2022-06-12
Still hangs
Still hangs more often than not when I return to a book. After a year using it on my iPad. Have to restart it.
Still hanging a year later.
Updating
-2
#31 in Top Free Apps > Books
-2
#13 in Top Grossing Apps > Books
Re
#48 in Top Free iPad Apps > Books
+2
#6 in Top Grossing iPad Apps > Books
iPhone Screenshots
iPad Screenshots
Description
Join the millions of readers who turn to Scribd's digital library for audiobooks, ebooks, magazine articles, podcasts, sheet music selections, and research documents.
"Scribd is a massive library that's home to millions of books, audiobooks, magazines … and even sheet music." - Mashable
"Put an entire library in your pocket with a subscription to Scribd." - Entrepreneur
"Scribd is basically like having your own library in your phone. For avid readers, it’s pretty much heaven" - USA Today
Scribd's digital library includes bestselling and trending audiobooks and ebooks in every genre, including:
• True Crime
• Fiction
• Personal Growth
• Science Fiction
• Biography
• Health and Wellness
• Personal Growth
• Children
• Cookbooks
• Entertainment
• Travel
• Celebrity Narrated Memoirs
• Religion and Spirituality
• YA
• Self-Help
• Romance
• Business
• Politics
• Current Events
A Scribd subscription also includes access to:
• Sheet music selections that cover every musical genre, instrument, and difficulty level. Play the classics or explore current hits from popular artists.
• Articles from hundreds of magazines including People, Time, The Atlantic, Entrepreneur, and more.
• Access to the world's largest document library, which has more than 60 million documents including official government reports, case studies, study guides, academic dissertations, medical reports, and more.
All content read or listened to on Scribd can be synced across multiple devices, and there are special features that are included in your subscription at no additional cost, including:
FEATURES FOR THE AUDIOBOOK LISTENER
• Customize your narration speed
• Set a sleep timer
• Download audiobooks to listen offline
FEATURES FOR THE EBOOK READER
• Download ebooks to read offline
• Make notes and annotations, and add bookmarks
• Customize your font size, type, and background color
• Choose horizontal or vertical page scrolling
FEATURES FOR THE DOCUMENT / EPUB READER
• Download documents to read offline
• Save or print your documents
Our monthly subscription starts at $11.99 and automatically renews unless the subscription is canceled at least 24 hours prior to the next billing date.
• Payment will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase.
• Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase.
• Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable.
Download the free Scribd app and start listening and reading today!
Our privacy policy can be found at https://www.scribd.com/privacy
Our terms of use can be found at https://www.scribd.com/terms
What's New in Version 12.13.1
We release new updates every two weeks, which means you’ll get access to the latest bug fixes and updated features as soon as possible.
Information
Developer
Categories
Version
12.13.1
Size
184.6 MB
Game Center
No
VPP Device Licensing
Yes
Rating
Rated 12+ for the following:
Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes
Infrequent/Mild Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References
Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes
Infrequent/Mild Profanity or Crude Humour
Infrequent/Mild Sexual Content and Nudity
Infrequent/Mild Medical/Treatment Information
Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence
Compatibility
iOS 13.0 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), 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, iPod touch (6th Generation), iPod touch (7th generation), Apple Watch Series 4
Languages
English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish
App Store: Customer Ratings
Ratings & Reviews
4.5 of 5 (1,898 Ratings)
App Store: Customer Reviews
2022-05-30
Beware still taking money after cancellation
I tried this app and decided it wasn’t for me so I cancelled whilst still in the free 30 day period. Now 3 months later they decide to start changing me! I have not given permission for this and reported to my bank. It could be a great service if it was as described with lots of books on offer but it’s just a scam to take money months after you cancelled.
2022-05-18
Avoid like the plague.
In my ongoing adventure with this app once again, today, I had to uninstall then reinstall. Today however brought a new wrinkle. A pop up that said that I have reached my ‘ limit for this device ‘. I have no idea what they are talking about. I’ve yet to access ONE audiobook without having to go through the whole uninstall/reinstall process - in almost all cases whilst I was listening to just the one book. The company’s customer service department has been no help at all, even though it knows more about me then my Doctor does. They fix nothing, they ask you everything and then seemingly do/achieve nothing. If I could score these rip-off merchants negatively, I would. Avoid like the plague.
2022-04-24
Lame app
The Scribd app is beachballing and failing to access my account details, confirm that I am logged in or get a current saved list of books. It has been doing this for about 15 minutes which is a pain particularly since I just renewed my subscription with Scribd on a browser on my Mac.
2022-03-25
Good app but…
I didn’t know this existed till recently, I took the free 30 day trial and I have used it to read books I can’t read elsewhere. I would have given it more stars if it wasn’t for the fact that two of the books I’d been reading had been removed/made unavailable WHILE I was reading them— what’s that about?! it’s a shame really as I thought I’d finally found a decent place to read and subscribe too, however I won’t be keeping my subscription now, not if I’m not getting to finish the books I’m already reading before they’re being removed and I read fast, but.
