Pearson+ Reviews

I teach several courses per semester and have done so for more than 15 years. I adopted MyMathLab early on after moving to this app, and Pearson is now the third attempt by this app to provide a digital textbook for the courses I teach. The apps continue to improve despite some irritating setbacks. You would think that after so many years, I would be able to arrange the order of my books? (thank you for allowing this in MyLab with the pin and drag options). And when will the duplicates end? It should not be so difficult to locate the book that I want to use. My biggest complaint, though, is the syncing of Pearson with the website. You would think that this would be a nice feature but it makes it impossible to “hold my finger on a page” to answer a students question and then go back to where I was on the exercise page. And as an instructor, or tenured professor to make the point, I shouldn’t have access to textbooks removed because the MyLab course expired. I used to have contacts at this app who set access privileges for some of my textbooks, which migrated over to this new app. But it was a hassle and I don’t have the patience to go through this again. Overall, I appreciate having Pearson for my iPad. I just wish it were more useful and better suited for instructors.

It hurts my heart that I had no choice but to spend $130 on this etext, because I needed the proprietary statistics software that came with it to complete my assignments. I guess when students have no choice but to buy a software product, the product manufacturer isn’t then inclined to keep that software updated and user friendly.
For one thing, there is no turning the phone for a wider view of the tiny text. Only vertical, sorry. And when you try to zoom in it is jumpy and unpredictable, and you’ll likely lose too much text so just keep it tiny and vertical and deal with the headache you will inevitably get.
The desktop software isn’t much better. Search function is awful - sometimes terms will come up but when you click on them… nothing. No action. Does it at least tell you what page the term is on? Nope. Tough luck. Try google.
And then you can’t zoom OUT - this is wild. I can’t fit the page on one screen/browser. And there are these little ‘tips for success’ on the sides of the pages that narrow the margins, making one long column when what would actually be user friendly is a nice square of text that perfectly fits one page into the browser window.
I just don’t understand how this expensive platform can be so bad all around. Is anyone trying at all? Had anyone at this app actually tried to use these texts? Cmon guys. Quit robbing people. We’re students, for chrissakes!

I like being able to have all my textbooks in one place, and to have such easy access to them at all times. However, Pearson is actually driving me insane. 1) it took me 4 days to even figure out how to open my textbooks on my iPad. Pearson looks like there is a better layout, but for some reason it defaults my app to a page with just textbook names. 2) I love to highlight important information as I read, but every time I try to, it takes me to the next page or the page before!!!! It is so annoying! I wish there was a way to lock my page so I don’t have to reload the page over and over. Also, why do I have to even select text? I want to be able to select a highlighter and just highlight the text without having to select the words. I wish there was a better way to annotate. 3) when I read my book along side of my notes with split screen, I cannot scroll without it going to previous or future pages. A lock feature would help with this as well! 4) I often have to site page numbers for my homework, and there are no page numbers in Pearson . Why….? Overall, I kind of wish I would’ve just invested in paper textbooks instead of an iPad specifically for Pearson. Oh well.

I had to download Pearson because the ebook features weren’t supported in my browser. That’s fine. But Pearson doesn’t really work either. If I accidentally rotate my screen, the text automatically scrolls all the way back to the top of the section instead of saving my place. It also resets to the top of the section any time I accidentally touch anything that I didn’t mean to, so I have to be very careful. This causes a lot of unnecessary scrolling. Also the highlighter function sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t, depending on the amount of text I’d like to highlight and the location on the page. Every once in awhile I’m trying to highlight something important and I accidentally switch to a whole different section, causing the above problem again. Using this book has been a very frustrating experience. If I could use the browser version I would, but unfortunately I’m stuck with this janky app. Luckily I found a really cheap used copy of the print textbook on Abe books, and it’s only one edition older than the required edition for my class. I definitely recommend any student go the used book route rather than attempt to navigate this fail of an ebook. One star.

this app, your apps have always been utterly disappointing semester after semester. Upon downloading Pearson, my expectations were low from the numerous letdowns in the past. However, Pearson is AMAZING!! I had to pause my exploring in Pearson to post a review!! I’ve been waiting for years for an app that was worthy of not just the price but of the content of your products! I will be graduating this semester, which also means that my time with Pearson will be limited. It is bittersweet since Pearson is a huge transition from the other terrible apps. I LOVE the features, such as being able to transform the text to nice sounding audio and the overall sleek design makes studying more enjoyable.

