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Don’t limit yourself to one iOS book app. Play with as many as possible and select the ones that are most suited to fit your exciting reading life.
Reading Trainer improves your reading speed and retention rate with 12 challenging and fun exercises. The popular speed reading app is finally available on Android! - Significant increases in your reading speed - Eye-exercises and improvements in your mental capacity This speed reading app provides everything you need to read texts of all types faster, more effectively and most of all, with. First youtube video, so it's kinda bad, just wanted to share my experience with this speed reading app - Outread - that I've used for the last weeks.
There are hundreds of thousands of iPad and iPhone apps in every category in the App Store. Which one answers your needs the most? You won’t know it until you give yourself a chance to compare.
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Even if you are a dedicated user of your favorite ebook platform, you may find out that the connected app is not perfect. It’s nearly perfect, at most. And “nearly” can be fixed by using extra apps that can do what your primary app doesn’t.
Us the following list to discover book apps that are designed to meet various needs. Take some time to play with each one – most of them are free to download. Some offer in-app purchases or subscriptions, but the free mode offers enough features to make up your mind.
Once you make a shortlist, don’t force yourself to pick up the winner and remove all other apps. You do have more than one photo app, use more than one social network, and play more than one iOS game, aren’t you?
Don’t feel guilty of using more than one book app on your iPad or iPhone. The fact that you need a few apps – and you pick up each one for a different reason – doesn’t mean you can’t decide. It’s just the opposite! It means that you are highly effective in defining your reading needs and finding relevant solutions.
Recommended book apps for iPad and iPhone
- Amazon Kindle – connect with the biggest and most advanced ebook platform in the world
- Libby – the next-generation app to read ebooks and audiobooks from your public library
- Inkitt – discover and read free books from contemporary indie authors
- Leio – reimagine your reading life and stay motivated with powerful features
- Scribd – a convenient subscription-based app to enjoy ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines
You can use additional apps to improve reading speed, motivate you to read more, get extra features (such as instant translations to less common languages or better private settings), listen to audiobooks, or support different file formats.
The description of each app comes together with a brief list of most useful features, compatibility, average rating in the U.S. App Store, as well as price information.
Is there an app that hasn’t made it to the list but it’s worth recommending? Feel free to share it together with this list in your social media channels and start a discussion.
Apple iPad – what other users are searching for?
The best iPad and iPhone apps for reading books
1. Amazon Kindle
Our pick: The most advanced book reader for iPad and iPhone
Kindle for iOS is one of these iOS ebook readers you have probably tried already. Everyone who owns a Kindle e-reader or Fire tablet downloads this app to the iPhone and iPad, just to compare the performance and interface, test common features, and decide whether the iOS powered device could become a default reading tool.
The app is constantly improving, keeping up with upgrades of the iOS, but – most importantly – improvements of the Amazon ebook-reading ecosystem.
Kindle is the most advanced book-reading app in the App Store. It offers features you already know, such as X-Ray reference tool, Page Flip in-book navigation, access to library ebooks, or Send to Kindle iOS Share Menu button.
On top of that, Kindle for iOS is now extremely well-connected to Amazon’s subscription-based services: Kindle Unlimited ($9.99-per-month unlimited access to over 1 ebooks, comic books, and magazines) and Prime Reading (a part of Amazon Prime – gives free access to a rotating list of over 1,000 ebooks and magazines).
My favorite feature of the app is Whispersync for Voice. With it, reading an ebook and listening to an audiobook is not “either or” any longer.
Whispersync for Voice technology lets you seamlessly switch between reading a Kindle ebook and listening to its audiobook version. All happens in a few taps! Even better, you can continue digesting the book at the location where you left off.
Benefits: Advanced reference tools, Whispersync for Voice lets switch between reading and listening, read-later feature via Send to Kindle button
Compatibility: iPad, iPhone
Price: Free
Average rating: 4.8/5
2. Apple Books
Our pick: Best integration with iOS and iPadOS
Apple’s own book-reading app (previously called iBooks) rarely gets an update. It usually happens with the introduction of the new iOS. However, for anyone who is looking for an app that’s 100% integrated with the iOS and iPadOS, there is no better choice.
Apple Books is the only app for iPad and iPhone inside which you can directly buy ebooks and audiobooks. Book reading apps from other ebook platforms don’t offer this quite obvious feature because Apple gets a huge fee from all in-app purchases.
The latest major update of Apple Books features a quick start Reading Now section, better library management, and automatic night theme.
