01-23-2010, 10:25 AM | #1 |
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The Big List of Android eBook Reader Apps
The Great Big List of Android eBook Apps I first created this list in early 2010 when I was using my Android phone to keep up on books while waiting for my nook to arrive from Barnes & Noble. Since then, it has grown and evolved. I don't read primarily on an Android device anymore, so if anyone finds something that has changed, is inaccurate, or a great addition to the list, feel free to comment here or send me a PM. I'll make sure to give credit and karma when possible. It's definitely worth noting that =X= has most of this information in the mobileread wiki at this location. That's https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/EBook_software#Android just in case. Check it out. It's worth it! The Big Booksellers Google Play Books Cost: Free Formats supported: (cloud), ePub, PDF Online catalogs: Google Play Notes: Google has introduced book purchases into their update of the old Android Market, making it easy to buy apps, books, and music. Books are stored in the cloud, but may be downloaded as ePub or PDF files. Kindle Cost: Free Formats supported: azw, mobi, topaz Online catalogs: Amazon Notes: Most popular eBook application in the market at this time. The best feature for those already using Amazon's Kindle is that the Android app "knows" where you stop reading. If you read a bit on your Kindle at home, you can pick up where you left off on your smartphone on the commute to work. When you pick up your Kindle at home, you guessed it. It syncs. Even better, for those who have rooted their nook color devices, it's like having Kindle and nook in one unit. Nook for Android by B&N Cost: Free Formats supported: ePub, prc Online catalogs: Barnes & Noble Notes: If you own a nook, this is the mothership. It has a refined interface, not quite up there with Aldiko, but definitely a good experience. Unfortunately, it weighs in at a whopping 17MB installed, and doesn't even integrate the B&N store into the app, sending eBook purchasers to the website instead. For Android users without apps2sd (via hacks or froyo) it's not worth it yet, but shows promise. Sony Reader Cost: Free Formats supported: ePub, pdf Online catalogs: Sony Notes: Sony's long-expected app is now out for Android, but only supports 2.2 (froyo) and later--pretty odd considering Sony-Ericsson phones don't run this version yet. The app does for Sony Readers what the Kindle and nook apps do for their respective readers in terms of functionality, offering download of already-purchased books, text highlighting, etc. One quibble is that it links to the Android browser to actually purchase material. Kobo Cost: Free Formats supported: ePub, prc Online catalogs: Kobo (formerly Shortcovers) General Purpose Readers Book Place New Cost: Free Formats supported: ??? Online catalogs: Proprietary Notes: An interactive reader that makes reading eBooks a multimedia experience. Optimized for tablets, this reader includes color, highlighting, text-to-speech, and a rich, graphical interface. Mantano Reader Cost: Free trial, with $7.49 full version Formats supported: pdf, epub Online catalogs: Google Books and other online catalogs Notes: Supports Adobe DRM and password-protected files. Allows note-taking, text-to-speech, dictionary support, font customization, full range of filters for book searches. It seems to be the kitchen sink of ebook readers for Android. Duokan Reader Cost: Free Formats supported: txt, ePub Online catalogs: Available but unknown Notes: Seems to be a good, general purpose reader. New to the market. The developer's website is in Chinese, but the app's description is in broken English, so I assume it supports most languages. blio Reader Cost: Free Formats supported: XPS, ePub Online catalogs: proprietary, with ability to sideload other content (no DRM) Notes: Large (12MB) download. Multiple bookmarks. Phrase highlighting with lookup. Text-to-speech (TTS) with word highlighting as it reads (may be useful for literacy work). Can add notes (not just text) for serious study. Supports interactive books. Go Reader Cost: $4.99 Formats supported: pdf Online catalogs: None Notes: This is a full-featured PDF reader for Android. It integrates with gmail, dropbox, evernote, etc., and allows annotations and comments. Aldiko Book Reader Cost: Free with $2.99 "premium" edition available Formats supported: ePub (including Adobe DRM) Online catalogs: feedbooks, O'Reilly, All Romance, Smashwords Notes: Sports the best interface of all readers for Android, using a cover browser on wooden library shelves. Has multiple methods of turning pages and a great night mode. It allows grouping of books into collections and has dictionary support. I don't think there are any differences in functionality between the free and premium versions. Instead, the premium version is more a "donationware" idea. The only cons I've found is it's impossible to click on links in the text to footnotes and it requires its books to be stored in a specific spot on the SD card, making book sharing or comparing among apps a pain. Moon+ Reader Cost: Free with $4.82 "pro" version Formats supported: txt, html, epub, fb2, umd, zip, and