RedShelf vs McGraw Hill Express Library
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
RedShelf
Access and read your digital textbooks on any device. Highlight text, take notes, create flashcards, and have content read aloud. Your notes and highlights sync across all your devices.
- Access textbooks on any device
- Highlight text and take notes
- Create flashcards from content
- Define unfamiliar words
- Text-to-speech functionality
- Sync notes and highlights across devices
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The RedShelf eReader companion app provides access to read and engage with your textbooks located in your RedShelf account on the My Shelf page. Access your textbooks no matter where you go with a unified experience across mobile, tablet, and desktop devices. eReader Features: - Access textbooks on your device for seamless reading - Easily highlight text, take notes, and share with classmates - Create flashcards while reading to test your understanding of the content - Define unfamiliar words quickly and easily - Have text read aloud and select the voice and pace - Sync all of your notes and highlights to your account and across devices App Requirements: - Active RedShelf account - One or more books available in your RedShelf account
McGraw Hill Express Library
Access and read McGraw Hill textbooks on your iOS device. Download books for offline access, search your library, and create notes and highlights to enhance your studies. Sync your progress across devices.
- Download books for offline reading
- Search entire library
- Create notes and highlights
- Sync across devices
- User-friendly navigation
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Use McGraw Hill Express Library to download and access McGraw Hill textbooks on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. Read your books online or offline, search across your full library, and create notes and highlights to help you study. Features: • Download books to your iOS device for easy online or offline reading. • Simple, user-friendly navigation and a clean reading experience. • Search inside your current book or across your full library. • Select text to create notes or highlights from your mobile device. • Sync your bookmarks, last page read, and all your notes and highlights between your iOS device and our desktop or web-based McGraw Hill India Bookshelf apps. Requirements: • McGraw Hill India Bookshelf account • Access to one or more McGraw Hill textbooks • iOS 15+
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: RedShelf at 4.5 against McGraw Hill Express Library's 2.7. RedShelf also leads on ratings volume (7.1K vs 156) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 4 months). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
RedShelf holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: RedShelf has 7.1K ratings behind it against 156, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 3% and 3% positive.
RedShelf ships an update every 5 weeks, McGraw Hill Express Library every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | RedShelf | McGraw Hill Express Library |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (7.1K ratings) — better | 2.7 (156 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 3.1% of reviews — better | 3.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 7.1K — better | 156 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 26 MB | 183 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | RedShelf | McGraw-Hill |
Customer experience
RedShelf
McGraw Hill Express Library
User reviews
RedShelf
From 7.1K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Convenient to access textbooks in one place
- 🚀 Decent overall performance
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and glitches
- 💤 Slow loading and page turning
- 👎 Unreliable highlighting and note-taking features
- 🤖 Poor text-to-speech functionality
- 📵 Inability to access books offline
McGraw Hill Express Library
From 156 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Makes studying easier
- 👍 Love the audio option
Room to improve
- 🐛 App does not work
- 🐛 Won't let me login
- 🐛 Cannot access ebooks
- 🐛 Account doesn't exist
- 🐛 Incorrect password/email
Bugs and requests
RedShelf
Reported bugs
3 issues- Books not loading or showing blank screens
- Highlighting issues (selecting wrong text, unable to edit)
- Sync issues between devices and web version
Requested features
4 requests- Improve highlighting and annotation tools
- Add support for split-screen mode
- Enhance text-to-speech capabilities
- Allow offline access to downloaded books
McGraw Hill Express Library
Reported bugs
16 issues- Cannot log in
- App does not recognize school account
- App does not recognize user account
- Cannot create a new account
- Cannot access ebooks
Show 11 moreShow fewer
- Sign in button does not work
- QR code feature does not work
- No QR code on website
- App does not work on iPad
- Incorrect password or email error
- No books show up in app
- App no longer works
- Message to account not received
- Cannot create an account
- Account doesn't exist error
- Customer service hung up
Requested features
7 requests- Fix the app
- Make app work on iPad
- Allow access to ebooks
- Resolve login issues
- Provide FAQ for book access
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Ensure app has McGraw Hill logo
- Make QR code feature functional
In-app purchases
RedShelf
No in-app purchases
McGraw Hill Express Library
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is RedShelf free?
Is McGraw Hill Express Library free?
Which has better reviews, RedShelf or McGraw Hill Express Library?
Do RedShelf or McGraw Hill Express Library have ads?
Which is updated more often, RedShelf or McGraw Hill Express Library?
Other comparisons
