Read inside a world — 2.5D bookshelves, ambient sounds, immersive environments
Leaf & Spine is a PDF and EPUB reader built around atmosphere.
Organize your books on customizable 3D bookshelves, choose an immersive environment (fireplace, rainy cafe, beach), and let ambient soundscapes pull you into focus. Plug in your headphones and disappear into your book.
Hey Product Hunt! I'm the solo developer behind Leaf & Spine.
Why I built this
I'm a reader. I consume a lot of books, research papers, web novel downloads, you name it. Every reading app I tried felt the same white screen, some text and maybe a night mode if I was lucky. There was no atmosphere. No sense of being somewhere. I kept thinking about how different it feels to read in a calm beach versus at a cluttered desk. The environment shapes the experience even if the words are the same. So I built an app that lets you create that environment, digitally.
What Leaf & Spine does differently
Most reading apps treat the shelf as a boring list. We render it as an actual 2.5D bookshelf and you can personalize every single book spine and cover with colors, patterns, and designs. Your library looks like your library.
Then there are the reading environments. You choose where you want to "be" while you read — a fireplace study, a rainy cafe, a calm beach or a resort with a waterfall view. Each environment has layered ambient audio. Plug in your headphones and the effect is genuinely immersive. That was the whole goal: make someone in a noisy apartment feel like they're somewhere peaceful.
The hard parts
Getting the 2.5D shelf rendering to feel right without going full 3D was the most interesting technical challenge. Depth, lighting, and animation needed to work together without tanking performance on mid-range phones.
Server-side purchase validation via Firebase was another rabbit hole but I didn't want to ship something where premium content could be bypassed client-side. Anonymous auth means zero personal data required. App Store approval was its own adventure. 😅
What's free vs. premium
The free tier is generous. You can import unlimited books, use the 3D shelves, and access a beautiful environment and sounds. Premium unlocks full customization (color picker, custom shapes, front & back cover flipping, name and layout change) and premium store content. One purchase, protected across devices.
What I'd love from this community
Honest feedback. What would make this a permanent part of your reading setup? What environments or sounds are missing? What's confusing in the UI?
I built this alone over 6 months, and and it feels right to share something I built here.
Thanks for checking it out. Happy to answer anything.
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