Apps have transformed many aspects of our lives, including reading. Forget heavy, physical books; now we have eBook apps. This digital alternative is all about convenience and, even better, it’s environmentally friendly and cost-effective.
There are thousands of apps out there, but what are the best apps for reading on iPhones? In this article, we’ll make a few suggestions, including everything from budget options to the more expensive (but more worthwhile) eBook apps.
Amazon Kindle
Features:
- Small press and self-published content. As well as all the well-known names, you can explore plenty of self-published content.
- Free books. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you become an automatic member of Prime Reading. This gives you access to a large selection of free stories. You can browse through a list of the top 100 free Amazon Kindle eBooks to find your next read.
It’s no surprise that the Amazon Kindle app tops our list of the best apps for reading. It is an intuitive, user-friendly app that offers a wide range of paid and free books, easily adjustable font and text size, and instant dictionary definitions.
You can even add bookmarks, write notes, and change the paper color to customize your experience, and the recommendation feature will keep your to-read list fully stocked. If you hit certain milestones, you unlock different badges, which is a fun way to meet your reading goals.
Another bonus is the Send to Kindle feature. Users can upload PDFs and Word documents to Amazon and then read them in the Amazon Kindle app.
The only downside to this app is the purchasing process. If you want to read a free sample, you can do so without ever leaving the app. But if you want to purchase a paid eBook or even one of the free full-length books, you need to leave the Amazon Kindle app, go to Amazon, and purchase the book.
Audible
Features:
- High-quality audio. According to a few reviewers, Audible has the best audio quality on the market.
- Audible Originals. Exclusive content including celeb podcasts, wellness advice, and dramas.
We can’t talk about the best apps for reading without mentioning Audible, even if we are using the term “reading” loosely. Although Audible has been around since 1995, it only became a subsidiary of Amazon in 2008. Since then, it quickly rose to prominence and soon became one of the best alternatives to reading physical books.
Audible has hundreds of thousands of book titles, as well as podcasts and Audible Originals. There’s plenty of celeb content, including Sleep Sound with Jamie Dornan and Stephen Fry’s Victorian Secrets.
Unfortunately, Audible is on the pricey side. The app is free to download, but the in-app purchases might sting your bank account.
People who invest in an Audible subscription get a set amount of credits each month that they can redeem to read books of their choice. Members also get to pick one book per month to keep forever, even if they cancel their subscription.
Apple Books
Features:
- Family Sharing. Pass on your favorite books to up to five family members.
- Limited time offers. Bag a bargain with Apple’s time-sensitive deals.
Apple Books is automatically downloaded onto every iPhone, which makes it a tempting option. Because it’s specifically designed for iPhones, it is incredibly sophisticated and satisfying to use. The page-turning animations and user-friendly style are big positives.
This app has plenty of free samples and, although the paid books are a bit more expensive than those on Amazon Kindle, limited-time offers are very common. Besides, the Family Sharing feature allows you to send your top picks to five family members, just as you would with a physical book.
Apple Books supports the open ePub format, so you can import books from other sources. Project Gutenberg and Humble Bundle are two popular options for ePub downloads.
Everand
Features:
- All-in-one app. This eBook app contains books, audiobooks, magazine articles, newspapers, podcasts and more!
- One subscription for multiple platforms. When you subscribe to Everand, you also get access to Scribd and SlideShare.
Everand has earned a place as one of our best apps for reading because it is a combination of Audible, Amazon Kindle, and then some! It comes with millions of eBooks, audiobooks, personalized recommendations, magazines, sheet music, and podcasts. Even though you get access to hundreds of bestsellers, Everand can’t claim to have one of the largest selections of books.
Everand requires a paid subscription starting at $11.99/month. However, when you opt for Everand, you don’t have to pay for every book or audiobook individually like you would with other services. Everything is in one place, streamlining your reading experience.
One of the downsides to Everand is that you don’t get to keep the books and audiobooks you access. This can be frustrating, especially if you like to hoard books like me.
Blinkist
Features:
- Minimalist interface. The simple interface is easy to navigate.
- Music. Intelligent use of music keeps you listening for the next big idea.
If you want to expand your knowledge without spending hours reading, Blinkist is the eBook app for you. Granted, this recommendation caters to those who want to absorb key ideas. If you love the experience of settling down and reading a book, keep scrolling.
Blinkist is a book summary app that extracts the most important parts of non-fiction books and presents them to you in 15 minutes or less. Right now, users can choose from over 7,000 books, and the team adds 40 new titles each month.
The app is free, but those without a subscription can only read the daily pick, which is a summary of a random book.
The subscription is well worth the price. In addition to all the book summaries, there are shortcasts, podcasts, and infographics. Basically, Blinkist is great for people who want to keep their brains active, even if they only have short bursts of free time. It is suitable for Literature students and busy professionals alike.
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