Populi vs Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Populi
This app connects to a college management system, allowing faculty and students to manage coursework, attendance, and communication. It offers features for grading, submitting assignments, checking grades, and accessing course materials.
- Automatic attendance via Bluetooth beacon
- Grade assignments and run discussions
- Submit assignments and take tests
- Check grades and view course bulletin boards
- Manage admissions leads
- View and pay balances, show ID card
- Search library and place holds
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For use with the Populi college management system. * Uses the same Populi login you use at your school. * Use your iPhone’s Bluetooth beacon to automatically take attendance. * Faculty can grade assignments, run discussions, take attendance, and post to course Bulletin Boards. * Students can check grades, submit assignments, take tests, contribute to discussions, and check in for attendance. * Faculty and students can join course conferences. * Add new admissions leads. * View and pay your balance, show your ID Card, view your calendars, look up school contacts, and keep up with To-Dos. * Search your Library and place holds on resources. * Browse, join and interact with groups. As a group administrator you can also manage group members and content.
Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource
Access and read Elsevier textbooks on your iOS device. Download books for offline study, search your entire library, and add notes and highlights. Sync your progress across devices for a seamless learning experience.
- Download books for offline reading
- Search entire library
- Create notes and highlights
- Sync across devices
- Pinch to zoom figures
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Use Elsevier® eBooks to download and access Elsevier 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. Elsevier eBooks 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. • Tap to open figures, view captions and pinch to zoom. • Sync your bookmarks, last page read and all of your notes and highlights between your iOS device and our desktop or web-based Elsevier eBooks apps. Requirements: • Elsevier eBooks account • Access to one or more Elsevier textbooks • iOS 17+
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource at 4.7 against Populi's 2.4. Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource also leads on ratings volume (9.4K vs 30) and update cadence (every 3 months vs every 7 months). Populi's advantage is review sentiment (28% vs 16%) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource has 9.4K ratings behind it against 30, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 28% of Populi's written reviews are positive against 16% of Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Populi ships an update every 7 months, Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Populi | Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.4 (30 ratings) | 4.7 (9.4K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 27.5% of reviews — better | 16.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 30 | 9.4K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Every 3 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 188 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Populi, Inc | Elsevier Inc. |
Customer experience
Populi
Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource
User reviews
Populi
From 30 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Works for some users
- 👍 Can see grades and assignments
- 👍 Easy to navigate for some
- 👍 Good for on-the-go access
- 👍 In-app document viewer
Room to improve
- 🐛 App is useless for many
- 🐛 UI is outdated
- 🐛 Navigation is clunky
- 🐛 Lacks location/Bluetooth features
- 🐛 No accessibility support
Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource
From 9.4K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Convenient digital access
- 📚 Helpful study tools (e.g., flashcards)
- 👍 User-friendly interface
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent login issues
- 📱 Poor mobile app experience
- 🔍 Difficult navigation and book access
- 🔊 Subpar text-to-speech quality
- 💻 Compatibility problems across devices
Bugs and requests
Populi
Reported bugs
41 issues- App stays on 'continue' page
- App is hacked
- App does not work on opening
- Assignments won't submit
- Files no longer open
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- App logs out users
- Cannot open files through the app
- Application feels stuck at v1
- App works only half the time
- App is full of bugs and crashes
- App frequently loses ability to view lessons and tests
- Error message: needs to be updated, but no update available
- App signs out every time it's opened
- Unable to access posted files
- Unable to login after iPhone update
- White screen of death after login
- App logs out constantly
- White screen of death when trying to log back in
- Cannot access lessons page
- App crashes when scrolling
- App freezes when navigating
- Cannot access lessons page on classes
- Inability to stay logged in
- Random logouts
- Developer claims issue fixed, but it's not
- App keeps logging out 3-4 times a day
- Problems with staying logged in
- Last update was 6 months ago
- Institution does not populate on login screen
- App is useless, like using a browser
- App not designed for iPads
- App uses center of screen on iPad
- Menu missing after upgrade
- Files no longer visible, 'unable to connect to Populi'
- App broke after iOS update
- App pops open and closes immediately
- New app update crashes immediately upon opening
- App doesn't communicate well with Populi server
- App doesn't offer same features as website
- App is slow
- Attendance feature is time consuming
Requested features
27 requests- Overhaul UI
- Add tabs to navigation
- Enable location and Bluetooth
- Accessibility support (font/icon size)
- Dark mode
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- Upload assignments from OneDrive/Dropbox
- Integration with online meeting apps
- Face ID unlock
- Save payment information
- Deep link push notifications
- Comment on assignments from app
- iPad version
- Print lessons
- Submit assignments
- Take tests
- Make all website features available on app
- Update app to include more website features
- Allow files to be opened in other programs
- View attendance
- View grades for all classes
- View past terms
- View degree audit
- View class dashboard
- Post/respond to class dashboard
- Save attendance default to 'present'
- Mail functionality
- Full complement of Populi features (bill paying, news feed, rosters, calendars)
Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource
Reported bugs
3 issues- Repeated sentence/paragraph playback
- Highlighted text disappearing across devices
- Inability to download or access purchased books
Requested features
5 requests- Allow handwritten notes and annotations
- Improve page-turning and scrolling functionality
- Enhance diagram and image viewing experience
- Integrate seamless cross-device synchronization
- Provide more customization options (e.g., font, layout)
In-app purchases
Populi
No in-app purchases
Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Populi free?
Is Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource free?
Which has better reviews, Populi or Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource?
Do Populi or Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource have ads?
Which is updated more often, Populi or Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource?
Other comparisons
