2025-01-15
Happy
I love BorrowBox. It’s so easy to use with a wide range of books available Love it no more heavy books
Updating
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#5 in Top Free Apps > Books
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#1 in Top Free Apps > Magazines & Newspapers
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#5 in Top Free iPad Apps > Books
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Description
Discover the Ultimate Library Experience – Borrow eAudiobooks, eBooks, eMagazines, and eNewspapers – All in One Place.
With BorrowBox, browsing, borrowing, reading, or listening has never been simpler. Take your library with you, wherever you go, whenever you want. If your local library offers BorrowBox, simply sign in with your membership details to unlock a world of digital reading and listening.
ALL YOUR LIBRARY FAVOURITES, ONE APP
Explore eAudiobooks, eBooks, eMagazines, and eNewspapers – all the formats your library offers, all in one place.
EVERYTHING IN ONE PLACE
Read or listen to your borrowed titles directly in the app. No extra downloads, no extra steps.
MADE FOR YOU
Enjoy curated collections and themes that make discovering your next read and listen a breeze.
BROWSE IN ANY LANGUAGE
Our Language Browsing feature makes it simple to find content in multiple languages, tailored for different audiences.
NEVER MISS A RELEASE
Subscribe to your favourite eMagazines or eNewspapers, and they’ll be borrowed and downloaded automatically as new issues arrive.
STAY IN SYNC
Your reading and listening progress seamlessly follows you across all your devices.
TAILORED TO YOU
Set a sleep timer for your eAudiobooks, add your favourites to your reading lists, and adjust playback speed to suit your listening style.
What's New in Version 6.0.9
Bug fixes, performance and other improvements
Information
Developer
Categories
Version
6.0.9
Size
118.3 MB
Game Center
No
VPP Device Licensing
Yes
Rating
Rated: 4+
Compatibility
iOS 15.0 or later
Devices
iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone SE (3rd generation), iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16Plus, iPhone 16Pro, iPhone 16ProMax, iPad (5th Generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (6th generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (6th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro, iPad Pro (Cellular), iPad Pro (9.7-inch), iPad Pro (9.7-inch) (Cellular), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro (10.5-inch), iPad Pro (10.5-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro (11-inch), iPad Pro (11-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air, iPad Air (Cellular), iPad Air 2, iPad Air 2 (Cellular), iPad Air (3rd generation), iPad Air (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini Retina, iPad mini Retina (Cellular), iPad mini 3, iPad mini 3 (Cellular), iPad mini 4, iPad mini 4 (Cellular), iPad mini (5th Generation), iPad mini (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (7th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air (4th Generation) (Wi-Fi), iPad Air (4th Generation) (Wi-Fi + Cellular), iPad (8th generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (8th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th Generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (9th Generation), iPad (9th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini (6th Generation), iPad mini (6th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air (5th generation), iPad Air (5th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (10th generation), iPad (10th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 11-inch (M2) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M2) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M2) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad MiniA17Pro, iPad MiniA17ProCellular, iPod touch (6th Generation), iPod touch (7th generation), Apple Watch Series 4
Languages
English, German, Welsh
App Store: Customer Ratings
Ratings & Reviews
4.7 of 5 (93,039 Ratings)
App Store: Customer Reviews
2025-01-14
BorrowBox Review
BorrowBox is great and they have loads of good books. The wifi is often quite good too. I just wish they had more comics.
2025-01-13
Small addition needed
Just needs a bookmark tab but good selection of titles
2025-01-12
Nice
I give it to my kids
2025-01-11
So good
Oh holy cow? So goood?
2025-01-10
The best way to unwind and relax
I love listening to mysteries & thrillers, best way to fall asleep at night
2025-01-09
I love dis app
You guys rock I love it it is so good and 5 stars and 10/10
2025-01-06
Great entertainment at my fingertips
BorrowBox works smoothly and effectively to give me great entertainment across a diverse range of literary genres, for free. I love it!
2025-01-05
Love it!
BorrowBox is an amazing app with such great variety! Sometimes I see new books in a bookstore and a short while later they are on this app. Truly amazing! I’m a slow reader and the app allows you to borrow it longer if needed. Never glitches and great on my phone and iPad
2025-01-04
Great App
This is an excellent app for reading a book anywhere. I’ve used while waiting for an appointment, on buses, planes, trains & when on oversea holidays. Also the range of choice is extensive.
2025-01-04
Lacks a bookmark
Good selection of books but lacks a critical bookmark feature to keep track of reading location.
2025-01-03
Dated!
This app is terrible. Functions fine but, visually unappealing, dated, limited features.
2025-01-03
MUST READ THIS NOW!
So, I’ve been looking for an app that is fun, educational and informative. Something that was enjoyable and you would never get bored. Introducing BorrowBox! It is the best reading app ever. All you need to do is write the name of your local library and some details and BAM! There you have it. An amazing educational app. The best app ever! It has kid books, young adult books, and adult books! It is add free, kid friendly, educational and fun and is free altogether! It’s not only that but it has audiobooks, ebooks, magazines, and so much more! It has books like Bluey and Anh Do for younger children and books like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson books for older children and all of the books , are for anyone ! The young adult books are also amazing books! Same as adult books! There are also cook books and baking books too to learn amazing new recipes! Everyone loves this app! And to top all of that, you get to borrow the book for 30 days and you can renew it anytime anywhere! You don’t even need to go to the library! Just one small app can change everything! Highly recommended and you need to try it!
