NIU vs Harper Hub
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NIU
Access essential campus information, including event schedules, tech support, and residence hall updates. Find emergency contacts, navigate with campus maps, and connect through social media.
- Campus resource links
- Event calendars
- Tech guides
- Laundry machine status
- Emergency information
- Campus maps
- Social media integration
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The NIU Mobile app provides links to everything from campus resources, event calendars, tech guides and residence hall laundry machine status updates to emergency information, campus maps, social media and more.
Harper Hub
Manage your academic life and campus experience with this app. Stay organized with a calendar, to-do lists, and event reminders. Access campus resources and receive important notifications.
- Calendar with events, classes, and assignments
- Push notifications for deadlines and announcements
- Access to academic tools
- Class management and to-do lists
- Campus event discovery and reminders
- Information on campus services
- Campus map with navigation
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Harper Hub is your place to connect, engage and navigate Harper College. Connect with clubs, organizations, events and departments on campus. Explore opportunities on campus and ways to make your student experience shine. Navigate campus with campus maps right at your fingertips.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Harper Hub at 4.7 against NIU's 2.9. Harper Hub also leads on update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 5 months) and ratings volume (264 vs 13). NIU's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.4). On price, review sentiment, 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.
Harper Hub holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Harper Hub has 264 ratings behind it against 13, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of NIU's written reviews are positive against 76% of Harper Hub's.
NIU ships an update every 5 months, Harper Hub every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | NIU | Harper Hub |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.9 (13 ratings) | 4.7 (264 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 71.1% of reviews | 76.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 13 | 264 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 13 MB | 76 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Northern Illinois University | Harper College |
Customer experience
NIU
Harper Hub
Bugs and requests
NIU
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Harper Hub
Reported bugs
14 issues- Unable to reply to posts on iPhone app
- Cannot see assignments on iPhone app
- No due dates available to put in calendar
- Homework assignments not linked to the app
- Announcements lag
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- Directory feeds to a 404
- Other features barely work
- App is unpolished and needs more testing
- Latest update v3.2.2 is worthless
- Icons unorganized and text garbled after update
- Needs iOS 7 compatibility
- No "remember me" button
- Login screen freezes (implied by frequent re-login)
- Notifications received but message not visible in app
Requested features
4 requests- Simplify the app slightly
- Integrate Harper email
- Add a "remember me" button
- Have college email on the app
In-app purchases
NIU
No in-app purchases
Harper Hub
No in-app purchases