Reading Now home screen includes books that the user might consider buying. Under the books that you’ve purchased, you will see titles that you’ve added to your wish list. Swipe down, and you will see recommendations from Apple ebook store in a few popular categories.
The bookstore has a dedicated section. The homepage includes lists of trending books, plus top charts in paid and free categories. When you tap the menu icon in the top right corner, you will also access trending titles in most popular genres.
The biggest benefit, however, is the automatic theme switcher. It’s something other book readers still don’t offer for iOS. What’s important, the dark theme is applied not only to the book-reading interface but also the library view.
Benefits: Easy to use, built-in bookstore, automatic night theme
Compatibility: iPad, iPhone
Price: Free
Average rating: Not available
3. Libby
Our pick: The best iPad and iPhone app for library books
Are you looking for convenient ways to read free ebooks on your iPad or iPhone? You may be surprised to discover you can do it using your library card.
And there is an awesome app that will let you start reading library ebooks in no time. It’s called Libby.
Libby offers the next-generation approach to managing and digesting digital content. First, it’s a combination of the book reader and audiobook player – because modern libraries offer not only ebooks but also audiobooks.
Are you wondering how much time you would need to connect Libby app with your local library account? Keep calm. All you need to do is find your library card and download Libby from the App Store.
The setup process is easy. Libby, powered by OverDrive, will help you find your library and sign in. Everything happens in a few taps. More than 40,000 libraries in 40 countries are connected to OverDrive’s catalog of 2 million ebooks, audiobooks, and videos.
Libby’s most outstanding feature is the ability to sign up with multiple library cards. For instance, you can use the card from your school library and the second one from the local branch of the public library system offering books in your neighborhood.
Why is it important? If you want to read a hot new bestseller, you may wait in a queue in one library, but you may borrow it immediately in the other.
Libby’s next killer feature is a unified catalog where all your loans, from all connected libraries, and in all supported formats, are displayed.
Paraphrasing Laura Bush, “I have found the most valuable thing in my smartphone is my Libby app.”
Benefits: Easily borrow ebooks and audiobooks from a public library, ability to use multiple library cards, beautiful, user-friendly, next-generation interface
Compatibility: iPad, iPhone
Price: Free
Average rating: 4.8/5
4. Blinkist
Our pick: The best way to learn key insights from nonfiction books
Does the fact you don’t have enough time stop you from reading books? Thanks to a clever iOS app you can spend only 15 minutes a day to learn at the speed no one can beat. And it’s not a speed-reading app. It’s much smarter than that.
Blinkist provides summaries from over 3,000 bestselling books in several categories, including career, society & culture, nature & environment, health, entrepreneurship, education, economics, creativity, leadership, or communication skills.
Each book is distilled by experts into 15-minute read, available in both text and audio. The company adds 40 new titles each month, so you will never run of ideas what to blink-read next.
Thanks to Blinkist, you can discover new perspectives on the world, grasp emerging trends in your area of expertise, sharpen your professional skills, and keep motivated. With tailored book recommendations, you will always know what to read next.
The iOS app lets you seamlessly switch between audio and text, so that you can continue no matter what you are doing. There is an offline mode, send-to-Kindle feature, and ability to sync highlights to Evernote.
Blinkist offers a terrific service – great ideas distilled down to their very essence. For those of us who are deeply curious about new ideas on success, happiness, innovation, progress and more, it’s a great start.
– ForbesBenefits: A smart way to learn faster through 15-minute summaries; personalized recommendations; audio and text modes
Compatibility: iPhone, iPad
Price: Free 7-day trial, subscriptions from $1.99 to $54.99
Average rating: 4.7/5
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5. Google Play Books
Our pick: The best way to access your books from any device
No matter which app is your default reading tool for iPad or iPhone, Google Play Books provides a set of features that make it a great solution for your reading needs that are still not met.
First, for millions of Gmail users, Google Play Books is the easiest way to start reading ebooks on their new iOS devices. You don’t need to register for a new service (such as Kobo or Barnes & Noble Nook) to start reading ebooks.
Secondly, if you’ve switched from an Android-powered phone or tablet, and used Google Play Books there, you’ll find a familiar interface on the iOS device. What’s even more important, you’ll have your book library synced.
A benefit of the Google Play ecosystem is easy access to your book library from a web browser. If you want to read many ebooks online on your computer, you don’t have to download any special app to start reading. A web browser, such as Google Chrome or Firefox, is enough. And you can have all these books synced to your iPad or iPhone so that you can continue reading on the go.