2025-01-01
Love BorrowBox
Love reading and love BorrowBox. Just wish I didn’t have to wait so long for some of the books to become available.
2025-01-01
Audiobooks
It’s a great way to borrow ebooks and audiobooks.
2024-12-31
A wonderful resource
Love this platform - easy to use & free through my local library (Darebin)
2024-12-29
Diary of a wimpy kid Rodrick
I hate how it’s going
2024-12-28
Limited search options
I use two library apps. Libby offers detailed search options, whereas BorrowBox only works if one knows the title but if one is searching for an author the search function doesn’t provide any correct results. Pity, I am waiting for the designer of this app to fix this.
2024-12-24
Fabulous
Simple, easy to use and lots of great books, audio books and other resources. I use this App every week. And it’s free, yay!
2024-12-24
Excellent
Has lots of interesting books
Just the app could feature books in audio and readable
Also it could have every book you would ask for and all the series
2024-12-23
Books
Doesn’t have all the books I wood like (audio)
2024-12-23
Fail
Installed this to read books using voiceover, which this app claims to work perfectly with and it failed spectacularly. Won’t do continuous reading and after leaving app it returns to first page all over again and repeats one page over and over. Works fine with kindle books and purchased books in kindle so it’s not my settings. Also the waiting time for an available book is ridiculously long, I read a book a day and the wait is months
2024-12-20
A
Awesome site but if you could tag the books you have read you would not download again twelve later to find out you have read it
2024-12-19
Borrow Box is Great
Loads of books and wide ranging genres. I can speed up my recordings to suit myself and the sleep timer feature is a must. Borrow Box just works every time.
2024-12-18
Unavailable
Books being unavailable annoying and someone take months to be available and reserving them is basically pointless
2024-12-17
New crime novels please
No new mystery and crime books seem to have been added in the last two years. This is a popular genre so why not?
2024-12-17
BEST EBOOK APP EVER
BorrowBox is so good,It’s very fast and no adds I highly recommend it to you, have fun reading!!!!!
2024-12-17
The best app ever
This is the world’s best app it is soooooo good that I can’t sleep without the app
2024-12-15
Perfect
I absolutely love it it’s so convenient ❤️🦄⭐️
2024-12-14
All
Love it
2024-12-13
The dead tracks -Tim Weaver
Excellent Thriller
2024-12-12
Borrowing
Enjoying the books but would it be possible to flag the case when you are borrowing a book but forgotten you borrowed this book some time ago. I know there is an indication what you have borrowed but it would be great if the web site just flagged straight away that the book already was borrowed by you? Just a thought?
Thank you.
2024-12-12
Terrible search
The search is terrible. I copy a book name word to word and it shows anything but the book which I’m searching for. I thought I’m just so unlucky and all the books i am interested aren’t available in my local libraries. But apparently, it’s just the search! I downloaded Libby and all the books I was looking for are available and are always in the top of the search results.
2024-12-10
Not enjoying
I love this app but the selection is often weird. Option to borrow books in series but so often there is book 3 but no others. The Aussie content is over the top. Not enough books from UK or Scandinavia
2024-12-10
Robert Battersby
Excellent site ! Easy to navigate around. But it seems as if the good titles are reserved long into the future? Thanks Team…..
2024-12-10
Such a good app 5stars
You would actually love it
2024-12-09
Review for BB!!!
I looooovvvee borrow box! I love how u can put on a timer in case you want to sleep! It is great. I think it might be even better though if you add notifications. The app could send you a message when a new book comes out or something? That would make it incredible! Even though it is already the best!!!
2024-12-09
Borrow box
Awesome thanks for sharing this app with me!
2024-12-09
None
Not enough male authors
2024-12-09
Needs Carplay
Love this app, having CarPlay would definitely make it the best available
2024-12-07
Great
Love this
2024-12-07
Any book
Need wayyyyyyy more books like the CHERUB series and Henderson Boys
2024-12-07
Love the Audio books
I love borrow box , lots of books and absolutely free
2024-12-07
Everyone should have this
This app is the bomb I love this I don’t have the time to read so this really does help this blows my mind thanks so much for the app!!
2024-12-03
Historical fiction lover
I spent a good year listening to all the Australian historical fiction I could find. I want more
2024-11-29
Available
Can you have a tab for available audio books because no one is interested in the ones that aren’t available
2024-11-29
Love BorrowBox
My life is richer using BorrowBox
2024-11-28
More audio books
It is a great platform but please put more books on I have been using this platform for years and am finding it hard to find audio books I have not listed to
2024-11-23
BorrowBox
This has been the best thing I have come across, someone telling me a story is so good, especially when you live alone. I can go for a walk and still listen, drive the car and listen to my book. It’s an awesome app and I tell my friends about it all the time .