Thank you and FINALLY!!

I was a bit hesitant about getting the E book verse the actual text book. I’m kinda old fashion sometimes when it comes to school, but I have been pleasantly surprised with the Chemistry book. There are some really neat features such as the auto read. I can have it read the text to me as I follow along. It also has a built in flash card/ question and answer section so once I’m through with the chapter I can test myself on key terms which helps me when taking the quizzes and test.

Pearson is not very usable. Controls frequently conflict with each other and make Pearson a frustrating experience. These small issues pop up frequently.

Just trying to highlight text becomes frustrating because Pearson registers a left or right movement as a movement to read the next section of a text book. Sometimes the highlight options disappears because Pearson doesn’t think you’re trying to highlight. This means that sometimes you need to use two hands to simply highlight text which is dumb.

Reading itself can be annoying because Pearson is incredibly sensitive in terms of it’s touch controls. Often it will interpret slight side movements as a gesture which results in it going to the next chapter/section.

The developers really need to rethink how features should implemented. I would recommend they look at apps such as Pdf Expert implement their controls. Dedicated buttons for features such as highlight or copying text is much less frustrating because Pearson requires you to be deliberate in what you are attempting to do instead of trying to guess your intentions.

Overall Pearson is the most frustrating experience I have had when it comes to reading text books. this app needs to change their approach to how features are implemented.

Pros - search function, access to videos, adjustable text size, hyperlinks to other pertinent sections of the book, cost (subscription $9.99/mo) is much less than renting or buying the book.
Cons - navigation could use some improvements - sometimes swiping up causes it to move to the next section. Also, it doesn’t return you to where you left off in a section. When you leave Pearson briefly (ex: to access calculator), it automatically scrolls back to the top of the section instead of staying where you left off. Or if you click a hyperlink to briefly read another section and go back, you are not where you left off. Annoying, but not a deal-breaker.

I will likely use again with future classes that require texts published by this app as it is pretty easy to use and less costly than other options. Ideally there would be a subscription service covering multiple publishers.
I will likely use it again with future courses where the text is published by this app. My alternative is
Ideally, would love a similar subscription service covering multiple publishers.

I am very disappointed with this new version of this app eText. It used to allow me to read the text in landscape mode, but now I cannot with Pearson. I am using iPad Pro 2020 and I am totally sure that I DO NOT LOCK THE SCREEN ROTATION. This is a big problem because it does not also allow us to read in split screen, which some of the reviews have already mentioned. Also, I COULD NOT READ THE TEXT IF MY IPAD IS IN DARK MODE. The background is dark and the text is also in black color which makes it impossible to read. I AM A BIG FAN OF this app ETEXT SINCE IT HAS SO MANY FUNCTIONS THAT I CAN UTILIZE TO UNDERSTAND THE TEXT AND STUDY MY SUBJECTS. HOWEVER, I TRULY BELIVE THAT THESE ERRORS MUST BE FIXED. I hope that the developers of Pearson will consider these problems and do something to live up to the old version of Pearson , which is this app eText. This is not a “Plus” version. This is a “MINUS” version.

I had a good experience with Pearson, and I absolutely love the search capabilities because it helps me out. But one thing I can’t forgive it for is not having the page numbers on the textbook. I had an assignment where I had to answer certain questions from exact page numbers, and I had no idea what those questions were. I tried looking everywhere to get a page number and absolutely nothing popped up. I was fortunate to explain to my professor what was going on and she gave me the direct questions, but another professor deducts points from every assignment because I can’t cite direct pages; I can only cite chapters. Overall worth it, but it just needs page numbers to be perfect.

I love the this app Plus website on my laptop. Highly recommend the subscription, and I’ve been telling everyone I know that is taking classes about it. It saved me $200 in one class alone.

HOWEVER, Pearson is awful. You can not access the book to actually read the text at all. It just pulls up a blank page with a loading wheel, but the text never loads. I’ve deleted, redownloaded, updated Pearson . Nothing fixes this problem. I reached out to the feedback email provided by this app and have yet to get a response back.

