OPL Mobile vs VPL Mobile
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
OPL Mobile
Manage your library account on the go. Search for titles, check availability, place holds, and download digital content. Access branch information and keep track of your reading interests.
- Search library collection with filters
- View title details and community reviews
- Check item availability and location
- Place holds and download digital media
- Manage account (renewals, due dates)
- Track reading interests and ratings
- Browse bestsellers and new releases
- Find branch hours and directions
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Keep a library in your pocket! OPL Mobile makes it easy to find and discover titles, manage your account, and get the branch and availability information you need. Features: • quickly search the collection, with filters to zero-in on the kinds of titles you’re looking for • get the details on any title, anytime and anywhere, including descriptions, community reviews and commentary • check a title’s availability – even map the locations where your title is available now • place holds and download digital books, audiobooks, and even movies • manage your account: check to see if your holds are ready, renew titles, suspend holds, or instantly see the date your next title is due • keep track of your interests: rate a title yourself with one touch or add a title to your ‘For Later’ list • browse bestsellers, new titles, and recent reviews • check branch hours or get directions to the nearest branch of the Ottawa Public Library. Gardez toute une bibliothèque dans votre poche! BPO Mobile vous permet de facilement trouver et découvrir des titres, gérer votre compte et obtenir les renseignements sur les succursales et la disponibilité dont vous avez besoin. Caractéristiques : • effectuez une recherche rapide de la collection, avec filtres vous permettant de repérer les genres de titres que vous cherchez • obtenez des détails au sujet de n’importe quel titre, en tout temps et à partir de n’importe où, y compris des descriptions, des comptes rendus et des commentaires de la communauté • vérifiez la disponibilité d’un titre – et consultez même une carte qui vous illustre où il se trouve à l’heure actuelle • réservez et téléchargez des livres numériques, des livres audionumériques, et même des films • gérez votre compte : vérifiez si vos demandes sont prêtes, renouvelez des titres, mettez des demandes en attente ou vérifiez instantanément la date à laquelle votre prochain titre arrive à échéance • faites un suivi de vos intérêts : évaluez un titre vous-même à l’aide d’une seule touche ou ajoutez un titre à votre liste « Mettre de côté » • furetez les succès d’édition, les nouveaux titres et les plus récents comptes rendus • consultez les heures d’ouverture des succursales ou obtenez les directions pour vous rendre à la succursale de la Bibliothèque publique d’Ottawa la plus près de chez vous.
VPL Mobile
Access your Vancouver Public Library account on the go. Borrow ebooks and audiobooks, manage holds, and discover new titles with staff recommendations. Your library card is now digital.
- Borrow ebooks and audiobooks
- Manage holds
- Digital library barcode
- Search library catalog
- Save titles for later
- Check hours and locations
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Use Vancouver Public Library app to discover new titles, borrow ebooks and audiobooks, place and manage holds, check your account, browse staff recommendations and more. Features: - Search the library catalogue - Display your library barcode on your phone - Check library hours and locations - Scan ISBN barcodes - Save titles for later
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: VPL Mobile at 3.9 against OPL Mobile's 2.6. VPL Mobile also leads on review sentiment (47% vs 26%). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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.
VPL Mobile holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 2.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 85 and 32 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 26% of OPL Mobile's written reviews are positive against 47% of VPL Mobile's.
OPL Mobile ships an update every 3 months, VPL Mobile every 4 months. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.
