Bookshelf App Reviews

I havent actually installed the app, but whatever.

This app is glitchy and it never works. I havent been able to use it for more than 5 minutes without it crashing. When I first installed it I had to spend 30 minutes on the phone with tech support to get a book to download. Then after all that time they couldnt figure it out, so their recommendation was that I restore my iPad to factory settings and then reinstall the app. Seriously? Unfortunately the site that owns my textbook only allows this app to be used to access the ebook, so I just paid the extra money to buy the physical book because this app just never works.

PLEASE add export to PDF and/or annotate capabilities for workbooks! Cant do my homework on the iPad!

Had to buy books in a package that included these ebooks. The app feels old and is very buggy. Books are not appealing to read like they would be if I could view them in iBooks. Highlighting feature is nice but after a few highlights it becomes slow and buggy. Also could use apple pencil support if they want to really add note taking ability. If you dont have to buy ebooks from them, dont! I wish the publisher would sell their books though the apple book store so I could use iBooks.

I recently purchased a textbook and downloaded the Bookshelf application for convenient reading access from my iPhone 6s. Im extremely frustrated as the application will not allow me to view a full page. Instead, it cuts about a quarter of the page off leaving a large white block at the top of the screen. When I try to reposition the page onto the full-screen, I am unable. This means that I am completely unable to read a full-page in its proper context. Ive contacted customer service for assistance and hope that they will reach out soon as I have a limited amount of time to complete the reading of this text book. I paid a lot of money for this textbook and will be extremely frustrated if Im unable to read it.

This app is nice but the problem with not being able to highlight some stuff is not fixed. Please fix urgently as it defeats the purpose of its creation

I paid over $100 to read a book on my iPhone for my class and as the previous review states I also agree that I am unable to read a full page on my phone. I also get a quarter size cut off from the top and bottom. This is unacceptable and the app developers should look into changing this format for a full page view.

Ive had an Ebook rented for a few weeks now and decided to finally download this app and I cant even access it. so there is literally no point, waste of space

Hi - I am having problems again with using the highlighters. Can you please fix this? It takes a very long time to highlight just one thing. It is extremely frustrating. Thank you.

This is not good. Waste of time and needs work...

It wont even let me login. This app isnt worth the download until the bugs get fix!

Pretty computer savvy, but installing this app was painful. Instructions are out-of-date and it wouldnt take my password until I reset it again. Only reason why I had o install it was for school.

you cant log in I am surprised Apple allows this rubbish

It would seem that this organization either does not care or is incompetent at best. I wish I could give a detailed explanation of the problems that I encountered but every time I think about it, my blood boils (and Im known to be a calm guy). So please hire project managers and get act together or dont launch a app for educational institution! -maybe if my university did not use these guys and I did not depend on it to read textbooks, I wouldnt be so mad. Maybe my anger should be directed to my uni....

The login process was painless for me. I was able to access my book immediately and had no issues. I would love for the developers to consider adding the capability for split view on iPad. That would make it really easy to take notes in the notes during readings.

When logging onto this app from my phone it tells me to open the boom from a desktop first. When I do that I am still unable to read my books from my phone. This has happened with my current and last class. This needs to be fixed. I used to be able to read while I am at work. When I log onto bookshelf from my desktop I see all my books. But from the app there are 2 books missing. This is very frustrating.

I’m in Nurse Practitioner school, and I have been using Vital Source for my heavy textbooks for the undergraduate and graduate degrees. I first used Bookshelf on my Kindle and my computer, and then used my iPhone as a backup reader during clinical rotations. Formatting on the iPhone is not ideal because the screen is too small. However, I have been able to do some reading during some “down time” because I had this app on my phone. I would not recommend using your iphone with Bookshelf as a first choice for reading graphic-intensive textbooks… the screen is just not large enough. I recently was given an iPad. I downloaded Bookshelf from the app store and had instant access to multiple textbooks I had bought previously. I can highlight and take notes, and can export these to OneNote. I can take screen shots of key figures and can paste them into OneNote. This is an *excellent* app running on an iPad Air 2. As an aside, I think that VitalSource/Bookshelf is a superior platform for reading electronic textbooks. It is consistently better than Amazon. I don’ t know if it is better than iBooks. I hope this helps!

Once I get it open, it works fine. But if I leave it open for several days and come back to use it again, it is usually locked up. I have to delete the app and download it again, and login etc in order to get it functional again. I also hate what this version did with the images. All images are small thumbnails that you cant zoom into for details. There is a separate link to all the images that you have to find and supposedly use but it has never loaded any pictures for me. Poor design overall!

This app just goes to show the thoughtlessness of VitalSource. They know how to create a great app—even a decent one—they just choose not to. Its discourteous. They know that everyone trying to turn a page is frustrated by accidentally opening the table of contents. They know that if someone manages to turn a page, its ridiculous that it has to sit there loading. They know they could easily make it so you can hide the books on the bookshelf that youre not currently using. They could look at this app, and these reviews, and realize a few things need to change (and they know it wouldnt be that difficult). But they wont do any of that because its clearly not who they are. VitalSource is a bad dream; wish I could wake up and CourseSmart would still be around.

I have been using VitalSource for the past 4 years and even though they have made upgrades, the app seems to have only improved marginally. I attempted to use VitalSource for several Financial, Economic, and Quantitative books and the annotation function for formulas and side notes is extremely difficult to work with. VitalSource becomes extremely "glitchy" when there are multiple ebooks on the bookshelf and it becomes even more temperamental when attempting to make annotations. The ebook is hard to read and is of poor quality more often than not. I have found that having a hard copy of the book is worth the difference in price than trying to utilize VitalSource. I have often had to borrow the hard copy of the book from a friend or go buy a hard copy if VitalSource decides to be glitchy.