iPhone 12 Pro Max Reading on an iPhone (Kindle vs iPhone)

[Surfman]

See, this is what I want to do. I've got a 12 Pro Max, I should be able to read on it. Wow, much respect 70-80 a year . If I may ask, black background, white text? Sepia?

I have a 12 pro max too but doesn’t feel good to hold for long periods reading v the oasis. Ok if out somewhere filling in time.

 

[Neodym]

OP, re your examples. White text on black isn’t a capital offence, but it should be. There’s a reason books aren’t printed like that!

Reason is that it’s way easier (and cheaper!) to get (and print) white paper and black ink over black paper and white ink.

Besides, white text on black background would be the ideal solution for contrast and minimum eye strain, but for practical and rational reasons, the books and newspapers industry have settled for the second-best solution.

I prefer the iPad app over my Oasis for the black background option, and the excellent control over font size, line spacing, and paragraph width - the exact thing you asked about.[…]

My beautiful Oasis with it's leather cover just gathers dust.

Maybe you should dust off your Oasis, install the latest firmware and play around with the settings: They have a night mode setting with “black background” now (not really black, but it’s better than nothing) and some advanced settings for font size, line spacing and paragraph width.

Heck, you can even change font size with a pinch gesture

 

[Jessemtz25]

I’m only responding to the claim that kindle (e ink) is inherently easier on the eyes. I have no doubt that people have found this to be the case in their own experience, but if they are going a step further by claiming that to be an objective truth, that’s when testimonials are not enough, and it requires factual support.

To reiterate why I don’t believe this is likely an objective truth—as far as I know, light can only be measured in terms of brightness and color. This is true whether it is emitted from an lcd screen or it is emitted from a light bulb then bounced off a surface like an e ink screen. All that matters is the brightness and color of the light when it reaches our eyes. So since both of those values can be adjusted on the iPad, theoretically it could be possible to match the brightness and color of the light bouncing off the kindle screen. And in my experimentation with settings, it came very close. The color was slightly off. That leads me to believe that the higher eye strain caused by the iPad for many people is mostly due to settings. It could also possibly be people trying to read in the dark with the iPad, with the contrast of a lit screen on a black background possibly contributing to eye strain. Obviously people can’t do this with e ink since they’re forced to turn on a light. But either way it leads me to believe the kindle is not inherently better for the eyes, only circumstantially.

If there is another factor I’m missing, I’d be very interested to learn.

You're obviously making your final judgement and assumptions based off of what you think instead of people who have actually used a kindle and iPad. It’s ok for the iPad to not be the end all product you're so stiffly defending. People can make their own mind up and I've not met a person who've use both and not noticed the difference.

 

[subjonas]

You're obviously making your final judgement and assumptions based off of what you think instead of people who have actually used a kindle and iPad. It’s ok for the iPad to not be the end all product you're so stiffly defending. People can make their own mind up and I've not met a person who've use both and not noticed the difference.

I don’t think we’re communicating well.

 

[Jessemtz25]

I don’t think we’re communicating well.

It happens, whatever works for you is best. If you see no difference using an iPhone to read more power to you. Personally I have 2 kindle models now and when I go to the beach, pool or camping all I bring is a Kindle and it works well for my needs. If you are happy not spending the money for a separate reading device good on you.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I can read news articles on my iPhone. Books I read on my kindle Oasis. Magazines on my iPad.

 

[Pezimak]

I received for my birthday this year my first Kindle. I wanted to get into reading more, so I now have the Paperwhite. Love it, it's small yet the screen is the perfect size. And very light. My eyes very much prefer an e-ink screen for books.
But that's me personally. I also enjoy the fact it's just an e reader and so offers less distraction then an iPad or iPhone.

 

[Isamilis]

I received for my birthday this year my first Kindle. I wanted to get into reading more, so I now have the Paperwhite. Love it, it's small yet the screen is the perfect size. And very light. My eyes very much prefer an e-ink screen for books.
But that's me personally. I also enjoy the fact it's just en e reader and so offers less distraction then an iPad or iPhone.

It’s interesting how “old” technology like kindle can still compete with “newest” tech in iPhone and iPad.

 

[MarkX]

Reason is that it’s way easier (and cheaper!) to get (and print) white paper and black ink over black paper and white ink.

Besides, white text on black background would be the ideal solution for contrast and minimum eye strain, but for practical and rational reasons, the books and newspapers industry have settled for the second-best solution.

For readability and clarity dark text on a white background is the BEST solution. Dark mode does have its place but in low light environments.

Rx Optical is now a part of MyEyeDr.

rxoptical.com

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I read on my Kindle every night and for me there is no contest, the kindle is much nicer to read on in regards to books. I don’t mind browsing articles on my iPad but intense reading has to be on a Kindle for me.

 

[One2Grift]

Owned an older kindle I haven’t used in a long while. It was a single use device but I have to say for that single purpose it was solid (reading-contrast good). But I use my iPad mini these days.

The kindle was easy on the eyes right out of the box while the mini required some tweaks to get it reading-contrast optimized for me (I like using the white text on black background). Kindle probably has the slight edge on reading-contrast but the mini imho is the better purchase. It provides a lot of functions and apps on a good sized reading surface in a compact package.

