What do the terms in interactive reading mean?
Interactive reading has its own vocabulary, and most of it is about how far into a book an app is allowed to look. A page lock stops at your exact page, a chapter lock at the end of your chapter, and a prompt-based limit only asks a chatbot to stop. The 28 terms below, from "AI reading companion" to "X-Ray", are the ones you will meet most.
A
AI reading companion
- Software that responds to a book you are reading with recaps, answers or chat, usually written by an AI language model. See What is an interactive reading app?
Ask this Book
- A Kindle feature that answers questions about the book you are reading, by default only up to your current position, with an option to ask about the entire book. US, Kindle iOS app first. See Kindle profile.
B
Book Buddies
- Thus Far's AI-generated readers that post at every chapter of a book's feed. The app labels them on every post and profile and lets you switch them off. See Thus Far.
Bring your own book (BYOB)
- A model where the reading app does not contain the book and works alongside a copy you own, buy or borrow, in print, ebook or audio. Magic Bookmark uses the phrase on its website. See Magic Bookmark.
C
Cast list
- A list of who's who in the book and how they are connected. A spoiler-free cast list only includes characters you have met and only what you know about them so far.
Chapter lock
- A spoiler limit set at the chapter level: you see recaps or posts up to the end of a chapter. Coarser than a page lock, because a lot can happen inside one chapter. Thus Far and Fable's club rooms work by chapter.
Character chat
- Talking with an AI that answers in a book character's voice. Spoiler-free only if the character's knowledge is limited to your place. See Chatting with book characters.
D
Data linked to you
- On an App Store privacy label, data the developer says is collected and tied to your identity. See Reading app privacy labels.
Data used to track you
- On an App Store privacy label, data the developer says may be linked with data from other companies' apps and websites, for example for targeted advertising, or shared with data brokers.
E
Enhanced ebook
- An ebook edition with extra material beyond the text. The Authors Guild compares AI features such as Ask this Book to enhanced ebooks or annotated editions when it argues they need separate rights.
G
Gamebook
- A printed book in which the reader's choices send them to different pages or sections, so the story branches. See Interactive books for adults.
H
Hallucination
- The common name for an AI answer that sounds right but is wrong, such as a scene that never happened. OpenAI and Anthropic both use the term in their help centers.
I
Interactive ebook
- An ebook that does more than show text. For children, usually a narrated picture book; in Fable, an ebook you annotate and discuss inside; in Kindle, an ebook with AI features. See What is an interactive ebook?
Interactive fiction
- Text-based stories and games on a computer where you type or choose what to do next.
P
Page lock
- A spoiler limit set at the exact page you are on. The app needs to know your page precisely, for example from a photo of it, the number you type, or the last phrase you heard in an audiobook. See How page-locked recaps work.
Position lock
- A spoiler limit tied to your reading position inside an ebook app, as Kindle's Story So Far and Ask this Book describe.
Prompt-based limit
- A spoiler limit you ask a general chatbot to respect ("only up to chapter 9"). It is an instruction, not a filter, so it can fail. See Can ChatGPT recap a book without spoilers?
R
Recap
- A short retelling of what has happened so far, written to help you continue reading. A spoiler-free recap stops at your place.
Recap vs summary
- A recap covers the story up to your place so you can keep reading. A summary usually covers the whole book, ending included. If you have not finished the book, ask for a recap, not a summary.
Recaps (Kindle)
- Amazon's "Previously on..." style refreshers for books you have already read in a series, announced on 2 April 2025, US only.
Retrieval augmented generation (RAG)
- A design in which a system first retrieves relevant passages and then asks a language model to write from them. The Authors Guild wrote that Amazon's description of Ask this Book may suggest RAG, without confirmation.
S
Series refresher
- A recap of earlier books in a series before you start the next one. Kindle Recaps is one example.
Spoiler
- Information about a part of the story you have not reached yet, especially twists, deaths, relationships and endings.
Spoiler tag
- A way to hide text in a review or post until the reader chooses to reveal it. It relies on the writer marking the spoiler, not on knowing where the reader is.
Story So Far
- A Kindle feature that gives a spoiler-free recap of a supported Kindle ebook up to where you stopped reading. US, Kindle devices and Kindle iOS app.
Summary
- An overview of a whole book, usually including the ending. Useful after you finish; risky before.
W
Whole-book mode
- Any option that lets an AI answer using the entire book rather than stopping at your place. Kindle's Ask this Book offers it as a choice.
X
X-Ray
- A Kindle ebook feature: press and hold a word or name to learn more about a character, place, topic or term. Amazon tells authors they can hide terms "that may provide spoilers", so X-Ray is not built around your position. See Story So Far vs Ask this Book vs X-Ray.
Page lock, chapter lock or prompt: which is stricter?
From strictest to loosest: a page lock or position lock enforced by the app, then a chapter lock enforced by the app, then a prompt-based limit that depends on a general chatbot following your instructions. None of them makes AI text error-free. See How page-locked recaps work and the comparison.
Questions
- Q1
What is the difference between a recap and a summary?
A recap tells you what has happened up to your place so you can keep reading. A summary usually covers the whole book, including the ending.
- Q2
Is Kindle X-Ray spoiler-free?
Not by design. X-Ray describes characters and terms, and Amazon tells authors they can hide terms that may give spoilers away. Story So Far is the Kindle feature built around your reading position.
- Q3
What is a page lock?
A limit that stops an app from using any part of the story past the exact page you are on. It needs the app to know your page, for example from a photo or the page number.
- Q4
What does BYOB mean for reading apps?
Bring your own book: the app works alongside a copy you own, buy or borrow, rather than containing the book.
Sources
- 1About Amazon: How Kindle helps you stay immersed in every book you read (published 2 April 2025, updated 2 July 2026)read 2026-10-30
- 2Kindle Direct Publishing help: X-Ray for Authorsread 2026-10-27
- 3Magic Bookmark website (home page, pricing and FAQ)read 2026-10-30
- 4Magic Bookmark: Book Recaps, US App Store listing (incl. App Privacy and version history)read 2026-10-30
- 5Thus Far: No-Spoiler Book Club, US App Store listing (incl. App Privacy and version history)read 2026-10-30
- 6Fable: Track & Discuss Books, US App Store listing (incl. App Privacy)read 2026-10-30
- 7OpenAI Help Center: Does ChatGPT tell the truth?read 2026-10-30
- 8Claude Help Center: Claude is providing incorrect or misleading responses. What's going on?read 2026-10-30
- 10Apple Developer: App Privacy Details on the App Storeread 2026-10-30
- 11Wikipedia: Gamebookread 2026-10-27
- 12Wikipedia: Interactive fictionread 2026-10-27
Related
- 01How page-locked recaps workHow an AI reading companion finds your place, matches it to the book, cuts the story off at your page and writes a recap, cast list or answer. With diagrams, limits and what each maker says.01 Guides
- 02Story So Far vs Ask this Book vs X-RayKindle has four tools that help you remember a book. What Story So Far, Ask this Book, X-Ray and Recaps each do, how spoiler-safe each is, and which one to open for which question.01 Guides
- 03Spoiler-safe question bankForty questions you can ask an AI reading companion or chatbot about a book you are mid-way through, sorted by purpose, plus the questions to avoid and safer rewrites.02 Resources
- 04FAQShort, sourced answers to the twelve questions readers ask most about AI reading companions, spoiler-free recaps, Kindle's AI features, character chat, privacy and authors.05 Reference