Artcodes vs UMLibraries Self
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Artcodes
Create visually engaging codes by drawing beautiful images. Link these designs to websites for a fun and interactive experience, offering a playful alternative to traditional QR codes. Explore unique visual interactions for products, packaging, and services.
- Visually design interactive codes
- Link images to websites
- Playful alternative to QR codes
- Enhance product and packaging interaction
- Create unique visual experiences
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Artcodes allow everyone to become a coder. By drawing visually beautiful images, you can link them to websites to showcase how interaction can become fun and beautiful. Design visually beautiful images and encode them, resulting in the same interactivity as that of the QR code but with a more visually engaging and playful experience. Images can be identical with unique codes or the opposite: visually unique with identical codes. This interplay offers a new opportunity for visual interaction within, product, packaging, service and interaction design.
UMLibraries Self
This app allows University of Manitoba library cardholders to easily check out items from any campus library. Simply scan the item you wish to borrow, and the app will automatically recognize your library location.
- Scan items to check out
- Automatic library location recognition
- Access to all University of Manitoba libraries
- Convenient mobile borrowing
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All University of Manitoba library cardholders can use the UMLibraries Self-Checkout app to check out items from any University of Manitoba library: Bannatyne campus • Neil John Maclean Health Sciences Library Fort Garry campus • Architecture/Fine Arts Library • Eckhardt-Gramatté Music Library • Education Learning Commons • E.K. Williams Law Library • Elizabeth Dafoe Library • Archives (Elizabeth Dafoe Library, 3rd floor) • Father Harold Drake Library (St. Paul's College) • Jim Peebles Science and Technology Library The app will automatically recognize the library location of the user. Users simply scan the item they would like to check out.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Artcodes at 5.0 against UMLibraries Self's 1.0. Artcodes also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). UMLibraries Self's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). On price, ratings volume, 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.
Artcodes holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.
Artcodes ships an update every 2 months, UMLibraries Self fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Artcodes | UMLibraries Self |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 1.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 24 MB | 355 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Mixed Reality Lab, University of Nottingham | Meescan Inc. |
Customer experience
Artcodes
UMLibraries Self
In-app purchases
Artcodes
No in-app purchases
UMLibraries Self
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Artcodes free?
Is UMLibraries Self free?
Which has better reviews, Artcodes or UMLibraries Self?
Do Artcodes or UMLibraries Self have ads?
Which is updated more often, Artcodes or UMLibraries Self?
Other comparisons
