Kindle vs Nook vs iBooks on the iPad
Last week I gave my impressions on reading apps for the iPhone, with a head to head comparison between the Kindle and Nook apps.
Oops. Uh, iBooks...my bad.
Honestly, though, I never use the iBooks app to read on my iPhone. Don't know why, but I just don't. I do, however, use iBooks on my iPad, right alongside the Kindle and Nook apps. Why so many reading apps (sorry, Kobo, you just don't do it for me)? Simple reason--I'm an app slut.
So, which reading app do I prefer on the iPad? For the iPhone the clear winner was the Nook app, which surprised me since I had just happily tooled along mostly using my Kindle app. For the iPad the winner is...
The Nook app.
[image error]
What the...
I know, I know. The same. There are reasons for this choice, but it was a closer decision than between just the Kindle and Nook apps on the iPhone.
First, iBooks is very nice to read on. And the 'pages left in chapter' information at the bottom of the screen is very useful--as in, 'Hey, can I finish this chapter before falling asleep? Oh, only thirty pages? Cool.' In a way I prefer this to Nook's attempt to keep the physical book concept of 'pages' (where multiple screens might constitute a physical page), which itself is better than the absurd 'locations' nonsense. 'Locations' seems like something a programmer thought would be cool, but is little more than confusing.
But both iBooks and Kindle on the iPad still are missing those wonderful personalization features that the Nook app integrates so seamlessly. The ability to change margins, line spacing, in addition to the ubiquitous font size manipulation, again put the Nook app out in front of the pack, with iBooks a few lengths behind.
The Kindle app, not surprisingly I suppose, feels the most basic, which is in line with its hardware namesake. Still, would it be impossible to bring the additional customization features to the app?
The Nook gets so much right with such minor enhancements I expect its competitors to catch up quickly. If they're smart.
Oops. Uh, iBooks...my bad.
Honestly, though, I never use the iBooks app to read on my iPhone. Don't know why, but I just don't. I do, however, use iBooks on my iPad, right alongside the Kindle and Nook apps. Why so many reading apps (sorry, Kobo, you just don't do it for me)? Simple reason--I'm an app slut.
So, which reading app do I prefer on the iPad? For the iPhone the clear winner was the Nook app, which surprised me since I had just happily tooled along mostly using my Kindle app. For the iPad the winner is...
The Nook app.
[image error]
What the...
I know, I know. The same. There are reasons for this choice, but it was a closer decision than between just the Kindle and Nook apps on the iPhone.
First, iBooks is very nice to read on. And the 'pages left in chapter' information at the bottom of the screen is very useful--as in, 'Hey, can I finish this chapter before falling asleep? Oh, only thirty pages? Cool.' In a way I prefer this to Nook's attempt to keep the physical book concept of 'pages' (where multiple screens might constitute a physical page), which itself is better than the absurd 'locations' nonsense. 'Locations' seems like something a programmer thought would be cool, but is little more than confusing.
But both iBooks and Kindle on the iPad still are missing those wonderful personalization features that the Nook app integrates so seamlessly. The ability to change margins, line spacing, in addition to the ubiquitous font size manipulation, again put the Nook app out in front of the pack, with iBooks a few lengths behind.
The Kindle app, not surprisingly I suppose, feels the most basic, which is in line with its hardware namesake. Still, would it be impossible to bring the additional customization features to the app?
The Nook gets so much right with such minor enhancements I expect its competitors to catch up quickly. If they're smart.
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