The most important feature of Google Play Books, however, is the translation.
Other book-reading apps offer translation for a limited number of languages. The translation feature in Google Play Books is powered by Google Translate. You can choose from over 100 languages, not five or ten. A killer feature is ability to translate not only single words but the entire text that you’ve highlighted.
The app supports audiobook playback. It can sync last listened location with other devices connected to your Google account. Thanks to that, you can play an audiobook on your Google Home smart speaker and then continue on your iPhone.
What’s important, all the content handled by Google Play Books can be used even if you don’t have access to the internet.
Benefits: Instant translations from/to over 100 languages, ease of use both on iOS and online (via web browser), quick start – Google/Gmail users don’t have to register
Compatibility: iPad, iPhone
Price: Free
Average rating: 4.6/5
6. FBReader
Our pick: The best independent epub and mobi reader for iOS
Many users prefer independent book-reading apps over the ones offered by giant ebook platforms such as Apple or Google.
There are lots of book apps offered by independent developers. For a long time, Marvin and Gerty were our favorites, but they have not been developed since 2017, so we had to remove them from this roundup.
Also, there is still no Anybooks app for iOS, therefore former Android users may start looking around for other familiar solutions.
Right now, FBReader is by far the best independent book reader for iPad and iPhone. One of the most popular book-reading apps in the Google Play Store, it has been available for iOS devices since 2017.
The most prominent feature of FBReader for iOS is the support for both epub and mobi file format. As you may know, mobi is the format used by Kindle ecosystem, while most other ebook platforms use epub.
Compared to Google Play version, the iOS app is missing a few features, but it’s still the easiest and most familiar book-reading environment for users who have just switched from Android tablets and smartphones.
The app syncs your bookmarks and reading positions with FBReader cloud, offers several customization options, and is one of few iOS book apps that respect a system light/dark setting.
Benefits: Epub and mobi book reader in one; the best solution for users who switch from Android devices
Compatibility: iPhone, iPad
Price: Free; full edition for $3.99
Average rating: 4.3/5
iPad cheat sheet 2020
Latest Apple iPad models
Together with links to tech specs and best case covers.
Apple iPad mini 5, 7.9-inch
The world’s favorite compact tablet now comes with Apple Pencil 1 support and A12 Bionic chip with Neural Engine, three times the performance and nine times faster graphics. Prices start from $399.
Apple iPad 10.2 (2020 release)
An upgraded entry-level model features A12 Bionic processor making the tablet up to two times faster than the top-selling Windows laptop. Prices start from $329.
Apple iPad Air 4 (2020 release)
An ultra-thin design with all-screen front and 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display, top Touch ID sensor, and USB-C connector. Available in five gorgeous colors. Prices start from $599.
Apple iPad Pro 11-inch (2020 release)
11-inch edge-to-edge 2388 × 1668 px Liquid Retina display with ProMotion, Magic Keyboard and Trackpad support, Ultra Wide camera, A12Z Bionic chip, LiDAR Scanner, and more. Prices from $799.
Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2020 release)
12.9-inch Liquid Retina 2732 × 2048 px LED-backlit Multi‑Touch display with ProMotion, Magic Keyboard and Trackpad support, Ultra Wide camera, A12Z Bionic chip, LiDAR Scanner, and more. Prices from $999.
7. Inkitt
Our pick: The best app to discover and read books from indie authors
There are several, better or worse, iOS apps that give direct access to free ebooks. The only thing is that most of these books are from the public domain, which means they are classic titles.
If you prefer to read contemporary books for free and are ready to give a chance to indie authors, you should give a try to a dedicated app called Inkitt.
This free app has been already downloaded by over 700,000 users from around the world, and is the most popular free book app in 5 countries.
Once you download Inkitt to your iPad or iPhone, you get direct access to over 100,000 novels and stories from thousands of indie authors – at no extra cost. You would be surprised how many great books you can read without paying a penny.
Use a handy genre picker to narrow down search results to the topic you are most interested to explore. The app offers also personalized book recommendations based on your selected genres.
Inkitt is by far the best place I have posted work and I have already told some friends about it. I will be submitting more.
– Patrick, Inkitt authorBenefits: Enjoy novels and short stories from independent authors and help them get recognition they deserve
Compatibility: iPhone, iPad
Price: Free
Average rating: 4.6/5
8. QuickReader
Our pick: The best speed-reading app for iPad and iPhone
Is improving reading comprehension and speed included in your personal development plan? Picking up a dedicated speed-reading app would help achieve this goal.
