I'm having trouble with Libby on my iPad
I was able to use it fine up till the end of September 2021, and now it won't let me get books.
Answer
Hello,
If you're running iOS 9 or earlier, please check and see if you can upgrade your version of iOS.
On September 30, 2021, devices with older (pre-10) versions of iOS became unable to securely connect to much of the internet, including the servers which provide the ebooks through Libby, Overdrive and the Serra Digital Download website. This was due to an expiration of a Root Certificate which was used by devices to verify that they were genuinely connecting to certain websites. It had been superseded by a replacement certificate called ISRG Root X1, but older iOS devices did not get this newer replacement certificate installed, so they would not trust it, leading to the devices warning of insecure connections and not being able to make the secure connection necessary to download ebooks.
Some patrons have had success upgrading the website certificates on their devices. We recommend proceeding with caution if you decide to try this, as it's experimental and could cause malfunctions of your device.
Draft procedure:
- Close Libby and/or vintage Overdrive apps.
- In Safari on the device, go to https://letsencrypt.org/certificates/
- You may have to “continue” past security warnings.
- Just below the diagram on that page, locate the Active Root Certificate ISRG Root X1, self-signed version in pem format.
- Download, install and trust this certificate. Here’s a walkthrough on the general process from Massachusetts Institute of Technology for their own proprietary certificates. http://kb.mit.edu/confluence/display/mitcontrib/Installing+Root+and+Personal+Certificates+on+iOS
- Open and test Libby and/or vintage Overdrive.
Regards,
Reference Librarian