2024-11-22
Best way to listen to stories 🤩
I’ve been using this app for years and love every thing it does for readers/listeners. It has been such a fun experience to listen to other people talk and to read stories. So I just wanted to thank you for making such a incredible and amazing app. 🤩😁🥰
I could go on and on about how great Borrow Box is but I don’t have the time for it, so thank you, really thank you for this incredible app that we call Borrow Box.
Thank you for reading.🙂
2024-11-04
GREAT APP!!! I’M AMAZED!
THIS APP IS SOO GOOD!!! I downloaded this thinking there would be a whole load of ads and in-app purchases to make it better except it’s false advertisement and it doesn’t actually make anything different. BUT THERE IS ACTUALLY 0 ADS AND NO IN APP PURCHASES AT ALL!!! This app makes it so much easier for me. I have ADHD and autism and sometimes for some, weird reason, I don’t want to read it but I want someone else to. Like: on an audiobook! If the one I want isn’t free yet, for example: someone borrowed it already, I would get one that is ready for me and I’d listen to that! Basically the easy and shirt way to say this is: If you’re looking for an app that is actually good, and fun but also relaxing for bedtimes get this app!! It’s really good, has no ads at all, and relaxes you enough to get to sleep peacefully and have a good sleep! Go get this app now! I got it a few years ago and I STIL love it! It changed my sleep. Before I had sleepless nights that mostly always ended in me being tired and easily irritated in the morning, but now I get more, and better sleep I’m happier in the mornings! GO GET THUS APP TODAY!!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
2024-09-28
Great but could be better.
I’m a huge fan of the Libby app so I enjoy Borrow Box also. I would love if there was a bookmark option to mark your spot in an audiobook. Would make finding my place after I’ve fallen asleep much easier. Would also be great if you could add multiple library cards from different libraries without needing to log out completely and log in with the new card.
There appears to be a bug also that causes the My Loans and My Reading List on the home leg area to keep disappearing. I need to fully shut down and reopen the app to get them back.
2024-08-26
Missing titles
I think borrowbox is brilliant in many ways but what I find particularly annoying are the number of missing titles there are from series of books, quite often from the middle or even the beginning of that series, occasionally I have even found only one or two books available from a series of several: obviously someone has requested a particular book, that has been made available without consideration that it is one of many in a series. If you are going to make a book, or two, available from a series, please make them all available, otherwise you are pleasing only one person out of thousands.
2024-04-08
I use it all the time
I use it all the time, it has wonderful audiobooks and the ebooks can be edited to anyone’s liking. If you’ve only just downloaded and audiobook and not started it, then you won’t be able to listen to it without wifi because it hasn’t downloaded yet, but if you just play it for a few seconds before you leave the house, you can listen to it anywhere😍🌏. While this app doesn’t have every book I’ve wanted, it is still the best online library I’ve ever come across🥳🤩🥳
2024-04-04
Functional great app, but could be improved
This is a great app, which functions how it should - find the book, download & listen/read. Love that a previously read section has been added & they can be downloaded (I work remotely). Plus, the saving books to download next time is handy.
Some improvements that could be incorporated is rating books, requesting books, better search (related words). And although it’s not app related, more audiobook options, ebooks have better selection.
This is a fantastic idea & I am glad local government is onboard, reading is super important & subscription based platforms are so expensive for very limited reading allowance. Keep up the good work at building a better future!
2024-02-08
Absolutely free and awesome
No payments required cuz the app is connected to a local library!
So easy and enjoyable to use and always keeps me busy reading books that I can choose from. Some books I do would like to be on this app and I know that it’s a library so there is a even a chance to find anything you want. If I can’t find a lovely book, I buy it in person or on Apple Books but it is lovely to know that this app is the first app I look at for a good book!
Keep up the hard work and I hope to see some lovely things to read shortly! 🥰
2024-01-11
Accessing your library from home
For app developers: Can you please add a feature where I can give it a simple thumbs up or thumbs down, so you can remember authors/books you love/like/dislike.
It’s a great way to borrow books from your library without leaving home. Just like at a library, it’s limited and not every book is available, and you may have to wait your turn to borrow popular ones. If it doesn’t suit your needs there are other apps available where you can purchase them, just like going to a book shop. I love it especially as I commute. For app developers: Would really like the app to have a feature where I can give it a simple thumbs up or thumbs down, even if it’s just for user personal record and not published.
2023-12-30
Great app
Having used this app from it beginnings and having a hate relationship with it - I now use it with its sister library app Libby. Between the two apps I have found 99% of my reading This app has evolved from less than 1 star to a 5 star app and the developers have been successful in capturing a large following.
Still love this reading App, if i could just ask for one thing could/would you make it possible for to enlarge the font size in the actual app or allow for the two finger stretch; this would make my life choosing books easier.. Thank you for your continuing improvements.
2023-11-28
I LOVE BorrowBox
Being able to read ebooks and listen Audiobooks from my local library is phenomenal. I literally listen to audiobooks on BorrowBox every single day. It starts my morning, does errands and shopping with me, comes on car trips and is the last thing I listen to in bed at night. When the app glitched and stopped working after an update, I was shattered, but the developers were onto it straight away and it was all up and running the same day.