The audio is also an issue because it will only play one segment of the book over and over rather than starting the next part on its own. My textbook is written in many short sections that makeup a chapter so every couple of minutes I have to manually select the next part. Very annoying.

Again, I love the this app Plus website on my actual laptop. The subscription service was a fantastic idea. I just hope these app issues get resolved quickly. Classes start next week, and I really depend on being able to read/listen to my textbook during my commutes to and from school and work.

I usually use this app for math, so I actually didn’t know that it could be used for anything but; however, the bio class I am taking had a this app login. I saw that it was easier to get Pearson , and I actually really love it. It’s an easy on-the-go, automatically had a dark mode in place, which makes reading way easier, (my whole phone is in dark mode), and it’s SUPER EASY to navigate. I’m kind of really diggin’ it. Didn’t think I would be as excited not having a physical book, but this is better than anticipated. ♥️

Awesome resource to have! I am taking human physiology and microbiology this semester. I love the audio feature. It helps from getting distracted while reading. When I don’t feel like reading the content myself, I just have it read to me as I follow along. This way I can pause and takes notes and not lose anything in the process. Reading the content yourself vs following alongside the audio is super helpful! I recommend this for everyone! All other features are also good to have.

I can’t even use Pearson for the book I paid $100 for!! My only option is to sit in front of the computer on your garbage platform and read. What year are we in?? I cringe every time I see one of my professors says we’re using this app products. Downloaded Pearson on my phone and this textbook says not compatible for mobile viewing. Tried to download Pearson on my iPad and it says I need at least iOS 13 but my iPad says it’s up to date at 12.5….. so $100 to access my book electronically meaning more money for this app because no printing… and I can’t even access it on my convenient devices. What about the people that don’t have an actual computer? Get with the program this app!!!

Ian a big fan of this app platforms, particularly mathematic platforms. I love the abundance of homework and Examples. I hope to keep on using this app for years to come. But if I would make a suggestion could you make an iPad app for the actual courses. This would help people who study on the go. I know the web version works on iPads. But I think the convenience of an iPad app would be a game changer.

If I scroll anything more than a snail’s pace pages start flipping randomly and I have to struggle to find where I left off. It’s even worse when using split screen on the iPad. Every little movement might flip the page when I don’t want it to, and flipping back and trying to scroll back down to where I was flips the pages back again.

Very frustrating and not conducive to learning. I think it would be better if we had to tap an arrow in the corner to flip the page instead.

Thank you for the improvements. Enabling landscape mode is a great addition. 👍. However, page display is still limited by the rigid zoom factor, fit to width and page. When in landscape mode, 2 pages are displayed instead of the page of interest. It would be great to manage page reading by also enabling the ability to control desired font size in addition to zoom factor. Lastly, sometimes Pearson would not load the book content correctly. It is stuck at the spinner, no content is loaded.

As an instructor you could imagine the amount of books I have. Yet I do not have the ability to remove books that are duplicates simply because of various courses that use the same books. And even worse, I cannot control their position. I have to constantly look for the book I need. Why not give the ability to reposition books we are currently using at the top, or change their order to current classes? And the landscape only showing 2 pages, not just 1 is just aggravating.

Just started class and it’s not working on my iPad the reading screen never loads , certain links on interface does not work like support button. Pearson is useless better off getting a hard copy

Update : it’s working . Make sure you have the latest ios . Thank you for reaching out to me

The old was ok, but it worked. This new app does have cool features, but they are all useless if Pearson does not let me screen share with my notes taking app. My favorite part of the old app was that they let us split screen taking notes as it makes life easier. I think they are trying to get us to use their note taking section, but it is not as nice as a note taking app. I also like having all my notes together. Since I can’t split screen will be deleting as I have no use for Pearson. I am extremely upset because split screen sharing seems like a small feature, but in reality makes all the difference.

Hello,

I love the audiobooks it definitely makes it easier to read my chapters! However, the audio gets stuck in pronouncing formulas or anything with subscripts and it actually says the words “parenthesis” and “subscript” and different numbers as well. It gets distracting. It will be easier to skip if I was able to click a sentence and the audio skips directly to the new sentence.

