New Details About the Zinio Update

Today we learned a few new details about the March 10th update to Zinio, as well as some future enhancements to look forward to.

As you hopefully all know by now, the major change will be the elimination of the two-account sign-in process. Patrons will no longer need to login twice or access the Zinio consumer site to complete the check-out process and read their titles. All of their browsing and check-out activity will take place on our Zinio for Libraries site.Here are the details that are new (or clarified):

  • Our Zinio site will have messaging notifying patrons about the new app. (This is a completely different app from the current Zinio app, so there will not be an update notification for people who have already downloaded the existing app.)
  • The first time patrons sign in using the new app they will be prompted to select their country, state, and library.  We will be listed as “Pittsburgh Area Libraries (Allegheny County).”  After that step they will be prompted to select their specific library.  Users will only need to do this the first time they log in.
  • According to our rep, the iPad app is also for iPhone. However, the test site for the new Zinio for Libraries page lists the newly available apps as iPad and Android.  Hopefully they will change the wording to add iPhone to the list before the March 10th launch date, but we wanted to let you know, just in case.

Here’s what else we already shared about the update:

And finally, here’s what near-future enhancements we can look forward to:

  • By the end of March online reading should be possible on iOS, Android, and Windows 8 tablets.  Patrons will be able to immediately start reading their magazines in their browsers as long as they are connected to the internet. For offline reading they will still need to download the magazines.
  • A device detector will also be added at the end of the month, making it even easier for patrons to complete the check-out, downloading, and reading process.

This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. Stephanie Zimble

    Hi! Trying the new Zinio For Libraries app today, and not having much luck. I’m seeing ‘Carnegie Libraries of Pittsburgh’ instead of ‘Pittsburgh Area Libraries’, and I’m not seeing anywhere you can select an individual library (Oakmont in my case). It’s not recognizing my RB digital email or password, and I’m not seeing anywhere to create a new account since it won’t let me in with my old one. Any advice? Since today is the 10th I thought things might be working at this point – am I doing something wrong? Figured I’d post here in case others are having the same problem. 🙂

  2. virtuallexicon

    Thanks for sharing your (terrible) experience, Stephanie. I have also tried to access the new app on an iPhone and it is not available. It’s really is just an iPad app. (There is an Android app, too, just not an iPhone app yet.) This is different from what the rep said.

    I’ll investigate the issues you are having and report back.

    Sarah

  3. Stephanie Zimble

    Thanks Sarah! I’m using the new app on an Android tablet, if that makes a difference. 🙂

  4. virtuallexicon

    One other thing to consider: the regular Zinio app will still work, so if you’ve got a patron that is new to Zinio you might lead them to the original app until we can get this all straightened out.

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