2022-03-15
I could not live without this app!
Such a great app and a lot more affordable than its competitions. You get a lot more for what you pay for and there’s so much to choose from. My only issue - I WISH the playback speed had faster options (I typically like to listen on 2.5 but only goes up to 2).
Other than that, perfect :)
2022-03-05
I love scribd
Love the concept, love the price compared to other services. But I am BEGGING you, please make it so we can speed up more within the app!!!! I know I can do it through the browser, but it makes it so echo-y.
2022-02-22
Unable to sign in.
Doesn’t allow me to sign in. After several attempts just give up.
2022-02-17
Bait and switch
I signed up to this company to listen to an audiobook which they told me I could access through them, I subsequently found out it wasn’t available on my region, as a result I’m disgruntled and seek to warn others.
2022-02-04
Beware
Listening is not unlimited. They will cap your account with no warning. I’ve listened to two books this month and already they’ve limited my allegedly unlimited account to this. You’re left with the dross ie a choice of about 10 books that no ones ever heard of. On the renewal date hey presto the whole library opens up to you again. I’ve contacted support repeatedly and all you get are bland statements that don’t actually say they’re limiting you but take care not to deny it either. Avoid.
2022-01-25
Don’t bother
Stops playing audio a couple minutes into listening and will take multiple restarts of the app to work, downloading doesn’t work and will continue playing without sound so you loose your place
2022-01-18
Used to think it was good. Now copyright breaches.
I cancelled my subscription some years ago though I never doubted it was a legitimate resource. Now I find some of my own books have been uploaded as pdf in breach of copyright.
2022-01-13
Not able to cancel subscription
Be aware you are not able to cancel anytime.. I was unable to find the cancel subscription button. The help/ support page opened to my account page that told me I had no subscription however they took money from my PayPal account and so far I am unable to stop them!!!!
2022-01-06
Good but could be much better!
The app and service has been great for years but I’d love some Apple pencil functionality especially as some books on here are meant to be written in and I have no way in which to do so rendering some titles useless.
2022-01-01
Stopped Working
Permanently buffering, despite fully up to date subscriptions, pretty much useless for an entire year now.
2021-11-28
Great when it works
It keeps locking up, even on startup, often I can’t even get into the app. I have an iPhone 12 with latest iOS, so expect it to work no performance related issues. The app is a great idea, shame it rarely works. Paying for a service I can’t access :-(
2021-11-05
Avoid
Cancelled my subscription but I’m still getting charged every month
Tried to contact them and getting nowhere
2021-10-19
Good but some books are not there
It is great and all but some books don’t have the entire series and I want to add a few other books which is Roald Dahl,so can you add books other than the activity’s book?
2021-10-10
Brilliant
Not many words needed just loving Scribd
2021-09-27
Good app but technical issues
Love the app but lately it’s been frustrating to use sometimes. It stops playing, doesn’t reopen where you left it off, doesn’t start when clicking play. Not sure if it’s an issue with latest version but need to sort these bugs out please.
2021-09-07
Good and not so…
It has been very useful for me, but the app is not quite reliable. It might not open, it might allow me to do only one action then freeze…all sorts, which never experience with other apps usually. When this happens when I really need it, I ask myself “is it worth paying?”. Up to now, “yes, it is will worth” has been the answer, but I am not sure how I feel in the future if this continues….or is it my iPad’s problem?
2021-08-16
Never had so much trouble with one app
The first month was fine, until it came to the payment. I payed the subscription again and the money was taken out of my account but not able to use it. It said to update my bank details but I had payed the subscription.
I contacted Scribd and an automated email came back saying they will get back to me within 2 weeks. This is useless as then half of the months subscription would be payed for without it being used.
I logged into my old account with my Apple ID and it quite clearly said ‘Restart Membership’ so there was no active membership in that account.
This is the worst experience I have had with a company!
2021-07-27
In principle this is a great app
In principle this is a great app, one subscription for unlimited content. However the content is dated, I haven’t seen new audibles titles on the platform, I struggle to find even some of the well known names too. Subscribers are limited to read/listen to “x” amount a month. Which takes away the unlimited usp. I have had subscription on and off for the last year, honestly starting to feel like its a waste of money even at the low value of less than £10.
2021-07-22
Overcharged £20 for membership
I cancelled my membership on 13/4/2021 and received an official email from Scribd which confirmed this.
I was then charged for £9.99 on the same date in May, June and July.
I contacted Scribd to request a refund but their refund policy only applies to charges in the last 30 days so I only received £9.99 and not the £29.97 they owed me.
I am a student and this £20 difference is huge. They have essentially robbed me for a service that they confirmed by email that I had cancelled. Exploitative company.
2021-07-17
Keeps switching off
Update: you say you release improvements to the app every two weeks. So why is the below problem still an issue?