I recommend this app to my colleagues, friends and family all the time.
2023-10-18
Ok, but some Frustrations
Generally the app is ok but has a number of frustrations.
A bug will appear and might be subsequently fixed in a later release, only to reappear in another later version.
A recent version changed the settings so that opening a new book resets to default view. On the iPad this is two columns with a minuscule font. I have to enlarge the font every time. Previous versions kept the larger font selection between books and just sometimes needed a tweak if a particular book used a different font.
Could do with better search features. Eg for genres etc . Scrolling through the huge list is really tedious, especially for letters late in the alphabet. But the search is better than Libby, which has none.
A filter for only available titles would be helpful on all the book lists screens. There seems to be a current bug where some books don’t show as on loan until you tap into the details. Frustrating when you just want a new book to read now.
I don’t know whether BorrowBox or the host library chooses the books, but there are nearly alway holes in series. Often book 1 will be missing or there’ll be books 1 and 3. It is unusual to find a complete series.
2023-10-17
Life saver!
I just had to express my utmost gratitude for your incredible audiobook application. It's not just an app; it's a true life saver! The seamless interface, extensive library, and flawless playback have truly transformed my daily commute and mundane chores into immersive experiences filled with knowledge and entertainment. The diverse range of genres and the quality of narration are unparalleled, ensuring that every story comes to life in the most captivating manner possible. Thank you for creating this exceptional platform that has not only expanded my literary horizons but has also added a new dimension of joy and learning to my everyday life. Kudos to your team for their exceptional work in making reading and listening an absolute pleasure!
2023-09-18
Ahn do super
On the first day of school weir was going through a lot of trouble but he was so lucky because it was his first day of kindergarten so that means he is not going to get into trouble because it’s his first day of kindergarten chapter two. weir got home from school and he was egsaused by the whole day. So he went to the freezer got his ice cream sat on the couch and wached some tv while he ate some ice cream chapter three. The next morning he got dressed for school but then he was feeling sick
And
Went back to bed after a while his mum told him to get up now he went back to school and in the middle of class he speued so the teacher told his parents to get him home
2023-08-07
Great App with good selection of books
I mainly use BorrowBox to keep me entertained when I drive to & from work, and when I walk, clean, put the washing out… pretty much all the time really. I use its audiobook selection most of the time, but have found some great books in the written section too. Very straightforward app to use, great quality, good selection of books (although I do wish that once an author or series is included, that everything by them is also included, as if I find a good one, I love to be able to binge read). Fantastic resource to have available from my public library! Thank you
2023-04-26
Borrow Box is Convenient
I enjoy using Borrow Box. It’s very convenient when I’m travelling or just too busy to get to the Library. I can always find a good selection of Non-Fiction as well as Fiction books and they are easy to renew, if I am getting close to the due date. I especially enjoy the audio books but often need to rewind after falling asleep earlier than anticipated. Borrow Box won’t replace the enjoyment of visiting the library but it comes a close second. I recommend those who haven’t used it yet, to give it a try.
2023-04-22
Addicted to Borrow Box!
An absolute must to have by my side! I’ve had the App for a few years now and I’m still stunned at the range of books on offer, the amount able to be borrowed at once and the long interval allowed for borrowing. BB is suitable for all ages too. My favourite surprise is discovering authors I’ve heard of or read about . It’s amazing . I can’t get enough and drive my family and friends crazy as I continue to explore BB options, telling all who will listen how they simply must join NOW! And it’s FREE !!!Thanks million times! Denise Dewar.
2023-04-04
Great Service but could be better.
Hi, I love this app and service. My Library ID changed and they were able to transfer my history to my new ID. These guys are just too good.
I have two suggestions 1) I use the iOS app on an iPad. The controls and fonts are unnecessarily small. It makes it hard to control and read. 2) I also mainly use the app to go to sleep by and I regularly fall asleep before the timer completes. I like that the app’s control remembers where the timer cutoff. It would be good if the controls also showed the time where the app was last started. That way I know where the zone where I need to rewind within. Thanks for the great service.
2023-01-23
Amazing app! So helpful
Borrow box is the most handy library ever! You can easily choose witch book title or category you want to read. The app gives you a warning of when to return as a notification and you can also renew for a long time. The app tells you the exact date you will get your book too! You don’t just have to read here too, you can listen to any book you want too! There are no ads and no membership for no ads too! The one negative thing here is that you can’t put your audio or e book down as the app gives no glitches and keeps you super entertained! During lockdown this app has helped me so much in using my time well. I hope you get this app because it is the best! From Sahasra
2022-12-21
Good but updating needed
I have “heard” more than a hundred books on BorrowBox. It is a convenient and efficient server of e-audiobooks and I especially like the suggestions and the ability to place titles on a Reading List, from where I can line up books for reserving or borrowing. Only about 5 times have I come across technical glitches where a story finishes early or is interrupted.
There are, however a few limitations, that I thought by now should be well and truly fixed to make the app up to date. They are:
1. A title that has already been read should be flagged as such when you try to reserve it again.
2. I personally would like to be able to “heart” a well/enjoyed title or preferably give a star rating. I am not advocating nor objecting to ratings being publicly displayed, I primarily would like it for my own reference.