| Parameter | OPL Mobile | VPL Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.6 (85 ratings) | 3.9 (32 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 25.9% of reviews | 47.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 85 — better | 32 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 22 MB | 22 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ottawa Public Library | Vancouver Public Library Board |
Customer experience
OPL Mobile
VPL Mobile
User reviews
OPL Mobile
From 85 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Works fine now
- 👍 Pretty useful
- 👍 Easy audiobook listening
- 👍 Great new design
- 👍 Dashboard is quick and useful
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes a lot
- 🐛 Constantly running into errors
- 🐛 Logs users out repeatedly
- 🐛 New update makes app painful
- 🐛 Barcode scanning doesn't work
VPL Mobile
From 32 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use interface
- 🚀 Seamless progress remembering (reader)
- 💡 Barcode scanning for books
- 👍 Intuitive and functional
- 🚀 Quick account access
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy after iOS updates
- 🐛 Constantly needs re-login
- 🐛 Slow to open and navigate
- 🐛 Incredibly slow performance
- 🐛 Old and neglected UI
Bugs and requests
OPL Mobile
Reported bugs
53 issues- Latest version no longer works on iPad
- Crashes a lot
- Constantly running into errors
- Logs me out repeatedly
- New update makes app painful to use
Show 48 moreShow fewer
- Barcode scanning feature doesn't work
- Can't see books checked out
- Have to log in every time
- App doesn't connect at all
- Format changes frequently
- Re-enter password every time
- Landscape option disappeared
- Most screens do not load on iPad
- Buggy, crashy, laggy
- Search just unusable
- Very slow
- Says zero books checked out
- Not alerted to holds
- Terrible version
- Limited functionality
- No possibility to read reviews
- Full item details do not contain live links
- Not a great upgrade, slow and awful
- Can't find things
- Features from previous version don't work
- Worst app ever
- Can't load onto iPad
- Buttons are useless
- Adds book to 'for later' but only shows one
- Doesn't work properly
- Can't hold anything, confirm hold button doesn't appear
- Not user-friendly, no indication of successful hold
- Items automatically move to 'For Later' shelf
- Unstable, crashes
- Lots of glitches
- Icon is white with lines
- Library card pops up and brightens screen randomly
- Difficult to navigate, almost impossible to comprehend
- App doesn't show up on screen
- Huge image of library card where access should be
- Too cluttered and busy
- Navigation is terrible
- Filters are really bad
- Password doesn't save
- Formats available don't show up on download
- Can't scan barcode easily
- Booking system requires re-login
- Borrowed history function doesn't work
- Orientation locked to portrait
- App froze at barcode picture
- Online resources links don't work
- Barcode presented in landscape mode
- Latest update keeps asking for barcode and PIN
Requested features
23 requests- Add library card to Apple Wallet
- Larger variation of French audiobooks
- More science and non-fiction audiobooks in French
- Notifications instead of emails
- Push notifications
Show 18 moreShow fewer
- Option to turn on push notifications
- Info about book series
- Download audiobooks and ebooks directly from the app
- Streamline multiple apps
- Search with filters within the app
- Ability to read reviews on a title
- Live links for author names
- Schedule hold pick up
- Book equipment
- Fix barcode scanning orientation
- Allow barcode to rotate to portrait mode
- Better notifications
- Download digital products directly
- Make audiobook/ebook download easier
- Add 'For Later' and other virtual shelves
- Improve navigation and categories
- Add a small icon on the app icon for due items/holds
- Fix branch hours display
VPL Mobile
Reported bugs
29 issues- Buggy after updating to iOS17
- Not remembering login/session
- Error messages when loading content
- Constantly need to sign in
- App crashes a lot
Show 24 moreShow fewer
- Puts books never ordered in completed section
- Crashes when trying to access shelves
- New app very slow to open
- Old UI with bad user experience
- App crashes and does weird things
- Terrible app for accessing ebooks
- No way to search ebooks by availability
- No way to put ebooks on hold
- App sucks
- Won't accept password
- Not optimized for iPhone X
- Clunky UI
- Library card screen unreadable by library scanners
- Crashy McCrasherson version 2.0
- App opens but crashes on any interaction
- Needs to be updated and optimized
- Newest update: cannot see pictures of books
- Since the update can't open this app
- Login screen is blank since updating to iOS 7
- No longer lets me log in with iOS 7
- Cannot log in with iOS 7
- Doesn't work on iOS 7
- App just loads and loads and nothing works with iOS 7
- Search function seizes up & times out
Requested features
13 requests- Apple Wallet support
- Notifications for book readiness
- Option to turn on notifications
- Add children's accounts to parent account
- Add library card to Wallet/Passbook
Show 8 moreShow fewer
- Optimize for newer iPhone models
- Improve barcode scanning for library scanners
- Add predictive search functionality
- Show book covers
- Map of nearby libraries
- Section for upcoming VPL events
- Dark mode option
- Option to choose 12/24 hour clock
In-app purchases
OPL Mobile
No in-app purchases
VPL Mobile
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is OPL Mobile free?
Is VPL Mobile free?
Which has better reviews, OPL Mobile or VPL Mobile?
Do OPL Mobile or VPL Mobile have ads?
Which is updated more often, OPL Mobile or VPL Mobile?
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