All iPads Do you use Apple Books on your iPad? If so, why?

[neutrino23]

I use Apple Books on the iPad (12.9" Pro). I'm not a heavy reader of books so this works well for me. I read PDFs in PDF Expert or read things in the browser.

I'm OK with books. I haven't had any problems with it forgetting where I left off. I mostly get so absorbed in the content I lose focus on things like the font.

 

[cwosigns]

I buy music books and play from them. The iPad is great for musicians that need sheet music.

 

[Saturn007]

There's lot to be said for using multiple ebook readers. I use the Kindle app, Books, and ShuBooks — two different versions of it.

The Kindle app is great for the free Prime Reads we accumulated over the years and for direct access, including browsing and searching, to the marvelous New Oxford America Dictionary that's included on all Macs and i-devices. ShuBooks is a fantastic ebook reader with full-fledged controls — think Stanza — and a much better interface for book collections than Books. Having multiple ebook apps per its one to read different documents and books and switch between them by simply opening the other app. Navigating around Books is a mess. The lack of color controls is frustrating, too.

As to synching, ShuBooks works well through iTunes, an easy matter of drag and drop to upload or download. Kindle synchs well, too. Apple's any Ching is a mess if you've accumulated different books on different devices. Last I checked this, you were forced to accept a clearing out off ALL the ebooks off of your device. Very bad form. ShuBooks and Kindle merge books seamlessly.

So, for the OP, you don't necessarily need to make this an either-or conundrum. Use both Kindle and Books — and check out ShuBooks, too!

 

[Phil77354]

There's lot to be said for using multiple ebook readers. I use the Kindle app, Books, and ShuBooks — two different versions of it.

The Kindle app is great for the free Prime Reads we accumulated over the years and for direct access, including browsing and searching, to the marvelous New Oxford America Dictionary that's included on all Macs and i-devices. ShuBooks is a fantastic ebook reader with full-fledged controls — think Stanza — and a much better interface for book collections than Books. Having multiple ebook apps per its one to read different documents and books and switch between them by simply opening the other app. Navigating around Books is a mess. The lack of color controls is frustrating, too.

As to synching, ShuBooks works well through iTunes, an easy matter of drag and drop to upload or download. Kindle synchs well, too. Apple's any Ching is a mess if you've accumulated different books on different devices. Last I checked this, you were forced to accept a clearing out off ALL the ebooks off of your device. Very bad form. ShuBooks and Kindle merge books seamlessly.

So, for the OP, you don't necessarily need to make this an either-or conundrum. Use both Kindle and Books — and check out ShuBooks, too!

I agree completely (although I'm not familiar with ShuBooks).

Personally I'm very satisfied with the Kindle and do 99% of my ebook reading on a Kindle device, but when I do decide to use one of my iOS devices or Mac to read an ebook, then I'll use the Kindle app and have the benefit of everything synching.

My only frustration with the Kindle is not having book covers display for ebooks obtained outside of the Kindle ecosystem. I've used Calibre in the past but I have always had some reservations about modifying the ebook files.

Keeping a large library of ebooks organized is also challenging, but that is a separate discussion!

 

[Rafterman]

I use Kindle for ebooks, but Books for Audible. The Audible player is great, but when I move to a new device every year (e.g, he next iPhone), I have 30GB worth and on Audible, you have to download them from Audible one at a time - 600 in all, a huge pain. But with iTunes, I can transfer the whole library to Books in one click.

(yes, I keep my entire libraries on my devices)

Interestingly, Kindle allows you to download books from Amazon in one click, by collection, but Audible does not.

 

[oakrrl]

I've never liked the Kindle e-ink. I bought one because of its advertised long battery life, but found when I turned up the lighting enough to get good contrast (especially in sunlight), the battery did NOT last long (maybe two days of vacation reading). I also don't like Kindle's proprietary format & lack of (easy) support for e-books.

