Book lovers no longer lack choices when it comes to quality ebook and audiobook apps. There are now hundreds of book reading apps on the internet to satisfy that craving.
For centuries, book reading has been one of the most popular activities for leisure and education. These days, you can enjoy this wholesome activity with the additional benefits provided by digital technologies. Thanks to reading apps developed for smartphones, tablets, digital book readers, and other gadgets, you can keep thousands of books on your device and read them anywhere.
However, just like almost anything else nowadays, choosing the best book reading apps for book lovers requires you to go through several options before you find one that suits you. Well, once again, we have done part of the job just so you don’t have to.
What are Book Reading Apps?
The name “reading app” is an homage to traditions and does not reflect the full range of features in modern software products developed for book enthusiasts. This is because, unlike traditional libraries or bookstores, most book-reading apps also give access to audiobooks and text-to-speech engines.
This functionality brings a whole new level of experience, immersion, and convenience to literature lovers in comparison with the “conventional” reading of printed books. Today, the best ebook apps offer their users many ways to enjoy literature in different formats on smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other digital devices.
The choice of a favorite software product to enjoy books ultimately depends on the user’s personal preferences. For some people, the best book reader app is a tiny software that is focused on imitating an ink-and-paper look of traditional books on a device screen. For others, it is a modular software suite that supports dozens of file formats. This allows both reading and listening to books, has a built-in shop and a library of purchased books with a rating system, and many other features.
Best Book Reading Apps For You
Amazon Kindle
The official Kindle apps on iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows are Amazon’s way of letting their customers consume their Kindle ebooks without having to buy a Kindle eReader device.
You can read any Kindle-branded e-book on the Amazon website within the Kindle apps, and there are a variety of features that set this app experience apart from its rivals. These include the built-in dictionary, the ability to skip ahead without losing your place, and Amazon’s X-Ray tech. The latter reveals extra information on a book’s characters and world while you’re reading.
The Amazon Kindle apps aren’t perfect though. The Windows Kindle app is designed more for traditional desktop computers than modern devices with touchscreens, and the iOS and Android versions don’t support ebook purchases. However, you can still purchase Kindle eBooks on the Amazon website, and it will sync to the Kindle app almost immediately.
Apple Books
Pre-installed and made available on all iOS devices right from the start, Apple Books (or just Books) is a simple and user-friendly app, perfect for book lovers who own an iPhone or an iPad. It allows users to purchase books, ebooks, PDFs, and audiobooks.
And thanks to the fact that it syncs over iCloud, it makes all your content available on all your iOS devices.
It can be used for reading as well and allows you to change the background color, font style, and font size in order to adjust the settings for minimum strain on your eyes. Thanks to the huge collection of books available for purchase, the curated lists, and quite regular promotions and discounts, Apple Books is a must-have for millions of iOS users across the globe.
Audible
Audible is a very popular app among iOS and Android users that focuses on listening to audiobooks rather than actually reading.
Available based on a paid subscription, Audible has a vast and impressive library of audiobooks and is the perfect choice for busy individuals who would rather listen to an audiobook while doing something else rather than taking the time to read during their busy days.
Blinkist
Blinkist is one of the most innovative reading apps for book lovers, as it turns reading into a completely different kind of experience.
The creators of Blinkist seem to have understood quite a while ago how precious everyone’s time is. What they came up with is basically a huge collection of summaries of over 5000 non-fiction bestsellers that you can “consume” in as little as 15 minutes each, available on a paid subscription basis. Not only that, but the in-app voice feature can turn each summary into a short audiobook.
ComiXology
ComiXology is one of the oldest and most popular book reading apps for consuming comic books digitally, and with good reason. The ComiXology online store, now owned by Amazon, features literally thousands of new and classic comic books from major publishers like Marvel, DC Comics, and Image Comics. This is in addition to a plethora of smaller brands.
You can download the digital comic books to the iOS, Android, or Kindle Fire apps and read in the traditional fullscreen view or in a new animated panel-by-panel style called Cinematic Guided View. The latter method is ideal for smaller screens, as it zooms in on each panel individually, making the script easier to read.
Epic!
Epic! is kind of like a Netflix for kids. However, instead of TV shows and movies, it supplies the user with a massive library of ebooks and audiobooks. Parents can make unique profiles for each of their children, who can then customize their profiles based on their personal tastes.
While a lot of the classic children’s books are available to download, there are also a lot of modern releases as well, such as one series of books covering famous pop culture icons. Children can also choose from a selection of family-friendly comic books, such as Snoopy and The Smurfs, and numerous short video clips created by DreamWorksTV.
