Hoopla: The next cord cutter app you should try

[PereDroid]

Here's a new(ish) app and company you may not have heard about yet. I stumbled on this while at my local library that had a tiny little sign in the back advertising it. I installed the app, logged in with my library card info and *bam* I instantly had access to movies, music and comic books. All this available to download and use automagically for 2 weeks.

I hadn't really played with it much until last night when I borrowed the company Chromecast and took it home. I setup the Chromecast, went into Hoopla and started browsing movies. My 5 year old son saw the poster for Short Circuit and asked if we could watch it. OK, I said. I clicked borrow and was alerted that I had this title for 2 weeks. Clicked Cast and we were watching Short Circuit on the TV. Free. No ads. Just like that. (*Warning: there is some not child appropriate language in that film. LOL)

This morning while getting ready for work I went into Hoopla > Music > Search > "Volbeat" and (quickly) downloaded 5 Volbeat albums. I was then reminded about my monthly quota: "You can check out 94 more items this month". That's right... you may borrow 100 items at a time!

This is worth serious consideration for space on your Android phone or tablet. My library does NOT support getting Audio books through Hoopla, but many libraries support those, as well. With 1,000's of libraries on board, this app is surely something worthy of a few minutes of your time.

Sadly, no Roku app yet.

Source: My Local Library
Play Store: LINK

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Guess I'll have to swing by the library and get a card...

 

[CTownDroid]

Interesting. Looks like I'll have to dig up my CCPL card!

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Of course my library isn't on the list...

Sent from my Nexus 6P

 

[cr6]

Mine either.

S5 tap'n

 

[PereDroid]

Found this:
hoopla

Looks like you can check libraries before installing the app.

 

[cr6]

Our local library has similar apps so I emailed them and asked them to look into Hoopla. We'll see what they say...

S5 tap'n

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Found this:
hoopla

Looks like you can check libraries before installing the app.

I was looking for that, but couldn't find it. It's a pain to use the app if it doesn't register your location. You can't input a zip or anything. You just have to scroll the list.

Sent from my Nexus 6P

 

[PereDroid]

Yea, I couldn't find it on their site either. Google found it: Hoopla Library Availability.

TapaTurboII

 

[wicked]

Guess I'll have to swing by the library and get a card...

Same here. My girl has one but I should probably get my own.

 

[wicked]

Thanks for the heads up @PereDroid

 

[PereDroid]

Found out apparently the library sets a limit on how many you can borrow, so you MAY not get to borrow 100 at a time.
We do have a great library system here in CLE.

 

[Mustang02]

Found out apparently the library sets a limit on how many you can borrow, so you MAY not get to borrow 100 at a time.
We do have a great library system here in CLE.

We do???

 

[cr6]

This is the reply I received this morning regarding the email I sent yesterday inquiring about getting the Hoopla app at our library.

Thank you for the email concerning the availability of the Hoopla app at the Idaho Falls Public Library. Currently Hoopla is not available through the Library. We are looking at the possibility, but need to find out more information concerning the potential cost to the Library and how we offer the service. Currently Hoopla charges between $0.99 and $2.99 for every movie, ebook or eaudio a patron listens to. Considering that approximately 100,000 items check out from the library every month, it is possible that it would only take a few months of serious Hoopla users to exhaust all available library funds. Please continue to watch the website for further information concerning Hoopla.

Sincerely,
Robert Wright

Idaho Falls Public Library

S5 tap'n

 

[PereDroid]

You're joking, right?

"For the sixth year the Cuyahoga County Public Library earned the Library Journal's highest rating, making it one of the top libraries in the country." - LINK
Peers? NYC, Columbus, Seattle

2010 ranking for our population category: #1
Library Name
(Scroll down this page and see how many time CLE was ranked #1 or #2)

CCPL was the very first library in the nation to sign a deal with Overdrive Audio (it helps that OverDrive is based right here in Cleveland). CCPL is usually one of the first to jump onboard things like Overdrive. See Fregal. and now Hoopla.

Fregal is a music service that allows you to also "borrow" music. A key difference here is you can download ## number of tracks per week for free to keep forever. Also an Android app for this. (In CLE it's only 3 free downloads /week).
Freegal Music : Your New Music Library : Home

\\EDIT\\ Apparently FreeGal has now added movies, too. This is news to me.
\\EDIT\\ No Movies through CCPL.