Leave a Review hoopla Digital
Please convince my library to allow more monthly Hoopla borrows!
I love Hoopla, even more than my library. When my library is missing books or audiobooks in a series, I can almost always find those at Hoopla, which is awesome! My library severely limits the lifetime number of books I can request (to 5!) so it makes it unreasonable for me to request books missing from a series when I can find them at Hoopla. However, now my library has severely limited our number of monthly borrows from Hoopla. I’m hoping Hoopla can help with this and convince libraries to make that number much higher, like it used to be. I want to be able to read missing books/audiobooks and also read other series that my library doesn’t have but Hoopla does have, but this is hard to do when my library only allows 4 monthly borrows from Hoopla. I loved when Hoopla recently (in February) offered bonus borrows that didn’t count against the few that our library allows. I have used my borrows since then to complete series that I began during the February bonus borrows. Thank you, and I hope you bring this feature back again!Show lessBaileyJD
Saves Me Lots of Moola!
This may be my first app review, but I wanted to tell you how thankful I am for Hoopla. There is plenty of content of interest and I’ve even seen some really recent books on here. I’ve stopped using Audible since discovering it (when someone mentioned it in a review of the Libby app, which I also use, but Libby can have long waits and has shorter borrow times). I do wish we could read the ebooks in Kindle form because that’s better for eyes than a typical tablet screen and my Kindle has much better battery life than my ipad. It’s great how we can highlight within the ebooks, but I don’t think there’s a way to save those highlights or add notes like on Kindle. As I don’t really like reading whole books on the iPad, I usually stick to audiobooks here, but am very grateful for them.
Occasionally, Hoopla doesn’t succeed in accurately syncing my place between devices (phone and iPad), so that’s something they might want to take a look at. I also appreciate that you can toggle in and out of Kids mode, but would prefer a password to enter back into adult mode, for when my kids use it on their own. It is tricky to constantly supervise all content kids select and I’m not comfortable with all the options in the Kids section either. Perhaps a parent could enter a password to approve each borrow before a child can borrow while in Kids mode.
Thank you for a great free app though. I’m happy to be a member of a library that participates with it.Show lessLGuezzie
Developer Response
Thank you for using hoopla! We understand you are frustrated with the monthly borrow limits. Although hoopla delivers the content, your library determines and implements borrow limits. You can contact them directly to ask about the policy. If you have other questions about hoopla, please email us at feedback@hoopladigital.com! We’d love to be worthy of five stars!Hoopla and Covid
I have been using Hoopla ever since I knew about it and that has been quite a few years. Previously I borrowed books on CD’s. Hoopla is quite simply one of the joys of my life. I am an audio book junkie. I think that I probably have forgotten how to read. I have always been an avid reader. When I was little a neighbor girl ran our block and she had a school in her garage. There were little red chairs and we were required to attend . I learned to read when I was three and I started kindergarten when Zi was four. . When I was able to obtain a library card I checked out the maximum number of books which was four and read them and returned them to get more. Nice librarians would let me do that and the meanies wouldn’t! Much of my adult life I lived in Omaha NE and due to the bad weather they would mail books to one’s home. And have free returns. That was short lived though. I recall being stuck in snow drifts on my way to the library. One time when I was hopelessly stuck, and a huge SUV shot by me as if it were a racetrack. So, I bought an SUV. So, do I like Hoopla. Probably as much as anyone could. My earphones have become a natural appendage. I set my Phone for thirty minutes and go to bed. I doubt if I could get to sleep without them. I can always find my place with thirty minutes if I fall asleep. Now, with Covid, it is a godsend. No need to touch anything. And, with the library closed, it is the only access to books. Thank you Los Angeles Library System!Show lessLaronimo
Love the selection of books, but can’t get it to work
I love the selection of books available, especially the audio books. However, I have tried for a week straight to borrow a book, and I keep getting the same message, “The collective daily borrow limit set by your library has been reached and will reset at midnight. Please browse and add titles to your favorites so you can easily access them after midnight”. Ok, so I did that. I have even tried on multiple nights to borrow after midnight. Same message. I’ve tried at 6am, and so on… still the same message. I called my library to ask them if they need to reset something on their end, or if something was up with my library card (there isn’t anything), everything should be working, except it’s not. My library recommended a different app to use, and while I appreciate their suggestion, I’m disappointed because the selection isn’t as great as Hoopla. Unfortunately, Hoopla seems to think the library needs to reset something, and the library says they’ve updated everything, and there’s no way every single borrower is jumping on right at the stroke of midnight to borrow books. It’s ridiculous! And this used to be such a reliable app. I’m disappointed for sure.Show lessJaclyn430
Best way to borrow audio and ebooks from library
This is a useful and simple way to borrow digital media from your local library in the comfort of your own home (my library system allows 10 titles per month). True, selections available are not the latest releases but I'm enjoying catching up with many classic books on audio recordings while gardening, driving and other chores. I agree with other reviewers that chapter markers would be helpful, and I will keep back one star for that and for frequent delays I experience when returning to the app after switching apps or pausing. I'm very impressed with the quality of the readers in the audiobooks I've borrowed so far (about a dozen). I was also happy that when 1 book was returned after its 21-day period was over, the app retained my place in the 35-hour recording. For a free app that allows access to books, music, and movies with just my library card -- this is a great service. Kudos and thanks to the developers!Show lessmanju3t
Love and hate relationship
So I Love hoopla, specifically the audiobooks. A large selection of free e-books, audiobooks, and movies/tv shows. However you have limited borrows. The way hoopla makes money is your local library pays for the content on hoopla and each borrow we make costs them money (this is the way I understand it). So for me I can only borrow 6 titles a month. So let’s say there is a tv show on hoopla, each episode costs one borrow. So you borrow 4 and watch them. Then you borrow a comic books and read that. After that you borrow and listen to a audiobook. That’s all your borrows gone in one day(depending on your library’s limit). I think hoopla is missing out on a payday here. So I was thinking that after we pass our borrows for the month we pay a fee for additional borrows. Or a recurring payment for unlimited borrows. Sorry this is kinda long but I’ve been think about this for awhile. Thanks for reading!
