[Libs-Or] Sideloading Libby APK on Kindle Fire

[Liz Paulus]

Hi Matthew,

We have heard the same news, and Overdrive seems quite clear that the Overdrive App will no longer be available for download nor support in the near future. This is a continuation of Overdrive's efforts to move away from the legacy Overdrive app. A blog post from a California library from fall 2021 <https://sccld.org/blogs/post/the-overdrive-app-will-be-replaced-in-2022-get-to-know-libby-the-library-reading-app/> and a more recent one from Fort Vancouver Regional Library<https://www.fvrl.org/blogs/library-news/overdrive-app-going-away-early-2023> detail the coming change and options for the transition.

The Libby site currently offers this FAQ about their relationship with Amazon, the App Store, and current options for Kindle users: https://help.libbyapp.com/en-us/6189.htm?Highlight=kindle%20fire

Things can change, of course, but this one has been coming for a while and seems like to move forward in 2023 at least based on the information currently available.

Liz Paulus
Adult Services / Web Services Librarian
Cedar Mill & Bethany Community Libraries
https://library.cedarmill.org

<https://library.cedarmill.org>
currently reading:
7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle<ps://wccls.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S143C3387239> by Stuart Turton
Time's Arrow, Time's Cycle<https://multcolib.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S152C165168>: Myth and Metaphor in the Discovery of Geological Time by Stephen Jay Gould
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From: Libs-Or <libs-or-bounces at omls.oregon.gov> on behalf of Matthew Baiocchi via Libs-Or <libs-or at omls.oregon.gov>
Sent: Thursday, September 8, 2022 3:00 PM
To: libs-or at omls.oregon.gov <libs-or at omls.oregon.gov>
Subject: [Libs-Or] Sideloading Libby APK on Kindle Fire


I just had a patron come in and tell me of a message they received when they opened OverDrive on their Kindle Fire which stated that the OverDrive app was going away in 2023. The patron was then prompted to download the Libby APK and sideload it onto their device.


Adhering to "trust but verify," I went to OverDrive's site and found this page - https://www.overdrive.com/apps/libby/kindlefire - telling patrons to sideload Libby. I am not a big fan of telling patrons to sideload anything on their devices, even legit APKs.


Anyone know more about this? Is it likely Libby will be approved by Amazon before next year? If not, will OverDrive actually get rid of the OverDrive app?




Matthew Baiocchi

REFERENCE LIBRARIAN

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