What users hate. Clustered.

1- and 2-star reviews fed into NVIDIA NIM gpt-oss-120b, grouped into themes with verbatim examples. Each cluster is a wedge a competitor could exploit.

200 reviews·8 themes

App crashes immediately upon launch after iOS update
Users report the app crashes as soon as it is opened, particularly after updating to iOS 14 or later, with no visible error message.
35
reviews
- “Ever since updating to iOS 14, the app crashes immediately after opening.”
- “Crashes right as you open it. iOS 14.0.1. Crashes as you open it. Unusable for now.”
- “Since iOS 14 was released I can’t access the app. The second I go to open it it just crashes.”
Login issues and authentication failures
Multiple users report being unable to log in despite correct credentials, with the app crashing, freezing, or showing generic error messages like 'Something bad has happened'.
28
reviews
- “Can’t even get past the log in page — When logging in, the app crashes after a little while of trying to sign in.”
- “I have everything right on my end and the app crashes every time I try to log in”
- “The app will not allow me to update. I press the update now and this takes me back to the open app…no update.”
Inability to access course materials and content
Users cannot view course readings, videos, or assessments within the app; content either fails to load, displays incorrectly, or redirects to a browser.
25
reviews
- “When I log into the app there it gives notifications and when I tap on the notification, it sends a text to my phone with the code. This is where it becomes problematic because it never loads , just twirls but never loads anything.”
- “Videos just don’t work — When trying to watch any videos it asks you to download their partner app panopto. After downloading and signing in to the other app it still doesn’t work.”
- “Course material brings up an “accept cookies” page and then does nothing.”
Forced update loop with no actual update available
Users are trapped in a loop where the app prompts them to update, but the App Store shows no available update, preventing access to the app.
18
reviews
- “Update? — When I open the app, a pop-up comes up to update, I click the pop-up (which won’t let me bypass) and it takes me to App Store, which only has the option to “open” the app.”
- “Every time I try to login the app shows a banner saying the app has a new update. When you go to the App Store there is not an update.”
- “Time for an Update — I see reviews from 6 years ago that mention the lack of functionality when using the iPad to access course content. Glad to see that HASN”T been fixed or addressed in 6 years.”
Persistent logout and session management problems
Users are frequently logged out, even after selecting 'keep me signed in', requiring repeated logins and disrupting workflow.
17
reviews
- “Why does it keep logging me out?? — Every five minutes I get logged out. SUPER annoying”
- “Not saving my login — Hate that I have to login every time never had to do that before very frustrating even after clicking save my info it does not!!!!!”
- “The app always signs me out, even if I toggle the “keep me signed in””
Poor performance: lag, freezes, and slow loading
Users experience extreme lag, frequent freezes, and long loading times, making navigation and studying nearly impossible.
15
reviews
- “Extremely laggy — Updated due to the fact that my current version wouldn’t be supported. For whatever reason, the updated version is extremely laggy and difficult to manage.”
- “Takes forever to load anything — Just reading through the courses, the page constantly freezes and needs to be refreshed.”
- “Latest update is nothing but awful. App runs a 2 frames per second when trying to scroll through classes.”
iPad compatibility and functionality issues
The app fails to function properly on iPad devices, including crashing, not loading content, or displaying incorrect information.
14
reviews
- “iPad version needed — Doesn’t work on iPad. After promoting for username and password app closes.”
- “Bought a brand new iPad to use with this app for school. It won’t even load. Tried deleting, reinstalling & an update that just became available. Nothing.”
- “On my iPad, I’d say about half of the classes I’ve had between my bachelor and masters degrees haven’t worked in the app.”
App redirects to web browser instead of native experience
The app functions more like a mobile browser wrapper, failing to provide a true native experience and defeating the purpose of having an app.
12
reviews
- “There’s no point in having an app if it’s just going to direct me to my browser.”
- “The app doesn’t have a way to access most of the course content besides opening a small browser window in app, which kind of defeats the purpose of using the app.”
- “Good School, bad App — School is great in every way but recently they changed something in their curriculum and you can only use this app for a lot of classes on mobile. This app doesn’t work for “ZyBooks” or whatever it’s called...”

First load takes ~60–120s. Cached after.