3. I would like the functionality of “requesting” a title that does not come up in a search, and get notified if and when the library acquires a copy. (I realise the individual library and not necessarily BorrowBox has the power to acquire books, but the functionality on BB would be handy because libraries DO take note of requests by borrowers.)
2022-12-04
Love this app But room for improvement
I’ve been using the app for several years and really really like it. I make use of audiobooks and so I have listened to many stories and being able to enjoy new authors.
I Wish there was a way for me to rate the authors and the books that I have borrowed. Couple of reasons for this 1) so I can keep track of the books that I really enjoyed and would like to listen to again. 2) so I can keep track of the books that I didn’t really like. However the app is always worked well, really like the way I can reserve books, really like the way that they have both categories and genres, really like the selection of books, and have been happy use of this app for many years.
2022-11-28
BorrowBox
I use this app daily & it has changed the way I "read" books. I enjoy listening to the audio books available. There is a really good range. I especially like listening to a book before I go to sleep at night. I have arthritic hands so holding a book is now difficult for me to do it is much easier to use my iPad. I also enjoy being able to read the books usually during the day. It is fantastic having a range of great reading material that doesn't take up much room especially when we are holidaying. I don't know how I coped without BorrowBox. It is the app use the most
2022-10-10
Better than all others
I use the BorrowBox app every day and I have compared it to Audible , Libby and several others. I find it much easier to use due to the fact that the volume control is in the app itself and doesn’t require me to fiddle around with the buttons on the side of my phone. I also find it very helpful that I can see other books by the same author and if I like the narrator I can easily search by that name too simultaneously seeing if the book is available or how long I’ll have to wait. I can also see if my library has all of the books in a series and if I’m downloading in the right sequence. The sleep control is also easy to use. In all of the above it is significantly better than it’s competitors. The only problem I have is that after reading several hundred books and as I grow older it’s very hard to remember which ones I’ve read from each author and it would be fantastic if the app had that function.
2022-07-02
Very good
I love this app! it is very useful, I use it to listen to Audiobooks at the same time as I do other stuff but in my opinion there are just not enough books to listen to plz ad some more audio books. I like the ebooks to, because you don’t have to go to the library to get the books that you like, you can just search for the ones that you like and they’ll come up and you can reserve them, and borrow them. Sometimes you have to wait a long time to get your audiobook/ebook because someone has already borrowed it
2022-04-27
Alert to a book already borrowed
I love this app. Very easy to navigate.
I mainly listen to audio books due to time and audio I can listen to anywhere.
Only thing I would like the app to be able to do is when I go to borrow a book I have had in the past it alerts me because I listen to so many. I lose track.
This is probably more about the library than the app. I would like to see all the series complete. I enjoy reading series of stories. Every so often a book in a series will be unavailable.
2022-04-22
Nice app
A couple of years ago I moved houses. In my old house I had lots of books. I couldn't bring any of them and in my new house I had nothing to read. I got some books on my birthday and Christmas but I finished those really quick. Then I found BorrowBox. BorrowBox is a great app for people who love reading books, there are many books to choose from and although there were a couple of problems I would highly recommend it to an avid reader. Here are the lists of the problems I found:
Firstly, while there are multiple old books to read there aren’t many new ones. BorrowBox should definitely have some of the latest book releases.
Secondly, BorrowBox doesn’t send any notifications when a reserved book is available. Sometimes when a reserved book was available earlier than the date I would wait till the date comes and the book would expire and I wouldn’t even know that I had the book.
Thirdly, when I couldn’t finish my book I would exit BorrowBox and the next day when I came back I would have to find my page again. BorrowBox should have a bookmark option so people don’t lose their pages.
BorrowBox is a really great app for readers even though there are a couple of problems and I would highly recommend it to someone who likes reading books.
2022-04-16
Bit basic but works well!
I love being able to put Audiobooks on in the car and entertain the kids (and myself!) for hours for free!
Only issue is that it can be difficult to search for books on the app. Why isn’t there an author search function, some authors are not linked to all their books.
Not sure that it’s an app-specific thing or to do with our library, but heaps of series are missing books. There are often long wait times for kids books too (we reserved one in March but it won’t be available until Sept) using up valuable loan spots.
2022-02-20
Long term user
I have been using Borrow Box now for over 9 years and have listened to hundreds and hundreds of books. I travel a lot and this is a great companion while on the road and away from home. I have it on multiple devices and pick up where I left of on what ever device I am using. I would recommend this to everyone. Whenever you have spare time listen to a chapter or two, either at normal speed or you can slow or speed up the narrative. Or you can set up a time to turn off after a chapter or time limit especially if your are listening in bed. Solid five stars Borrow Box. Thank you.
2022-01-07
Makes borrowing audiobooks easy
This is one of a few apps I like for listening to audiobooks. While it’s a useful app I don’t understand why it’s the only audiobook app that doesn’t have what I consider a basic functionality- the 30secs rewind/forward buttons on the lock screen. Not having these buttons when my phone is in lock mode means having to log in every time I need to rewind 30 secs. It’s cumbersome! All my other audiobook apps has this feature. I think it’s a necessity and don’t understand how a popular app can be missing this essential feature! Hence 3 stars.
