The top 10 apps for book lovers
With book apps now outnumbering games in the Apple app store, we thought it was time we did a handy guide to some of the top book apps around. Some will need you to part with a little of your hard-earned wonga, others won’t cost you a bean. We’ve avoided some of the more obvious ones (iBooks, Stanza, Kindle) but if you know of any other book-related apps for the iPhone, iPad or other platforms that we’ve missed – let us know in Comments. As a bookworm, what app can’t you live without?
Free version/59p
This app gives you access to LibriVox’s public library of more than 3,500 free classic audiobooks. They are read by volunteers but the quality is excellent. The free version of the app streams the files and is a great way to try it out, but it’s worth paying for the 59p version so you can download audiobooks and listen to them offline. You can choose books by title, author, language or genre. The only downside is that you can’t use other apps while listening.
iPhone, iPad, iPod
£7.99
Stephen Fry’s latest memoir (revealed yesterday) has been published simultaneously in hardback, as an e-book and an iPhone app. The app, designed by Dare, allows readers to skip through the book using an innovative pinwheel design and four colour coded categories – people, feelings, subjects and Fryisms. Basically enabling you to read the book in a non-linear way, kind of how the big man has led his unconventional and wonderfully quirky life.
£5.49
This read-along book from Disney/Pixar is the perfect distraction while you’re waiting for the DVD release (22 November). It reads a nicely edited short version of the film aloud, but you can also record your own voice or your children’s reading the story too. Full of interaction, fantastic 3D effects, games, puzzles, colouring boards and Toy Story songs – a slick and sophisticated app. There are plenty more where this came from, check out Disney Digital Books.
Free app, individual comics around £1.19
There are other mentionables out there (DC Comics, Comic Reader Mobi and Stanza has recently added comic book support) but this is still the front runner. Hundreds of titles are available through Marvel’s app for the iPad. Comic fans can buy their favourite and latest comics including the likes of Iron Man, Thor, Spider-Man, Wolverine and Captain America. The art work is displayed in vibrant high-resolution and the page-flipping interface is smooth and intuitive. You can zoom in on comic book frames by tapping the screen and there’s an option to flip through the comic in full page mode or frame-by-frame.
Free to download, book prices vary
The Kobo e-book store describes itself as a ‘device-neutral platform’ – in other words you can browse, search, buy and read your favourite e-books on just about any device you choose. Your smartphone (iPhone, Blackberry, Android or Palm Pre), iPad, e-reader or computer. Most other ebooks are bound to one platform, this app sensibly lets you take it with you. A great choice of books and guaranteed compatibility with all devices would make this app better, but it’s a good hop in the right direction. Follow them on Twitter @kobo.
£2.39 per city guide
Described as: ‘…a tightly edited, discreetly packaged list of the best a location has to offer the design conscious traveller’ these really are things of beauty to have and to hold on your iPhone. With headings such as ‘Neighbourhoods: the areas you need to know and why’ and ‘Landmarks: the shape of the city skyline’ these are useful, well put together guides, and as they’re compiled by correspondents living in the highlighted cities, you feel you’re really getting insider info. The Berlin city guide is free to download at the moment if you fancy a taster. Phaidon also produce the Phaidon Design Classics edition for iPad – the entire contents of the classic book reformatted, consisting of some amazing images of 1,000 of some of the world’s best designs. Not cheap (in app terms) at £11.99, but a lot less cumbersome to carry around.
£1.19 then all books are free
‘23,469 classic books for less than a cup of coffee’. While you won’t find the latest Harry Potter or Twilight, you will find all the classic, out-of-copyright books you can possibly handle in more than a few lifetimes. Brush up on your Shakespeare or finally get round to reading War and Peace. Download the books to your iPhone or iPad or there is the option to email them to yourself (or anyone) so you can read it on your computer.
Wallace and Gromit – The W Files
Free
There are several Wallace and Gromit comic books available to download for the iPhone but the very first one is still free (for a limited time). It’s oddly comforting to have this British institution at your fingertips. As with all the Wallace and Gromit productions, it’s a very clever and funny plot, running across a generous 59-screen storyboard. ‘When strange shapes and flashing lights are seen in the night sky, there are only two paranormal investigators that can solve the problem. Sadly they aren’t available, so Wallace and Gromit might as well have a crack at it. After all, what could possibly go wrong?’ If you’re feeling a little more flash with your cash, their first iPad adventure, ‘The Last Resort’ is available for £2.99 from the iTunes store.
Green Eggs and Ham – Dr. Seuss
£1.19
Dr. Seuss apps are on sale for a limited time only in honour of the 50th anniversary of the children’s classic, Green Eggs and Ham. The first three were launched in February and new titles have been added during the year. They are currently among the most downloaded book apps in the iTunes store. All the apps include the original artwork from the books, and the Dr Seuss brand is famous for improving children’s literacy in a fun and entertaining way. Produced by Oceanhouse Media who also made the Grinchmas! game app which got an honourable mention in the 2009 Best App Ever Awards.
U-Ventures – Choose Your Own Adventure Series
iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
$3.99 in the US store (not available in the UK store yet)
Launched last month, the classic ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ titles have been given a digital makeover starting with the first in the series ‘Return to the Cave of Time’. The original books were groundbreaking in that they allowed the reader to decide what the character did next, so it’s fitting that they’re now breaking new ground in the digital format. As an app, we don’t need to tell you that the potential for twists and turns is literally endless – making it a much richer reading experience for imaginative and curious little minds.