I think Scrbd is an amazing service, fantastic value for an audiobook addict. However I don’t understand why the app keeps switching itself off. This happens even if I have downloaded the book to my iPhone Xi. Very frustrating.
2021-07-01
Wont stop billing me
I’ve cancelled my membership NUMEROUS times, I’ve contacted support who said I’ve been canceled....and MONTHS later I’m still being charged.
Not okay.
2021-06-25
Fine however
I am still fine to pay for the subscription here and I am actually constantly surprised with what books are on here. I’ve read a great many books and listened to a lot of audiobooks and it’s worth the money (and I’ve managed to save a lot) as a result. I’m trying to look for an audible alternative and so far this is the best so far. I put 4 stars because I’m still happy to continue paying for the subscription, because I want Scridb to do well and I have high hopes that it’ll improve.
I’ve listed my issues:
1) I really wish that a person should be warned before a book/audiobook becomes unavailable so then you can try and squeeze that in before it goes away for a long time. It can be annoying when a person is a few pages in on something and then suddenly it’s taken away. I see Scridb responding with the whole roundabout thing based on what you’ve listened to (I think that was what it’s called) in response to legitimate critique regarding how many audiobooks one can listen to before they become unavailable for weeks. It doesn’t really answer the question. I think that this could be improved by just letting users know in advance when it’s going to be unavailable. Maybe a notification system where a user can be made aware? (Eg “Jane Eyre will become unavailable in five days. Check it out before it becomes unavailable until (next Bill date)”)
I also think there should be a way for someone to be able to keep hold of the books and audiobooks they’ve downloaded so they don’t have to worry about them becoming unavailable and having to wait for the books/audiobooks to become available.
2) I do object to the suggestion that Scridb is unlimited. It really isn’t. Only some are available to you which really isn’t what I think of when I think of the word unlimited. I’ve come across many times where a book/audiobook will say “this isn’t available in your country” and “title is not available on scridb”
With the former, why am I limited to one country when I’m paying for a subscription that is meant to give me unlimited access to the world’s biggest library? Is it something to do with a VPN? If so, even that is silly because I still should expect unlimited access.
For the latter, if it’s not available on scridb, why should it appear on the app in the first place? I try and save it anyway in the hopes that it becomes available later but it doesn’t seem to allow me to do that (in that it gives me the option to save but when I look at my saved titles list, it’s not there). If you want to say it’s unlimited, it’s unlimited in the sense that you can read and listen to whatever you want as long as it’s within a library where the choices are not truly your own.
3) another thing is that when I’m listening to an audiobook. At least once, the app will shut down meaning I have to open up the app again and start the audiobook where it was (although sometimes it’ll move me to a different place and throw me off). Very small issue that isn’t world ending.
Again, I really want scridb to succeed so if the developers are reading this, please see this as a good faith critique from a paying member. I think if you made some of these changes, you’d have an influx of people coming towards you who so desperately want an alternative to the audible app and buying books from Amazon.
2021-05-19
Scribd is good, this app is terrible
Scribd is a fantastic idea, and I love it. Great titles and worth every penny.
But this app is so bad, I’m only giving it a pity star. When I listen to an audiobook, it just stops. And then stops and - nothing. Repeatedly. It’s particularly off-putting when driving, since I can’t do anything about it then, but it’s always annoying. This happens whether I’ve downloaded an audiobook or no, and irrespective of the quality of the connection.
I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling, but no luck. It’s more buggy than a baby’s conveyance.
Fix it, developers!
2021-05-16
Not actually unlimited audiobooks!
Only let me listen to two books. Then told me I had to wait two weeks before I listed to another one... not quite the unlimited it claimed to be!!
2021-05-16
I LOVE this app, but….
…I wish it was truly unlimited as it claims. For instance if you start listening to a series, after a book or two the next books will be restricted until the next billing cycle. It’s really annoying. I left audible because I wanted access to more books and I’m not bothered about owning them, and Scribd totally fit the bill. It’s not unlimited though. I would give it 5* happily if it was. An Apple Watch app would be great too, pretty please!
2021-05-07
I’ve cancelled subscription
Not good
2021-05-03
If you care about literature, the arts, avoid.
A very nice app and intuitive interface has the makings of a great service. However this is ruined by the fact that users can literally upload pdf scans of copyrighted books, undermining the revenue model for writers completely as they get no royalties for these pdfs being read. If you care about writers, literature and the arts (there’s also sheet music as well as audiobooks and ebooks here) then don’t subscribe to SCRIBD. Even though Spotify has all but killed the ability for musicians to earn a living selling their albums to consumers, at least musicians can tour and earn money via concerts and gigs. This is not an option for writers, so if you sign up for SCRIBD for your reading, beware - there may not be as many writers in the very near future. Update: Scribd of course have replied how they take this seriously down such material once reported but this is the con - they operate in a legal grey area and when one pdf comes down, there’s more of the same already available. If they took this seriously, PDF’s would be vetted before being published on the site!!
