overdrive app no longer available everywhere?

[crane3]

I saw a notice in my local library that overdrive cannot will not be available at the end of Feb, 2022; but the installed app can still be used at the library thru the end of the year. Also that Overdrive app won't be available from Amazon, Google or Microsoft store.

The replacement is Libby. When trying to get the Overdrive app at Google, Overdrive was set to download Libby for installation. I guess this is 'important'(?) for new ereader.

Haven't seen anything about it here. So, is this happening to all public libraries? And that all Overdrive users will have to switch to Libby or Hoopla?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by crane3

I saw a notice in my local library that overdrive cannot will not be available at the end of Feb, 2022; but the installed app can still be used at the library thru the end of the year. Also that Overdrive app won't be available from Amazon, Google or Microsoft store.

The replacement is Libby. When trying to get the Overdrive app at Google, Overdrive was set to download Libby for installation. I guess this is 'important'(?) for new ereader.

Haven't seen anything about it here. So, is this happening to all public libraries? And that all Overdrive users will have to switch to Libby or Hoopla?

To clarify, this is talking just about the Overdrive app and not Overdrive itself.

The Overdrive app may or may not continue to work if you have it. There is a Windows version of the Overdrive app. There used to be a Windows version of Libby but that's been discontinued. Now there are Libby apps for iOS and Android. But for other platforms, there is a Libby website. I've not used it.

https://libbyapp.com

[JSWolf]

There is another existing thread on this topic.
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=348457

Can this thread please be merged?

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by crane3

Haven't seen anything about it here. So, is this happening to all public libraries? And that all Overdrive users will have to switch to Libby or Hoopla?

The Libby app is used to access the OverDrive service. It is replacing the old OverDrive app for everyone. The OverDrive website will continue to exist.

Hoopla is a completely different e-book lending service run by another company.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by jhowell

The Libby app is used to access the OverDrive service. It is replacing the old OverDrive app for everyone. The OverDrive website will continue to exist.

Hoopla is a completely different e-book lending service run by another company.

Hopefully I can still log in with my PocketBook or Tolino and borrow books with their web browsers. They've been pushing this Libby app pretty hard for a while now.

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Hopefully I can still log in with my PocketBook or Tolino and borrow books with their web browsers. They've been pushing this Libby app pretty hard for a while now.

I'm hoping the same

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

I'm hoping the same

Overdrive would lose customers if they dropped the website.

[monophoto]

With the encouragement of my computer-geek son, I bought a Kindle Paperwhite two years ago, and have been using it to read books that I check out from our public library using the Overdrive service. I managed that process using the browser on my desktop 'puter and the Overdrive web site. There was a learning curve, but I eventually beat it into submission.

Recently, I bought an Amazon Fire HD8 tablet - more as a toy than anything else. It came equipped with Kindle, and one of the first things that I noticed was that books sent to my Kindle reader also were accessible in the Kindle app on my tablet, and that there was a feature to keep books synchronized as I read them on the two devices. That's neat. I could use the Silk browser on the tablet to access the Overdrive website although my main access remained via my desktop.

But then I noticed an announcement that Overdrive was being deprecated in 2023, and suggesting that users should convert to Libby. So I downloaded the Libby app on my tablet, and found that there is a corresponding Libby website that I can access from my desktop. So far, most of my use has been via the Libby website (using my desktop), and my experience is that it is far less intuitive than the Overdrive website).

But to be quite frank, I find this entire matter to be somewhatly confusing. (Understand that I am 77 years old, so I may be suffering from brain atrophy. But I'm also a retired engineer who expects technical issues to be explained in detail - which is far from the case here.)

I understand the difference between app and website, and as long as I have access to a browser, I don't think single-function apps are all that important. So could someone explain clearly what is about to happen here? What is actually being deprecated - the Overdrive function, the Overdrive web site, or the Overdrive app?

If the Overdrive function will continue, and the Overdrive web site will still be available, then I would be perfectly happy to consider the Libby app to be just another example of a rather seriously flawed, non-intuitive app created by a programmer who clearly never actually uses it. In that situation, I will simply continue to use the Overdrive web site via browser on either my laptop or tablet.

However, it the plan is for the Overdrive web site to go away leaving Libby (either app or web site) as the means of access to the Overdrive function, then I suppose I will have to suck it up and struggle with Libby's eccentricities. Unhappily, I might add.

[DNSB]

The Overdrive app is what is being dropped. AFAIK, the Overdrive/library websites and Overdrive functionality are not being affected. If you are using your library Overdrive site to check out books, you are not likely be notice any changes other than the usual "improvements".

[Ned]

Originally Posted by monophoto

just another example of a rather seriously flawed, non-intuitive app created by a programmer who clearly never actually uses it. .

From Windows down, all today's stuff is designed by programmers not people trained in systems or design and with experience of the real world, and it shows.
99% of the functions are superfluous and just there because the programmer thought 'Oh wouldn't it be good if it did .....' to the neglect of the basic functions which just scrape by.

Even down to modern shopping apps - the Tesco and Marks and Spencer ones in the UK are clearly written by people who have never been inside a store.

On the topic though, my understanding is that it is the overdrive app only being dropped. Though I do see libraries moving from overdrive to libby for some reason.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by monophoto

So could someone explain clearly what is about to happen here? What is actually being deprecated - the Overdrive function, the Overdrive web site, or the Overdrive app?

The change is all about apps. It appears that the OverDrive website will not be affected, at least for now.

This blog post from OverDrive to librarians describes what is changing: Important update regarding Libby and the OverDrive app

From that post:

All users can continue to use, borrow, and open titles from your library’s OverDrive website via a browser.

[monophoto]

Originally Posted by jhowell

The change is all about apps. It appears that the OverDrive website will not be affected, at least for now.

This blog post from OverDrive to librarians describes what is changing: Important update regarding Libby and the OverDrive app

From that post:

Thanks - that's actually quite helpful!

[4691mls]

I have both the Overdrive and Libby apps ony phone. I find the Overdrive app better for browsing the library and the Libby app better for reading (not that I do a lot of reading ony phone, as I much prefer eink if I'm going to read for more than a few minutes at a time.)

In the other thread linked above it was pointed out that history won't transfer from Overdrive to Libby. (I believe Libby does keep track of books borrowed with Libby, but older history from Overdrive doesn't transfer.) So I'm glad to hear that Overdrive will still be available on the computer at least, so I can check if I've read a book before.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by Ned

As a trained systems developer from the 1970s, that phrase cried out to me!
From Windows down, all today's stuff is designed by programmers not people trained in systems or design and with experience of the real world, and it shows.
99% of the functions are superfluous and just there because the programmer thought 'Oh wouldn't it be good if it did .....' to the neglect of the basic functions which just scrape by.

Even down to modern shopping apps - the Tesco and Marks and Spencer ones in the UK are clearly written by people who have never been inside a store.

On the topic though, my understanding is that it is the overdrive app only being dropped. Though I do see libraries moving from overdrive to libby for some reason.

I have always said that anyone who develops programs for use in the real world should be required to use them for at least 6 months.
Apache

[Paperbackstash]

I'm happy the Overdrive website will be available for now. I like Libby for checking between multiple libraries with my hold and loans shelf but the browsing and organization for exploring each library is subpar, at least for me.