Semi off topic complaint: AppleBooks not having a kindle unlimited equivalent. Many books I read aren’t new releases (and I read often). The unlimited provides a lot of back shelf or well out of print options. While AppleBooks does have free offerings I do read, it’s minimal. If Apple can do it on music, arcade, news? how about a reading unlimited? Now that’s an Apple One package I would go for: Music, iCloud, Reading with ATV+ the savings freebie ?

 

[Neodym]

For readability and clarity dark text on a white background is the BEST solution. Dark mode does have its place but in low light environments.

Rx Optical is now a part of MyEyeDr.

rxoptical.com

There are indications that reading inverted (i.e. white text on black background) could help preventing myopia (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-28904-x), so the answer is probably not as easy as black or white (pun intended ;-)).

 

[Pezimak]

It’s interesting how “old” technology like kindle can still compete with “newest” tech in iPhone and iPad.

Thats a very true statement, a bit like the Apple Watch, full of sensors and very useful, I use one, but some people choose to wear a Swiss automatic watch as it just tells the time, some have a chronograph, and they don’t need to be recharged every morning or evening.
All personal preference at the end of the day

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

The Kindle competes because it is cost effective, easy to use, and the screen is less intensive on the eye when reading in dim lighting. The battery life is also significantly longer than an iPhone/iPad due to less demand from the screen. I think there is a place for all devices and I own an iPad, but would never choose to read a book on it over a kindle personally. I would also feel less sad if my kindle was nicked by the side of the pool compared to my £550 iPad lol.

 

[BigMcGuire]

The only problem I have with Kindle - it is an amazing device - is that I read a book recently that was filled with high definition color photos - How We Got to Now by Steven Johnson. I don't think this would have worked on a small device either - I read this on my iPad Pro 11 and it was just about right - some images almost took the entire screen.

I am still stupidly on a quest to reduce my devices - so I gave away the iPad ... (it went to a very good cause - someone needed it far more than me). I then read a book on my iPhone 12 Pro Max Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins. The book was great, but the experience was not all that great. Constantly scrolling, even in horizontal mode, but grey text (brightness all the way down on black background) - did not hurt my eyes and I'm getting used to it. But it was not an enjoyable experience (had to force myself to read >1 hour).

With my iPad Pro 11 I can sit down and read for 6 hours solid no strain, no pain, no fatigue.

Interesting points about Kindle Unlimited - the only thing that I don't like about it is, I took my "wish list" and out of 20 books, only 1-2 were on it.

There are indications that reading inverted (i.e. white text on black background) could help preventing myopia (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-28904-x), so the answer is probably not as easy as black or white (pun intended ;-)).

How interesting. Last 3 years I've been reading mostly on a black background with white text with brightness turned down (almost looks like grey). I found this enabled me to read for long periods of time without strain. I'm severely nearsighted though - have been since I was a kid (I read books on a daily basis growing up).


Just upsets me to have a $1200 device I only use for reading books (mostly) when I've got an iPhone/MacBook Pro - feels like such a waste. Apple Books on the iPhone is so unpleasant with the massive margins and holding it - I just can't get used to it. I guess there are worse hobbies/additions (for example $20 pack of beer/52 weeks = $1040 a year).

I do keep coming back to the IPP11 for optimal reading - for me personally.

Really appreciate all the thoughts and comments - thanks!

 

[Expos of 1969]

The only problem I have with Kindle - it is an amazing device - is that I read a book recently that was filled with high definition color photos - How We Got to Now by Steven Johnson. I don't think this would have worked on a small device either - I read this on my iPad Pro 11 and it was just about right - some images almost took the entire screen.

I am still stupidly on a quest to reduce my devices - so I gave away the iPad ... (it went to a very good cause - someone needed it far more than me). I then read a book on my iPhone 12 Pro Max Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins. The book was great, but the experience was not all that great. Constantly scrolling, even in horizontal mode, but grey text (brightness all the way down on black background) - did not hurt my eyes and I'm getting used to it. But it was not an enjoyable experience (had to force myself to read >1 hour).

With my iPad Pro 11 I can sit down and read for 6 hours solid no strain, no pain, no fatigue.

Interesting points about Kindle Unlimited - the only thing that I don't like about it is, I took my "wish list" and out of 20 books, only 1-2 were on it.


How interesting. Last 3 years I've been reading mostly on a black background with white text with brightness turned down (almost looks like grey). I found this enabled me to read for long periods of time without strain. I'm severely nearsighted though - have been since I was a kid (I read books on a daily basis growing up).


Just upsets me to have a $1200 device I only use for reading books (mostly) when I've got an iPhone/MacBook Pro - feels like such a waste. Apple Books on the iPhone is so unpleasant with the massive margins and holding it - I just can't get used to it. I guess there are worse hobbies/additions (for example $20 pack of beer/52 weeks = $1040 a year).

I do keep coming back to the IPP11 for optimal reading - for me personally.

Really appreciate all the thoughts and comments - thanks!

Sell the iPad Pro. Buy the basic iPad and half the beer. Win-win and much more enjoyable

 

[theonekcrow]

Can’t make up my mind between e-reader and iPad. I keep changing between them.

I am in this same boat right now. I have my iPhone, my iPad pro, and I found a second hand, 7th generation Kindle on Facebook for $30 that I picked up. I know the e-ink screen is better for my eyes, but I have already purchased a bunch of books over the years for both platforms (and currently no good way to convert them)