VPL Mobile vs Burnaby Public Library
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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
Burnaby Public Library
Manage your library account on the go. Discover new titles, track borrowed items, renew materials, and place holds. Access digital content and find branch information easily.
- Manage checked-out items
- Renew materials
- Place holds
- Search library catalog
- Browse new titles
- Access digital content
- Digital library card
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Keep a library in your pocket! BPL Mobile makes it easy to find and discover titles, manage your account, and get the branch and availability information you need. Features: - Keep track of what items you have checked out - Renew materials - Place holds - Search your library's catalog - Browse new titles - Access items from digital content providers directly through your library's app - Scan items directly to keep track of what you would like to reach - Find hours, locations and contact information - Display your digital library card when checking out at a branch
Screenshots
Verdict
VPL Mobile and Burnaby Public Library are too close to call on the numbers: across 10 compared parameters — price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
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.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.9 for VPL Mobile against 4.0 for Burnaby Public Library. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 32 and 18 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 47% of VPL Mobile's written reviews are positive against 42% of Burnaby Public Library's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | VPL Mobile | Burnaby Public Library |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (32 ratings) | 4.0 (18 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 47.4% of reviews — better | 42.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 32 — better | 18 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | 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 | Vancouver Public Library Board | Burnaby Public Library |
Customer experience
VPL Mobile
Burnaby Public Library
Bugs and requests
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
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- 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
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- 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
Burnaby Public Library
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
VPL Mobile
No in-app purchases
Burnaby Public Library
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is VPL Mobile free?
Is Burnaby Public Library free?
Which has better reviews, VPL Mobile or Burnaby Public Library?
Do VPL Mobile or Burnaby Public Library have ads?
Which is updated more often, VPL Mobile or Burnaby Public Library?
Other comparisons
