Bookshelf

Vital Source Technologies

About this app

With Bookshelf, you can enjoy a digital-first, comprehensive study experience from the convenience of your Android phone or tablet. Access all of your VitalSource textbooks and study anytime, anywhere.

Bookshelf Features:

• Download books to your Android device for 100% offline reading.
• Customize highlighters and add notes for a rich study experience.
• Create flashcards with text and images to learn concepts faster.
• Personalize font, font size, and background colors to make reading easier.
• Listen to your books and learn on the go with Read Aloud.
• Sync your current reading position and all your work across devices so you can easily pick up where you left off.
• Built with accessibility in mind.

Requirements:
• VitalSource Bookshelf account
• Access to one or more VitalSource textbooks.
• Android 5.0+

Ratings and reviews

A user interface that feels like a first attempt at a mobile app, interacts poorly with notifications and other media, freezes often, and the listening feature is in its infancy. The API for educational content with canvas only allows me to listen the books in my library if I navigate through the canvas app first, I cannot just open the app directly to listen or it refuses to open the books at all. Fantastic stuff, nothing positive to say.

The audio feautre has improved, but it is still off in pronunciation and reads off punctuation and references. Reader does play when the app is not open, but will randomly stop. The app used to have a feature where you could pause the audio without unlocking your device, but this has since disappeared. You now have to open the app to stop or start audio.

Useful to a point. Could expand its editing features on how pages can either be scrolled entirely, or be displayed page by page. Some books have the option, most don't. Other problem is the lack of clear direction in acquiring a QR code. It's not streamlined through the app, website, and software versions of Vitalsource. Each one should have the same functions and features of at least the account settings, rather than appearing to be built by different teams who did not communicate one another.

What’s new

* Refreshed design for accessing and searching content
* Updated navigation
* Added ability to Favorite books
* Miscellaneous bug fixes and accessibility improvements