My Liverpool

The My Liverpool app opens to a dashboard. A student sees their timetable for the day. Below that, a list of upcoming campus events. At the bottom, a button for library access. The design is clean and functional. There is no onboarding tutorial. The app assumes the user already has a University of Liverpool account. The login screen asks for MWS credentials — the same username and password used for other university services. After logging in, the app pulls in the user's personalised data: their courses, their library loans, their events calendar.

The app is built for a specific audience: students and staff at the University of Liverpool. It replaces several separate tools. The old Timetables app has been retired. The library app has been folded in. Everything now lives in one place. The app includes a digital library ID card. A student can scan their phone at the library gates to enter. They can also use it to borrow books from self-issue terminals. The app shows borrowed books with due dates and allows renewals directly. This is a significant improvement over the previous system, where students needed a physical card or separate login.

The onboarding reality and what happens next

The first time a user opens the app, they are prompted to log in. There is no guest mode. The app is useless without university credentials. This is a deliberate choice. The app is not for the general public. It is for enrolled students and employed staff. Once logged in, the user sees their personalised dashboard. The timetable is the centrepiece. It shows sessions for the day, with room numbers and building names. Tapping a session opens a map with directions. The map feature uses GPS to guide the user from their current location to the classroom. This is particularly useful for new students who are still learning the campus layout.

The events section is another key feature. The app lists all university events, from academic lectures to social gatherings. Users can browse events, add them to a personalised planner, and sync favourites with their calendar. The app sends reminders and notifications for upcoming events. This helps students stay engaged with campus life. The Report + Support tool is also available. It allows users to report issues or seek support for wellbeing concerns. This feature is part of the university's commitment to student welfare.

How the library and events features work together

The app's library and events features are more connected than they first appear. A student planning their day can check the events list for a guest lecture or a workshop. They can add it to their planner. They can also check the library section to see if the books they need are available. If they are, they can head to the library, scan their phone to enter, and borrow the books using the same digital ID card. The app handles both the planning and the execution. This integration is not described in detail on the Play Store. The Play Store description mentions both features separately but does not explain how they work together in practice.

The app also supports two-factor authentication with Duo. This adds an extra layer of security. Users must approve login attempts through the Duo app or via a phone call. This is a requirement for accessing sensitive university data. The app's data safety section states that data is encrypted in transit. However, the app does share location data, app activity, and other data with third parties. It also collects location data, personal information, and other data. Users can request that their data be deleted. The app's privacy policy is available on the university website.

The real-world performance and limitations

The app has a rating of 3.83 out of 5 stars on AppBrain, based on 240 ratings. It has been downloaded over 21,000 times. In the last 30 days, it was downloaded about 140 times. The app is free and contains no ads. The latest version is 3.1.0, with an APK size of 9.10 MB. The app requires Android 7.1+ and supports armeabi-v7a architecture. It requests 21 permissions, including CAMERA, POST_NOTIFICATIONS, ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION, READ_CALENDAR, WRITE_CALENDAR, and NFC. Some of these permissions are essential for features like scanning library ID cards and receiving event notifications. Others, like location, are used for the GPS tracker and campus maps.

User reviews are mixed. One user praised the app, saying "When in device in dark mode text some text is unreadable. Edit: fixed." This suggests the developer is responsive to bug reports. Another user gave a one-star review: "The library tab does not allow me to log in - that's the only feature an existing student needs! The old app worked just fine." This points to a critical failure for some users. A third user was even more critical: "University makes you install, but it doesn't even do anything, just don't bother bcs you're just giving away phone data for free." This review suggests that some students find the app useless or intrusive. The app was also taken offline for essential maintenance in June 2026, which caused temporary disruption. The university announced the restoration and advised users to update the app.

Technical details and what the app actually requires

The app requires a University of Liverpool MWS account to log in. Alumni and non-current members cannot use the app and must use physical library cards. The app works on both Android and iOS. The iOS version is available on the App Store. The app supports Macs with Apple M1 chips and Apple Vision. The app's permissions include NFC, which is used for the library ID card feature. The app also requires calendar permissions to sync events. The app's changelog for version 3.3.0 states: "We've added Campus Maps so you can explore campus and get directions to where you need to go. We've also made some other general improvements." The app's older version 2.7.5 had a more detailed changelog: "We've made further improvements to the library QR code, now accessible from the 'Library Access' button on the homescreen. We've fixed some minor bugs too." This shows that the developer has been actively improving the library feature. The app's version history on APKPure shows multiple releases throughout 2024, 2025, and 2026, indicating ongoing maintenance. The app's SHA-256 hash is cbc3f27d62aa96cd0834c8a67414b6eef92a7a9ce308979a492c91acf2a458b7, and the SHA-1 hash is 49d60cc14103db86bcaf14898a856d3bbb194040.