Kobo Books & Audiobooks vs Libby

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

1. [R6] Kobo Books & Audiobooks 3/5 · US Eh: I like the app but don’t like that when I want to get a book you can’t buy it in the app it takes you online and you have to sign in every single time
2. [R11] Kobo Books & Audiobooks 4/5 · US Great app but confusing payment system: The app is great! Runs nicely, dark mode, nice UI, and also has a dictionary option to look up unknown words! The only thing is the payment system. From what I can tell, a subscription only covers some books, and not all in its collection. Some ebooks and audiobooks you just have to purchase.
3. [R62] Libby 5/5 · US The gift of literature: Libby is a wonderful resource for readers. My Libby account connects me with the holdings of area libraries and library networks. I always have access to books I want to read. Sometimes I may need to wait for a particular title but usually there is always something from my reading list available at all times. I appreciate having access to the virtual library though Libby
4. [R68] Libby 5/5 · US Really cool: Books for free????? Amazing!
5. [R5] Kobo Books & Audiobooks 4/5 · US Good App!: Easy to use with good features. My one complaint is that you can't mark a book as finished without having to thumb through the entire book. I have two iPads and download and read books on each one. The books will show on both devices in my library but will not show as finished on the device that I didn't use to read.
6. [R13] Kobo Books & Audiobooks 2/5 · US Buggy and unpleasant to use: I really want to like this app. I strongly support kobo’s storefront model as opposed to their… competitor. I have a Kobo Libra that I use about half the time. However, this app is a very notable step behind its main competitor from a reliability and stability standpoint. The main issues are: highlights flash on and off and disappear entirely; search works *maybe* half
7. [R75] Libby 5/5 · US Convenient and easy: App works very well. Easy to use.
8. [R81] Libby 5/5 · US Fav app: I love listening to a book while I task. Allowing me access to free books at no cost just my library card is truly the best thing.
9. [R7] Kobo Books & Audiobooks 1/5 · US Book Doesn’t Open: Your ebook app fails to open books that have been purchased, and downloaded. I cannot justify to myself the use of something whose purported utility is gravely wanting.
10. [R25] Kobo Books & Audiobooks 2/5 · US Very buggy: If they want to compete with Kindle, they’ve got a long way to go. So many bugs…where to even start? Slow, stuttering render when opening a book. Sometimes randomly deciding to ask if I want to sync to the latest page every time I turn a page…even when I’m at the latest page. Trying to tap a link (like a footnote) near the edge or bottom of a page is an exercise in frustration, it
11. [R63] Libby 3/5 · US Sync Improvements: Love this app but the sync between devices for tags/holds/etc is not accurate in my experience.
12. [R64] Libby 2/5 · US Reload pages error: App is usually great, putting in a low star in hopes this bug gets fixed. Everyday that I go to open this app for the first time I receive an error message that the pages can’t be loaded. The only way to fix this is by resetting my phone each time. Hope this can be fixed.
13. [R55] Kobo Books & Audiobooks 1/5 · GB What am I paying for?: I’m confused as to why you have to pay a monthly fee and then pay full price on top of that for books? Why would I do that?! I’ll stick with Kindle and Audible!
14. [R105] Libby 5/5 · US A gift!: What a gift the Libby app is! I’m so happy to find out this was offered by my local library. Such great selections and the fact it’s free👀Whatttt!!! Yes, please. Used to pay $22 a month for audible. Borrowing is easy, requesting is easy just all around a great app!
15. [R39] Kobo Books & Audiobooks 1/5 · GB Absolutely horrendous customer service: I’ve been a kobo customer for YEARS. But the customer services has got worse and worse to the point it wastes time and cases distress.
16. [R45] Kobo Books & Audiobooks 1/5 · GB Dreadful: No way of interacting with suggestions to ‘educate’ the algorithm, very poor selection of books, large numbers of a series of books not available, opaque pricing structure. I was hoping for an alternative to Kindle…. Support criticism, over a week since I emailed, no response.
17. [R71] Libby 5/5 · US I love it so much: We need more copies of everything on here to expedite the waiting times but I love Libby!
18. [R107] Libby 4/5 · US Libby review: 4 stars so far enjoyed but some of the waits with books on hold take fooorever