Since I use iPad for browsing web, simple email replies, I prefer getting rid of an extra device (Kindle). Besides which, if a book is only available on Kindle, I can use Kindle Reader on iPad. Sure wish the two formats could be consolidated, though - a hassle having some of my library on one device, some on the other.

 

[TechRunner]

I use the Kindle app on my 7th gen iPad. I had a Kindle Fire HD tablet for reading, but found I wanted a "real" tablet that could handle reading, surfing, light gaming and small productivity tasks, and the basic iPad is the best device for the money for those uses, IMO. The Kindle Fire is a good value, but an exercise in frustration for most things other than reading.

 

[Mackilroy]

I've never liked the Kindle e-ink. I bought one because of its advertised long battery life, but found when I turned up the lighting enough to get good contrast (especially in sunlight), the battery did NOT last long (maybe two days of vacation reading). I also don't like Kindle's proprietary format & lack of (easy) support for e-books.

Since I use iPad for browsing web, simple email replies, I prefer getting rid of an extra device (Kindle). Besides which, if a book is only available on Kindle, I can use Kindle Reader on iPad. Sure wish the two formats could be consolidated, though - a hassle having some of my library on one device, some on the other.

I’m surprised you felt you had to turn the lighting up to get good contrast outside. When I’m outdoors I turn the backlight to zero, as it doesn’t make a difference. You didn’t get a Kindle Fire, did you?

 

[Phil77354]

I've never liked the Kindle e-ink. I bought one because of its advertised long battery life, but found when I turned up the lighting enough to get good contrast (especially in sunlight), the battery did NOT last long (maybe two days of vacation reading). I also don't like Kindle's proprietary format & lack of (easy) support for e-books.

Since I use iPad for browsing web, simple email replies, I prefer getting rid of an extra device (Kindle). Besides which, if a book is only available on Kindle, I can use Kindle Reader on iPad. Sure wish the two formats could be consolidated, though - a hassle having some of my library on one device, some on the other.

The iPad is great and if you want to do all of those things then you're right, the Kindle doesn't compare.

But it is not intended to. it's a device for a single purpose, reading. And the Kindle is more comfortable to use when reading in bed or to take with you, smaller and lighter than even the iPad mini.

Battery life is not bad. I still use my Kindle Voyage almost every day, and it is doing better than my Kindle Oasis 2 which does have more degradation to the battery and needs to be recharged more frequently. I'm interested to see what Amazon does next as a replacement to the Oasis, but the ones I'm using now have been great for quite a few years and there is no hurry to replace them.

 

[Saturn007]

Did they ever fix the screen flash when turning pages on the Kindle and Nook e-ink devices? That turned me off when I first saw it. Knew it would lead to eye staring and headaches.

 

[sparksd]

Did they ever fix the screen flash when turning pages on the Kindle and Nook e-ink devices? That turned me off when I first saw it. Knew it would lead to eye staring and headaches.

On Kindle - turn Page Refresh off in Settings. No flash and no adverse side effects with this off on Oasis.

 

[Traverse]

I mostly use the Books app and Comixology. I don't want to split my library between Books and Kindle and Kindle app used to be poorly designed. I don't have an issue with Books since I can change the font type, text size, and background color.

 

[flashflood101]

It becomes apparent when reading threads like this one, that it never occurs to some people that there are usually settings that can be adjusted to change the user experience.

 

[xxray]

Apple Books is my favorite reading app. 95% of the time, I'm reading epubs, and I love that it syncs across my devices, has reading goals for both minutes per day and books per year. It's fluid, modern, and has enough design choices for me. I like how the dark reading mode doesn't just use bright white text on a black background like some other reading apps. It's more of a light grey font which is easier on the eyes. The UI is great compared to other clunkier, buggier reading apps. I don't use Kindle.

 

[sparksd]

It becomes apparent when reading threads like this one, that it never occurs to some people that there are usually settings that can be adjusted to change the user experience.

And will you enlighten us on your insights?