# The Palace Project > Free library e-reader and audiobook app for borrowing and reading digital books. (iPhone/iPad app by The Palace Project.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-palace-project/id1574359693 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [The Palace Project](https://appshunter.io/developer/1574359695) - Category: Books, Reference - Price: Free - Rating: 4.60/5 from 4,770 App Store ratings · 270 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 12+ - Requires: iOS 16.0 · 45 MB - Languages: American English, French (France), German (Germany), Italian, European Spanish - Released: 2021-08-07 - Data updated: 2026-08-28 - Monetization: free - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-palace-project/id1574359693/reviews.md ## What is The Palace Project? Palace is a free, easy-to-use e-reader app that lets you find, check out, and read or listen to books from your local library. It’s been said that libraries are “palaces for the people” and the Palace app gives you instant access to your local “palace” any time, right from the palm of your hand. All you need to sign up is your library card! And even if your library isn’t using Palace yet, you can still read more than 10,000 books--from children’s books to classics to foreign language books--for free from our Palace Bookshelf. The Palace app is built and maintained by Lyrasis, a not-for-profit organization working in partnership with Digital Public Library of America with funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. For more, visit https://thepalaceproject.org. ## Key features - Borrow e-books and audiobooks - Access local library collections - Read or listen to books - Free Palace Bookshelf collection - Requires library card for full access ## Chart rankings - #77 in Top Free · Book (US App Store) ## What do users think of The Palace Project? Overall sentiment: negative **Pros** - 🚀 Great selection of books - 💡 Convenient access to library books - 👍 Simple and easy to use **Cons** - 🐛 Frequent glitches and bugs - 🔋 High battery consumption - 🔍 Poor search functionality - 🤯 Inconsistent user experience **Commonly reported bugs** - Books not downloading properly - Losing place in audiobooks - Crashing and freezing issues - Incompatibility with certain devices **Most requested features** - Ability to track read/listened books - Improved audiobook playback controls - Dark mode option - Integration with Kindle ## Recent user reviews (10 of 270) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-palace-project/id1574359693/reviews.md ### 2/5 — Way too glitchy *2026-08-16, version 3.2.3* I initially loved this app. I still appreciate the fact that I can get free audiobooks, but it is way too glitchy on my iPhone. At times it overheats my iPhone, and at other times I can’t switch from one app to another without it starting over at the previous chapter. It has difficulty keeping track of where I’m at in the book and I’m constantly having to forward. Most recently, I can be listening on the app and open up my messages and it immediately goes back to the beginning of the chapter. Super frustrating. ### 3/5 — Ugh *2026-08-12, version 3.2.3* I love the available options on Palace, but it’s so hard to listen to audiobooks. It jumps around and constantly loses the place you were at. PLEASE fix it. I shouldn’t have to add a bookmark every 5 min out of fear of losing my place. It also deleted downloads randomly so I have to wait all over again and get a ton of error messages before it will finally work. The app is too glitchy ### 4/5 — Dark Mode *2026-08-12, version 3.2.3* Desperately, desperately needs dark mode! I read on this app at night mostly, and it would be so much better with a dark mode! I do like that you can switch between libraries in your network easily, and the selection is vast…but dark mode would make it perfect! Please? ### 3/5 — Great app but lots of bugs *2026-08-03, version 3.2.1* I love palace and have been using for a number of years. Lately though I’ve had a lot of trouble loading and listening to audiobooks. I hope this will be fixed soon, it’s made for a frustrating experience and I don’t want to give up on the app. ### 2/5 — This App Stinks *2026-07-29, version 3.2.1* I really wish our library system would move to another app. This one literally heats up my phone after 20min of use & quits. I’ve tried rebooting it and it does it every time without fail and it’s always this app. Please consider moving to a different one! ### 5/5 — I like it. *2026-07-29, version 3.2.1* Like other library apps, it offers a full selection from my library. ### 3/5 — Very basic for audio books *2026-07-27, version 3.2.1* I appreciate that there are bookmarks and at least there is a sleep timer, but a fixed 30 second rewind/advance is too much when you miss a couple words and need to jump back. Likewise, the smallest selection for the sleep timer is 15 min - too coarse. Often the timer selection takes many taps to register the selection and the bookmark button doesn’t respond. The slider for moving around in a chapter doesn’t update the time while moving it, so you can’t see how far you’ve moved it. The book stops playing if you go back to the general list of books display. That doesn’t show how far through you are, either as a percentage or time display. ### 1/5 — Not playing *2026-07-24, version 3.2.1* Audiobook just isn’t playing. Just spinning, grayed out icons forever. ### 4/5 — Love the options they offer but … *2026-07-21, version 3.2.0* Would be nice if it would show you the books you already checked out Like a time line of when things got returned ### 2/5 — Barely functional *2026-07-20, version 3.2.0* Two stars for the huge book selection which is why I downloaded, but the functionality of the app is incredibly poor. Every single time I try to play audiobooks that I’ve checked out, the app says the audiobooks are unavailable and to try later; it takes a very frustrating amount of time restarting the app to get it to play (I’ve spent up to 30 minutes at a given time just trying to get anything to play). Other bugs include having to manually move to the next chapter because it’ll stop at the end of chapters and sometimes it will start jumping around