250 best iPad apps: books
Ebooks are a popular pastime on Apple's iPad. We continue our look at the 250 best iPad apps with the best book apps.
Apps like The History of Jazz are like coffee table books for your iPad.
Reading e-books is one of the most popular uses for an iPad. Here are five of the best e-book readers and a few e-book apps that are well worth reading.
1. Kindle (free)
The main competition for Apple’s iBooks app is Amazon’s impressive Kindle app. It will sync your books with your Kindle e-reader if you have one and also syncs across your other devices. Like iBooks, Kindle allows you to annotate and highlight your books but it will also show you popular highlights from other readers.
The main competition for Apple’s iBooks app is Amazon’s impressive Kindle app. It will sync your books with your Kindle e-reader if you have one and also syncs across your other devices. Like iBooks, Kindle allows you to annotate and highlight your books but it will also show you popular highlights from other readers.
2. iBooks (free)
Unusually for a free Apple-made app, iBooks doesn’t come pre-installed on the iPad. Once you’ve downloaded it, however, you’ll have access to Apple’s iBookstore, including more than 18,000 free e-books. The app functions well though the design is a matter of taste. As is the case with a lot of Apple’s apps, it has fake real world touches, such as pretend wooden shelves and dummy pages under the one you’re reading.
Unusually for a free Apple-made app, iBooks doesn’t come pre-installed on the iPad. Once you’ve downloaded it, however, you’ll have access to Apple’s iBookstore, including more than 18,000 free e-books. The app functions well though the design is a matter of taste. As is the case with a lot of Apple’s apps, it has fake real world touches, such as pretend wooden shelves and dummy pages under the one you’re reading.
3. txtr (free)
Though perhaps not as slick as some other e-readers, txtr is one of the few e-book apps in the App Store that will accept books that are protected with Adobe digital rights management software. The app is German, however, so don’t be surprised to find that the store within the app is filled with non-English titles.
Though perhaps not as slick as some other e-readers, txtr is one of the few e-book apps in the App Store that will accept books that are protected with Adobe digital rights management software. The app is German, however, so don’t be surprised to find that the store within the app is filled with non-English titles.
4. Kobo (free)
Thought not as well known as Amazon, Kobo’s e-book store distinguishes itself with a focus on social reading and ‘game’ elements, offering you badges for completing certain tasks within your books. Whether that encourages people to read more or not remains to be seen but it’s an interesting and unusual approach.
Thought not as well known as Amazon, Kobo’s e-book store distinguishes itself with a focus on social reading and ‘game’ elements, offering you badges for completing certain tasks within your books. Whether that encourages people to read more or not remains to be seen but it’s an interesting and unusual approach.
6. Our Choice (£2.99)
Created by Push Pop Press, a company set up by two former Apple engineers, this app really shows what the future of books could look like. Their first title is a revised version of Al Gore’s 2009 book about the environment and it has been augmented with video, interactive charts and fun touches such as blowing into the iPad’s microphone to trigger a demo of wind power. The full screen images look wonderful and there is plenty to explore.
The best of the rest
The Elements (£7.99)
This interactive guide to the periodic table features glorious images and cleverly uses multi-touch controls for navigation. Essential not just for science buffs but for anyone who wants to see what e-books can be.
Life Wonders of the World (£5.99)
Fifty wonders of the world presented with beautiful photography in this app by Life magazine.
The Heart and the Bottle (£3.49)
This beautifully illustrated children’s book, narrated by Helena Bonham-Carter, comes with plenty of hidden tricks and interactive elements for young readers to explore.
The History of Jazz (£2.99)
A stylish app that rethinks the coffee table book, bringing together photos, audio clips and video to help tell the story of jazz.
Phaidon Design Classics (£11.99)
In print this book sells for £100 so this version, re-imagined for the iPad, is a bargain. There are 1,000 design classics detailed within and presented in a well-designed interface.
Solar System (£7.99)
From the same people who made The Elements, this app provides a fascinating guide to the solar system. It’s another app that shows what the iPad is capable of.
Commando Comics for iPad (free)
Men of a certain age will have fond memories of the Commando comics. Now they can build their collection on the iPad, with four free issues upon registering the app.
Created by Push Pop Press, a company set up by two former Apple engineers, this app really shows what the future of books could look like. Their first title is a revised version of Al Gore’s 2009 book about the environment and it has been augmented with video, interactive charts and fun touches such as blowing into the iPad’s microphone to trigger a demo of wind power. The full screen images look wonderful and there is plenty to explore.
The best of the rest
The Elements (£7.99)
This interactive guide to the periodic table features glorious images and cleverly uses multi-touch controls for navigation. Essential not just for science buffs but for anyone who wants to see what e-books can be.
Life Wonders of the World (£5.99)
Fifty wonders of the world presented with beautiful photography in this app by Life magazine.
The Heart and the Bottle (£3.49)
This beautifully illustrated children’s book, narrated by Helena Bonham-Carter, comes with plenty of hidden tricks and interactive elements for young readers to explore.
The History of Jazz (£2.99)
A stylish app that rethinks the coffee table book, bringing together photos, audio clips and video to help tell the story of jazz.
Phaidon Design Classics (£11.99)
In print this book sells for £100 so this version, re-imagined for the iPad, is a bargain. There are 1,000 design classics detailed within and presented in a well-designed interface.
Solar System (£7.99)
From the same people who made The Elements, this app provides a fascinating guide to the solar system. It’s another app that shows what the iPad is capable of.
Commando Comics for iPad (free)
Men of a certain age will have fond memories of the Commando comics. Now they can build their collection on the iPad, with four free issues upon registering the app.
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Where do i get best ipad apps ?
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