Some speed-reading apps, the ones that show one word or phrase at a time, may seem too extreme. Instead of getting involved, many users test using the one-word technique, get quickly disappointed, and never come back.
What if training your speed reading skills is optional and not so dramatically different? It’s what QuickReader is about.
On the basic level, QuickReader is a nicely designed book-reading app with many customization options and built-in access to thousands of public domain books from such repositories as Project Gutenberg or Internet Archive.
What I find particularly inviting is a customization of speed reading options and display. Besides setting the speed goal (300 words per minute is an average reading speed), you can personalize the look of the highlight box. Instead of the highlight, you can pick up outline, side bars, or long underline. You can also set your preferred highlight box color.
Each book can be read in two modes: Normal and Guided Reading. The latter one is a great way to gradually improve your reading speed. The technique used to control the speed is simple – a small part of the text is being highlighted and moves forward at the speed you set. With three taps you can skip speed reading mode and come back to normal mode.
The app provides also a simple speed reading test. It’s a good thing to check out before you set the speed goal.
Benefits: A well-designed book reader with optional speed reading trainer, built-in access to thousands of free ebooks, customization of speed reading options
Compatibility: iPhone, iPad
Price: $4.99
Average rating: 4.6/5
9. Leio
Our pick: The best way to organize reading life and stay motivated
Some book-reading apps offer basic stats that measure your reading progress, how much time you need to finish a book, or what is your reading speed.
If you, however, want to learn more about your reading habits or to keep being motivated, you should pick up an app that’s much more advanced.
Try Leio. It’s like a Runkeeper app for book lovers. It’s focused on providing you extensive data on how you read books and how your reading evolves.
You can time your reading sessions, and they will be logged to a reading calendar so that you can see them in a longer time frame. With a Planner tool, you can set up how often you want to read each book, and the app will remind you to read if you want to stay on track.
An even more powerful tool lets you finish reading a book by a specific date. Simply, set up the deadline, and the app will tell you how long and how many pages you’ll need to read per day to finish before that date. As time flies, the app adjusts the reading plan.
Benefits: A powerful way to learn about your reading habits and keep motivated, advanced stats that show how your reading evolves, deadline reading tool
Compatibility: iPhone, iPad
Price: Free; $7.99 to unlock stats for unlimited books; subscriptions from $0.49 per month
Average rating: 4.7/5
10. Scribd
Our pick: The best subscription-based book app for iPad and iPhone
Are you looking for an iOS app that would give you unlimited access to ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines for a monthly or yearly subscription? One app, not two or three?
You first choice would be Amazon Kindle app with Kindle Unlimited membership. The thing is that the app doesn’t have a built-in audiobook player. You’ll have to switch to Audible app for that.
Instead of switching between Kindle and Audible app (and, in fact, paying for two different subscriptions), switch once and for good to an all-in-one Scribd platform.
The Scribd app for iPad and iPhone gives unlimited access not only to ebooks and audiobooks but also popular magazines. There are over 1 million titles in the catalog, many are hot new releases and all-time bestsellers. Besides that, Scribd offers access to the world’s largest document library. There are over 60 million titles to choose from, including government reports, study guides, essays, or academic dissertations.
You can download the content to your iPad or iPhone, so that you can enjoy it without the internet connection. You can make notes, add bookmarks, or highlight text. The app’s interface and neat and user-friendly. You can customize fonts and themes.
Benefits: Enjoy ebooks, magazines, and audiobooks in one handy app
Compatibility: iPhone, iPad
Price: Free 30-day trial; in-app subscription for $8.99 per month; other plans available
Average rating: 4.7/5
• • •
Recommendation box
Top iPad cases and accessories to get in 2020
Based on recommendations from top tech sites and customer reviews.
Zugu Muse multi-functional iPad protective case
This is the best heavy-duty iPad case you can find on Amazon. It features multi-angle stand secured with strong magnetic structure. Military drop tested ( MIL STD 810G 516.6) to withstand 5-feet drops. Available for iPad mini 5, iPad 10.2, Air 3, and latest Pro models.
Average rating: 4.7/5
Penoval high-precision iPad stylus with palm-rejection technology
A great alternative to Apple Pencil. Penoval stylus is using advanced technology for precise, natural, highly responsive writing and drawing with no delays. Works with all current iPad models.
Average rating: 4.4/5
Foldable, fully adjustable aluminum iPad stand
This stylish and stable stand lets you adjust both the angle and height, helping you set your iPad closer to eye level. It’s helpful when you take part in online meetings or make lots of video calls.
