uLIBRARY vs Emerald Books
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
uLIBRARY
Access your library's digital collection of eAudiobooks and eBooks on your smartphone or tablet. Browse, borrow, and enjoy content for free with your library membership. Features include personalized recommendations, offline listening and reading, and customizable reading and listening experiences.
- Browse and borrow digital library content
- Search by genre and in-depth options
- eAudio and eBook previews
- Personalized recommendations
- Offline listening and reading
- Adjustable font sizes and colors
- Automatic synchronization and bookmarking
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With uLIBRARY you can take your library’s digital collection anywhere – browse, borrow and enjoy the best in eAudiobooks and eBook on your smartphone or tablet. Sign in securely with your library membership to access your library’s full collection of uLIBRARY’s digital content for free – it’s really that simple. Discover your new favourite story - Search for your favourite genre with ease with intuitive genre sliders and in-depth search options. - Try out the title before downloading with eAudio and eBook previews available. - Find recommended reads through our world first integrated book clubs, Talking Books and Bookworms as well as a ‘Next Read’ feature that populates based on the books you’ve previously enjoyed. - Effortlessly renew and return the titles to continue your uLIBRARY journey on your own terms. - Easily locate your previously downloaded titles to enjoy them all over again. Listen Your Own Way - With automatic synchronisation and bookmarking you’ll never lose your place, even if you change devices. - Slow down or speed up the audio as required with a wide-ranging speed function (0.25 to 3.0x) - Reach the conclusion at your own pace with a 30 second skip function or simply select the final chapter with our easy-to-use track selection. - With our integrated sleep function, every audiobook can become a bedtime story – no matter your age. - Listen anywhere, regardless of connectivity with offline listening. Read Your Own Way - Our built in eReader is the most accessible yet with adjustable font sizes, faces (including OpenDyslexic) as well as text and background colour so that everyone can explore the joy of reading. - No need to carry lots of books in your bag, with offline reading available. - Add bookmarks to revisit your favourite sections. Please note that your library’s uLIBRARY collection is curated by your library and not the uLIBRARY digital team.
Emerald Books
Access your purchased ebooks and audiobooks securely and conveniently. Enjoy features like bookmarking, customizable reading settings, and background playback for audio content. Download your library for offline enjoyment.
- Secure access to purchased ebooks
- Offline reading and listening
- Customizable reading experience
- Audiobook playback with sleep timer
- Cross-device bookmarking
- Full text search
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Welcome to the Emerald Books app, powered by Glassboxx, offering you quick and secure access to your ebook purchases made at https://www.bookstore.emerald.com/. Immerse yourself in your favourite subjects and start exploring our content. No password required, simply use the social sign on with Apple or Google, or log in with the email address you used to buy the book on the Emerald Bookstore website and enter the verification code sent to your email. Your purchased content can be found in the “My Books” area of the app. An internet connection is required to download the content. Once content has been downloaded, you can access and enjoy it offline. EBOOK READER • Bookmarking opens the book across multiple devices • Font-size and font face changes, as well as dyslexic-friendly font • Background colour changes • Full text search • Highlighting • Annotations AUDIOBOOK PLAYER • Auto-saves your current position in the book so you can pick up right where you left off, even if listening on multiple devices • Skips forward and backward • Sleep timer • Plays on lock-screen, enabling easy access to playback controls • Plays in the background while you browse other apps • Plays immediately and downloads in the background (if internet access is available) • Integrate with Apple Car Play • Connect to Airplay devices
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: uLIBRARY at 5.0 against Emerald Books's 1.0. uLIBRARY also leads on review sentiment (16% vs 0%). Emerald Books'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.
uLIBRARY holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 5 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 16% of uLIBRARY's written reviews are positive against 0% of Emerald Books's.
uLIBRARY ships an update every 2 months, Emerald Books fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | uLIBRARY | Emerald Books |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | 1.0 (5 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 16.5% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 5 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 53 MB | 34 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ulverscroft Group Ltd | Glassboxx Limited |
Customer experience
uLIBRARY
Emerald Books
In-app purchases
uLIBRARY
No in-app purchases
Emerald Books
No in-app purchases









