# Bookshelf

> Education

Canonical page: [https://chrome-stats.com/d/id389359495](https://chrome-stats.com/d/id389359495)

## Overview

- **ID:** `id389359495`
- **Platform:** Apple
- **Type:** Apple app
- **Status:** Available
- **Publisher:** VitalSource Technologies, Inc.
- **Category:** Education
- **Rating:** 4.70 / 5 (79,571 ratings)
- **Version:** 11.4.1
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-30
- **First published:** 2010-09-15
- **Size:** 185 MB
- **Data as of:** 2026-09-19
- **Store listing:** [Apple App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bookshelf/id389359495)
- **Website:** [https://www.vitalsource.com/bookshelf-features](https://www.vitalsource.com/bookshelf-features)
- **Privacy policy:** [https://support.vitalsource.com/hc/en-us/articles/201646123](https://support.vitalsource.com/hc/en-us/articles/201646123)

## Description

Bookshelf offers a digital-first study experience by giving you offline access to VitalSource textbooks on your iPad or iPhone. Read and study anytime, anywhere with seamless offline support and device syncing.

Key features include customizable highlighters and notes, flashcards with text and images, Read Aloud, and personalized font, size, and background colors. Progress and work stay in sync across devices. Built with accessibility in mind and requiring a VitalSource Bookshelf account and iOS 17+.

## Rankings

- #4,467 — Overall
- #26 — education
- #26 — education

## Review summary

Bookshelf offers strong textbook access and study tools (highlights, notes, search) but suffers from reliability and accessibility issues, including a robotic read-aloud, navigation glitches, flaky markup, an aging UI, and DRM limits that hinder annotation/export.

### Pros

- Highlighting and note-taking features are useful for studying.
- The app is generally easy to use and user-friendly.
- Users value easy access to textbooks (purchase/rent options) and reasonable pricing.
- The app offers helpful study aids like search and flashcards as part of the feature set.

### Cons

- Text-to-speech voice is robotic and hard to understand.
- Navigation is frequently buggy with pages jumping or incorrect locations when following links or using menus.
- Markup/highlight functionality is slow, prone to crashes, and often loses progress.
- UI feels outdated and not intuitive across some interactions.
- DRM restrictions limit annotation/export options (no PDF view, can't export highlights).

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Source: [Chrome-Stats](https://chrome-stats.com/d/id389359495)