Availability: Apple App Store, Google Play Store, or In-Browser (libbyapp.com)
Media types: Ebooks, Audiobooks, Magazines
Devices Used for Review: Apple iPhone, Apple iPad, Acer PC (on Google Chrome Browser) Accessed through: London Public Library (LPL), London, ON, Canada
Word Count: 1205 words
Background
Libby is an e-reader app created by OverDrive Inc. OverDrive Inc was founded in 1986 by Steve Potash. Originally, OverDrive Inc was initially a business that converted analog media to digital formats. Though, as the internet and the possibility of eBooks grew throughout the 1990s, OverDrive had a change in focus. In the year 2000, OverDrive launched its content distribution services. Now, they offer not only the industry's leading digital reading platform, but also provide the largest digital content in the world to more the 76,000 libraries and schools across 94 countries.
In April 2015, OverDrive was purchased by Rakuten for $410 million. Rakuten is an eCommerce and online retailing company founded by Hiroshi Mikitani in 1997.
In June 2020, OverDrive was acquired by KKR from Rakuten. KKR is a global investment firm that was founded in 1976 by Henry Kravis and George Roberts.
Throughout these purchases, Potash has remained the CEO of Overdrive.
Review
Image description: A red figure reading a teal book in front of a darker red background. This is the app icon/logo for Libby by OverDrive.
For this review, I tried using Libby on my Apple iPhone 12, my 5th generation Apple iPad, and Google Chrome on my 2019 Acer Swift PC Laptop.
I have structured my review using the above rubric and evaluating the Audio-Visual Appeal, App Engagement, App Performance, User-friendliness, and Customization. I will further break these down below:
Audio-Visual Appeal
Visually, Libby is a lovely app and makes use of books' cover art to help add to the overall visual appeal. Not only were these elements attractive, but the visual icons on the bottom menu bar helped me use the Libby app on my iPhone and iPad and get to know its features very quickly. The browser version was essentially identical to the app version, just on a bigger screen.
However, the cover art was very hard to see and quite small when using the app on my iPhone. When using my iPad or laptop, this was not an issue. It would have been nice to see a more vertical app format on the iPhone app than side-by-side elements to see the cover art images better. I have included a screenshot of my "shelf" within the app on my iPhone so that you can see the "side by side" elements I have mentioned.
App Engagement
The Libby app on both my iPhone and iPad kept me very engaged. I was very invested in checking out the different functions and conducting different searches for books. I found myself swiping away other notifications in favour of staying in the app until I was done with all my tasks instead of going between apps.
The browser version was not as engaging. I had a few other tabs open of other things and found myself going between them instead of focusing my whole attention on Libby. Perhaps this is partially my fault for having so many other things happening on my screen at the same time, but considering that an average user will likely also be browsing other sites while using Libby, I think there is an important distinction to be made.
App Performance
Overall, I am happy with how well the app performed. It worked perfectly and seamlessly on my iPhone and browser. There were some minor issues with using the app on my iPad. This could be due to the age of my device (the model is from 2017, so it's 5 years old), or perhaps my WiFi was not working at its best. The main issue was that there were slow response times and lagging. Especially in the search function, as I would type in my query, it took a few seconds longer to register what I was inputting into the search box.
User-Friendliness
The Libby app is very user-friendly and easy to use. Here is why I gave this app all 5 points for user-friendliness:
Libby is very easy to set up, you can do the set up using an existing library card or sign up for one through the app
Libby makes it easy to sync your library across devices, this means you can start reading a book on one device and pick it up on another without hassle
The built-in navigation and search bar are very simple to use
The shelf section gives enough information so you know how much you've read, how much you have left to read, when your loan expires, and the type of media each item is
For eBooks, the Libby app makes it easy to toggle text font, text size and background. It also features a search function that allows you to look for specific keywords or passages, and has a built-in bookmarking feature.
For audiobooks, the Libby app allows you to change the speed of the audio (I find I prefer to listen to them at a slightly faster speed), bookmark sections or passages, search, and has a sleep function where you can set the audiobook to automatically stop playing after a pre-determined amount of time (I usually set mine for 90min).
The Libby help section is also very well done. This can be accessed within the app itself, or through help.libby.com. Both the in-app help section and the help website feature a search function, and have a list of common questions/solutions. The help section is very easy to use and navigate. I was able to find the information I needed within a matter of seconds.
Customization
The customization of the Libby app is by far the most disappointing factor and overall the only thing that I think needs to be developed more. While there are some customization options, there are some things missing that I think are crucial to this kind of app:
While you can adjust the size of the text within an eBook, there is no option to increase the text size for the rest of the app. This means that things like the different menus, the search bar, general navigation, and the different pages within the app are all at a set size and on smaller screens can definitely be hard to read.
The settings within the app are minimal. There are very few things available to even customize. There are even fewer things that can be changed from my device settings.
Some of the settings that can be changed are somewhat unclear as to what they actually do. While many other parts of the app have little tips that tell you how to do something, the settings section definitely could use more information.
There are also no privacy or security settings and it is unclear whether or not the app tracks and stores any of your personal data.
Overall, the app needs to offer more customization options and provide more transparency on its privacy policies.
Summary
Libby has very few drawbacks and is overall a very good application. I would recommend this to anyone that is looking to try eBooks or audiobooks for the first time!
Sources
Central Rappahannock Regional Library. (n.d.). Meet Libby, The New Way to Download eBooks & eAudio. Central Rappahannock Regional Library. Retrieved April 7, 2022, from https://www.librarypoint.org/libby/
KKR. (2022). Firm History. KKR. Retrieved April 7, 2022, from https://www.kkr.com/our-firm/firm-history
Libby Help. (n.d.). What is Libby? Libby Help. Retrieved April 8, 2022, from https://help.libbyapp.com/en-us/6144.htm
Libby. (2022). Libby: The Library Reading App. Libby App. Retrieved April 7, 2022, from https://www.overdrive.com/apps/libby
OverDrive. (2019, May 2). Global Network. OverDrive. Retrieved April 7, 2022, from https://company.overdrive.com/company-profile/partners/map/
OverDrive. (2022, January 3). Company Profile - Who We Are. OverDrive. Retrieved April 7, 2022, from https://company.overdrive.com/company-profile/who-we-are/