the chapter. The app also will get up to 98% of downloading the book to the device and stop so it never actually downloads. This would be such a great app given the selection, but at this point it’s not worth the frustration. I hope these issues get solved & I can finish my book. ## Frequently asked questions about The Palace Project ### What is The Palace Project app? The Palace Project is a free e-reader and audiobook app that allows users to discover, borrow, and read or listen to books from their local library's digital collection. It provides convenient access to a wide range of titles, including children's books, classics, and foreign language books. ### How do I use The Palace Project app? To use the app, you typically need a library card from a participating library to access its full collection. Once signed up, you can browse, check out, and read or listen to books directly within the app. Even without a participating library, you can access a selection of free books from the Palace Bookshelf. ### Is The Palace Project app free to use? Yes, The Palace Project app is completely free to download and use. It is a non-profit initiative built and maintained by Lyrasis in partnership with the Digital Public Library of America, funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. There are no in-app purchases or advertisements. ### What kind of books can I find on The Palace Project? The app offers access to a diverse range of books from your local library, including e-books and audiobooks. You can find popular fiction and non-fiction, children's literature, classics, and foreign language books. Additionally, the free Palace Bookshelf provides over 10,000 titles for immediate access. ### What devices is The Palace Project app compatible with? The provided description does not specify exact device compatibility. However, as a mobile application, it is generally designed to run on smartphones and tablets that support its operating system, typically iOS and Android. Users can check their respective app stores for specific compatibility information. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 3.2.3 — 2026-08-05 - Reliability and stability improvements for audiobook playback. ### 3.2.1 — 2026-07-22 - Fixed a crash detected in the previous release. ### 3.2.0 — 2026-07-15 • Redesigned audiobook playback speed controls with a new slider and presets • Book details now show series information — tap to find other titles in the series • Redesigned account switching for patrons using multiple libraries • Faster library list loading • Accessibility improvements to search and sign-in ### 3.1.0 — 2026-06-02 - Apple CarPlay support: listen to your borrowed audiobooks right from your car's display, with standard play, pause, and skip controls. - Audiobook download progress is now visible for every title, so you can see at a glance when a book is ready to listen offline. - Refreshed book details: Audience and Language are now shown, and the metadata layout has been reorganized to help you decide what to borrow at a glance. - Smaller iCloud backups: downloaded books, covers, and caches are now excluded from device backup to free up your iCloud space. - More reliable downloads after network drops, plus a restored sign-out confirmation and clearer error messages. ### 3.0.3 — 2026-05-20 - Resolved an issue that prevented some audiobooks from opening and playing. ## Apps similar to The Palace Project | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Little Free Library](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/little-free-library/id1555760218) | 3.5 (166) | Free | Books | | [Boundless](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/boundless/id6449712082) | 4.4 (18,192) | Free | Books | | [PINES (Georgia)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pines-georgia/id1400443994) | 4.1 (18) | Free | Books | | [NetGalley Shelf](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/netgalley-shelf/id1499581600) | 2.1 (77) | Free | Books | | [Libro.fm Audiobooks](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/librofm-audiobooks/id1057776523) | 4.9 (37,487) | Free | Books | | [CloudLibrary](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cloudlibrary/id466446054) | 4.8 (252,880) | Free | Books | ## Related topics [the palace project](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/the-palace-project) · [palace](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/palace) · [palace books](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/palace-books) · [the vision project](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/the-vision-project) · [riverside library](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/riverside-library) · [mapleread cx](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/mapleread-cx) · [sample library](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/sample-library) · [corpus christi public library](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/corpus-christi-public-library) · [kaist library](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/kaist-library) · [lylli](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/lylli) · [biblioapp segovia](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/biblioapp-segovia) · [guernsey library](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/guernsey-library) · [riverside county library app](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/riverside-county-library-app) · [sarc resource library](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/sarc-resource-library) · [reciprocard](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/reciprocard) · [biblio-e instituto cervantes](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/biblio-e-instituto-cervantes) · [guglielmo pasa](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/guglielmo-pasa) · [ireader play](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/ireader-play) · [alameda county library](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/alameda-county-library) · [my little free library](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/my-little-free-library) --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-28.*