OPDS Online catalogs: Multiple sites Notes: Has note-taking and highlighting features, along with online (Google, Wikipedia) and offline (ColorDict, Fora) dictionary support. It also has auto-scroll and online translation (again, Google). The paid version includes TTS (text-to-speech) capabilities. Bluefire Reader Cost: Free Formats supported: ePub (with DRM) and PDF Online catalogs: Multiple sites Notes: Claims to handle about every ePub you can throw at it as well as PDF files. It supports Adobe DRM for ePub which allows books purchased or downloaded from multiple online sites to be read. One quibble is that pressing the "back" button loops from current book to the library and back. iSilo Reader Cost: $15.99 (Says currently $4 off, but that's off the latest increase of $6) Formats supported: iSilo, pdb, txt Online catalogs: Unknown Notes: iSilo is a large, proprietary format made popular in the days of Palm devices. Clients are available for a wide variety of devices, making at least older books widely available. It's an old format, but has its die-hard fans, as evidenced by the hefty pricetag. iSilo, as a format, is hard to convert *from* but easy to convert *to*. This app comes with the CIA World Factbook free. FB Reader Cost: Free Formats supported: ePub, oeb, fb2(.zip), mobi Online catalogs: Just about any OPDS catalog Notes: This is one of the best dedicated reader apps for Android. It has multiple page-turn options, a great night mode, and the ability to click links in the text for footnotes. It also allows you to store books where you like on your sd card. It has expanded its support for online catalogs recently to support any OPDS compatible catalog. If you browse to feedbooks.mobi and click on an ePub link, it will automatically download and import into FBReader. As an added bonus, there is a separate plugin you can download from the Market, giving FBreader Text-to-speech (TTS) support. Cool Reader Cost: Free, but donations accepted Formats supported: epub, fb2, txt, rtf, html, chm, tcr Online catalogs: Unknown Notes: Cool Reader seems to be the biggest challenger so far for the longstanding kings of Android eBook readers. It's features include: View as paper book pages or scroll One or two pages in landscape mode Internal file browser to open books Configurable font face, size, style, interline space, text color, background (solid color, tiled or stretched image) External fonts, background images, CSS styles Book coverpages in file browser Supports install on SD (Android 2.2+) Customizable tap zone actions Customizable key actions (including volume keys) Can lock sensor screen and trackball Can set custom display backlight brightness LDS Reveal Reader Cost: Free Formats supported: ybk, oeb Online catalogs: YanceyWare, Gutenberg, Mormon/Bible downloads. Android chm Reader Cost: Free Formats supported: chm Online catalogs: None. Notes: This is a free, single-format version of the paid HYreader, which supports chm, txt, umd, and html files. Palm Book Reader Cost: Free Formats supported: txt, pdb (no eReader or iSilo) Online catalogs: None txtr ebooks Cost: Free Formats supported: ePub (with DRM), PDF Online catalogs: txtr.com Android Txt EBook Reader Cost: Free Formats supported: txt Online catalogs: None. Notes: This is a free, single-format version of the paid HYreader, which supports chm, txt, umd, and html files. Ebook Reader Cost: Free Formats supported: prc, epub, oeb, fb2/zip Online catalogs: gutenberg, manybooks, feedbooks, booksinmyphone, freecomputerbooks, freetechbooks, and onlinecomputerbooks. Notes: Based on FBreader. Wordoholic Reader Cost: Free Formats supported: ePub, fb2, txt Online catalogs: feedbooks Captionary eBook Viewer Cost: Free Formats supported: epub, txt, zip Online catalogs: None. Ebook Reader Cost: Free Formats supported: S4BB Online catalogs: S4BB Notes: I have no clue what "S4BB" books are, and I try to shy away from proprietary formats, even if popular. Speak Text Easy Cost: $1.45 Formats supported: txt, pdf, epub Online catalogs: feedbooks Notes: Supports text-to-speech (TTS) in books. It claims to detect the language automatically. One reviewer claimed it to be better than Moon+ in this regard. Wattpad Cost: Free Formats supported: Unknown Online catalogs: Wattpad Notes: Its slogan is "The YouTube for eBooks!" Has a teleprompter-like autoscroll mode. Also happens to be cross-platform. Downloads happen by obtaining a "wattcode" for a particular book from the Wattpad mobile site. Entering the code in the reader will download the book. iReader Cost: Free Formats supported: txt, html, chm, umd, pdb, (mobi/ereader), and image files Online catalogs: Unknown GoSpoken Bookstore & eReader Cost: Free Formats supported: Unknown Online catalogs: GoSpoken Notes: This seems to be a UK-based bookstore offering an easy way to buy and read books on Android devices. Their app is cross-platform, allowing sync on up to five devices. Inktera eBook Store Cost: Free Formats supported: Unknown Online catalogs: Inktera Notes: Yet another contender in the broadening world of store/reader combos. OverDrive Media Console Cost: Free Formats supported: epub (ade) and wma audiobooks Online catalogs: Overdrive at libraries around the US. Notes: This is