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The New Goodreads iPhone App eReader
Posted by Patrick on August 09, 2010
As you may have heard, last week we rolled out the latest version of our iPhone app, and it included a major new feature -- the ability to read ebooks in the app. Choose from over 1900 ebooks, and you'll never be bored in line at the post office again!
And of course, the Goodreads ereader is different from other ereader apps. When you begin reading an ebook on our app, we can automatically add that book to your Currently Reading shelf, if you desire. In addition to that, it's remarkably easy to update your status without leaving the book itself. This is a great way to keep your friends up to date with your reading, even on the go.
To start reading a book, just search for the title of the book or browse from a selection of ebooks under the "Explore" tab on the bottom of the screen. Click on the book you want, and click "read now" in the upper right-hand corner of the page.
If it is a free ebook, you'll be taken directly to the cover of the book to begin reading. If the ebook is for sale, you'll be taken to the mobile site to purchase the book by credit card. Once you're in the book, you can easily page back and forth by touching the sides of the screen. A menu of chapters lets you jump to a specific section of the book, and you can add the book to your shelves, update your progress, and change the appearance of the text.
Don't have an iPhone? Not a problem. You can still read ebooks using our browser-based reader. Choose from a huge selection of free books or try one of the many ebooks for sale. All ebooks on Goodreads are 100% DRM-free, meaning once you download the book, you own it, and you can read it on any device that supports the epub format.
Authors -- this is a great chance for you to reach readers directly where they are talking about your books. Goodreads offers a very generous split on all ebooks sold. To upload your ebook, go to your book page on Goodreads and click the link in the upper right-hand corner to upload and sell your ebook.
As you may have heard, last week we rolled out the latest version of our iPhone app, and it included a major new feature -- the ability to read ebooks in the app. Choose from over 1900 ebooks, and you'll never be bored in line at the post office again!
And of course, the Goodreads ereader is different from other ereader apps. When you begin reading an ebook on our app, we can automatically add that book to your Currently Reading shelf, if you desire. In addition to that, it's remarkably easy to update your status without leaving the book itself. This is a great way to keep your friends up to date with your reading, even on the go.
To start reading a book, just search for the title of the book or browse from a selection of ebooks under the "Explore" tab on the bottom of the screen. Click on the book you want, and click "read now" in the upper right-hand corner of the page.
If it is a free ebook, you'll be taken directly to the cover of the book to begin reading. If the ebook is for sale, you'll be taken to the mobile site to purchase the book by credit card. Once you're in the book, you can easily page back and forth by touching the sides of the screen. A menu of chapters lets you jump to a specific section of the book, and you can add the book to your shelves, update your progress, and change the appearance of the text.
Don't have an iPhone? Not a problem. You can still read ebooks using our browser-based reader. Choose from a huge selection of free books or try one of the many ebooks for sale. All ebooks on Goodreads are 100% DRM-free, meaning once you download the book, you own it, and you can read it on any device that supports the epub format.
Authors -- this is a great chance for you to reach readers directly where they are talking about your books. Goodreads offers a very generous split on all ebooks sold. To upload your ebook, go to your book page on Goodreads and click the link in the upper right-hand corner to upload and sell your ebook.
Comments (showing 1-30 of 30) (30 new)
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Mush
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Aug 09, 2010 12:41pm
Should be "bored," not "board."
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Julio wrote: "Great! Works on the iPad?"It works pretty well on the iPad, because you can scale the text to match the size of the screen. I'll freely admit that the rest of the app doesn't work that well on iPad.
iPad and Android support and needed and on the list. But first we want to nail the iphone. Let us know what features it's lacking!
Just joined the good read group via Permanence Matters. Glad your here. I'd be grateful for any not Apple e-reader, as I have both Barnes & Noble and Kindle readers on my Blackberry.
I just published the first version of my Android app for GoodReads - YAGRAC. Go to the Android Market and search for GoodReads or YAGRAC (Yet Another GoodReads Android Client).
Anju wrote: "It would be nice if you could search for ebooks through the app."I know exactly what you mean Anju. I have a B&N Nook, and I really want to find a way to get my Nook to sync status with my Goodreads account. That sort of feature is on my todo list, but it may take a while to get implented.
I'll very much look forward to the iPad version. For some reason, I cannot download the app to my iPad now. Any idea why?
Apparently, iTunes was having a glitch... Got the app, and it works well. Still looking forward to an app for iPad. All the best...
Mary wrote: "You mentioned a browser-based ereader but gave no link. Where do we find it?"Never mind. I see that when you choose to look at an ebook on goodreads, you automatically open it in the browser-based ereader. Neat.
I have the iPhone app and I don't see the option to buy the book? How can I read a book from the app?
The Goodreads iPhone e-reader is missing fairly basic features. For example, the ability to use a reverse theme (light text on a dark background), which I find to be much easier on my eyes.
Actually, for reading a novel, the iPod Touch works very well. Tapping the screen to bring up the next page is fast and quickly became an action I didn't even have to think of. The iPod Touch weighs nothing, and so holding it for long periods of time is easy. I find that I zip through more books than ever because it's small and I always have it with me, read for a quick read. I prefer the iPad for reading PDFs (which I can markup on the iPad) or technical books, but for reading novels, the iPod Touch (or iPhone) is terrific.
Adam wrote: "David wrote: "Android app??"@David - search for YAGRAC on the Android market."
Thanks for the heads up. Kind of lame that only iOS is good enough for an official app, though.
