Annual Plan: $16.42 per month (billed annually)
Both plans offer the same features, including:
Access to 1,000+ in-depth book guides and 500+ articles and topic guides
Web and mobile apps (available on iOS and Android)
Highlighting, note-taking, and PDF downloads
Audio narrations for guides
Community discussions, where you can interact with other readers
Is It Worth the Investment?
In my opinion, Shortform’s pricing is fairly reasonable, especially if you opt for the annual plan, which offers a 31% discount compared to the monthly rate. If you’re someone who loves to dig deep into non-fiction books, the in-depth guides and exercises make it a great value for the money.
However, whether it’s worth the investment really depends on your learning goals:
If you’re serious about personal growth, Shortform’s depth of content and actionable exercises make it an excellent choice.
If you’re looking for a quick overview of books, you might find the price a bit steep compared to other summary apps, which offer shorter summaries for less.
If you appreciate cross-references and practical application, Shortform’s approach to summarizing books is worth every penny.
Personally, I felt that the app’s comprehensive guides, interactive features, and constant updates justified the cost, especially with the annual plan’s savings. It’s a solid investment if you’re aiming for consistent self-improvement.
Ready to Give It a Try? Here’s How to Start
If you’re intrigued by what Shortform offers, why not give it a try? The best part is that it starts with a 5-day free trial, which gives you full access to everything—no strings attached. You can explore book guides, test the exercises, try out the audio features, and see how it fits into your learning routine.
Here’s how to get started:
Visit the Shortform website or download the app on your smartphone.
Sign up with your email or use your existing Google or Apple account.
Set up your preferences to get personalized recommendations, and you’re all set!
You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain. So why not start today? Dive into the guides, explore new ideas, and see if Shortform becomes your go-to app for learning!