Thanks!

I’ve been using Pearson for the past 2 months for Certification, love how I have the book on my phone but now starting last night 8/6/21 when I log in it just gives me a blank screen with no access to anything. It says that my IPhone is not supported so I updated and still nothing. Would really like to be able to use this again for with my run around schedule it is really convenient when I get 20-30 mins to read a chapter. Hope this issue can get resolved, thank you.

Very disappointed with the changes made. I loved the old version had no issues with it. This version does not allow for reading or typing in landscape mode which is how my IPad sits on the magic keyboard, causing me to either take my IPad off the keyboard and use only touchscreen or severely bend my neck to the side to read and type!!! I have been in touch with this app and was advised to delete my apps and add them back. I did this and it did not help.

You can no longer read and take notes, as they made the lethal decision to both 1. drop multitasking, unlike the old app; 2. not allow landscape mode, so you can’t connect and iPad keyboard and take notes in slide over. You can only read in landscape. An enormous regression that makes Pearson worthless for students - I now have to resort to the web version just to have a word processing app open to take notes. Did they do any user testing on iPad at all?

The eText app was a great tool for me to study the textbook chapters from my iPad. It had a lot of flaws but it WORKED. However, after upgrading to the this app+ version, I can no longer read chapter text using iPad. Pearson literally crashes by itself. People are depending on Pearson version for studying.

How is it even passed the QA process when the most fundamental feature of a textbook app, allowing students to read the textbook materials, is broken?

Pearson is horrible. I can’t highlight things without it jumping around the page. Some sections I can’t even highlight. You cant even scroll down or up the page without the side menu bar popping up. Seriously you need to release an update to fix all the bugs immediately. All I want to do is ready my text book and it’s taking me 45 minutes to get through a section when it should have taken 10 tops.

The old app was fine. I was not great but at least it worked.
The old app forced me to download this new version. And now I cannot get to my textbook on my iPad. I see the book in my library but when I try to read it, I get a blank screen. It will not even load the table of contents. I cannot navigate to my bookmarks. I will have to read from the browser now, which is a read pain. And all of this with only one week left in this school term.

I cannot get my macroeconomics book to display. It shows the bookmarks I have saved with the old app, but now when I click on them nothing happens! Even the content page is empty and it just keeps on loading. I just bought more this app ebooks for the fall semester…great, bet they won’t work on my iPad either. Very disappointing…all that money for an ebook on an app that does not work anymore! ☹️

Audiobooks work great and are very easy to use. Functionally, Pearson is fast and makes the process simple when taking notes. Great product.

Simple to use app that should make this school year easier. Runs fast, hasn’t crashed and contains some pretty cool features such as Audiobooks, etc.

I would like to inform you of a glitch within the New this app+ app.

When listening to the audio of a E-Text, some of the audio skips or is inaudible. Also, rather than playing chapter 1 from start to finish and moving on to chapter 2 seamlessly; Pearson plays Chapter 1 subsection 1 on repeat, you have to click the next subsection to continue. This is inconvenient especially when driving.

The chapter summaries are excellent, and the audio mentions that the review questions are best view in the E-Text and skips them! Brilliant! But it reads the entire references section at the end of the chapter. While I agree credit should be given where credit is due, it really takes away from the flow of reading/learning the material.

I attempted to offer this feedback via the Support Chat on this app Case#41358525, but I kept being transferred. I’d love to help with the Beta test if there is a better way to submit feedback.

The other this app global app told me I should download this one and it's not even working. Tried restarting my iPad and nothing. Tried restarting Pearson , nothing. It gets stuck on the home page and doesn't load. Now with both apps, I can't even split screen to take notes. Very inconvenient. I hope there's a way to fix this problem soon.

This garbage came up on my other this app app so i downloaded it thinking it would be more efficient. I went on Pearson and downloaded my textbook and it erased all the content on there. Not only that, now my OTHER this app app has no text on the pages and it crashes when i try to search chapters.. right before a test i have to take. Thanks alot. DO NOT DOWNLOAD THIS BUG INVESTED APP.

So far Pearson has been great. Loving the audiobook, and that I’ll be able to read my textbooks and study when I’m not by my laptop.