Bookshelf vs myLU
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+
myLU
Access personalized updates and campus news from Liberty University in one convenient location. This user-friendly app organizes content for easy access to academic, financial, and athletic information.
- Personalized updates
- Campus news
- Academics
- Financial check-in
- Student checklist
- Liberty E-mail
- Athletics updates
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Welcome to Liberty University's myLU app, a personalized, user-friendly experience on both desktop and mobile platforms. It organizes content so that you can access personalized updates and LU campus news all in one convenient location. Features include the following: - Customizable Set Navigation - Customizable Newsfeed - Application Pages - myWidgets - Academics - Financial Check-in - Financial Aid - FlamesPass - Student Checklist - Liberty E-mail - Liberty Flames Athletics - Public Safety Protocols - Push Notifications - User Profile and Settings - Search
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Bookshelf at 4.7 against myLU's 2.3. Bookshelf also leads on ratings volume (80K vs 211) and chart position (#82 vs unranked). On price, update cadence, 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.
Bookshelf holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bookshelf has 80K ratings behind it against 211, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 21% of Bookshelf's written reviews are positive against 13% of myLU's.
Bookshelf ships an update every 6 weeks, myLU every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 21, 2026.
| Parameter | Bookshelf | myLU |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (80K ratings) — better | 2.3 (211 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 21.4% of reviews — better | 13.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 80K — better | 211 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #82 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 185 MB | 16 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | VitalSource Technologies, Inc. | Liberty University |
Customer experience
Bookshelf
myLU
User reviews
Bookshelf
From 80K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 📚 Convenient access to textbooks
- 🔍 Useful search functionality
- 📚 Offline reading capability
- 🔖 Bookmark and note-taking features
- 🔊 Text-to-speech option
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy highlighting and annotation tools
- 🖋️ Lack of Apple Pencil support
- 📚 Restricted functionality compared to other e-book apps
- 🔍 Inconsistent search and navigation experience
- 🔋 High battery consumption
myLU
From 211 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy navigation (Yahweh our Breath)
- 👍 Helpful for pending tasks (Yahweh our Breath)
- 👍 Appreciated IT personnel (James Carroll Prince)
- 👍 Convenient for quick checks (Mars3942)
- 👍 Works great for some needs (CamRon3000)
Room to improve
- 🐛 Never works (DaliBear3, Bruh69ballsdeep)
- 🐛 Broken app (D0Ul0S)
- 🐛 Constantly loads/spins (DaliBear3, 18Bran, Bart's wife arb)
- 🐛 Failure to connect (MommyGall3, prettyinink0402, Zach121482)
- 🐛 Unusable after update (18Bran)
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
myLU
Reported bugs
27 issues- Cannot connect to network
- App just spins and cannot log in
- Session keeps expiring
- App doesn't work anymore
- Constantly loads and says failure to load
Show 22 moreShow fewer
- Blocks Kaltura
- Endless loop of apps going back and forth to sign in
- Third party block issue
- Constantly fail to connect to the internet
- Stuck in perpetual loading or says cannot connect
- Constantly crashes and logs out
- Microsoft Authenticator not popping up
- White screen when trying to log on
- Hardly ever access email, only shows white screen
- Blank white screen upon opening
- Unable to login with unexpected error message
- Login loop
- Redirects to webpage for basic functions
- Cannot see washers and dryers
- Cannot find anything easily
- Logs you out daily
- Takes you to webpage for dining hours
- Does not come close to LU Today's functionality
- Login issues with Microsoft Authenticator asking for QR code or code and URL
- Endless sign in loop
- Keeps going back to Microsoft login screen
- Refreshing back to sign in page
Requested features
8 requests- Bring back LU Today
- Improve app functionality beyond links
- Fix Kaltura video player issue
- Make app more mobile-friendly
- Add dining hours information
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- Add bus maps
- Improve login process
- Fix screen fit on iPhone 15 Pro Max
In-app purchases
Bookshelf
No in-app purchases
myLU
No in-app purchases