Average rating: 4.7/5
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The content available on the Internet is ever increasing, but our attention spans and capacity to consume are not. Speed reading is not a new concept, Tim Ferris has written about this several times but until now you had to develop the art of speed reading by practising for hours. But not any more. A slew of speed reading apps have cropped up for iOS devices that basically do away with the learning curve.
Three such applications, namely ReadQuick, Velocity and Syllable caught my eye. Let’s find out which one is the best.
What is Speed Reading?
It has been scientifically proven that when we read text from a normal page, we are effectively “speaking to our mind”. Which limits our speed to that of our speech. But when you are presented with just one word on screen, which is rapidly replaced by another, you are forced to concentrate on the matter and your speed increases drastically. Speed reading apps present you with just one word and you can increase or decrease the speed of words per minutes (wpm) to suit your needs. If you find your mind wandering when you read, or you read a LOT over the day, speed reading apps can effectively lessen your burden.
Here are our picks for the best speed reading apps for iOS. We list them in no particular order and then choose a winner in the end. But each of these is brilliant in its own right so make sure to try them out. None of these are free though. But they’re worth the cost.
ReadQuick
ReadQuick is the most expensive of the bunch at $5 but also the most feature rich. It is the only one of the trio to support iPad. So if you use an iPad along with an iPhone, ReadQuick makes a lot of sense.
ReadQuick tries to replicate a Newspaper feel and almost gets away with it. The serif type sometimes has rendering issues but it’s not a cause for major concern. There are couple of ways to import your articles in ReadQuick. You can use the built-in browser and just point it to the URL you seek, click the Save Article button and it will be added to your Reading List. It will also offer you to import any link you have copied to the clipboard at launch. You can also connect your Instapaper, Pocket and Readability accounts. I found this to be the best way to import articles. Just connect the specific service from your device and all your bookmarks will show up in ReadQuick just like that. Next time you come across a long article, just add it to Pocket and it will be waiting for you in ReadQuick.
ReadQuick has a Featured tab in the sidebar which includes feeds from many sites such as Macworld, The Daily Caller, GigaOm, Techmeme and Longreads. This can be an incredibly useful tool find the best content quickly. When it comes to reading options, ReadQuick lets you adjust the word speed from 50 to 800 WPM. You can also change the font to Open Dyslexic, increase the size of the font and switch to night mode. If you have a couple of stories to catch up with, you can add them to a playlist and just sit back and relax.
Velocity
Velocity ($2.99) embraces the iOS 7 design language (unlike ReadQuick) and to my eyes it looks beautiful. Just like ReadQuick you can integrate with Pocket, Readability and Instapaper, import a URL from clipboard or use the inbuilt browser to import articles.
From the settings you can change Themes (Light, Dark, Sepia) and it will change the look of the whole app and not just the reading screen. From the reading screen, you can increase the speed from the slider at the bottom, ranging from tortoise to hare. You can choose from fonts like Helvetica Neue, Courier New, Georgia and even Avenir. You can also increase the number of words on screen at a time.
The most impressing part of Velocity is how smoothly it renders text even at high speed. To get a taste of what speed reading looks like, check out the demo on their website.
Syllable
Syllable is the most basic of the bunch and costs 2.99 dollars. The interface is incredibly simple. The home screen is a list of your reads, you can go into settings to add your Pocket and Instapaper account but that’s it. No built-in browser or featured lists like ReadQuick. Once you have your sources linked, tap an article to get started. You can access all the options by tapping the Aa button. Here you get 4 fonts and the usual options to increase font size, night mode and brightness bar. Syllable starts you off with 50 WPM but you can take it up all the way to 1500, although you probably shouldn’t. Syllable will also let you display more than 1 word at a time on screen, but it think that’s defeating the point of speed reading.
Speed Read Reading Technique (in App) 2 0 13
Verdict
If you want features like custom playlists and featured sources and own an iPad, ReadQuick is a no brainer. It is the most expensive of the bunch but you sure get your money’s worth. On the other hand if you want a minimal interface that works incredibly fast, you can’t go wrong with Syllable.
The Winner: Velocity
Velocity sits right in the middle of ReadQuick and Syllable. It is neither as feature rich as the former, nor as minimal as the latter. But its beautiful and functional interface, smooth transitions and gorgeous type make it a winner.
What do you think? Let us discuss in the comments. If you know about free apps that rival these paid ones or maybe even outsmart them, we’d love to know.
Speed Read Reading Technique (in App) 2 0 1
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