Smartphones have come a long way since they came on to the scene about a decade ago. They have made a lot of common household items nearly obsolete. Everything from the mp3 player to physical maps to the calculator are all now in one device, and the list doesn’t end there.
Plenty of people still prefer to have a physical copy of a book, but E-reader technology is something that appeals to a large market nowadays. It started with dedicated E-readers like the Nook and the Kindle, but now your smartphone has the ability to give you all the books could want in the palm of your hand.
As you would expect, there are a number of different apps out there to satisfy the avid reader in all of us. They all tend to function a little differently from one another, with some having more features than others, some being more intuitive than others, and some being more expensive than others.
Here’s a look the top 3 best reading apps you have to check out before you settle on one.
Amazon Kindle
Amazon probably started today’s E-reading trend with their tablet, the Kindle, a few years ago. The tablet itself was extremely popular, but unfortunately, it only functioned as an E-reader.
Since smartphones are now capable of everything the Kindle tablet could do, while also being able to do everything else, Amazon took their Kindle to the app store. Being one of the first, it’s also one of the most solid reading apps out there.
Kindle connects to your Amazon library automatically, so if you bought a lot of books on your old tablet, they are readily available on your smartphone once you download the app. The Amazon library has thousands of books available, and buying a digital copy is usually a fraction of the cost of the actual book.
The Kindle app features customizable fonts, annotations and highlighting, and a built-in Oxford English dictionary. It also has a cool page turning animation for a little touch of nostalgia.
Audible
Love the idea of reading, but don’t have the time to sit down and flip through pages? Audiobooks are your solution. And when it comes to audiobooks, Audible is one of the best deals out there.
The app itself is free, and it offers several options for acquiring audiobooks. They have a huge library, in fact it is powered by Amazon as well, and all of the audiobooks cost about as much as the physical copy would.
If you know you’ll be using the app a lot, say for long car trips or even just your daily commute, there is a subscription option that might be right for you. By paying a monthly subscription, you get one credit a month for any audiobook, regardless of price.
This option is great if most of the books you’re interested in cost more than the monthly subscription because you will end up saving a lot of money down the road. You can find a detailed explanation of Audible’s subscription services from a detailed user review – see it here.
Libby
Want to take advantage of reading apps while also continuing (or starting) to support your local library? Don’t worry, there’s now an option for that too! Libby is a unique reading app that, rather than making you purchase e-books through their collection, gives you access to your local library’s free digital media.
Many libraries have made their books, newspapers, and other materials available digitally in order to keep up with the modern age. After a quick sign in with your library card, all of that can be available through Libby.
Now instead of buying a book that you might only read once, you can borrow any e-books and audiobooks your library has available for free. You can search their collection, place a hold on a book, and extend your due dates all from this simple app. Going to the library has never been easier.