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iPad Best iPad for reading
- Thread starter Isamilis
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Maybe a weird question, but does anyone here read on their MacBooks? Read as in read long form writing (Kindle books, etc.), not browsing news sites in Safari.
I used to read on my Windows laptop. Found it uncomfortable for that though (specially reading in bed) so I was always on the lookout for alternatives. I stopped reading novels on the PC as soon as I got the OG iPhone (+Stanza). For manga, I switched after getting the iPad 2.
I used to read on my PC pre-iPad years. But now that I'm old and stressed - last thing I wanna do after sitting all day at the computer (I am 100% remote atm) is .... continue to sit at the computer. In a relaxed chair with an iPad ? - much more motivated to read.
I prefer my 4k monitor as it's eye level to the actual MacBook itself - which has way too much screen glare for me to use comfortably.
A few years ago, I used to read on my office Mac with the Kindle app occasionally. Since the reading progress syncs nicely, not a bad thing to have the option.
I have the 11” and it works well for reading. I do like smaller devices so I would say mini 6. I had it for a bit, but felt the 11” and mini 6 was a bit redundant lol. I haven’t found to many issues reading on iPad… I do find kindle much ,ore comfortable, but the biggest selling point on the kindle for me… is that I won’t be tempted to open safari and go to macrumours… lol
i am just trying to get in a reading habbit and my kindle has been a lifechanger… however my case probably is an outlier
i am just trying to get in a reading habbit and my kindle has been a lifechanger… however my case probably is an outlier
I used to read on MacBook, until I have retina iPad. Now I only read on laptop for office stuff.
When I was in school I would usually have an e version of my textbook up on my screen and take notes in a Word doc next to it. So not for fun, but I did read a lot on it back in the day. Not so much recently though.
I would say it depends on your age. My niece happily reads books on her iPhone 7 Plus. I couldn't stand doing that but I'm about 30 odd years older.
But if your eyes are suffering already with a bigger screen I doubt a new iPad would fix the issue.
Personally I got a Kindle for my birthday last year and love it, no distractions when reading and it is incredibly easy on the eyes. E-ink was purely developed to solve the problem of reading on portable devices, I think?. And their is a fair bit of choice E-ink readers these days.
But everyone's different when it comes to this topic as their are a multitude of variables. If I 'were' to chose an iPad for reading purposes. Due to my Kindle screen size being perfectly fine I would use an iPad Mini plus it's smaller.
Having iPad Pro 11” for abt 1 month, I found that the 120hz screen help a bit. But I agree, e-ink screen is easier for eyes (unfortunately kindle didn’t hndle pdf very well - too small and too slow). I still use kindle Oasis for non-academic reading.
I personally dislike e-ink screens because of how slow the page refresh technology is. It makes navigating extremely cumbersome. Amazon has really poured resources into perfecting their iOS apps and it's a terrific experience.
I have a 10th gen. Oasis and page & contents turning is quite fast (unlike the earlier Kindles I owned). I still prefer using the iPad, though.
I had the 10th gen Oasis too. Still not fluid enough for me. Part of what's great about the iOS app is the ability to flip back and forth between pages. It's a fantastic function on an iPad. Just can't replicate that on e-ink.
I also do quite a bit of organization using Collections and it's such a PITA on an e-ink screen.
Yeah, the iPad is a much better experience for me, too. The only time my Oasis sees use now is if I'm reading while sitting out in the sun. I used to like it as a portable reader as it's a larger screen than my 12 Pro Max phone but now the 5G Mini 6 fills that niche.
I really like the Kindle app font - bookerly or something like that. I regret having gone to Apple Books years ago. That font is just so nice to read on. And the iPhone Kindle app ACTUALLY uses the entire screen of the Pro Max phones (unlike Apple's own Book app).
I used to use a Kindle but I went Apple Books back in 2018? and that was the end of that. Still tempted to just bite the $ and go back but... - the idea of dropping $130 on a Kindle to be able to use outside if I wanted to is attractive. And Libby sends books straight to Kindle...
