How to disable reading goals in the Books app

The notification was straightforward enough from the Books app on my iPhone: “Today’s reading goal achieved. Congratulations, you’ve reached your daily reading goal.” A big blue checkmark accompanied it. The only problem? I had never set a reading goal.

We get enough pressure from reminders, alarms, timers, calendar events, and other popups and notifications in our lives that one more might push us over the edge. For me, this reading goal was it: I certainly didn’t need any help tracking my personal reading.

The goal isn’t set within a book or the Books app, of course. Go to Settings > Books in iOS/iPadOS and disable Reading Goals near the bottom. The label says, “Show time spent reading and other achievements in Apple Books.” In macOS go to Books > Settings/Preferences > General and uncheck Enable Reading Goals.

I don’t know what these other achievements might be, and I know it’s useful for some people to create targets and get positive feedback for meeting them. If you’re like me, however, you can stifle this additional detail, one I don’t recall ever being prompted about or turning.

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