Scribd has replied again to say they take privacy seriously - and then say how they do that is leave it to authors to patrol their site for copies of their work being unlawfully uploaded! If you CARE about authors copyright, and the future of literature, SWITCH OFF the pdf sharing. Over and out.
2021-04-05
Samuel
Hello
I just used your amazing app and I would prefer to switch from kindle unlimited and audible if you add one great feature which is lacking in your app. While listening a book we can’t visualise the reading or ebook that is quite frustrating. In kindle unlimited you can download the books and also make it companion with listening which is much easier and better way of learning. I got the subscription of your app but due to lack of this feature I have to end my subscription. In your app I can only read or I can switch to listening only. In kindle unlimited we can use both features at a time.
Otherwise your app has better features and magazines and podcasts selections
2021-03-30
Not unlimited!
This was to me very useful app for my love of books and audio books while I work
However if you are the kind of guy that reads a lot per month
Forgot it
They will after a month without warning withdraw all books of interest
Tagging them as available in 3 months time
What use is this and why would one continue to wait with no audiobooks worth of personal interest
The word unlimited should be changed
Or if they want more money they should ask !
I’m truly disappointed!
As in beginning I was overwhelmed and excited
It’s like a bad marriage
2021-03-28
Great service but the iPad app is horrible
I’m a big fan of Scribd the service. I think it offers great value sheet music, audiobooks magazines and books. Definitely worth it
I do find though that the iPad app is slow to the point of being unusable. Accessing everything takes a long time. Often the app just hangs and has to be force quit. By comparison , the iPhone app is laser fast. Very frustrating
2021-03-27
Very bad experience!
I started a new trial, had it for possibly a week then I was logged out of my account. Tried to log back in and it failed. Have requested a new password a number of times but have had no email sent to do this. Emailed support at Scribd and still heard nothing. It’s concerning that I will be charged after my free trial when I have not even had the chance to use Scribd. I was happy to actually continue my subscription after my free trial, but with all these problems I’m not so sure. No communication whatsoever!
2021-02-24
Great App, could be improved
Great App but has a major bug.
This app is great but it has a major bug. Whenever I click on a book it kicks me off. I have written to the company via the app and email but reviewed no response. I am considering deleting the app, but apart from that fantastic app.
The bug is now fixed. The developers were really understanding and gave me an extra 3 months free. I would definitely download. It is worth every penny.
2021-02-20
Be upfront
Please include the subscription fee alongside your “Free for 30 days” message.
2020-11-23
Misleading & poor quality
That it is unlimited is misleading. I am halfway through a series and can’t continue for another month. If something is advertised as unlimited, it should be unlimited.
Several books have also been unlistenable owing to audio juddering that is painful to heart.
2020-11-20
Really love love but....
At least 2/3 times every time I’m browsing it says problem with my connection refresh !! I know my internet has no drop in service as I’ve checked my other device. This app has by the far the best most extensive collection of app reading audiobook app I’ve ever used. My husband & me tested it by searching really random old magazines books it found them all. I’d rate it 5* if it didn’t keep losing connection
2020-11-08
Sadly, too good to be true - not unlimited
I thought I’d give the app another go. I’ve found quite a few books on here that are useful for research. Sadly, the use is not “unlimited” by a normal definition of the word. Dipping into a number books will cause many titles to become unavailable with no notice. There is no indication you are reaching a limit.
It’s not a “rotating library” as Scribd euphemistically describe it; instead titles simply become unavailable (just to you) and there is no way to get them until they next take payment. While there may still be “something” to read, you could say the same of Project Gutenberg which has thousands of free books.
It would be helpful, for example, if they were honest and used a points system to be more transparent as you were using your allowance. I could then avoid certain books. It would also work if you could bring forward your monthly renewal date so books would become available again - I’d have happily done this and they’d have made more money.
The reading experience is pretty good, although as others have reported searching for documents sometimes returns nothing but a spinning “loading” icon.
2020-11-03
Useless
I search for a title and if then press “View All” say in Documents I just get a spinning icon and it never returns anything. I contacted support and they said they would get back to me within 2 weeks. For an app that I have just bought this is appalling. I WANT A REFUND.
All I’ve had in response is contact the developer, I did as soon as I found the problem, STILL NO RESPONSE.
I DEMAND A REFUND AS THIS APP DOES NOT WORK AND SUPPORT IS NON EXISTENT
2020-10-27
Good content but they take the piss
So without a doubt you do a lot of value with this app for the amount you pay (£10 per month) I’ve calculated it and I’ve saved at least £100 the past couple months with all the books I’ve listened to.
