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Using the App
The app has five tabs along the bottom: Home, Browse, Wishlist, Cart and Account. Each tab remembers where you were. Tapping the tab you are on returns to its first screen, and Back from another tab returns to Home.
Shelves of books, as on the website: Quick deals, Latest books, Trending now, Top picks for you, books you viewed recently, Shop by category and Popular writers, among others. Top picks come from what you have bought, saved and looked at; until there is something to go on, they are the best-rated books in stock. Tap the search box to start searching, or See all on a shelf to open it in Browse.
- Search in English or Bangla. Suggestions appear as you type: books, writers, categories and sellers, plus your recent searches and what is popular. The search matches by sound across Bangla and English, so "putul nacher itikotha" finds পুতুলনাচের ইতিকথা.
- Voice search: tap the microphone and say a title or writer, in Bangla or English.
- Scan a book: tap the barcode button in the search box and point the camera at the barcode on the back of a book. The app searches for its ISBN. The camera is used only while the scanner is open; the picture is read on your phone and never stored or sent. If you turn the camera down, Type it instead closes the scanner, and the scanner explains how to allow the camera later.
- Filters: new or second-hand, condition, categories, price range, rating, in stock only, and deals only.
- Sort: most relevant, newest, best rated, price (low to high or high to low), or the biggest deals.
The price and any discount, how many copies are left, the condition and the seller's notes for second-hand books, and who sells it. From here you can:
- choose a quantity and Add to cart;
- tap the heart to add it to your Wishlist;
- Share it;
- open the seller's shop with Visit shop;
- when it is sold out, ask to hear when a copy is listed;
- read reviews, and write your own once you have bought it.
Both are kept with your account, so you need to be signed in, and both are the same as on the website: a book added on the phone is in your cart on the computer too. The Cart tab shows a badge with the number of books in it.
The wishlist can be sorted: recently saved, saved first, in stock first, biggest discount, price either way, or by title. The app remembers your choice.
In the cart, change quantities with − and +, or remove a book. The books total is shown at the bottom, and the delivery charge is added at checkout.
- Tap Checkout in the cart.
- Check your name, mobile number and address. They are filled in from your profile.
- Choose your division and district. Delivery is 70 Tk in Dhaka district and 120 Tk elsewhere.
- Add a note for the seller or a promo code if you have one.
- Tap Place order.
You pay in cash when the books arrive. The confirmation shows your order number, which you can copy, and the amount to have ready. If a book sold out while you were checking out, the confirmation says so and the rest of the order goes ahead.
Open Account → My orders.
- Orders lists each order with its status and total. Search by order number, title or author, filter by status, and sort by date or total.
- Books bought lists every book you have ordered, with shortcuts to return it or review it.
- Tap an order to track it step by step. While it can still be cancelled, Cancel this order is offered; you can say why if you like.
- Once a book is delivered, Return a book stays available for the return window. Describe the problem, add photos, and give a bKash number for the refund.
- The PDF button on an order saves its receipt to your phone.
Rate a book or a seller from one to five stars, with an optional title and review, once you have bought from them. You can edit your review later, report one that breaks the rules, and read the seller's reply.
The bell at the top of Home shows how many notifications are unread. Tap it for the full list; tap one to open what it is about, or use Mark all as read. The gear opens the choices: for each kind of notification (orders, returns, reviews, deals and so on) you can turn it off in the app, and, where the shop sends them, by e-mail.
With notifications allowed, the phone shows them even when the app is closed. The app asks for this on the notification list, the Account page and after an order, never at launch. In Android's settings for the app you can tune each channel: orders and returns, messages, deals, account, and news.
Each push carries only a reference number; the app fetches the details from the shop over a secure connection, so nothing personal passes through Google. Signing out stops notifications on that phone.
Tap the message icon on Home, or Account → Messages, for your conversations with buyers and sellers. To ask about a book, tap Message the seller on the book's page or on the seller's shop. You can send text and photos; new messages arrive at once while the app is open, and as notifications when it is not. Delete conversation (in the ⋮ menu) removes it for both of you.
Open Account → Selling.
- List a book: add up to 10 photos (the first is the cover; tap another to make it the cover), the title and author, any other details, whether it is new or second-hand and its condition, one or more categories, and a price. An optional discount can be a percentage or an amount in taka; the form shows what the book sells for and what you receive after the shop's 5% fee. The shop pays sellers by bKash, so the first listing asks for your bKash number.
- My books: tap a listing to change its price, stock or discount, see it as buyers do, or delete it. Each listing shows its views and saves, and how many buyers are waiting for it while it is sold out.
- Orders for my books: each order shows the buyer, their note, what you receive and where the payment stands. Open one to move it on up to Shipped, after which the shop's courier takes over, or to cancel your books before it ships. The PDF button saves the order slip.
On the Wanted board, Have it? List it opens the listing form with the book's details filled in.
When you list a book, the barcode button in the ISBN field scans it in the same way and fills the field.
Looking for a book nobody has listed? Open Account → Wanted board and tap Ask for a book. Sellers see the board, and others can add their voice to your request. A search that finds nothing also offers to ask.
The Account tab shows your profile photo and banner, a checklist of details that make checkout and returns smoother, and shortcuts to your orders, wishlist, the Wanted board and Invite friends.
- Edit your photo, banners, phone, address, birthday or password. Changing the password or your bKash number asks for your current password first.
- Two-step sign-in sends a code to your email each time you sign in.
- Privacy and data: choose whether the app remembers your searches and the books you open, download a copy of your data, or delete your account.
- Sign in, create an account, or reset your password. Continue with Google appears when the shop has it turned on.
- Appearance: same as the phone, light, or dark.
- Language: same as the phone, English, or বাংলা.
- Updates: check for a newer version of the app.
- Links to How the shop works, the returns and privacy policies, and the terms of use.
- Sign out everywhere else ends every other session on your account, on other phones and browsers. Sign out ends this one.
- Home-screen shortcuts: touch and hold the app's icon for Search for books, Scan a book, Your cart and Your orders. Drag one to the home screen to keep it there.
- Links: links to BookStoreBD's books, shops, searches, orders, cart, wishlist, messages and notifications open in the app when it is installed, from a message, an e-mail or the browser. The policies and the shop's administration open on the website.
On a tablet, an unfolded foldable or a phone held sideways, the tabs run down the side of the screen. Messages, your orders and the orders for your books open beside their lists, a book's pictures sit beside its details, and lists and forms keep a comfortable reading width. Turning or folding the device keeps your place.
When your phone is offline, a strip at the bottom says so, and screens you have opened before show their saved copy. Placing, cancelling or returning an order, changing your cart, writing reviews and sending messages need a connection.
Every control has a label for TalkBack, touch targets are at least 48 dp, and text follows the phone's font size. Both themes are checked for colour contrast. If something is hard to use, please let us know.
BookStoreBD · Android app · MIT License · Questions: support.utsha@gmail.com
Using the app
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