Update: I notice that the 30 secs rewind/forward is now on the Lock Screen, so thank you for listening. However when I use the forward or back buttons in the car (or my Bluetooth earphones), instead of rewind/forward 30 secs it jumps to the beginning or end of a chapter. Frustrating trying to find the place again. Other audiobook apps and podcast apps I use recognize the car / Bluetooth earphones rewind/forward as the 30secs back/forward. Please change this!
2021-11-27
Portable library
I have loved using Borrow Box over a number of years. I appreciate being able to adjust the font size, theme, etc. to suit myself - my favourite is Night theme, it saves battery power and is great when reading in bed. If I want a book that is not currently accessible from my library, I have emailed them a request and it has been there within a week.
In these Covid aware days, it also avoids germ transmission by touch and this version of the library is never closed. I like the Reading List feature where I can add the next volume in my current trilogy. Also I appreciate being able to continue reading from my book marked spot on other devices. It is great to have the option of so many e-books or audio books and all free!
2021-11-24
BorrowBox bugs
I have been a long (very long) time user of BorrowBox and absolutely love it.
Unfortunately, recent versions of BorrowBox have been buggy with the program not reopening books at the page where I left off, occasionally changing my settings (eg opening with really small text which my poor old eyes cannot read), or not allowing me to open the bookmark tab at the bottom of the page … to find my bookmarked place (because the book didn’t open up where I left it!)
Despite these 1st world problems I thoroughly enjoy the broad selection of books available on BorrowBox, their ease of access and the ability to always travel with a good read (or audiobook to listen too).
2021-09-26
Pretty good, two problems
This is a great app I use it everyday, in the car whilst driving, cleaning my room, and even just getting to sleep using the sleep function. The only reason I rated this four stars was because there is one thing that I would like to change, the having to reserve books. I think, because it is online, we shouldn’t have the idea of waiting a month until you can get a book although it does create the idea of being an a library so I don’t really know we’re to go. But it would be good to file down the reserve time that you have to wait until you can actually borrow it.
The second problem is that the previews are too short if you are reading a book with lots of really short chapters then you will have a short preview I think that previews should go for about 25mins
2021-09-15
Easiest way to read any book of your choice
Easy and free!
All you need is library membership to borrow (immediately if available, or on a short waitlist) any book of your choice. It’s an intuitive process to borrow and read - really easy to know what to do to customise your setup and read in comfort.
There are few titles unavailable and even then, so many substitutes that you cannot be disappointed for long. And did I mention they have audio books? And magazines? And children’s books? And YA literature? Something for everyone at no cost whatsoever. 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
2021-08-25
Excellent app - never fails
I have enjoyed this app. My local LibraRay here in Western Australia has loads of Australian and foreign titles in ebook or audio format inside the borrowbox app and it’s easy to browse, borrow and read/listen. I enjoy the selection of Aussie books they have especially as the Libby library app doesn’t have them.
I wish there was a feature whereby you could exclude books already read or ticked off for other reasons could e excluded from the search though when I’m browsing stuff to read. Otherwise it’s an excellent app
2021-08-14
Remedial at best
The search function returns results unrelated to the search and if correct items are returned they're often down the list. There's also no Advanced Search and you can't filter the returned results.
It's only possible to be logged into one library at a time even in places where membership in many libraries is encouraged. Changing from one library to another is annoying because BorrowBox doesn't keep a list of libraries you've logged into before so every time it's like logging in for the first time. Unnecessarily convoluted and time wasting.
It is also not possible to sort the lists of books - via Categories, Genres, etc. - nor filter them. There's no grid view, just a long list with tiny thumbnails and a lot of white space which could be better used showing the description or displaying buttons to borrow, save and so on.
I've tried several times to communicate with Bolinda about these items but no response at all. Even when I had a technical issue I got not response. It is possible to download and read/listen to material so I won't give it 1 star. Nevertheless, for the amount of market share they have, they should be doing better and making an app that's more than just basic.
2021-05-31
Problems lately
I’ve been using BorrowBox for a few years and it was great, but lately I’ve had problems with it refreshing while I’m reading a book, it forgets what page I’m up to and either takes me back to the first page or some other previous page. It also changes my font size settings (I prefer large text but it resets it to default small text) and changes the theme to the default white background when I had set it to Night. It’s really annoying me and I’m thinking of switching to another app.
Also when I’m Night mode, you can’t see what you’re typing in the search box, it’s invisible.
Another bit of feedback: when listening to an audiobook it would be great to be able to rewind in 15 seconds increments instead of 30 seconds which is too much.
2021-02-05
All the illustrated children’s books
This review is for BorrowBox on iPhone iOS 14. Other devices may give a different experience. You can’t enlarge the images, which is especially annoying if there is text on them e.g. naps and diagrams. Images are very frequently distorted, fragmented or almost entirely missing. In one book the Page numbers have suddenly jumped back about 20 pages. On at least one occasion pages seemed to be out of order or missing.
