Apple Updates iBooks E-reader App
With the release of iOS 4 yesterday – the latest version of Apple’s operating system for the iPhone and iPod touch – Apple has also released an update to the iBooks app for iPad, and a version of that app for the smaller iDevices.
While the addition of iBooks to the iPhone and iPod touch is important – it levels the playing field with the Kindle, which has apps for such devices – there are a couple of interesting features in the new version of this app.
Apple added some new display options: First, you can choose to have text displayed justified (aligned on both the left and right of the column) or not. (To change this, go to the Settings app, tap on iBooks and make your choice.)
Next, the Georgia font is now available (I still prefer Palatino; Georgia is too cramped). Finally, there is a “sepia” display option. I’ve never liked this in practice, though I like the idea. The principle is that the background is beige (something I see as I type this in BBEdit; I’ve long used beige backgrounds for my text editors and terminal apps), but the fonts are reddish-brown. If the fonts were black, I’d be all for it; there’s less contrast, and in low-light situations, it would be easier to read. But the lack of contrast between the font and the background makes it pretty hard to read, defeating any advantage you get by the softer background.
The biggest change, however, is one of syncing your current location as you read. When you close a book, your device sends the location to a server, and the next time you open the book – on the same device, or on a different one – iBooks checks to find all your books’ locations. This bookmarking was, of course, the way you kept your place on one device before, but now you can switch devices and keep your place (as long as you have network access when you close a book). This matches what Amazon offers with its Kindle app and device.
Finally, the iBookstore now more clearly shows you that you can re-download books you’ve already purchased. Before, you’d see, in the Purchases section, a list of books, but the links would suggest that you had to buy the books again if you wanted to re-download them. Now they are marked Redownload (if they’re not on your device). Again, this aligns with the Kindle, which manages your library on its servers; you can now easily get to all the books you’ve bought, even if you don’t save them on your computer in iTunes.
All in all, these are nice improvements for an app that’s already changing the market: both the Nook and Kindle announced lower prices yesterday, in part, I believed, because the iPad and now Apple’s other devices are providing stiff competition to them.
What I don’t understand is, why they don’t release the iBook reader for regular Macs like the iMac and the MBP. Surely if people get in the habit of using ibooks that can only encourage them even further to buy an iPad or iPhone.
iRobert
I’m guessing they’ll roll reader functionality into iTunes at some point.