CloudLibrary vs Aspen LiDA
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
CloudLibrary
Manage your library account and discover new content. Borrow physical items, access eBooks and audiobooks, and receive helpful reminders. Personalize your reading experience and stay organized with this intuitive library companion.
- Borrow physical and digital items
- Access eBooks and Audiobooks
- Manage multiple library accounts
- Receive due-date reminders
- Discover library events
- Personalize reading experience
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A must-have app for library users! Easily borrow physical items using your mobile device, receive reminders, manage receipts and discover new digital content all within the CloudLibrary app! Extremely intuitive, all it takes is a library card to login and get started! Designed for an enjoyable experience, users can benefit from many new features, depending on their library’s subscription. - Easily accessible library card, which conveniently displays when you’re near the library - Switch accounts with ease and manage multiple library cards from one mobile device - Download and enjoy free eBooks and Audiobooks - Keep track of your physical and digital library activity in one place - Receive helpful receipts, due-date reminders and packable checklists - Visible push notifications alert when hold items are available - View upcoming library events and programs - Checkout print items at your library using your mobile device - Fun and loveable customizations include Themes, Avatars and Nicknames For libraries that have a subscription to offer eBooks and Audiobooks: - Customize your homepage bookshelves to display your preferred genres - Simple interface makes browsing and saving titles a breeze - Filter content by format, availability and language to display exactly what you are looking for - Mark titles as favorites or read to help with literary conversations with friends - Sync digital content across multiple devices to easily pick up where you left off - View current books, full reading history, items on hold and saved titles in one place - Sort titles by name or author to easily find what you’re looking for - Receive reading recommendations or view additional titles by author or series - Select font size, margins and background colors to create your preferred reading experience - Search eBooks for a particular phrase to get back to that one spot you wanted to reference - Bookmark pages and add notes if needed - Return titles early when you’re finished and make available for other readers Elevate your library experience today with the CloudLibrary app!
Aspen LiDA
Discover books, movies, and games from your library anywhere. Search the full catalog, including digital content, to find titles, place holds, and manage your loans.
- Search entire library catalog
- Discover books, movies, and games
- Access eContent
- Place holds on items
- Check due dates
- Renew eligible titles
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Aspen LiDA allows you to explore your library on the go to find new books, movies, games, or your old favorites! Quickly search the entire catalog, including eContent, and place holds, check due dates and renew eligible titles.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: CloudLibrary at 57% against Aspen LiDA's 9%. CloudLibrary also leads on rating (4.8 vs 1.4) and ratings volume (253K vs 230). 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.
CloudLibrary holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 1.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CloudLibrary has 253K ratings behind it against 230, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 57% of CloudLibrary's written reviews are positive against 9% of Aspen LiDA's.
CloudLibrary ships an update every 6 weeks, Aspen LiDA monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | CloudLibrary | Aspen LiDA |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (253K ratings) — better | 1.4 (230 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 56.5% of reviews — better | 9.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 253K — better | 230 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #32 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 161 MB | 56 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | OCLC | ByWater Solutions |
Customer experience
CloudLibrary
Aspen LiDA
User reviews
CloudLibrary
From 253K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Easy to use
- 🚀 Convenient access to library books
- 🚀 Wide selection of books
- 👍 Great resource during the pandemic
- 👍 Ability to read/listen on multiple devices
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 🐛 Unreliable page/progress tracking
- 🐛 Inconsistent user experience
- 🐛 Slow performance and loading times
- 🐛 Confusing navigation and interface
Aspen LiDA
From 230 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 App works fine for ordering books
- 👍 Can see other books in series (Libby feature comparison)
- 👍 App is convenient for library card access
- 👍 App allows placing and renewing holds
Room to improve
- 🐛 App frequently crashes
- 🐛 App logs users out repeatedly
- 🐛 App is slow to load
- 🐛 App freezes
- 🐛 App does not save login info
Bugs and requests
CloudLibrary
Reported bugs
5 issues- Inability to open/download books
- Losing place in books when reopening app
- Random page skipping and jumps
- Corrupted library data and lost reading history
- Frequent login issues and errors
Requested features
5 requests- Dark mode option
- Improved search and browsing functionality
- Better integration with other reading apps (e.g. Kindle)
- Progress tracking and bookmarking improvements
- Option to extend loan periods
Aspen LiDA
Reported bugs
58 issues- App kicks users out
- App doesn't renew books with holds
- App doesn't renew all books even when Renew All is pressed
- App won't open, shows spinning wheel
- App freezes
Show 53 moreShow fewer
- App constantly doesn't load things
- App boots users out and won't allow reopening
- App requires re-login every time
- App loads perpetually
- App won't open, just sits on initial page spinning
- App won't open on modern phone
- App stops working, sits on first screen with spinner
- App logs out in the middle of use
- App doesn't respond when opened
- App crashes
- App won't open at all
- App doesn't recognize number or password
- App has no way of resetting or crashes
- App has a Server Connection Error
- App doesn't load
- App is super slow to load anything
- App is hard to search by genre
- App won't let users search for their library to log in
- App continually logs out
- App won't let users type account number or anything
- App freezes when trying to type library card number
- App doesn't recognize user/new card
- App says 'select library' and nothing happens when searching
- App won't load after update
- App requires signing in every day and is not functional
- App has glitches
- App automatically checks out magazines
- App logs users out and won't let them enter location before login
- App crashes and logs users out
- App cannot search for library
- App search bar shrinks when typing, results not visible
- App is logged out every 3rd time it's opened
- App won't open, stuck at 'SELECT YOUR LIBRARY'
- App doesn't show library name when typed
- App barely works and constantly crashes
- App is slow
- App crashes often
- App doesn't load pages
- App almost never lets users place a hold
- App crashes immediately on opening
- App doesn't retain account data
- App prompts for volume title when placing holds
- App spins and never completes holds
- App crashes all the time
- App crashes after an update
- App cannot find library using location or search
- App doesn't load discover categories
- App indicates a problem after crashing, requires re-entry of library card and PIN
- App doesn't save login info in iPhone password feature
- App doesn't function properly, ebook checkouts don't appear
- App spins and spins and never loads
- App is impossible to search
- App shows 'bad request' when trying to place a hold
Requested features
7 requests- Show position in hold queue
- Allow saving login information
- Implement facial/fingerprint recognition for login
- Improve search functionality for genres/topics
- Allow managing multiple library cards
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Fix automatic magazine checkouts
- Improve discover categories loading
In-app purchases
CloudLibrary
No in-app purchases
Aspen LiDA
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is CloudLibrary free?
Is Aspen LiDA free?
Which has better reviews, CloudLibrary or Aspen LiDA?
Do CloudLibrary or Aspen LiDA have ads?
Which is updated more often, CloudLibrary or Aspen LiDA?
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