I am greatly enjoying the convenience of having so many books available, instantly, to feed my children’s voracious appetite but the platform could be a lot better.
2021-02-03
Great reading app !! My fave
I absolutely love BorrowBox. It has many books for all different age groups with all different genres, I actually have never found a better online library! If you are reading this and wondering wether to get it or not, my answer is yes, because you won’t find a better app.
My only suggestions are if you could list some reviews of the book you are interested in and write some as well, so it makes it easier to borrow books so you could get a glimpse of what others thought of the book and another suggestion is maybe you could create like an online book club, so everyone can talk and chat about the books they read and give others some new ones to read.
Thank you for a great app, hope you consider my suggestions and maybe make them happen in the new update :) !!
2020-11-23
Love it but need more titles.
I absolutely love listening to audiobooks from BorrowBox. As I don’t get time to sit and read, BorrowBox is a fantastic app.
However, I do wish there were more titles to select from. If you’re an avid listener like me, you tend to chew through the titles pretty quickly.
I also wish they had the chronological order of series available. It can be a bit frustrating when the first book available in a series is number 23.
Other than those gripes, I love the app and use it everyday. The sound quality is fantastic and I never have any issues downloading selected titles. Highly recommend.
2020-07-14
Love it!
I have been listening to audiobooks for some years now and BorrowBox is the pick of the bunch! My only problem is that I like a particular type of crime, namely psychological thrillers, and have pretty much exhausted the list. Time for a few new ones please!
This is the most user-friendly app I have for audio books! I just love it!
One suggestion (for me at least!). I am now returning to books I read a few years ago. Is there any way of indicating to me which ones I’ve already read when I look a second time? I know it shows which books I’ve already read, but my list is very long, and going through them to ascertain if they’ve already been read, it a bit tedious. Maybe they could be shown in a different colour? As you can see, I’m getting a bit desperate!
Despite this, I love the app and I’m so glad that our library has access to it for me to use!
I’ve been reading other reviews and notice that you don’t appear to respond to any perfectly valid and reasonable suggestions. This implies a lack of consideration for your reviewers. Maybe an answer here or there would show that you hear us?
2020-03-24
A lifesaver in the time of COVID-19
Almost five years ago I sold up and moved into a retirement village. One thing I had to let go of was my collection of about 1000 books, with a few exceptions. Despite having worked for a book publisher in various capacities for 37 years, I was never sold on books-as-possessions, and was quite happy to continue my love affair with reading by borrowing from the local library. I read reviews, and from them I have built up a to-read list which makes it unnecessary for me to browse library shelves, rather visiting the library knowing which books on my list are available, and going straight to where they should be. Now in the days where COVID-19 makes it desirable to minimize physical contact, I put my reading list and the library catalogue up together on my screen, choose my next book from ebooks available on BorrowBox, a download it to my IPad. The only 2 disadvantages to this are that every book on my list is not available on BorrowBox, and I am in trouble when my iPad runs out of battery.
2019-11-24
Love the app....but just a suggestion
Addition 24th November 2019
Just went to update my app, and saw that the update included a Wishlist as per previous suggestion from myself and others.
Thank you so much. Have already gone and added some titles to mine. Will make things so much easier as I finish a book to go to the Wishlist for next options.
Marcia
Hi there
BorrowBox is perhaps my favourite app, and it’s pretty clear that over the last year especially, it has become a favourite for lots of others as well.
Being an avid reader of thrillers and psychological, there always seems to be new things added, but because of only being able to have 4 books on the go (either reading or reserved), and with such long wait lists for these books, I often end up with my 4 books taken up as reserves, and as one comes available and I read, I go and reserve another. Very rarely is one of these books available straight away.
If I could make any suggestion at all that would improve my experience with BorrowBox, it would be great to have a feature that you could create a list of books you want to borrow “at some stage”, so that when you can finally go and Reserve/borrow another, that list is there for you to see and choose from, rather than me keeping a list of those books on paper or electronic notebook. I think this could be achieved by having options of Borrow/Reserve/Save as an example.
Thank you for your time and such a great app.
Marcia Carter
2019-10-07
Who’s steering the ship?
Good app that has been a constant companion for audio books and e-books. Thank you for making this digital library service available. Seems to be becoming very popular and has as a great swathe of committed fans who have offered great feedback and ideas for iterative improvements. Scanning through the reviews, noted many are from a year or more ago which made me wonder why often requested suggestions haven’t made it through into the ux?
Here’s another vote for
🌼 Wish list / suggestions for books to add to the library
🌼 Ability to borrow available titles whilst you have others on reserve (often now for months)
🌼 Increasing/upgrading the licenses to allow for more digital copies to be available
🌼 sleep option: set time limit for audio to fade out and remain off (rather than just a stop playing in time that prompts you to touch to reactivate which often happens by accident when sleeper rolls over)
🌼 Books from all libraries to be pooled. Noticed that titles available at one library may not be available at another.
🌼 Improved search functionality eg. search by prize / award
🌼 Allow reader ratings and or import reader ratings from another trusted service - maybe good reads?