However there’s one major issue which they need sort out and no it’s not the fact I was getting logged out every other minute 😂 because I think they’ve sorted that bug out now. I understand that they’ve obviously got to try and keep you subscribed to them for as long as possible by not allowing you to listen to the titles/books you’ve saved until the next month but I think they’re also shooting them self in the foot with this method as it really does take the piss when you want to listen to certain books but just aren’t allowed which is also false adverting as they claim “you have unlimited books to listen to” for example I saved 4 books that I was looking forward to listening to (which I had saved for about a month or so) and I’ve only been allowed to listen to 2 as the other 2 I have to now wait another 3 weeks to listen to as it says “titles are available at this date” which is ridiculous because I’ve been trying to listen to them for at Least 2 months now so I think they really need to sort that out if they want to keep customers for the long term.
If anyone from Scribd team is looking at this please fix this or just try and create another income stream where you can bring in some revenue via other methods such as ads or just increase your subscription price.
So in essence it is certainly not unlimited but there’s a lot of value for your money.
2020-10-26
Don’t waste your time with this app!
I downloaded the app and signed up for a subscription. Used the app for maybe 1/4 of an audio book, went to use the app the next day and it would not play the audio book and I kept getting a error code.
I’m using the services on the website for now which is very unreliable.
Very disappointed.
2020-10-11
I got charged twice and still the app didn’t work..
I have been using this app for over 5 month and on the 6th month I subscribed late I got charged twice and still the app didn’t work...I even made a complained I got ignored, it’s a really good app when utilise well but be careful... thank you for reaching out my ticket number is #2945592.
2020-10-09
Fraud
You do not provide unsubscribe option
You do not notice the user about next charge
You do not provide the recipe of the previous charge
I didn’t use the survive at all but I’ve charged my during 5 months
2020-09-24
Crashing all the time
Been using this for a couple of years now, great for listening to books at the gym or out walking but for the last month or so I can only listen for about 3-5 minutes of a book before the app crushes and closes, please fix the bugs!
2020-09-24
Great service, poor app
I love Scribd as a service I think it’s great in terms of variety it is fantastic and I love that you aren’t limited to a certain amount of books, I have accessed lots of great reads on there. Despite this, the app just does not work for me! I can’t access my downloads without data and it takes so much effort to access any saved books as it takes a lot of time to load- having to close and reopen the app multiple times even when using wifi. It also randomly shuts off when listening to audiobooks and takes ages to restart them. Overall I would recommend using the website on a laptop or something when at home but obviously this is not ideal for on the go which is disappointing.
2020-09-20
Good but...
I love this app - such a convenient and easy to use platform I just wish there wasn’t a few bugs. One being sometimes I can’t get anything to load despite having 4g - this is supremely annoying and I kind of regret buying months when I can’t use it.
2020-09-19
Absolutely poor quality and dreadful customer service
App keeps crashing every three minutes
Customer service doesn’t resolve the problem just waffles on and doesn’t action my complaints
Books and audio books become unavailable after two weeks after the start of ones subscription and then they become available again for two weeks, and it’s not for the reasons the company states
After over two weeks still waiting for the company to resolve the issues already reported
Hardcore x rated pornographic photography is available including to minors - and you can’t flag it on the app, and what is stated online isn’t available
Search engine always has unrelated items , type in Ancient Greece and you get jfk ! Did he hang out with homer ???
App claims I’ve exceeded my download limit on another device, even though I’ve only used one device to download item
two, so many audiobooks are not available for me to listen too
Saved items become unsaved either instantly , after logging out, deleting the app or after a period of time
In all absolutely garbage. Even starting a trial can generated over 200 books becoming unavailable till the company has your monies after a couple of days of joining and downloading the book doesn’t prevent this
2020-09-13
Glitchy
This would have been amazing if it wasn’t for all the glitches, I’d be listening to a downloaded audiobook and it would just randomly stop or it would freeze and I’d have to delete and reinstall the app to get it to work again.
Also didn’t like how books would be available but as soon as you added them to your saved list they would be unavailable until the following month. Seemed like a sneaky way to make sure you keep your membership.
2020-09-02
Good but some issues
I love using scribd and reading/listening to what is available, but I have some issues,
Sometimes, the app closes itself for no reason whilst I’m listening to an audiobook, which is really frustrating whilst I’m doing something such as cooking or crafting, as I have to physically stop what I’m doing and reopen the app, and find what I was listening to all over again.
I also have an issue that sometimes when I open the app, or search something, the pages all appear blank and take forever to load. Sometimes, I even have to close and reopen the app, and if that doesn’t help, I have to wait ten + minutes for the things to actually load.
However, everything else is very good, I just wish these issues could be resolved so the app ran a lot smoother, and stopped closing what I’m listening to.
2020-08-17
Crashes constantly
I’ve never used an app that crashes as much as this. I’ve contacted their support a few times but never heard back from them. They also delete books that you’ve downloaded for no reason at all. It’s a con to not allow you to get through your library so you keep your subscription going. Terrible experience using this app. When you contact them direct they ignore you. When you choose a public forum they respond straight away. Again another con
2020-07-20
Good but not unlimited
I listen to audiobooks whilst travelling and working so get through a fair few each month.
This makes things like audible quite pricey and a less restrictive service seemed worthwhile.