I have the Kindle Oasis, iPad mini 6 and recently got the new Kindle Paperlike. The new Paperlike is superb. V light to hold and an excellent e reader. As others have pointed out, the "problem" with iPad's is that it's too much of a temptation to check the web, emails etc. Reading on the new Paperlike focuses me on the one thing. I actually prefer the Paperlike to the more expensive Oasis which was a surprise to me.
My 9.7 Ipad Pro (2016) has been a faithful servant. I also read a lot at night and my eyes aren't getting any better. My future iPad will probably be 11" or 12.9", hoping it would be a little easier on the eyes, the larger real estate.
Apple Books on the iPhone is really only doable for me if I read in horizontal mode with vertical scrolling on. Otherwise it forces such massive margins that the font size is too tiny.
Kindle Books on the iPhone (in vertical mode) uses the full margins on the iPhone (if you set it to do so) and looks beautiful with Bookerly font. Kindle is vastly superior in vertical mode on an iPhone.
So imo, Apple Books requires an iPad or Mac OS to read comfortably (or you have to be ok with less lines in horizontal mode). Apple Books horizontal is slightly better than Kindle horizontal imo (more lines) on an iPhone.
Since my library is all on Apple Books, when I tried to use just my iPhone, I had to use my iPhone in horizontal mode with vertical scrolling. It was doable but holding my phone for long periods of time like this was not as comfortable as vertical (which I can’t do because Apple Books won’t use the full screen). It was very frustrating after awhile to see EVERY OTHER APP use my full screen on my Pro Max in portrait mode but having to switch to horizontal on Apple Books.
While I agree that Apple just needs to give users the ability to decrease margins in the app (not sure I get why this is such a difficult undertaking for them), I prefer Books for one reason and one reason only: Books has a pretty consistent experience across iOS and MacOS. Kindle on MacOS is just silly. Doesn't sync collections, can't get rid of white menu bars in dark mode which defeats the purpose of dark mode, etc. It's almost like both of these companies - Apple for its iOS app and Amazon for its MacOS app - don't have any developers who actually use the product. Pretty frustrating.
That said, I've been using Books for quite some time. I won't buy Apple Books because there's no way to remove DRM and I want the option to take my books elsewhere in case I decide (God forbid) to use non-Apple devices in the future. Instead, I buy Kindle books, convert to ePub, and then upload to Apple Books. This is also nice because Apple Books syncs really well with iCloud. Essentially that gives me a cloud-based repository for all of my ePubs that "just works" regardless of what device I use.
Same - I left Amazon years and years ago because well because I don't like the monopoly and other reasons. But anyway, I used Calibre with an old Kindle to get all my books moved over to Apple Books. To this day, I still use that old Kindle with Calibre to move stuff over if it's significantly cheaper to get on Amazon. Apple's collection syncing is unmatched - I love how I can get a new Mac/iPad/iPhone and BAM, my entire library is available (380 books). Great point.
Agreed completely on the developers for these products - so infuriating. I send in a feature request every 3-4 months and have for years now - asking for margin sizing, etc - begging to use the full potential of my Pro Max screen.
Falls on deaf ears. Despite that, I'm still an Apple Books customer (mostly). I've purchased a hundred books or so in the last handful of years on Apple Books but I usually look elsewhere if I can for DRM free, Library (Libby), or Prime Reading.
@BigMcGuire @FranApple
Thank you both so much for your valuable answers.
Since we’re on the topic of converting, so far I’ve converted all my books into pdf, and simply do my reading & annotating in the Files app. I can’t say that I miss out on any functionalities so far - but I can’t help but wonder if this is a good workflow.
Thank you both so much for your valuable answers.
Since we’re on the topic of converting, so far I’ve converted all my books into pdf, and simply do my reading & annotating in the Files app. I can’t say that I miss out on any functionalities so far - but I can’t help but wonder if this is a good workflow.