Edit: oops I forgot something lol. Maybe think about adding like you have 10 mins after you borrow a title to return it to get your borrow back because it’s super frustrating then you borrow the wrong thing and wasted your borrowShow lessIdontusallyreview
LOVE this app! Would recommend, but one small thing...
Ok! First things first. I love this app! Highly recommend! Has most of the Warrior cats series. Love it. Can read on or offline. There's a kids mode. One small problem. Why can't you return the books when you're done with them? In a real library, you're given a specific amount of time to finish and return or renew a book. Here however, you can only borrow five books, and they will only automatically return at the end of each month. I am a fairly fast reader, so this frustrates me. I love actual libraries because you can return the books anywhere in the time range given, and check out other books. But then you could ruin the book, lose it, and then you have to either buy a new book and donate it, or pay a fine. Digital books are easy to use and you don't need to remember or bookmark a page. Although I would like some more freedom where this is concerned, I have learned to live with it. But I still don't like it. Anyone else who can relate? Also, any other Warriors fans? ~DapplefrostShow lesssunshin3girl
Love the app but needs some modifications
I waste so much time going into my past borrowed books to see if I already read the books that I’m browsing. It would be nice to have it show that you already borrowed it or make the history searchable. There are a few other quirks that I’d like to see changed but insignificant. Overall, I enjoy that this library app offers a great variety of books - stuff that my other app doesn’t.
One additional update that I would love to see is a feature that would allow a short preview before borrowing. I mostly listen to audiobooks- I have a few favorite narrators and would listen to them reading the dictionary but I also waste a bunch of borrows on books that I just can’t listen to because the reader makes the content unbearable.
Updated review- Wow…. A prompt response from the app developer. That upped my 3 star to a solid 4 star!!!!! With all of today’s technology , it is nice to see a response to a review or suggestion. I hope they are able to incorporate a way to flag items that have been borrowed previously and get a preview clip of the books. Bravo app developer!Show lessM t lb
Developer Response
Thanks for using hoopla and for your suggestion! Our Development Team is investigating this feature for a future release—stay tuned! Please reach out to us at feedback@hoopladigltal.com if you have any questions.It’s gotten worse
I have been using hoopla for years now but now it’s not letting me borrow things after a certain time off day. This “time of day” can very on time schedules too. I am personally a night owl and I can’t get a new book past 9 or who knows when. I totally get the limit on borrowing books per month bc every one deserves a chance to read the books hoopla has to offer ( which to be honest isn’t the best selection, but it’s worth trying out). However it’s completely different when you can’t borrow a book because of how late it is. This used to never happen to me and now it’s happening out of the blue! It’s so annoying and I don’t know how or if I can change it. I have also noticed that they don’t have as many modern books as I would like. I love my sci-fi fantasy books but they don’t have that good of a collection or they just don’t have the first book in a series so I can’t start the series. I have been a loyal fan of hoopla for quite sometime and I have recommended it to plenty of people, but it’s just not working for me anymore. :(Show lessCharlotteeaston23
Streaming and download issues
I enjoy the assortment of books for my family. However, there are two fairly major issues I keep experiencing with audiobooks. First, I’ve learned that if I renew a book before it is “returned” at the end of 21 days, I can’t play it back. I can listen on the laptop, but the audiobook will no longer play on my phone. Kind of defeats the purpose since I get them for the car. I have done all the reset/remove and download again/restart phone, all that stuff. I have to remember to let a book return and then borrow it again. The second thing is downloading to my device. I can download onto my phone, but the app still streams the audiobook. I lose the signal and the story stops. When I get back to a town and try to restart it, I sometimes see the audio is no longer on my device. The app is eating up my data every month even though I download anything I’ll be listening to away from home. It’s frustrating and disappointing because this could be a great app.Show lesszekesmomten