the software supported by most public lending libraries in the United States. It allows downloading of DRM-protected eBooks and audiobooks from your library. Nightbook Cost: Free with $1.50 premium version Formats supported: txt Online catalogs: Unknown MultiReader Cost: $4.86 Formats supported: pdf, ePub, txt, doc, rtf, ppt Online catalogs: Gutenberg Notes: Uses the text-to-speech (TTS) functionalities of the Android device to speak the text of the eBook. Works with multiple languages as well as several different voice services. In other words, it's not limited to just the Android speech synthesis system. ezPDF Reader Cost: Free with $0.99 "pro" version Formats supported: pdf Online catalogs: n/a Notes: Seems to be an impressive PDF reader allowing the user to make annotations in multiple styles. It also supports text-to-speech (TTS) to have PDFs read to you. eReader (Not in Android Market) Cost: Free Formats supported: pdb Online catalogs: eReader.com, Fictionwise Notes: bookmarks, highlights, notes, dictionary lookup when a compatible dictionary is installed. Owned by Barnes & Noble. Readers for non-Latin Script Check out Laputa Reader, Best Reader, Wisbook, and the below for a wide selection of readers supporting Asian scripts in horizontal and vertical modes. Searching for the popular formats, aozora bunko and chm, will also yield many results. KingReader Cost: Free Formats supported: txt, umd, chm, html, jpg, png, bmp Online catalogs: None SnowLamp reader Cost: Free Formats supported: ePUB Online catalogs: Unknown Notes: Korean Cbook Cost: Free Formats supported: pdb (big5 Chinese encoded) Online catalogs: www.haodoo.net Notes: Strictly a Chinese reader with vertical text layout. Others to see not mentioned above include epubreader, starbooks, and PalmBookReader. Comic viewers ComicRack Cost: Free with $6.89 paid version that eliminates adverts and allows wireless sync. Formats supported: CBZ, CBR (natively), CB7, CBT, PDF, DJVU and WebComics (when sync'd with Desktop version) Online catalogs: any WebDAV server. Notes: Optimized for phones and tablets. Single and double page viewing. Auto scrolling. Right left to right reading mode for mangas. Color adjustments. Automatic page cropping for small devices. Full library management with lists and searching. Management of reading states (unread, completed etc.) and bookmarks. USB and Wifi synchronization with ComicRack for Windows. Droid Comic Viewer Cost: Free Formats supported: zip/cbz, rar/cbr, acv, jpeg, png, bmp, folders Online catalogs: Perfect Viewer Cost: Free Formats supported: zip/cbz, rar/cbr, 7z/cb7, jpeg, png, bmp, gif Online catalogs: Androbook Viewer Cost: Free Formats supported: zipped jpg (cbz) Online catalogs: androbook.net ComicBricks - beta Cost: Free Formats supported: jpg, png Online catalogs: Unknown. jjComics Viewer Cost: Free Formats supported: zip, cbz, rar, cbr, jpg, gif, png, bmp Online catalogs: Unknown. Comic Reader Mobi Cost: $14.99 Formats supported: zip, cbz, rar, cbr Online catalogs: any WebDAV server. Notes: Newcomer to the Market. Its most interesting feature is "Smart Lens" which allows you to tap on a text block in the comic, creating a popup of the enlarged text. It also has animated page turns, remembers where you left off, and many options to fit pages correctly on the Android screen. ComiCat Cost: Free Formats supported: zip, cbz, rar, cbr Online catalogs: Unknown Notes: Notable feature: splits two-page scans into two separate views. eBook Tools Calibre Library Cost: Free Formats supported: the kitchen sink Online catalogs: It is one! Notes: If you use eBooks and don't know about Calibre, you've been living under a rock. Calibre, designed by MobileRead.com's own Kovid Goyal, is the swiss army knife of eBook tools. Originally designed for Sony's PRS-500, it has grown over the last five years to support most popular devices as well as a few less popoular ones. It allows for conversion between many formats, reading books on a computer, downloading periodicals...periodically, and acts as a server so that you can download your saved eBooks wirelessly from your computer to your devices as easily as you would from your device manufacturer's store. This app for Android is the client for that server feature. eBook Optimizer Cost: Free Formats supported: ePUB Online catalogs: N/A Notes: Not a reader app, but claims to optimize ePUB files, making them 5-15% smaller for smartphone storage. Bookfm Reader Cost: Free Formats supported: claims any, but client reads ePub Online catalogs: none Notes: You upload your ebook in most formats to www.bookfm.com. The website does the conversion to ePub and syncs with the phone client. Free Library Books to Kindle New Cost: Free Formats supported: azw, mobi, topaz Online catalogs: Overdrive catalogs from public libraries Notes: Get free Kindle e-books (for the Kindle app) if you have a library card. In beta currently and only supports the metro areas of New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Last edited by beartard; 05-27-2012 at 11:42 AM. Reason: Added "Free Library Books to Kindle" thanks to ckim06 of BLD Mobile, "Book Place" |
01-25-2010, 07:35 PM | #2 |
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Thanks, great resource!
