DC Public Library

response required

I was super excited when I learned there was a DC public library app, Since I often borrow digital books, I thought this would be a great way to manage and renew in the future instead of always having to log onto the website. However when I logged in there was no information about any of my digital borrows or holds, instead it only had information regarding physical books. I wonder if this is a glitch though? Since the description specifically said digital was included… Also a very very slow app. I would not have mind the speed if there was actually the info I was looking for though! Guess I’m stuck with the website for now.

response required

I’ve given this app years to improve or at least for me to get used to it and it’s still terrible. The old DCPL app was awesome (easy, fast) and I used it all the time. This one is so slow requests often timeout. The app regularly crashes entirely when you try to renew a library loan. When you request a hold, there’s no indication that it’s processing (except sometimes you can see a faint white spinning wheel) and it takes so long to process like close to 2-3 minutes that you press the button again which leads to an error message. Add to that the fact that you can’t see how many holds there currently are on a book until you request it. The only thing that is useful about this app is recreating your library card barcode if you lose the card. But even then it’s so slow that even the librarians recommend taking a screenshot and saving it to favorites. Save yourself the frustration and access the DCPL through a web browser.

response required

This app is so cumbersome and painfully slow that it is almost quicker for me to just walk to the library and check the shelves myself. The only reason I give it two stars is because it's possible to renew books while I'm out of town. But, it may be the worst designed and performing app I've ever used. DC probably paid a fortune to develop this lemon.

The app works fine for what I need it to do: tell me what books are at my library, give me the call number, and place a hold. I haven’t tried to use it for digital items. It’s a little slow, but it works fine. The website is faster and has more filtering options, but when you’re on your phone and not a desktop computer, this is quite alright in lieu.

response required

Don’t bother - just use the DC library website. This app has more features than the prior DCPL app, but one major flaw - it's very slow to load each action, even over wifi. And renewing books now takes multiple steps, with load time for each step, compared to the old app that responded immediately and let you renew multiple books much quicker.