Although this app has a reasonable selection (definitely less choice and fewer big new titles than other services) it is NOT UNLIMITED as it states.
After you have listened to 3/4 titles the app throttles your choices and removes them from availability until your next month.
There are some still available to listen to, so it doesn’t cut you off completely, however they are less desirable and mostly self help style/trashy fiction which is not my thing.
It is not unlimited if you put any kind of restriction on customers use. That is in fact...limited.
Scribds reply stating I am “encountering library rotation” is hugely dishonest.
This can only be the case if the titles I wish to read all ‘rotate’ out of my saved list at the same time once I have listened to the 4th title each month.
Leaving for example the same choice of 6 history titles I was left with last month.
Please stop calling it unlimited. It is not. A choice of 6 titles is pretty limited indeed.
2020-06-30
There is no way readers developed this app / business model!
Frustrating on every level. Audiobooks skip and stop randomly even when downloaded meaning I had to constantly search for my last location. Audiobooks available in one billing cycle are extremely limited and once you’ve reached that limit, you can’t even browse or search to see what’s in the catalogue (one of the joys of being a reader is browsing through books!). What is left as available to listen to once you’ve reached the limit is a very poor selection of “books” no one has heard of, most of which are under an hour, so can’t even be realistically called books. I just cannot believe anyone who truly loves reading would develop an app that is so utterly terrible for readers.
2020-06-28
Issues with downloads
I firstly have to say I absolutely loved this app and have used it for quite a while, and I don’t usually write reviews. However, I found that (and this has been going on for months now) whenever I open the app it acts as if I have nothing saved to my library and no downloads either, until the home page loads that is. It’s quite frustrating as I travel a lot and if I don’t have internet, the home page won’t load, so my downloads won’t show up. What’s the point of having them if I can’t use them offline??
2020-06-12
Limitations to the unlimited offer
The unlimited subscription is good value, better than audiobook offers from Audible or Apple Books. However, it is not unlimited. If the series is ‘popular’ you will only be able to download two audiobooks in the series a month. You can download as many other books as you want but only two from your series - which can be quite frustrating.
2020-06-03
Much better than audible
I really like scribd for the variety of options and the ability to save things, as well as the ability to organise books into separate lists. I have unearthed many a gem from the search and the similar to options, although sometimes it’s not always relevant.
I think understanding what your limits are could be clearer and the app has been buggy recently but other than that quite happy with it.
2020-05-24
Poor Update
This was a good app with no major problems, allowing easy access and great books to be read with minimal effort.
I say was a good app! However, since the very recent up date the app has started to misbehave! It appears to be programmed to crash every five minutes or so! If the developer is reading these comments you need to sort it out please! Sooner rather than later because I suspect that without a swift rectification people will soon abandon ship and place their money elsewhere!
2020-04-28
Brilliant
I used this app frequently over the course of a month to have a look into self improvement during the quarantine. Scribd is extremely useful in that it gives snapshots of many books which saves you the hassle of reading the entire book and allows you to gather the main concepts before choosing whether to read the entire book.
2020-03-25
Couldn’t survive without it!
I literally couldn’t survive without Scribd. I’ve always been a prolific reader and relied on libraries to sustain my need for copious reading matter. But, four years ago I moved abroad, and Scribd now provides nearly all my reading material. I must admit that, if I hear about a book and look to see if Scribd have it, they often don’t, which is always disappointing, and then I often have to buy it on Kindle. But, if I put in a subject which interests me, I’m usually astonished at the amount of good quality books that Scribd have. For the last few months I’ve been reading about racism, the civil rights movement and the history of slavery, and the amount of books available on these topics is astounding. Thank you, Scribd, from the bottom of my heart! You bring my joy every day!
2020-03-19
Not too bad.
Great idea and a fantastic selection of books but I’ve not listened to an audiobook yet that hasn’t had issues with the audio. The sounds will cut out completely and then pick up again a few seconds-minutes later. I’ve tried going back and playing the section again incase it was just buffering but the sound always cuts out at the same bits not matter how many times I replay them. It’s quite infuriating because I’m missing out on whole sentences at a time. I’m not sure if that’s the apps fault or the audiobooks but I never had that issue with audible.
2020-02-25
Disappointing
I’ve seen Scribd promoted as “better than audible” as it was supposed to give unlimited listening. Just found out in reviews that it’s not the case - and I was wondering why I could see no new titles suggested? Not great on clarity there.
Search function just doesn’t work, and most annoyingly, it randomly restarts your progress in a book when you ty to get back to it.
Disappointing overall. At least audible tells you exactly what you’re getting.
2020-01-31
Full of bugs
Scribd is great but I listen to audiobooks on long drives and it often turns itself off for no apparent reason. Which isn’t really practical when I’m driving on my own. As well as this the download feature is really temperamental - turning itself off, restarting downloads for no apparent reason. These kind of things are making me question whether or not I want to keep paying for scribd in the future.... I just wish it worked like it should!
