Reading on Windows 8 - a look at Kindle, Nook, and Kobo

While many readers still comprehend the paper pages of a book, others accept moved on to the encompass of an electronic ink or LCD display. Amazon was the start company to push button eBooks into the mainstream market place in 2007. Today, many readers cull to option upwardly a tablet, cellular telephone, or dedicated eInk device to dive into a world of adventure. We are taking a look at the top three eBook reading apps (Kindle, Nook, and Kobo) for Windows eight and Windows RT devices.

Kindle

Amazon still clutches onto starting time place with its range of electronic ink reading devices and suite of Kindle apps. Opening the Windows 8 application throws y'all into a grid list of your eBook library that can be sorted alphabetically or by your most recently read content. Switching between content on your device and content stored in the cloud is only a click away.

The Kindle Store itself mimics the layout that nosotros have seen on the Kindle Fire HD; it is easy to find new content, locate specific genres, and run across personal recommendations.

Reading within the Kindle app is a pleasant experience equally y'all swipe or tap your way through a novel. We did enjoy the added features including annotation highlights and quick dictionary definition expect ups. In that location were times that the application detected a swipe or tap as a dictionary look up, merely information technology was like shooting fish in a barrel to notation the mistake beingness fabricated and correct our actions. It is my personal hope that Amazon works on a better style to observe swipes and taps.

Overall: The Kindle app has a large option of eBooks and a super piece of cake UI that allows readers to get to all their content quickly. The Kindle app also has the about unique characteristic set and dictionary definition lookups should not be underrated.

You tin can grab the Kindle app here.

UPDATE: Since this article, a new version of the Amazon Kindle app with a make new UI has been published; click here to acquire more.

Nook

The Nook app opens up to display your "Daily Shelf", a five particular collection of your latest content. The awarding design is a nice bright refresher compared to Amazon'south dark Kindle UI. Users can scroll to the correct to access more than of their collection or showtime browsing content from the store. Dissimilar the Kindle UI, which tucks the shop away until you lot need it, the Nook app's start screen is a mixture of your content and what Barnes and Nobles hopes will soon be your content.

The Nook store has a vibrant collection of media including books, magazines, and comics. Amazon has begun to introduce comic book content into their store, simply for now – Nook has the edge. That being said, we recommend using comiXology'south app for comic volume reading.

Reading with Nook is likewise enjoyable. The application has a page slide animations which pushes pages out of the style; while more beautiful, I detect the animations a bit distracting later an extended reading menses.

Nosotros also savor the fact that the Nook app's settings allow for a "Publish Defaults" selection; it is piece of cake to switch on, and almost always seems to format an eBook perfectly.

We did not like the fact that columns could not manually be adjusted for reading within the application. The Nook app automatically selects a number of columns for yous based on your text size – for me, this is a deal breaker and makes reading non equally comfortable.

Overall: The Nook'south UI is a welcomed change from the nighttime Kindle UI and offers a beautiful layout. If yous insist on integrating comics and books in the aforementioned app, Nook has you lot covered. We enjoyed the pick to switch on "Publish Defaults" for text, but the inability to select the number of reading columns - just might be a deal breaker.

You can grab the Nook app hither.

Kobo

The Kobo ecosystem might be considered a much smaller player next to Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook, merely it nevertheless provides a great selection of content.

Kobo'southward app commencement screen mimics the simplistic design of the Kindle app with similar store integration as seen in the Nook app.

Navigation between areas is cumbersome as the developer decided to ditch Microsoft's guidelines, and buried the nav bar inside the settings panel; this is extremely disappointing as the residuum of the awarding, including the reading feel, feels cracking.

Navigation within your eBooks takes a slight turn from the Kindle and Nook apps as yous are only allowed to tap through pages – no swiping for Kobo. The app does include an option for publisher defaults which we enjoyed.

Overview: The Kobo app creates a great alternative for readers who don't want to feed into the Kindle or Nook machines. The content choice for books is still vast, and reading is enjoyable. We would like the option to swipe through our content though. As well, a redesign of the navigation is a must.

Yous can grab the Kobo app here.

For more than information most reading eBooks on your Windows 8 tablet – stay tuned to Windows Phone Key. For more information nearly reading paper books – enquire your grandmother.

Are you a bookworm - how do you consume your content?

P.S.- Any young man nerds tin can join me on GoodReads past clicking here.

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