Oyster was a commercial streaming service for digital e-books, available for Android, iOS, Kindle Fire, and NOOK HD/HD+ devices.

[4] The company was founded in 2012 by Eric Stromberg, Andrew Brown, and Willem Van Lancker, and was headquartered in New York City.

[6] Oyster launched on September 5, 2013, opening paid access, at $9.95 a month, via invitations available on a first-come, first-served basis.

"[7] Common early criticisms included limited content and lack of multi-platform support, but its reading experience and design were widely praised.

[22] In January 2014, Oyster brought the entire Harry Potter series to the service through a partnership with J.K. Rowling and Pottermore.

[23] Oyster created a special user interface for reading the books as well as several exclusive interactive features to showcase the collection.

The magazine operates as a discovery vehicle for the subscription service's content and brings in author's for interviews and guest essays.

Contributors include: Choire Sicha, Lauren Oliver, Megan Abbott, Longform, Of a Kind, San Fermin, Rainbow Rowell, Jeff Vandermeer, Teju Cole, and Judy Blume.

“We’re interested in joining the literary conversation, not do what publishers do.”[28] On Christmas Day 2013, The New York Times reported that Oyster and Scribd were among new ebook platforms which collected data on users' reading habits.

In a review of the service, The New Yorker's Ian Crouch wrote that the app "takes its name from a line in 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' ('the world’s mine oyster,' spoken, incidentally, by a thief)."