Whether you want to bring your entire collection to a trip with you, or you want to re-read your favorite trilogy in digital form on the morning commute to work, there’s a great reading app available for you.
In fact, in this swiftly changing tech-y era, it’s tough to sort through what apps are must-haves. Most of us are obviously well familiar with the likes of Good Reads, Google Play book, Kindle and so on, however, the list doesn’t end here. Whether you are interested in poetry, comics, classics, or in opening a book club of your own, there are some really amazing phone and tablet apps that can help indulge these interests, enrich your story time and basically just fill yourself with a wonderful sense of wholesome creativity. So
The Week brings you a list of helpful and fun apps that, as a reader, you might want to give a shot.
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Aldiko Book Reader
Sometimes the best Android apps out there are free. Aldiko Book Reader is such a worthy contender that even if you don’t believe in the above statement, after using this particular app you might finally be convinced. This free book reader is one of the best e-readers that you can get on an Android device. The user interface lets you adjust fonts, font size, background colors, and other options, which can really enhance your reading experience. Aldiko also has a night-time reading option that makes it easier to read at night. Other useful features include tagging and bookmarking, dictionary support, and a global-text search that helps you look up words, without leaving the app. So no wonder Aldiko Book Reader is a highly recommended app for book lovers.
Audible
Bookworms have the propensity to burn their eyes out from all that reading, especially if they do it on a bright screen. Is this something that you can relate to? Then allow us to share with you the benefits of using audio books to supplement good old-fashioned hard covers. After all, sometimes, reading is also about listening. And that’s basically why they have included this bit in this fascinating app, Audible. This is the world’s largest provider of digital audio books and their dedicated Android app. So what can we expect from it? A collection of over 180,000 audio books for purchase, a system for tracking your reading list and reading habits, sleep and button-free modes, syncing to Facebook and Twitter to share with friends, multitasking capabilities for background downloading and listening, and a newsfeed frequently updated with author events and more.
Comixology
The feature-rich Android and iOS mobile app is a software that brings the hybrid digital comic bookstore and reader to smartphones and tablets. It is genuinely a near-perfect combination of store and comic book reader in a wonderful Comics app and it is completely free for download. It offers a library of over 75,000 mostly free, or very cheap, comic books, graphic novels, and manga. If that doesn’t get you excited, many are exclusive digital-first titles meaning in many cases, you get to catch the releases here first. It has also been designed to provide a “cinematic, immersive” reading experience that lets you easily flip through pages and zoom in on panels. There is also the option of unlimited subscription-based service that lets you read thousands of titles every month. While Comixology’s Android app does have some holes in its back catalog and lacks features found in the Web version (Comixology.com), it’s still by far the best digital comic book experience available for Android.
Wattpad
Wattpad is the world’s largest community of readers and writers. Basically, Wattpad is a place where you can read thousands of books written by some of the best budding writers around the world. Now available for Android, Wattpad lets you browse over three million books in its library, with stories ranging from romance to science fiction. You can also share the books that you have read via your social networking account or upload the content that you wrote yourself. Furthermore, the app also features an auto-scroll functionality, offline reading, and night mode. Plus, Wattpad has a humongous library of books for your reading pleasure.
Poetry
The app is a fairly straightforward affair. What it offers is a database of thousands of classic and contemporary poems organized by theme and mood, searchable by memorable lines, and the ability to save and share favorites. The point is that any user on Android or iOS gets more than 115 poems from various poets to explore. There are text versions but your experience can be a lot more exciting. The really interesting bit about Poetry, the app, is that all the works are accompanied by audio, video, or both of famous people reciting them. They include Dominic West, Charles Dance, Emilia Fox, Jeremy Irons and many more. This feature has naturally become such a hit that fans of the app swear that “you haven’t heard Rudyard Kipling until you’ve listened to Roger Moore explain that the female of the species is more deadly than the male.” And of course, once again, all this excellent content is free.
Kobo
Besides very friendly customization options, Kobo app offers an experience that makes the most of social reading in the digital age. Kobo’s set of social features is called Reading Life. You can not only read the book, but join in on a conversation about it at any time. There is a Kobo Pulse indicator at the bottom of the page. It gets brighter on pages with more comments and reader activity. When you tap on it you’ll see what other readers think about what you’ve just read. You can also share your own notes and thoughts. Simply highlight the passage and write down your comment. By connecting with your friends’ Reading Life on Facebook, you’ll know what they read, as well as view and compare their awards and stats. There are also several awards to win while you use the app. These awards “help celebrate fun milestones in your Reading Life”. For instance, you can become a Scout Leader or Deep Thinker or Night Rider, depending on how and when you read and use the Reading Life.