Foxit PDF Reader
Foxit PDF Reader Mobile is one of the best PDF apps out there and is an ideal solution for those who prefer to consume ebooks in the PDF file format. Unlike many similar apps that simply display a PDF as is and require you to pinch and zoom to read its content, Foxit features a reflow setting that resizes and reorganizes the text on a page to fit perfectly on a mobile phone’s screen.
You can transfer PDF files to the Foxit app via Wi-Fi, iCloud, or Foxit’s own Foxit Drive service. Those using an iOS device will be able to import downloaded files directly from the share feature while using other apps as well. You need a monthly subscription to take advantage of a lot of the advanced settings, but those looking for an app to simply read their PDF ebooks will be fine with the free functionality.
Google Play Books
The equivalent of Apple Books for Android users, Google Play Books is a great choice among book lovers for several reasons.
The app is easy to use, book prices are more than reasonable and the overall quality of the services provided is exactly what you would expect from a Google product.
Media365
Media365 is a free reading app for Android that lets you read any of the books in its library in exchange for the occasional fullscreen advertisement. Authors can self-publish on the Media 365 platform, which is why there are so many niche and indie titles available.
However, there are also a large number of mainstream books available, including the entire Harry Potter book series.
The Media 365 library stores eBooks in 15 different languages, while you can adjust font size simply by doing a two-finger pinch on the screen. There’s also a text-to-speech function, which lets the app read books to you.
You can also upload your own ebooks; the app supports EPUB, PDF, AZW3, CBC, CBR, CBZ, CHM, FB2, LIT, MOBI, TCR, AI, and PUB formats.
Rakuten Kubo
Rakuten’s Kobo is a major competitor to Amazon with millions of ebooks and a growing number of audiobooks on its platform. The iOS and Android Kobo apps are clearly where the company puts most of its attention. Each app offers an impressive variety of font sizes, styles, and color options to make the reading experience more personal and comfortable for individual users.
Along with these, the Kobo app is available for Windows 10 in the Microsoft Store app store. Windows users will want to download the separate desktop version of the app, though, which is updated on a more regular basis and offers more features. The desktop app also works on Macs.
Summary Z
Yet another pretty innovative book reading app designed to help the modern reader with limited time, Summary Z attempts to tackle our lack of time for reading through comprehensive and very well-created book summaries.
The concept is quite great, given how limited our time is. Also, Summary Z comes with one more ace up its sleeve: you can choose to either read the summaries or listen to them. Each one of the numerous summaries comes with an audio version.
Additionally, there are other features to ensure that you do as much reading as possible. The app gives you the option to set goals for yourself to ensure that you read every day. It also gives you the option to read quotes and ideas hand-picked by their community readers and writers.
Reading material is served in 5 minutes long increments and one of their most recent updates even added a quiz feature to conclude each reading or listening session. The app is available for iOS and Android users and the first 3 days of use are free of charge. A premium subscription billed monthly or annually will be required after the trial period ends.
Yomu EBook Reader
The Yomu EBook Reader is a fantastic app for iPhone and iPad users. They can download their ebooks in a variety of file formats and bring them all together for a cohesive reading experience.
Yomu, which is Japanese for “to read,” supports all of the popular ebook file formats, in addition to those supported by Amazon Kindle and ComiXology. Files can be imported to the app via a cloud service like iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive. Also, once you install the app, Yomu will appear as a source when saving ebook files from any iOS web browser app.
How Can a Book App Enhance Your Reading Experience?
These days, various software products that provide access to digital books offer their users many ways to enjoy literature. The most crucial change is the possibility to listen to books or even switch between reading and listening modes. This allows users to enjoy better immersion in storytelling and offers more convenience due to a hands-free experience.
One of the most popular features in most ebook reading applications is the library which stores downloaded books. This way, users can have hundreds and even thousands of books on a single device. Before the age of smart devices, such an opportunity was unthinkable, and now it is a mundane reality we have already gotten used to.
Some of the best book reader apps have integration with online stores that sell digital books. This feature allows users to purchase rare works of literature that may be hard to find in traditional bookshops. Usually, similar to other types of stores, they have ratings and user comments to help users choose literature according to their tastes.
Book apps also have many useful features for enthusiasts who are devoted to “traditional” reading. Those features may vary from small quality-of-life improvements to new possibilities that bring the reading process to a new level. For example, a small but convenient feature of changing the font and adjusting its size has a huge benefit by making reading much more comfortable.
Recommended Articles
- HOW TO MERGE PDF FILES WITH ADOBE READER
- HOW TO DRAW ON PDF: Quick & Easy Methods
- HOW TO BUY BOOKS ON KINDLE: Easy Step-By-Step
- BEST APP TO READ BOOKS FOR FREE: Top 13 Apps in 2023
- SPOTIFY AUDIOBOOK: How to Buy Spotify Audiobooks
- How Much Does Crunchyroll Subscription Cost?
References
