Aussie Readers discussion

Is anyone here using the Cloud Library app on an iPad?

I've been using OverDrive and BorrowBox to read ebooks I borrow from the library, and now I'm starting on their Cloud Library collection, but I'm finding this app so sluggish that I'm not sure I want to use it again. Unfortunately most of their collection is in Cloud Library.

It consistently take over 5 seconds to add or remove a bookmark. Turning pages is ok unless I try to turn two in a row - I have to wait about 10 seconds before I can turn another page. OverDrive and BorrowBox work well.

This can't be right, users would all dump the app if it was happening for all of them. Can any other Cloud Library users confirm this is or isn't happening for them?

One factor might be compatibility between the app and your iPad. Is it an old iPad? If so, it could be that the app is optimised for newer hardware.

Yes, an iPad 4, so probably about 5 years old. I'd still like to compare notes with other users, as I've never seen any other apps this sluggish.

I'm starting to wonder if the problem is with the book, rather than the app. I just finished it (Annie Proulx's Barkskins, over 700 pages), and experimentally borrowed a kids' book (Mike Mullin's Ashen Winter, about 400 pages), and it's working well. I can turn pages quickly, and set and remove bookmarks at normal speed.

I wonder if it's the number of pages, or something about the content that did it. I'll have to try to find a very long book to see if it's the same.

Nope, it's not the number of pages. I borrowed Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (900 pages) and it has no problems.

I also borrowed a non fiction, The Story Cure, 400 pages with illustrations, and it's quite sluggish. Maybe the app just doesn't cope well with illustrations. Barkskins has two family tree diagrams at the back. It would be a pity if they're causing the book to be so slow, as they're too blurry to read.

I forgot to update this with a later discovery - the slowdowns are caused by having too many bookmarks. I usually set a bookmark whenever I stop reading, in case it loses my place. I can end up with dozens of them, if no hundreds.

I borrowed Barkskins again, and it was as slow as ever (because it retains bookmarks between borrowings). I deleted them, and when there were only a few left, it was working at normal speed again.