The Kindle book reader has finally made its way to the Android Market, giving Amazon a nice bundle of mobile apps. While iPhone users have had a number of high quality readers for their phones, Android users have been left with fewer selections.
Here are some ebook readers Android users do have to choose from.
Mobile Library
Kindle with Whispersync offers mobile access to your Amazon account, Kindle books and recommendations. The free app lets you purchase and read any Kindle book, also tying in with your Whispersync account. The app isn’t as robust as the iPhone version, but it does expand the ways in which you can access your Kindle content.
Kobo is another Android newcomer. It’s free app offers a searchable library of books to read on your phone. Flipping through digital book pages is easy, and custom settings make for more comfortable reading. The library here is still growing, though the streamlined app is amongst the easiest to navigate and search.
With a cozy interface and easy navigation, Aldiko is a good alternative to the new Kindle. Search from thousands of titles, add them to your bookshelf and download them to your device. The free app comes with all the bells and whistles, from text resizing to searchable bookmarks.
FBReader acts as a library, with a range of books you can add to the free app. The books, most of which are free, can be downloaded in-app or accessed through the Android Market. Keep track of recent books, search by tag, and filter by author or title. There are quick tabs for table of contents, and you can toggle for day or nighttime reading.
The free Word-Player Book Reader app lets you read files from its library or your own SD card, with support for several file types. You can also navigate and bookmark your files for easy access later on. Word-Player also has a text-to-speech add-on app, though I’d wait for an improved version for that feature.
Wattpad is a social ebook community of writers and fans. Receive recommendations for content and users of interest, read user-generated content and share your own work. The free app has over 100,000 titles, active users and plenty of ongoing discussions.
Search and manage
BookWorm isn’t a reader, but it can hold your entire library. The free app keeps track of books of interest, whether you’ve read them yet or not. Add books by search, scan or direct entry, where you can then manage your library based on ratings and comments. Keep a queue of books to read, categorize your library or discover new titles.
Shelves also keeps tabs on your library, with web search, scan and direct entry options as well. Organize books according to title, author, ISBN and more. The free app offers search options for archived items, with product details as well. Beyond books, Shelves can help you manage movies and music too.
