8 Best eBook Readers for iPhones
Reading e-books on smartphones eliminates the burden of carrying your books. In addition, you can carry so many books on your phone. That said, you will need an e-book reader on iPhone to make sure you open all kinds of e-book files and read them on the go.
Apple bundles a native ebook reader called Apple Books to catch up on your reading. Sure, that’s fine, but it’s basic at best. There are much better eBook readers on the App Store that bring more versatility to your reading experience. With that said, let’s take a look at the eBook reading apps you can try out on your iPhone.
1. Apple Books
Apple Books, formerly iBooks, makes it easy to download eBooks and audiobooks from iTunes directly without going through hoops. It integrates deeply into the Apple ecosystem. For example, using iCloud, you can then sync your entire collection to other Apple devices like iPad or MacBook. On the other hand, AirPrint makes it easy to print PDF files and even notes.
The interface is fluid and reading the books is a joy. The basic features like auto dark mode, search, bookmarks, and notes are all there. It’s easy to find and discover new books, and Apple does a good job of recommending books based on app usage.
Apple Books is free and ad-free, but only supports Apple devices, which is hardly surprising.
2. Kindle
One of the main limitations of Apple Books is that it does not support the Kindle format. It’s no surprise how they vie for the same market share and are two of the biggest ebook platforms.
The Kindle’s user interface isn’t polished but gets the job done. You will find the search bar at the top of the page difficult to reach. Having said that, you will mainly find what you are looking for.
Besides the usual bookmark and note making function, you can change the font type, font size and even the margin, improving the reading experience. Tap and hold a word for definition, translation, or to search Wikipedia.
The greatest strength of Kindle is the collection of ebooks. You won’t find such a large and diverse collection of books from major publishing houses as well as freelance writers. And then there’s the Kindle Unlimited program where you can read your heart for a fixed monthly fee. A godsend for bookworms.
Kindle is free and works on all major mobile and desktop platforms.
3. Marvin 3
Marvin 3 claims to offer over 150 features and improvements. Among these cool interface options, some of them are really amazing like support for customizable gestures, paging modes, multiple scroll options, toggle on / off screen menu items reception, and much more. It will take you some time to figure out all that you can do with the user interface.
Marvin is not for research and discovery, but for opening up your existing DRM-free EPUB, CBX, and CBR comics. Cloud storage integrations make it easy to retrieve books from your collection, while support for GoodReads will let you read book reviews before you start reading.
Marvin 3 is a freemium app with an in-app purchase of $ 4.99 that will unlock premium features and more ways to customize the user interface and reading experience than you know what to do with.
4. Yomu eBook Reader
Yomu supports many more eBook formats like Kindle, PDF, MOBI, and others. The clean interface lets you focus on what matters most – reading. Unlike Marvin, which offers endless ways to personalize the e-book reading experience, Yomu sticks to the basics like brightness, dark mode, and layout.
The emphasis is more on accessibility. The app supports popular eBook formats and popular cloud storage sites like Dropbox, iCloud, and Google Drive. Instead of storing
5. KyBook 3
KyBook finds the perfect balance between Marvin and Yomu. It supports many formats including PDF, EPUB, MOBI and even audiobooks and fiction books. To make reading easy and fun, they added text-to-speech support so you can listen to any eBook on the go. In addition, there are many themes, color combinations, reading and scrolling modes.
There aren’t many eBook reading apps that allow users to annotate text. KyBook 3 allows annotation with Apple Pencil, which you can then export in markdown format. You can also download ebooks from popular cloud storage services and SMB and WebDAV servers, as well as open source libraries such as Project Gutenberg.
Use of KyBook 3 is free. However, syncing and some premium features require a $ 14.99 per year subscription.
6. Kobo Books
Kobo is an e-commerce platform that sells eBooks, audiobooks, and even e-readers. As such, it competes with Amazon. Kobo Books is their eBook reading app that lets you access their collection on your iPhone, but syncs with other platforms. This means that you can research and discover new ebooks to read. In the polished interface, you can use the bottom bar for navigation.
It’s nice to see that Kobo allows users to download ebooks from free and open source platforms like Gutenberg and FeedBooks from within the app. There are a few basic options for customizing the reading experience, but not as versatile as some e-book readers we’ve seen from independent app developers. You can search for definitions and explore Wikipedia and Google, which opens in the Safari browser.
Use of Kobo Books is free.
7. FBReader
FBReader supports MOBI and EPUB ebook formats, but you can also open Word and HTML files in them. Not all iPhone eBook readers have this feature. There are many ways to customize the user interface and reading experience by changing the font type, size, color, background, margins, page animations, etc.
Google Drive hosts the FBReader Book Network. You can create and manage your eBook library here, which will sync across platforms and devices. Think of it as your private library in the cloud.
FBReaders is a freemium app that you can unlock for a one-time fee of $ 4.99.
8. Wattpad
Wattpad is a unique platform where you can both read and write books. Something like Amazon’s Kindle Publishing platform, but on a smaller level. It’s a great platform to find freelance writers before they get famous. Also, a nice platform for writers to tell their stories with the audience to read them.
There is an editorial team that will curate articles that they think may be of interest to you. Wattpad is more about writing or discovering what has been written by others and less about downloading your library. If you like discovering new content, Wattpad is a great destination.
Wattpad Premium will unlock more content and costs $ 5.99 per month.
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Read on the go
So here are some of the best eBook readers for iPhone. There is something for everyone and all applications are free or freemium. This means that you can test the app before upgrading to unlock additional features. Are you using any other eBook reading app? Let us know in the comments section below.
Then:
Want to prop up your Kindle in bed while you read? Here are the best supported covers for Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Oasis editions.
Last updated on April 19, 2021
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