Software Apps for eReading

Third in Series

Ray Hendon

This piece of the series is meant to give you some of the last piece of information you need in order to maximize your eReading experience.  With all the options available today for someone wishing to read books and other electronic media, the time has never been better.

But, eReading is, in one sense, a fragmented industry.  Vendors have their own hardware and, to some degree, their own software.  Each has its own quirks and good points.  But, the industry is coming together much more than they have since 2006 when eReading began its serious stage.

I will cover the software and file formatting issues today.  This involves the eReading apps and file formatting more than anything else.  I hope this information will allow you to make a good choice in how you go about perusing your reading goals.

eReading began as a piece of hardware using a  new E-Ink technology for its display.  You bought a Sony Reader or an Amazon Kindle, and the software was imbedded in the package.  The vendors held their own inventories of books to sell its customers, so when you bought your eReader device, you were committed to the vendor’s library as the source of all your reading options.  Once you decided on your hardware, you were locked in to the vendor.

File Formats and Why They Are Important

The options of different eReader apps cannot be discussed without first covering the basics of file formatting.  It is important because each eReading app is made to read on the file formats which the vendor sell.  This means you cannot read a Nook eBoook on a Kindle device or eReading app from Kindle, and vice versa.

The Kindle reads Amazon’s proprietary file format (AZW), plus TXT,PDF and Mobi files.  Kindle has the ability to convert some other formats of documents into the AWZ specification.  You can, with a Kindle, convert a Word for Windows file to AWZ so you can read your Word files on your reader. 

Kindle does not, however, read or convert the ePub format. This is important because ePub  happens to be the format almost all other eReaders use.  As you would expect, none of the others eReaders can read Amazon’s AWZ files.  So, in an, important sense, the file format is a critical difference in determining what app you choose.

But, there are ways of getting around these restrictions if you are determined.  First, Independent software vendors now sell eBooks formatted in all of the popular file formats, so you have the option of receiving you new eBook in the file format of your choice.

Secondly, hardware vendors began providing free eReading apps to anyone who wants them regardless of whether they owned their hardware.  Although there is nothing altruistic in their motives, it has had a beneficial impact on our choices of reading material.  Taking these two changes together has made a huge difference in the options we have on our eReading experience.

Thanks to the free reading apps and multiplicity of eBook vendors, most any kind of format can be read on almost any laptop, desktop, or smartphone.  The entire world of eReading has opened up, although there is still much brand loyalty to one’s first purchase.

The eReader apps shown below are all available free to owners of just about any PC, tablet, laptop or Android device.  There are many other independent apps available, but I cover only the majors.  Click on the icons to go to the site.

Kobo             Sony                  Kindle             Nook

The iPad has its own free app for eReading, called iBooks.  It is a fine eReader, but it isn’t available for anything but iOS devices. Their library listing is pictured at left.

This means iPad users have the option of using one additional app for their eReading, but the iPad iBooks app is tied to Apple’s rather paltry selection of books, magazines and newspapers.  Because of this, many iPad and iPhone owners also use apps from Kindle, Nook and others to supplement their eBook inventories.

The last development in the spread of eReading is the rise of the free eBook libraries.  Gutenberg.org and Manybooks.net provide their libraries of copyright-free books at no charge.  There are probably close to 100,000 free titles available from these two sources, and both organizations give the downloader the choice of formats when downloading.

These options for format choices and free classic titles has opened up eReading to those who do not have a dedicated E-Ink screen and otherwise constrained with their eBook budgets. If you are interested in collecting and reading electronic editions of books you are not longer required to purchase a dedicated eReader.  The apps are free, and with the recent additions to web eReading, any device that has a browser can read eBooks, Magazines and Newspapers.

Whether you own an E-Ink reader or not, your reading progress on each book can be synced between all your devices, as long as you buy the book from the app vendor.  This allows you to stop reading on any page using, say you Kindle Fire, and pick up where you left off when you switch to an iPhone or Sony Tablet computer. 

The syncing will not work, however, for books bought from vendors other than the supplier of the app.  So a Nook reader will not be able to sync your free books or those you paid for from other app vendors.

Given these latitudes of choice, which of the eReader apps is best?  There is no definitive answer to this question, because if depends on what other devices you have. 

For example, if you have a dedicated E-Ink reader, say the Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight, then you certainly want the Nook apps on your other devices.  That way your library travels with you regardless of which you take along or want to use when convenient.  You obviously do not need to be concerned about the other reading apps

Are there advantages in one reader app over other brands?  Yes and no.  I can’t say that all apps are the same, for they are clearly not.  But, there is little difference in their functionality between brands.  Although the syncing is done differently between brands, they all accomplish what they need to do.

For example:

• Each reader app gives you some font control.  Some have a different set of font types, and some have more sizes than others.  They are all accessed somewhat differently, but in the end, there is little difference.
• All give you some control on background shades and colors. 
• The screen can be split between two columns for wide displays and one for narrower ones like a smartphone or 7-inch table in the portrait mode.
• All offer bookmarks and highlighting modes.
• In-line dictionary lookups are available in various forms.

The biggest difference is in the titles available from each vendor.  Generally, not one can match Amazon’s selections, although Barnes and Noble is quite competent and Sony has a good selection, too,.  But none of the other vendors can match Amazon’s totals or its special publications such as Kindle Singles—unique short-form essays and stories that Amazon contracts directly with the authors to publish.

Add to this Amazon’s vast store of movies and other electronic content, and Amazon rules this space without much dispute.

As for versatility in handling file formats, the Sony Reader, in my testing, is the champ.  I rarely find one it cannot handle, except, of course, AZW. 

But a fairly recent addition to the app war makes file format less a matter on concern.  The icon pictured at right is that of Calibre, a software program that readily converts virtually any file format to any other file format.  For example, it can convert an ePub file to AZW and vice versa.

This is a must have addition to the dedicated eReaders who has multiple file formats on their devices.  Although Calibre also has an eReading app of its own, I don’t care for it, but I like it archiving abilities as a place to hold various file formats, and if you want to read a Nook file format so it an be read on a Sony or Kindle app, Calibre can do it.

If you are content to live with two or more eReading apps, then no conversion will be necessary, so it is absolutely necessary.  I have lived with multiple apps for years, and I have converted only one file through Calibre, but is may prove handy.

I hope this information will assist you in getting the most out of your computing equipment for your reading enjoyment.