Bookshelf vs AIU Faculty
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Bookshelf
Access and study your digital textbooks on your iPad or iPhone. This app allows for offline reading, note-taking, flashcard creation, and customizable reading settings. Sync your progress across devices for a seamless study experience.
- Offline reading
- Customizable highlighters and notes
- Flashcard creation
- Personalized reading settings
- Read Aloud feature
- Cross-device syncing
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With Bookshelf, you can enjoy a digital-first, comprehensive study experience from the convenience of your iPad or iPhone. Access all of your VitalSource textbooks and study anytime, anywhere. Bookshelf Features: • Download books to your iOS device for 100% offline reading. • Customize highlighters and add notes for a rich study experience. • Create flashcards with text and images to learn concepts faster. • Personalize font, font size, and background colors to make reading easier. • Listen to your books and learn on the go with Read Aloud. • Sync your current reading position and all your work across devices so you can easily pick up where you left off. • Built with accessibility in mind. Requirements: • VitalSource Bookshelf account • Access to one or more VitalSource textbooks • iOS 17+
AIU Faculty
This app helps university faculty connect with students and manage course content on the go. It provides tools for instant communication, tracking student progress, and organizing academic tasks. Faculty can post announcements, send messages, and access student performance data securely.
- Class notifications
- Student communication tools
- Track student progress
- Manage course content
- Calendar reminders
- Speech-to-text for discussions
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Receive class notifications and stay connected with your students with the American InterContinental University Faculty Mobile App. Mobile offers a secure, convenient way to take brief classroom interactions on the go. Anytime. Anywhere. The AIU Mobile app provides faculty facilitating online and at ground campuses an opportunity to connect with students and course content: • Instant access to students needing additional support • Tools to enhance on the go student interaction - post announcements, send email messages, and call students direct • A mobile friendly and interactive view of adaptive learning - assign adaptive learning actions, send messages, and track student lesson progress • Tools to plan course work, manage time, and add classroom workshop and Live Chat reminders to a personal calendar, along with e-reader, cloud storage, and speech-to-text functionality to respond to Discussion Board posts • A home view specially-designed for what faculty review daily – student dashboard information detailing LDA, submissions, adaptive learning progress, graded/ungraded assignments, and discussion board engagement
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Bookshelf at 4.7 against AIU Faculty's 3.6. Bookshelf also leads on ratings volume (80K vs 7) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 4 months). 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.
Bookshelf holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bookshelf has 80K ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Bookshelf ships an update every 6 weeks, AIU Faculty every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Bookshelf | AIU Faculty |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (80K ratings) — better | 3.6 (7 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 21.4% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 80K — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #110 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 185 MB | 47 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | VitalSource Technologies, Inc. | American Intercontinental University |
Customer experience
Bookshelf
AIU Faculty
Bugs and requests
Bookshelf
Reported bugs
4 issues- Frequent crashes and freezes
- Issues with page loading and scrolling
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between devices
- Unreliable text-to-speech functionality
Requested features
5 requests- Improved highlighting and annotation tools
- Apple Pencil support for note-taking
- More customization options (e.g., font, layout, night mode)
- Seamless cross-device synchronization
- Enhanced search and navigation features
AIU Faculty
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Bookshelf
No in-app purchases
AIU Faculty
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Bookshelf free?
Is AIU Faculty free?
Which has better reviews, Bookshelf or AIU Faculty?
Do Bookshelf or AIU Faculty have ads?
Which is updated more often, Bookshelf or AIU Faculty?
Other comparisons
