BbitbbitBook Dev Log #10 — New Books, Monthly Reading, and a Redesigned Home Tab: 1.2.0
The Home Tab Had Nothing to Show
After shipping 1.1.0, the next update was already underway.
The old home tab had almost nothing on it — current books, recent records. No reason to open the app unless you already knew you wanted to log something.
A home tab should give you a reason to open the app.
The National Library API
I looked for more book-related public APIs.
I found 도서관 정보나루 — a data service operated by the National Library of Korea. Beyond basic book search, it provides richer book data, including:
- New releases: recently published titles
- Popular books: titles ranked by library loan count
This data was exactly what the home tab needed. Open the app and immediately see what's trending and what's new.
From Recording to Discovery
This feature added a new dimension to BbitbbitBook's role.
Previously: an app for recording books you've already read.
Now: also an app for discovering what to read next.
Browse the new releases, find something interesting, add it to Want to Read. The full loop — discovery → registration → reading → recording — now happens within the app.
This Month's Reading
One more addition to the home tab: a summary of books completed this month.
Open the app and immediately see: "3 books this month."
Small feature, but meaningful. Seeing that number every time you open the app creates a gentle sense of accountability. One more completion changes the count. That visible progress compounds as a motivation.
Expanding to Five Tabs
1.2.0 expanded the tab bar from four to five: Home, Library, Records, Statistics, Profile.
More tabs risk more complexity. But the growing feature set no longer fit cleanly into four tabs. Adding a fifth — with clearly defined roles for each — made the navigation more intuitive, not less.
June 13, 2026 — Version 1.2.0
June 13, 2026, 11:54 AM. Version 1.2.0 shipped.
Six days after 1.1.0.
Home tab redesign, new/popular book recommendations, monthly reading summary, five-tab navigation — all shipped together.
What came next was unexpected.