I like FBReader myself. |
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01-25-2010, 10:13 PM | #3 |
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Thanks!
Anybody know if any of those support Autoscroll? Just 'cause my N1 is a touchscreen doesn't mean I want to be constantly tapping the screen to change pages! |
01-26-2010, 06:22 PM | #4 |
Minister of Linux
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I haven't seen any that support this feature. I haven't tried them all and don't know if I could for full reviews. The only "readers" I've seen with autoscroll are some news feed readers.
By the way, if you use any of the above, unreviewed clients, please feel free to post a review and I'll update the original post. |
05-17-2010, 03:51 PM | #5 |
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On the face of it there seems to be a lot of choice around for epub reader software for Android until you realise most / all of the above are unable to read Adobe DRM epub which is nominally still the standard.
Not a deal breaker for many on mobileread who prefer to strip the DRM but sometimes I do not have the time or can be bothered to strip the DRM and would happily just want to read a DRM epub on my Android phone. So I suggest an update on the above list to clearly state which software can read what type of DRM epub (if any) would be useful. It really surprises me that Adobe or A.N. Other big player who has adopted Adobe DRM epub e.g. Sony haven't put some resources into developing a software reader for Adobe DRM for use on Android / Windows / iphone. It is Amazon's strategy that I thought played well to the galleries. Being able to synchronize between your phone and dedicated ereader is functionality I want and I would guess is popular? |
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05-18-2010, 05:27 PM | #6 |
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Looks like Kindle for Android is coming this summer.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/18/k...g-this-summer/ |
05-19-2010, 02:29 AM | #7 |
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I know, perfect timing on my part. I just posted the same news on a different thread as well.
As I said in my post above, I am interested in Adobe DRM epub, where are the DRM software readers for that! If Amazon can do it for Kindle....... |
05-19-2010, 02:30 AM | #8 |
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Repeat
Last edited by Dan de V; 05-19-2010 at 02:31 AM. Reason: Repeat |
05-19-2010, 03:43 AM | #9 |
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I upgraded to an Android phone (HTC Desire) at the weekend. Wonderful gadget; so much faster than the Windows Mobile phone I had before.
I'll be buying iReader today, mainly because it covers Mobipocket DRM. While there is a free version, it's a much earlier version. |
05-19-2010, 09:27 PM | #10 | |
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Quote:
Adobe on the other hand not being more proactive does seem very odd since the combination of adobe drm and epub was basically the standard outside north america with all ebook sellers with kindle being almost nowhere, but all that lead will vanish with the fragmentation of epub support due to ibooks and b&n using other drm and amazon getting a kindle app on every devicetype in existence. |
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06-25-2010, 06:02 PM | #11 |
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Autoscroll
This is my first post and let me say how nice it is to find so many kindred spirits! I started reading ebooks on my Palm more than 10 years ago and have been hooked on ebooks ever since. When Palm abandoned it's old OS a while back I bought a Blackberry and have been sorely disappointed with the ereader software available for it. I will be getting an Android soon and am pleased to see the iReader software supports autoscroll. I agree with the Tonyx3. When you read books on small devices, it's very distracting to have to swipe the pages every few seconds. I would think this feature would be a no-brainer for ereader software for small devices. I hope software developers are reading this and take heed!
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06-25-2010, 07:54 PM | #12 | |
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Quote:
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06-26-2010, 12:36 AM | #13 |
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I just got a Motorola Backflip Android phone and am in love with iReader.
It reads secure eReader (.pdb) and Mobipocket secure (.prc). The Mobipocket is a hack - you put in the PIN as opposed to using the actual Mobipocket reader software which is device dependent. And it autoscrolls - not only that it actually will autoscroll fast enough that I can use it, and that's the first time I've EVER found software that will do that. (Backflip AT&T is crippled Android - must use Marketplace apps unless you go through some slightly more complicated steps - i.e. download the developer stuff.) Fonts and colors are very customizable. |
06-28-2010, 05:10 PM | #14 |
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Engadget is now reporting that the Kindle app for android is now available.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/28/k...now-available/ |
07-01-2010, 03:10 PM | #15 |
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android, android;ebooks, cliq, droid, nexus one |
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