MackinVIA vs SELCO
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
MackinVIA
Access your school's digital library, including eBooks and audiobooks. This reader app provides instant access to your checked-out materials, notes, and favorites, with powerful tools for annotation and offline reading.
- Offline access to downloaded resources
- Bookmarking and note-taking
- Highlighting and search within books
- Customizable text and audio controls
- Integrated dictionary and citation tools
- Table of Contents and page view options
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Explore your school’s eBooks, audiobooks, and other digital resources with the MackinVIA Reader, an easy-to-use app that’s fully integrated with your MackinVIA Backpack. The MackinVIA Reader gives you instant access to your favorites, checkouts, and notes, and you’re always one tap away from searching your school’s MackinVIA for more titles. Features include: -Bookmarks -Note-taking -Highlighting -Search within the book -Citations -Merriam-Webster™ dictionary -Customizable text size and font -Text-to-speech -Audio controls -Table of Contents -Single or dual page view -Download resources for offline access To get started, simply enter your school’s name along with your MackinVIA Backpack username and password.
SELCO
This library catalog app allows users to search for books, place holds, and renew loans within the SELCO library consortium. Access ebooks and eaudio with your library card from a participating member library.
- Search library catalog
- Place holds on books
- Renew loans
- Access ebooks
- Access eaudio
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Companion library catalog app for the SELCO library consortium in Minnesota. Search books, place holds, renew loans, and access ebooks and eaudio. To use this app, you need a library card at a participating member library.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: MackinVIA at 3.4 against SELCO's 1.5. MackinVIA also leads on ratings volume (159 vs 4) and update cadence (every 3 months vs every 11 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
MackinVIA holds the better App Store score, 3.4 against 1.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: MackinVIA has 159 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two.
MackinVIA ships an update every 3 months, SELCO every 11 months. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | MackinVIA | SELCO |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.4 (159 ratings) — better | 1.5 (4 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 56.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 159 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 11 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 706 MB | 36 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mackin Book Company | Equinox Open Library Initiative, Inc. |
Customer experience
MackinVIA
SELCO
Bugs and requests
MackinVIA
Reported bugs
20 issues- Not logging in
- Sent back to App Store during sign-in
- App not loading
- School not appearing in sign-in options
- App immediately says user doesn't have it after getting off
Show 15 moreShow fewer
- Cannot download update from iTunes
- App gets stuck opening to a white screen
- Cannot access downloaded books on other devices
- Keeps signing out
- App crashes before sign-in window on older iPads
- Audio freezes, glitches, or bugs out
- Audio skips around and freezes
- App crashes when trying to read a book
- Cannot get into a book due to 'on another device' error
- Resource downloaded to another device error
- App crashes after latest update
- Downloaded books cannot be opened (corrupted file)
- Active session error prevents usage
- Newest update has made the app glitchy
- Login doesn't work after logging in from school
Requested features
10 requests- Add more book series
- Add graphic novels/manga
- Make books unlimited
- Add voiceover support
- Improve turning pages motion
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Improve font adjustment
- Add a section to see checked-out books
- Improve advanced search functionality
- Allow bookmarks to stay in place
- Fix issues with downloaded books on multiple devices
SELCO
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
MackinVIA
No in-app purchases
SELCO
No in-app purchases
