VPL Mobile vs Surrey Libraries
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
Surrey Libraries
Access your library account on the go. Search for books, eBooks, and DVDs, manage holds, renew items, and discover upcoming library programs and branch hours.
- Search for books, eBooks, DVDs
- Place and manage holds
- Renew borrowed materials
- Track reading history
- Browse bestsellers and new titles
- Find upcoming library events
- View branch hours and contact info
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Take Surrey Libraries with you wherever you go. Find items, learn about programs, manage your account, check hours at branches, and more. Features: - Search and find books, eBooks, DVDs and more - Place holds - See what you have checked out - Renew materials - Keep track of what you’ve read and would like to read - Browse bestsellers and new titles - Find upcoming events at your preferred location - View locations, branch hours and contact information
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Surrey Libraries at 4.6 against VPL Mobile's 3.9. VPL Mobile's advantage is ratings volume (32 vs 8). On price, review sentiment, 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.
Surrey Libraries holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 32 and 8 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 47% of VPL Mobile's written reviews are positive against 50% of Surrey Libraries's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | VPL Mobile | Surrey Libraries |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (32 ratings) | 4.6 (8 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 47.4% of reviews | 50.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 32 — better | 8 |
| 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 | 23 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Vancouver Public Library Board | City of Surrey |
Customer experience
VPL Mobile
Surrey Libraries
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
Surrey Libraries
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
VPL Mobile
No in-app purchases
Surrey Libraries
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is VPL Mobile free?
Is Surrey Libraries free?
Which has better reviews, VPL Mobile or Surrey Libraries?
Do VPL Mobile or Surrey Libraries have ads?
Which is updated more often, VPL Mobile or Surrey Libraries?
Other comparisons