2020-01-02
Best thing since sliced bread.
Edited with an update, Jan 2020
The app has started crashing every time the phone transfers to Airplane mode or after a call. Very frustrating. Please fix this.
Love reading books whilst travelling but also decided to try audio books for when driving long distances. I had been ummimg and ahhing but decided to give scribd a try. Hit the jackpot. Great selection of audio and print books all under one roof.
2019-12-02
CarPlay is now here!
Update Dec 2019: CarPlay support is here! Rating increased - thanks for sorting this!
Decent app and good range of content for a fair price. Disappointed by the lack of CarPlay support though- it is a bit crazy that a premium audiobooks app doesn’t have it. Even the free content audiobooks support it so it is infuriating that an awesome service like this is crippled in such a way. Hope the devs can get it sorted soon.
2019-09-08
Has been fantastic until recently
I have been a Scribd subscriber for quite some time and have never had an issue with any aspect of the app until recently. Documents have started “ending” on the penultimate page and sending me straight to the “title read” screen. Very frustrating when trying to work with a client and read sheet music etc to the end (the final page is incredibly important!). Having reached out to Scribd, I was told that developers were aware of the issue and would have a fix in the next update. This was weeks ago and the problem persists. I will be seeking a refund of my subscription owing to the fact that I can no longer use the app for it’s intended purpose.
2019-08-08
All is better now
After a bit of a rocky start (where it took me about 3 weeks to get my subscription up and running and I almost just gave up on it altogether) using the service (now that I can...) has been a pleasure. The documents section alone is worth the price of admission, and the plentiful book and audiobook selection are magnificent extras. Tremendous VFM all ‘round. Sorting out the slightly tardy customer service would be nice mind...
2019-07-22
Problematic audiobooks
I’m on a free trial of this app, and I’m impressed by the concept of unlimited downloads. However, although the ebooks seem to download smoothly, I’m having problems with the audiobooks. I have enjoyed one and I’m midway through another one, but I can’t seem to be able to download any more. I use audiobooks much more than I do ebooks, therefore this glitch is a concern to me. If they fixed it, I definitely would pay for a subscription. As it is now, I’d rather stay with Audible plus the free service from my library, as I know at least they are reliable.
2019-07-13
Disappointing
I subscribed because I listen to a lot of audiobooks, and wanted a borrowing service rather than an offering like audible. However this isn’t truly unlimited, in this case unlimited just means that there is always something you can listen to not that you can always listen to anything in the library whenever you want to, and there is no indication of what your monthly limit is or when you are going to hit it, so having listened to the first few books in a series I suddenly couldn’t listen to any more until the next billing period started, so clearly some audiobooks are limited. This alone might not have been an issue if it was clear what the monthly limit was and which audiobooks counted towards this limit, but there is no indication until you try to listen to something to be faced with “available soon” banners on most books
The search function is dismal, I often have to try 2 or 3 different search terms to find what I want, and have often resorted to finding something else written by the same author to click through to their author page to then find what I want. Series aren’t linked in any way either so if you have finished one book you have to go through the dismal search function again to find the next book in the series.
It’s also disappointing that it is not compatible with CarPlay as I listen to books when driving, there is an option to link to waze, but again this functionality didn’t work on the CarPlay version of the waze app either.
2019-07-11
Doesn’t do audiobooks very well
I love the app generally, there’s a great variety, but I will be cancelling my subscription at the end of the month. Whenever I bring up an audiobook, it’ll start playing but the little spinning circle of doom is always there. When a chapter ends it’ll go back to the last place loaded without the circle. This happens even if I downloaded it (if it downloads at all, which it hasn’t been doing lately), which makes no sense. As a result it takes way longer to finish the book, if I don’t give up before that. Seems like a complete waste of money at this point, because it’s every audiobook. So in spite of the fantastic selection I will be cancelling.
2019-07-05
Unlimited Just Isn’t True
I’m starting to get annoyed with this app. You go into it thinking you’ll be able to get a good variety of books.
Now, I know no subscription will ever give you truly unlimited access, but at least I know I’ll be finding books that I can understand.
I’m starting to get very sick and tired of searching a book or an author and results coming up in other languages. If I type the title of the book in English, I don’t want to see the German version - as is the case with nearly all of James Patterson’s books.
Please change this because it’s very misleading and annoying.
I honestly think that this app is better for regular ebooks rather than audiobooks due to the fact that more than half of the ones my father and I want to listen to are only in German.
2019-03-17
Books wont download and Poor customer service
When i click a book to download it says queued and then just disappear. This is really annoying and frankly reduces the usefulness of the app very much. I dont see the point of having a scribd account and paying for the service if this cannot be fixed. I wrote to the developers through their contact us link in the app and its almost 3 weeks and no reaponse. I dont see much option but to just discontinue the subscription and delete the app.
