A Minimap alternative for iPhone

Minimap is a social gaming journal that pulls your library in automatically. Nook is the private, detail-first alternative — a library you curate, and a record of how you actually played.

What Minimap gets right, and where it does not

Minimap's standout feature is real: it connects to Steam, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch and pulls your library in for you. Nook does not do that, and if automatic importing is the single thing you want, that is a genuine reason to choose it.

The experience around that feature is a different story. We tested it while building this page: the interface leans on a social feed rather than your library, screens are slower to load than they should be on current hardware, and the design has not kept pace with where iOS has gone. It is a good idea wrapped in an app that feels a couple of generations behind.

What Nook does instead

Nook assumes the interesting part is not what you own, but what you actually played and what you thought of it.

Per-playthrough records — each run has its own progress and summary, so a replay is a new entry rather than an overwrite
Smart, ranked and standard collections, including collections that build themselves from conditions you set
A private library by default — no feed, no followers, nothing to keep up with
Ownership and format details, ratings, notes and favourites per game
iCloud sync across your Apple devices

Designed as an iOS app, not a feed

Nook is drawn for the current version of iOS: native controls and system materials, real Dynamic Type support, a dark mode that looks deliberate, fluid animation, and screens laid out for one thumb on a large phone. It opens instantly and stays fast as your library grows. Nothing in it is a web view wearing an app icon, and you can feel that in the first ten seconds.

The deeper difference is what each app is organised around. A social journal is organised around a timeline, and a timeline is never finished. Nook is organised around your library, so it is quiet when you have nothing to log — and every screen in it was designed for the phone you are holding now, not retrofitted onto it. See the screenshots.

Minimap and Nook compared

	Minimap	Nook
Platforms	iPhone and iPad	iPhone and iPad
Price to download	Free	Free
Syncs from Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch	Yes	No
Social feed and friends	Yes	No
Per-playthrough records	See App Store listing	Yes
Smart and ranked collections	See App Store listing	Yes
iCloud sync	See App Store listing	Yes

The two rows that go to Minimap are there because they are true. What a table cannot show you is how each app feels to use, which is where the difference is widest.

Common questions

What is Minimap?: Minimap is a game backlog tracker and gaming journal for iPhone and iPad. Its App Store listing describes syncing your library from Steam, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch, and sharing what you are playing with friends.
How is Nook different from Minimap?: Nook is built around your own library rather than a social feed. It focuses on per-playthrough records, standard, ranked and smart collections, and detailed per-game tracking, with iCloud keeping everything across your Apple devices.
Does Nook connect to my Steam or PlayStation account?: No. Nook builds your library from IGDB, the game database it uses for metadata and artwork, rather than importing from storefront accounts. If automatic console syncing is the feature you want most, Minimap covers that and Nook does not.
Which should I choose?: If you want your library pulled in automatically and a social feed around it, Minimap is built for that. If you want to curate a library deliberately and keep a detailed private record of how you played each game, that is what Nook is for.

Get Nook on the App Store

Also comparing GameTrack or Backloggd?

What Minimap gets right, and where it does not

What Nook does instead

Nook assumes the interesting part is not what you own, but what you actually played and what you thought of it.

Per-playthrough records — each run has its own progress and summary, so a replay is a new entry rather than an overwrite

Smart, ranked and standard collections, including collections that build themselves from conditions you set

A private library by default — no feed, no followers, nothing to keep up with

Ownership and format details, ratings, notes and favourites per game

iCloud sync across your Apple devices

Designed as an iOS app, not a feed

Minimap and Nook compared

	Minimap	Nook
Platforms	iPhone and iPad	iPhone and iPad
Price to download	Free	Free
Syncs from Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch	Yes	No
Social feed and friends	Yes	No
Per-playthrough records	See App Store listing	Yes
Smart and ranked collections	See App Store listing	Yes
iCloud sync	See App Store listing	Yes

The two rows that go to Minimap are there because they are true. What a table cannot show you is how each app feels to use, which is where the difference is widest.

Common questions

What is Minimap?

Minimap is a game backlog tracker and gaming journal for iPhone and iPad. Its App Store listing describes syncing your library from Steam, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch, and sharing what you are playing with friends.

How is Nook different from Minimap?

Nook is built around your own library rather than a social feed. It focuses on per-playthrough records, standard, ranked and smart collections, and detailed per-game tracking, with iCloud keeping everything across your Apple devices.

Does Nook connect to my Steam or PlayStation account?

No. Nook builds your library from IGDB, the game database it uses for metadata and artwork, rather than importing from storefront accounts. If automatic console syncing is the feature you want most, Minimap covers that and Nook does not.

Which should I choose?

If you want your library pulled in automatically and a social feed around it, Minimap is built for that. If you want to curate a library deliberately and keep a detailed private record of how you played each game, that is what Nook is for.