Aspen LiDA ٤+

I wish they would fix this app so it’s actually useful. It crashes often, doesn’t load pages, and almost never lets me place a hold on a book. The only thing it’s good for is seeing what’s available at my local library. And if I want a book that’s somewhere else, I try to place a hold on the app (usually doesn’t work) or just have to actually go into my library to have them find it for me.

My library just recently started using this app so I downloaded it. I hate it. It’s nice to be able to see if a book is available at my local Library and be able to place a hold, but searching for a book or browsing different genres/topics is impossible. You have to know exactly the title of the book you are looking for. The genres available to search are extremely general Like “Fiction”, “non fiction”, and you have to scroll through all the books like looking for a Netflix movie. That’s how it’s set up. Do they not realize how many books a library has?? There is no way to search for say…Science or Ornithology. I wish Libby handled all the books. The Libby app is pretty much perfect. Dear Developers, look at the Libby app…learn it….take inspiration from it.

Is there such a monopoly on library software systems that they don’t have to put out a quality app for patrons to manage their accounts? This app is extremely slow, spits out the same factoids at every open (honestly not a dealbreaker, but I’ve read about the oldest library approximately one million times), and most recently (but for months at this point) the app has been rendered useless by its incessant request to “enable notifications”. It doesn’t matter if notifications are turned on or off, you cannot get past this screen to put anything on hold. Yes, I can go to the library’s website, which I assume is powered by the same software that runs the app. It is usable but just as clunky.