Thanks for your response. I haven't receive a ticket number when i sent my query. Could you please advise if there is any other ways to raise a query other than the 'contact us' option in the app.
2019-03-04
Audiobooks
I think the app, however when I pay for subscription I hope to be able to use everything. When I try to open my audiobook it keeps telling me there is an error and that I should try again later. While it does work again after 12 hours or so it eventually goes back to not opening quickly and this is beyond frustrating at this point. Not sure if I’m doing anything wrong with it, or if there should be a quick way to remedy this, however other than this I have no complaints.
2019-01-03
Excellent value and subscription. BUT...
The selection of books and price is second to none on scribd. I would love it...however:
The app has big problems. If you turn off mobile data, the phone will run very hot and drain an entire iPhone battery in under an hour.
If you leave mobile data on it will use it up even when playing downloaded books! Today I downloaded a book via Wi-fi and listened for 3 hours. In that time I check the mobile data stats and scribd had used 168mb! Doing what??
I had to change my mobile plan recently because after using scribd for a couple of months, and only playing already downloaded audiobooks (no streaming) scribd had used 9.6gb (you read that right) and cost me an absolute fortune. I have no idea why it needs to use any data at all to play a downloaded audio file. None of the other audiobook apps that I use have these issues.
I have updated my scribd app regularly and iOS firmware too. I’ve tried the app on multiple iPhones. They all have these issues.
Also it crashes. A lot!
2018-12-23
Lots of choice
Way better than kindle unlimited in terms of range of books. Easy to pause it when you’re reading something that isn’t available on there, or when my library has the books I want and I save a bit of money.
I’m not a fan of audiobooks, I just go for the ebooks. I read some obscure fantasy books, I’m impressed how many they have available.
A bit odd I pay in sterling, but price quoted in dollars. It’s like they’re not properly international yet.
2018-11-20
???
I love the idea of the app. It’s great for the price you’re paying because I don’t normally buy audiobooks because of the price and there’s quite a good selection. However there are a few problems with it like the fact that it doesn’t tell you that you only have a limited number of audiobooks each month or that I can’t get back on to the one I was listening to and it just comes up with an ‘error’ or ‘please wait a moment’ with a loading screen which never loads.
2018-10-18
Unlimited?
I like the concept of this app. It works well but I hate the lack of clarity around audiobooks. Why say unlimited when there's so clearly a cap on the number of audiobooks you can listen to each month? I thought the cap was limited to newer titles but that doesn't seem accurate. I wouldn't necessarily mind as long as I knew how many titles I could listen to a month so I could schedule my audiobooks. At least with Audible you know what you're working with.
Also would be great to get some new releases as well as the large selection of older books.
2018-08-08
Great value, amazing variety
I found this app after I subscribed to audible and was trying to find a better option to be able to listen to more books. This app is similar price to audible but you can listen to or read unlimited amount of titles. I was also impressed by the variety of genres and subjects, I'm particularly interested in self development, financial literacy and enterpreneurship and already saved a good deal of items to my account. They really have it all, can't ask for more.
2018-07-24
Research data
I have been subscribing to Scribd for over a year now and use this facility constantly for my consultancy work.
It saves time digging back into old files or hard drives to retrieve data. I haven’t bothered with looking at my old books as all the latest information is available within minutes.
I thoroughly recommend this website, the subscription is well worth it. Great idea!
2018-07-12
Love it...but it has been buggy lately
I’m using Scribd on an iPad Pro 10.5. It is a great concept and I love being able to have unlimited access to the material I need for personal reading or study. But lately the application has been really buggy for me - getting stuck in portrait mode when I am working in landscape; slowing down dramatically, and generally not playing nicely. It could just be my own installation, it is becoming a deal breaker for me. Even so, the breadth of material available on Scribd, the otherwise good interface and subscription model, all mean that it is (realistically) the best out there in what it does.
2018-04-12
Fab!
Love this app! Much better value than Audible. Im disabled and listen to two or three books a week, which would cost a small fortune on Audible. Good range of books and customer service has been exceptional. A couple of issues though, the main one being the suggested books... read book which I hated and gave it a one star review, but recommended books is almost exclusively books by the same author and I can’t remove them! The other thing is that books I’ve saved offline are no longer available and I can’t remove them from my offline list so get an annoying pop up every time I log in. Small gripes as on the whole I think it’s a great app and much better than competitors.
2018-03-19
Great service
I wrote a negative review for this app a couple months ago and I just had to change it to a positive one. There were a lot of issues to do with offline mode where it would often skip a lot of chapters whilst others would stick on an endless loop. But over the past few weeks I’ve been finding little problems with the app, I absolutely love it, would recommend to anyone interested in listened to audiobooks.
2018-03-04
There’s always room for improvement
I have been using this app for a while and to be honest it’s been okay. Thanks to audible, a very obvious competitor to scribd, they have decided to take away the point needed to read a book after monthly subscription. It does have more than enough knowledge in different formats, but I noticed that there are very few new books on heir database.