Available for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5. Download the app here!
Chegg, the student hub, has developed an app for the iPhone, iTouch, and iPad called Chegg Textbook Solutions that allows you to scan your textbook barcode through your device’s camera, and have instant access to solutions to questions in that book. The app claims to offer solutions to both even and odd questions (because we know how textbooks love to only give you half the answers) as well as solutions to questions embedded in the chapters.
I downloaded the free app to my iPhone 4. It uses the camera on your device to scan the barcode of the book you wanted to look up. There is also an option to search for your textbook without having the barcode (which I found incredibly handy because most of my textbooks are secondhand, and have stickers over the original barcode).
I found that my more common books, like Single Variable Calculus and Cambridge Latin Course were available for solutions, but more obscure textbooks like my conservation biology textbook, Conserving Living Natural Resources: In the Context of a Changing World, were not. I attribute this to the fact that a conservation biology book is not nearly as readily used as a math or language book. Likewise, as this is a new app, I am confident that as it grows, lesser known book solutions will be available.
I scanned my human physiology textbook, Human Physiology: An Integrated Approach, which Chegg Textbook Solutions did have. It listed solutions for chapters 5, 6, 8, 10, 17, 18, 21, 22, and 26 of my 26-chapter book. Not all of the solutions were available for all the questions in these chapters, but the solutions that were available were thorough. Each solution is broken down into steps, providing the background information to answer the question as well as the answer itself. I thought this was super helpful because not only was I able to check my answers, but I also got some context for the questions I needed to study more.
Navigation was simple on Chegg Textbook Solutions. It is as easy as scrolling to the chapter you want, and then to the question in that chapter. For my calculus textbook, Chegg Textbook Solutions had answers for odd and even-numbered questions (the book only provides answers for even-numbered questions). The app also provided answers for the chapter review.
The solutions are small on the iPhone screen, as seen in the pictures left and above, but the zooming function works well, so it was easy to make the font big enough to read. If I had an iPad (oh, how I want an iPad), I’m certain the solutions would be even easier to read. Nonetheless, having answers available on my phone lightened my load quite a bit for class because I didn’t have to carry an additional solutions manual.
Overall, Chegg Textbook Solutions is a handy study tool. Though the availability of books isn’t comprehensive, of the books available, the solutions were extremely helpful. The app is clear and thorough with its solutions and definitely a worthwhile download.
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