Hoping some of these and many of others’ suggestions get actioned to help make Borrow Box brilliant. 🍒
2019-06-20
Great but would be greater if ... :)
This is a great app for book lovers to access their local library’s e-Books and Audiobooks. I was delighted when I found out my local library was on board with this App. It makes it easier for people with busy lifestyles who cannot physically borrow and return books to their library.
It would be greater if BorrowBox can enable simultaneous access to multiple libraries as now I am only allowed to log in on one of my local library accounts at one time when I ideally want to maximise my reading and be able to borrow from a few of my local libraries when one library does not have a book at I am looking to borrow.
Looking forward for this to be possible in a future update.
2019-04-19
Almost perfect but...
Love this app and it’s really user friendly however considering audiobooks are popular with drivers, it would be great if this app incorporated the feature where a book was paused when Google Maps or other map apps need to narrate directions momentarily. It’s frustrating to miss a sentence or two of the book which just keeps playing the background, albeit faded out, and needlessly dangerous to try and navigate rewinding the audio a few seconds or so just to re-listen, all whilst driving. For this reason alone I stopped listening to BorrowBox while driving and in the end much at all (switched to podcast apps like PocketCasts which DOES have this feature automatically built in). It would be a small but fantastic feature to update the BorrowBox app with. With that it’ll be perfect!
2019-02-18
Good app but could be great!
I listen to a couple of audiobooks a week so I have hundreds of titles in my previously loaned list. I’d really like to be able to check if I’ve already listened to a particular book; either being able to search through my list, or at least being able to sort them by author or alphabetically by title.
Also a wish list system to mark potential books so I can borrow them later. I don’t want more than 2 books out at once, but if I don’t borrow or reserve them I can’t mark them so I know I want them later.
A way to show only books that can be borrowed “now” would be good. Get sick of looking at long lists of books that I have to reserve.
It would be fantastic if we could rate books after we’ve read/listened to them so the app became more of a book club than just a library.
Finally you need to make it so the books always download even when wifi speeds are slow...I am often not able to download because my wifi is running slow. Can’t make NBN WIreless go any faster!
2019-01-21
Amazing and easy!
This app is incredible and so easy to use! At first it was both audiobooks and normal books, but now they only have audiobooks. Fortunately they have ANOTHER app for reading which has all their library books for you to read. Just no audiobooks. It’s called Cloud Library. Anyway, besides that I think this app is amazing! The audiobooks are extremely good quality and it’s great the fact that you can just renew the audiobooks as if it’s a normal library. Overall it’s great for lazy people and people going all over the place because you only need internet for downloading it! I REALLY RECOMMEND THIS APP!!!
2018-12-06
Difficult, faulted, slow, bad system. Don’t get. Use OverDrive
This app is ridiculous. Are you for real, or is this some joke? The limit of books you can have is 4 or something every 2 weeks, but
if you return a book (because you don’t like it or something) you would still only be able to get 3 more. If you don’t like all four of the books, and you return them all, then you have to wait 2 weeks before you can borrow another. If only that was the last problem! There is also the fact that to sign in, instead of needing to have your library card and library name, you also need a “Pin/passcode” which you actually need to ask your library IN PERSON FOR. You don’t have it attached to your account, and there’s no way to access it otherwise. And the list goes on.
2018-07-11
Hoping for extra features
I use BorrowBox almost solely for audiobooks and it’s very handy in that respect. But a few extra features could go a long way.
I’d love to see an easy way to add books to a wish list; my library has audiobooks across three different apps, so being able to add things to a wish list would make it easier to see the selection at a glance. This also works for when I want to borrow a book in the future but don’t want to place a hold/borrow it right now and use up some of my limited loans.
I’d also like to be able to toggle between two or more libraries without having to log out completely. Losing my downloads doesn’t bother me so much, but being able to browse and see which of my local libraries has a book available would be made much easier with this option.
2018-02-04
Amazing app for avid readers !
For those of us who love to read, nothing is better than finding a new source of books: a book shop which has just opened, the local library which has expanded, a new group willing to share their treasure trove.
Finding BorrowBox is like finding the biggest stash of books in the world, ready to be borrowed and read immediately !!
I love the convenience of having a library in my pocket and the ease with which I an browse the catalogue, borrow,read and return a book all with the touch of a finger.
This is my favourite app ever and is essential for all fans of reading.
2018-01-10
Ok, but a bit basic
This review relates to reading ebooks, not audiobooks.
Needs some way of highlighting words, adding notes, etc.
Also can’t copy selected text. Workaround is to select the text, then select the Search option. Text can then be copied from the search bar.
Resizing text renumbers the pages, which makes it hard to refer to them elsewhere. It displays page numbers, but doesn’t display the number of pages left in the chapter, which would be useful for telling when the real end of the book is. Ebooks often have quite a few pages of ads, etc, at the end that fool you into thinking the end is a few pages more.
Sometimes the font size resets to the default by itself. [Edit: Can change font with pinch/zoom, I suspect I did that by accident.]
Bookmarks aren’t synched across devices, which makes it hard to swap between iPad and iPhone as appropriate.
Don’t know why people here are complaining about the number of books available. That depends on what your own library has paid for, nothing to do with the app itself.