Libby Gets Better

Earlier this year, I posted about Overdrive's purchase of the library unit of RBdigital. This meant that the excellent RBdigital app that I used to borrow and read online magazines was replaced by Overdrive's Libby app. I found the Libby app vastly inferior and stopped using it, restricting most of my magazine reading to PressReader. I also contacted Overdrive's support about some specific issues I was having with their app.

I'm happy to report that the Libby app has been updated and some of my complaints have been addressed. 

I generally prefer to read magazines using text view with a black background and light text, since I find staring at a mostly white screen uncomfortable. They've added a navigation toolbar to the text mode screen, making it possible to move from article to article without having to go back to the PDF view. I would still like to be able to customize the text colour and brightness. 

They've also added an option to transfer your settings between different devices, and the app now syncs things like what's on your shelf and your position in magazines that you've read. This is a major improvement. 

When browsing through magazines, there is a summary screen for each issue that summarizes the contents in a little more detail than what you can glean from the cover image. 

There is now a Settings menu, which you can use to manage your notification settings and a few other aspects of the program. I don't remember what controls were there before, so I can't comment how much of this is new, but the notification options are extensive. For example, you can set up notifications to tell you when a new issue of a magazine has arrived or when your loan is about to expire, as well as setting the type of notification. 

My overall impression of the Libby app is now more positive, and I will be using it more. It's still a bit tricky to navigate in places, but that's probably more due to my lack of use rather than the design of the app itself. 

I should note that you can use the app to download ebooks and audiobooks, although I only use it for magazines.