Quite mediocre
I’ve been a customer of NYPL library services for nearly a year now, and I appreciate the variety of reading material available and have been able to enjoy a couple ebooks. However, I cannot get over how terrible their apps (own, Overdrive, and Libby) and their site are, right from the beginning. The fault isn’t even with the latest versions, they’ve been uniformly awful with any actions I try to execute from the very beginning of my time as a library member. I can’t find the availability of any of the books I’m looking for, cannot borrow, cannot see my checkouts, pretty much nothing.
If I could ask for help with a specific task, I would, but their online presence is messed up from A-Z. How can they be so mediocre and serve a great city like NYC?
If I could ask for help with a specific task, I would, but their online presence is messed up from A-Z. How can they be so mediocre and serve a great city like NYC?
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Just use the website on a browser
This is actually worse than just viewing the NYPL website in a browser. Why does this app even exist?
Terrible
Barely usable. The search function just does not work at all
Why can’t I save titles for later??
I love the app for the most part, but I hate that I have to be in a web browser to bookmark titles for later! As I’m scrolling insta or in a conversation with friends I want to be able to quickly add titles to my app but not put a hold on all of them at once. I don’t know why this feature isn’t available on the app but it is on the website. Drives me crazy!
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Very buggy app
I love NYPL. I hate their app. It will often show me zero books checked out or on hold when I have many of both.
Good but a suggestion
Im not a very avid library user, I do check out stuff every once in awhile. Sometimes I forget the things I want to check out eventually, once I’m
done with something else. It’d be nice for there to be a list function that puts items into a list of like saved searches. To eventually put on hold. That’s it. Besides that, app visual design could be smoother but more or less good app in my opinion.
done with something else. It’d be nice for there to be a list function that puts items into a list of like saved searches. To eventually put on hold. That’s it. Besides that, app visual design could be smoother but more or less good app in my opinion.
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meh
The NYPL deserves a world class app. This app is glitchy, far from intuitive and poorly organized. Did you guys farm this out to a high school intern or what? Love the library hate the app.
This app is very difficult to use , BAD!
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Suddenly losing functionality
I was generally happy with the app. It allowed me to manage three card accounts (mine and my kids’), search, place holds, look up status. Some functions require more steps than is ideal (ie would be great to see all checked out items for all accounts without three steps between each), and I kept resetting my default library from my old neighborhood to my new one without it ever permanently updating, but overall it worked fine. Now, when I search the catalog, results don’t show call numbers or availability. I’m flying blind hoping it’s the right edition and available when o place a hold. Seems to not play well with the latest iPhone update, but who knows. I still appreciate having it, but it’s slipping and I have to use it in tandem with the web, which defeats the purpose of an app.
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Not a Helpful App
The only features i want on this are mobile checkout and to reserve a book to go to a library branch, and both features do not work on this version of the app. I just use the website instead unfortunately.
It Works, But Has a Serious Problem
I’ve been using the app for some years now without issue. The mobile checkout feature is great. However, there’s one problem that made take two stars off my rating.
For sometime now, when you look at the list of library branches where a specific book might be, the list in the app is almost always missing the majors of branches.
They are listed alphabetically and when that list ends with just a few branches around letter C, you know something is wrong.
Go the NYPL.org webpage and there are the rest of the branches the app is missing.
Hopefully, someone from the development team reads this and fixes it.
For sometime now, when you look at the list of library branches where a specific book might be, the list in the app is almost always missing the majors of branches.
They are listed alphabetically and when that list ends with just a few branches around letter C, you know something is wrong.
Go the NYPL.org webpage and there are the rest of the branches the app is missing.
Hopefully, someone from the development team reads this and fixes it.
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Renewal issue
Can’t see my checkouts, let alone renewing them
App Doesn’t Work
I’m not sure if it’s just me but the app is completely blank. I got the app to put books on hold so it minimizes my time in the library and was a really resourceful tool, unfortunately no longer works so I will go back to using the browser.
Embarrassingly Terrible
How is this app one of the most useless apps? It’s impossible to navigate, doesn’t work for finding or reserving books, holds never work, it’s ridiculous. The entire system is useless, you’re better off just buying a book online, it’ll come faster than renting one from this mess of a “library”
Bug
Love this app! However, there is a very annoying bug: when looking at library copies of a book, only the first few are shown instead of all copies. I can’t see if my branch(es) have a copy unless I use the web catalog. Please fix this bug!!
Needs work
Unable to reserve books via the app… get it together
Terrible App
After going years without a dedicated app it’s astounding that one of the greatest libraries in the would couldn’t do better. Instead of consolidating all library information in one app, you have to go to Simply E for digital information. It’s not optimized for iPads so it’s just phone size on the screen. Someone in app development should take a look at the Brooklyn Public Library app for features and user interface.
(I wrote this when this app was released a few years ago. Nothing has changed, while the app for the BPL has gotten even better. And worse, I’m now having problems with downloading books from SimplyE.)
(I wrote this when this app was released a few years ago. Nothing has changed, while the app for the BPL has gotten even better. And worse, I’m now having problems with downloading books from SimplyE.)
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Nightmare
The NYPL online rental system can be incredibly frustrating. Accessing books through its website often results in constant redirects to CloudLibrary or SimplyE, which frequently show errors. Even when using those apps directly, success can feel like a matter of luck due to their buggy functionality. It raises the question: is this a strategy to push readers toward purchasing books instead of borrowing them, or is it just a lack of concern for users? It feels like this library system exists without truly serving its purpose.
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This app needs some fine tuning!
Won’t allow me to place holds or find any info regarding my account.
Won’t Open
Bad Update.
Used to work before the update.
Now, the App won’t stay open.
Used to work before the update.
Now, the App won’t stay open.
