BookMaster launched in September. Three months later, it's getting its first major update. Version 2.0 adds reading goals, color-coded books, a better status system, and enhanced statistics.

This is the kind of update that would usually come with a new price tag, an "upgrade fee," or at minimum a "pro tier." But BookMaster is a one-time purchase. You bought it once. Now you get 2.0.

What's Actually New

Reading Goals

Set goals by books or pages. Choose your timeframe: yearly, quarterly, or monthly. Track progress with a circular indicator that actually looks good. When you hit 100%, you get a celebration. Not a guilt trip for missing your goal—just a moment of recognition when you reach it.

Color-Coded Books

Every book now gets its own color and displays its first initial. This sounds trivial until you have 20+ books in your library and you're scanning for "that green one with the W." It's faster than reading titles. The colors are auto-generated, consistent, and use a carefully chosen palette that works with the Liquid Glass aesthetic.

Three-Status System

Before: books were either "active" or "archived." But that didn't match how people actually read. You finish books. You abandon books. You pause books.

Now: Active (currently reading), Completed (finished), Archived (started but not finishing). Each status has its own view. Completed books count toward your goals. Archived books don't clutter your active list. It's how status should have worked from the start.

Better Statistics

Time to complete shows how many days it took from first session to last. Most productive month shows when you read the most. Books completed this month gives you a current snapshot. These aren't vanity metrics—they're useful for understanding your actual reading patterns.

Why Update at All?

BookMaster is positioned as a constraint-driven app. One job: track what page you're on. So why add features?

Because constraints evolve with use. The core job hasn't changed—it still tracks page progress. But users track multiple books. They want to know if they're reading more or less than last month. They finish books and don't want them mixed with abandoned ones.

Version 2.0 doesn't expand the job. It makes the existing job clearer.

Reading goals aren't feature creep. They're a natural extension of tracking progress. Color coding isn't decoration. It's functional navigation. The status system isn't complexity—it's clarity.

The Business Model (Or Lack Thereof)

BookMaster costs 29 kr (about $2.99 USD). One time. No subscription. No ads. No "premium" unlock. No "BookMaster Plus." Just the app, working, forever.

This update is free. Not "free for the first year" or "free if you review us" or "free with in-app purchases." Just free. You paid once. You get updates.

This is old-school software economics. Buy once, own forever, get updates as they come. The kind of deal that used to be standard before everything became a subscription.

Why this model? Because subscription fatigue is real. Because paying $2.99 once is psychologically different than $0.99/month forever. Because if you're building tools for people who value their attention and data, you should probably respect their money too.

What Didn't Change

Everything still lives on your device. No accounts. No cloud sync. No "sign in with Apple/Google/Facebook." Your reading data is yours. You can export it anytime in CSV, Markdown, or JSON. This won't change in 3.0 either.

The app still does one thing. It tracks page progress. Goals enhance that job. Colors improve navigation. Stats reveal patterns. But the core function—remember what page I'm on—hasn't expanded.

There are still no social features. No "share your reading with friends." No "see what others are reading." No "rate and review." If you want that, Goodreads exists. BookMaster is for people who don't.

What's Next

Maybe an Apple Watch companion for quick page updates. Maybe a Today widget for fast access. Maybe reading streaks (the non-guilt-inducing kind). Maybe nothing for a while.

The philosophy remains: fewer features done well beats more features done adequately. If something doesn't improve the core job—tracking page progress—it doesn't go in.

Try It

Version 2.0 is rolling out now. If you already have BookMaster, you'll get the update automatically. If you don't, it's available in the App Store for less than half a cup of coffee.

Is it for everyone? No. It's for people who read physical books, value their data, and think pragmatically about tools. If that's you, it might be worth 29 kr.

Three months after launch. Already updated. The kind of support others charge extra for.