There are people who do not like reading books from electronic screens and still prefer paper. I, on the contrary, have always preferred to read books from the screen. This seemed more convenient to me even when there was nothing but desktop computers, and it became even more convenient when first PDAs and then smartphones with large screens and tablets began to appear.
Today I found the time and decided to put together in an article a selection of the best, in my opinion, applications for reading books for the main operating systems - Android, iOS, Windows.
A good e-book reader – what is it?
What quality requirements do I have for e-book readers?
Like these ones:
- Supports all common formats
A reader that supports only ePub or only MOBI formats is not needed. A normal book reading application should support at least ePub, FB2, Mobi, DjVu and PDF. It is also desirable that it be able to work with books in archives, as well as .doc, .rtf and .txt files - otherwise there are still unique people who digitize books into office document formats instead of specialized book formats. - Supports different reading modes
A good book reader should at least support the change of “day” and “night” reading modes, and even better, have many skins that allow you to choose the most comfortable color scheme for specific lighting conditions. Black text on a white background with no options is a thing of the past. - Support for OPDS catalogs and cloud storage
A good book reader should support at least OPDS catalogs, and preferably also cloud storage. I want to download new books to a smartphone or tablet with a couple of taps on the screen from my cloud or Flibusta’s OPDS catalog, and not transfer them manually from a computer. - Interface for people
Technologies are developing, approaches to the design of application interfaces are changing. And the application design that seemed appropriate in 2009 is today already wildly hurting the eyes. A good book reader has not only good functionality, but also a convenient, minimalistic interface in the spirit of the times. - Nothing extra
I don’t need the reader, in addition to the function of reading books, to offer me to register in some service or impose its bookstore. If the application does not have any unnecessary functions, this is a plus for it. If there is, then it’s a minus.
I have few quality criteria, but it’s not so easy to find an application that meets at least 3 out of 5 criteria.
The best programs for reading books on Android
Finding a normal book reader on Android is quite a task. Countless readers have been released for Android, but most of them are garbage.
Having probably tried all the book reading apps available on Google Play, I could only find two normal ones.
FBReader Premium
FBReader Premium is the most functional book reader ever created for Android OS.
This application is omnivorous in terms of book formats (it even reads comics files), supports working with OPDS catalogs and works quickly on any, even very outdated Android devices. Displays a bookshelf in Google's signature Material Design style. There is a night mode.
It is important not to confuse the regular FBReader and its Premium version. The usual FBReader is outdated, has a terrible design, and support for PDF and DjVu formats is carried out through the installation of separate “crutches”. Creepy.
The disadvantages of the premium version of FBReader include its paid nature.
To use the program you need to pay 199 rubles (as of the day of publication of this note). Well, or download a cracked .apk file from some warez site.
eReader Prestigio
The eReader Prestigio reader was created on the basis of the regular FBReader as a pre-installed application for smartphones and tablets of the Prestigio brand, and later became available to everyone on Google Play.
Using the FBReader engine as a basis, the developers redesigned the interface so that these two applications are not at all similar in appearance, and nothing hints that one of them is the progenitor of the other.
eReader Prestigio supports all book formats and has the most beautiful bookshelf among all book reading applications on Android. The developers also created a gorgeous animation for turning pages, making the feeling of reading books in eReader Prestigio similar to the feeling of reading paper books. Night mode is also present.
Among the minuses, it should be noted that support for OPDS catalogs was removed and the integration of some half-dead e-book store. However, the idea with a book store was recognized as a failure by the developers themselves and began to slowly remove this function and eReader.
If it is important for you to have access to OPDS catalogs of electronic libraries directly from the book reader interface, then look towards FBReader Premium.
In all other cases, eReader Prestigio is clearly the best choice on the Android platform. It's free, convenient and beautiful.
The best programs for reading books on iOS
The situation with book readers is best on iOS. There are few of them, but they are all good.
KyBook 2
The KyBook 2 application is a real combine, and among all its functions, not a single one can be called useless, far-fetched.
Can read books of all formats, generates beautiful and visual bookshelves. Supports working with OPDS catalogs and almost any cloud storage. It has a convenient and thoughtful interface in which the user can customize the color of literally every element.
The program is free, with the ability to upgrade to the PRO version through an internal purchase, which currently costs 299 rubles. In the PRO version, the advertising banner at the bottom of the screen disappears and additional functions appear - in particular, a built-in Tor client, through which you can access Flibusta, which is blocked in the Russian Federation, and other electronic libraries.
Overall, the app is a dream. The only downside is that it only exists for iOS. The developer stubbornly refuses to port his e-reader to other platforms, and it’s a shame: KyBook wouldn’t have the same price for Windows and Android.
iBooks
The standard iBooks app comes preinstalled by default on all iOS and macOS devices.
The iBooks reader supports only two formats - PDF and ePub, and also generates a beautiful bookshelf for accessing books. The program is completely free, has a minimalistic interface and does not contain any distracting banners. You can change fonts and switch to one of three reading modes - day, night and sepia.
The main advantage of iBooks is its integration into the Apple ecosystem, thanks to which books are easily and conveniently synchronized via the iCloud cloud to all iPhones, iPads and MacBooks owned by the user.
Caliber
Caliber is a powerful harvester for organizing.
It would be wrong to call it a book reader, since the main task of this application is to organize the storage of electronic books with flexible search by tags, authors and other data. As well as editing books and converting them from one format to another.
But it also includes a book reader. She is omnivorous and understands any format. In terms of convenience, it cannot compete with the same Fiction Book Reader, but nevertheless, it is quite possible to use it - and this is far from the worst option that is available for use under Windows.
Sumatra PDF
Sumatra PDF is a fast, simple and convenient program that was originally intended to read PDF files, but later learned to also open e-books in all common formats.
Can open multiple files in parallel in different tabs. Remembers open files after shutdown. Can work in a portable version, without installation.
The main advantage of Sumatra PDF is its speed. It is worth installing, at least as a replacement for the slow Adobe Acrobat Reader for reading PDF.
The application is absolutely free.
Conclusion
This is the selection of the best programs for reading e-books that I have developed over the years of reading on different platforms.
The best application for reading e-books at the moment is definitely KyBook 2. It’s a pity that it only exists for iOS.
On Windows, my personal favorite is Fiction Book Reader.
And for Android, I still couldn’t decide for myself which is better, FBReader Premium or eReader Prestigio, so I have both readers installed on my tablet.
Which, by the way, is also quite an option: in one, some technical literature is open, and in the other, a fiction book.
