Best e-book reading apps for Android

Let's consider modern mobile book reading apps for Android devices. What are their distinctive and competitive features, how much do they cost, and why do we need them?

Bookmate

Bookmate is an internet service and application for reading e-books, created by Viktor Frumkin and Simon Danlop in 2010.

The first version of the application was developed as a simple "reader" where users could upload files in ePub and FB2 formats. Now Bookmate has grown into a full-fledged service with over 850,000 books in 12 languages, including Russian and Azerbaijani.

The advantages of the Bookmate app include:

• Availability of audiobooks, podcasts, and comics;
• Personalized recommendations;
• Selections from publishers, editors, and censors;
• Offline version of the app;
• One subscription for everything.

In the app, users can subscribe to so-called "shelves" where experts, media resources, and other book lovers gather their favorite works. This way, users always have thematic collections at their fingertips.

The Bookmate reader can be finely tuned - users can choose the font type and size, adjust brightness and background color. In the audiobook playback mode, users can adjust the reading speed and set a timer for its shutdown.

Moon+ Reader

Moon+ Reader is a conditionally free mobile app for reading e-books with a rich set of features, released in 2010. The developer continues to improve the app, and as of autumn 2022, version 7.8 with a large set of new features has been released.

Among the advantages of Moon+ Reader, it is important to highlight:

• Support for all modern e-book formats;
• Font, background, screen brightness settings, etc.;
• 10 additional pre-installed themes;
• 15 customizable functions: search, bookmarks, management, hardware buttons, etc.;
• Several page flipping modes, including realistic page turning;
• Built-in dictionaries from Google, Lingo, and ABBYY.

In addition to the free version, which includes essential features for daily book reading, there is an option to purchase the PRO version for $5. This version disables ads, adds more font types and settings. The premium version supports the Text-to-Speech function, which generates speech from printed text, and many other features.

eReader Prestigio

eReader Prestigio is a program and mobile application for reading e-books and PDF documents. It is developed by the international brand Prestigio, which specializes in consumer electronics.

The application is fully localized in Russian and supports all major formats: FB2, FB2.ZIP, ePub, ePub3, DjVu, HTML, etc. The free version provides access to over 5,000 books.

Among the features of the eReader Prestigio app are:

• Personal account, favorites list, shopping cart, download links;
• A collection of books sorted by genres and authors;
• Support for audiobook and music playback;
• Store with access to over 50,000 books;
• File manager and access to cloud storage;
• Convenient side menu for quick navigation through the app.

eReader Prestigio supports the text-to-speech technology TTS in more than 25 languages. The main settings include font type and size, choice of themes, and indentation sizes.

MyBook

MyBook is an internet service founded in 2014, with its own mobile app. The service's library contains over 450,000 e-books and audiobooks, which are available through three different tariffs.

The functional features of MyBook include:

• Automatic replenishment of books from the LitRes store;
• Saving books on the device's storage and reading in offline mode;
• Account synchronization across different devices;
• Reviews and ratings within the app;
• Personal collections and recommendations;
• Legal royalties to authors of uploaded books.

The app's "reader" allows users to choose between a day and night theme, font and margin sizes, line spacing, and left or center alignment.

LitRes

LitRes is a market leader in e-book and audiobook sales in Russia. According to international agencies' data for 2018, LitRes accounted for two-thirds of the market and included six services of various orientations.

The LitRes mobile app is available for Android, iOS, Windows Phone, SmartTV, and other platforms. The app is free and provides access to 60,000 books, including Russian and foreign classics, folk tales, and folklore.

In the LitRes app, readers have the following options:

• Over 1,000 new releases every month;
• Convenient search by genres, authors, years, etc.;
• Reviews and ratings from other book lovers;
• Personal biographies of authors and a complete list of their works;
• News about discounts and promotions;
• Flexible reader settings: font, background, brightness.

The audio player allows changing the playback speed and has a built-in timer that stops the book's playback after a specified time interval. Switching between the text and audio versions is available in real-time mode.

Free and purchased works can be read/listened to in offline mode. They need to be saved on the device for this purpose.

Domashnyaya Biblioteka

Domashnyaya Biblioteka is a free book reading app with the option to purchase premium access, released in 2014. The free version contains around 10,000 classic books and works.

The main features of the app include:

• 25,000 works in Russian and Ukrainian;
• Built-in e-book and audiobook store;
• Flexible reader settings: font, color, background;
• Adaptive design for different device resolutions;
• Search for works by phrase or text fragment;
• Interactive table of contents for large works;
• Unlimited number of bookmarks;
• User file upload;
• And more.

Let's consider the modern mobile applications for reading books on Android devices. What are their distinctive and competitive features, how much do they cost and why do we need them.

ReadEra

ReadEra is a free e-book reader that allows users to upload files in formats such as FB2, PDF, WORD, ePub, MOBI, etc. It does not contain ads and does not offer the purchase of books or other products.

Users can start using the application immediately after downloading and installing it - no additional registration is required.

The competitive advantages of the RedEra application include:

• opening books in FB2.ZIP format without unpacking;
• support for cropping margins in PDF documents;
• opening large PDF files;
• built-in EPUB/MOBI reader;
• creating book content based on titles.

RedEra allows for quick and convenient navigation within an e-book through the table of contents, bookmarks, text highlights, and other reader annotations. At the bottom of the screen, there is a progress bar that can be used to scroll through the book.

If FB2 and ePub books contain footnotes, the application allows users to click on them to read the expanded description. For reading a large number of books, the reader has a multi-channel mode with the ability to save the current reading page.

FBReader

FBReader is a free e-book reader software developed by Nikolay Pultsin in 2005. It works on devices running Windows, Linux, Android, iOS, BlackBerry.

Like most e-book readers, FBReader supports all modern formats, including files with .mobi and .pdf extensions.

The main functional features of the FBReader application include:

• support for UTF-8 and Windows-1251 encodings;
• support for hyperlinks;
• advanced search functions;
• access to online libraries and repositories;
• adaptive design;
• creation of a personal library based on various criteria.

In addition to the free version of the application, there is an extended Premium version for 429 rubles. It includes the ability to create a "bookshelf" and translate texts in books in foreign languages.

For word and phrase translation in a pop-up window above the text, the Dictan dictionary is used, and for translating entire sentences, the translator from Yandex or Google is used.

FullReader

FullReader is a free application for reading e-books, magazines, and comics in formats such as FB2, ePub, DjVu, TXT, MOBI, etc. It also allows for listening to audiobooks in mp3 format.

The application interface is designed in a white-blue style with the option to switch to a night mode. For devices with AMOLED displays, there is an energy-saving function.

The advantages of FullReader include:

• built-in file manager;
• integration with cloud storage;
• customizable toolbar;
• Text-to-Speech function;
• built-in translator for 95 world languages;
• notes and bookmarks.

The text-specific settings are not different from competitors: font type and size, text color, page background. There is an option to switch between daytime and nighttime reading mode and enable/disable auto screen rotation.

Wattpad

Wattpad is a social internet service that brings together writers and readers in one place. It has a mobile application for Android and iOS.

The main idea of Wattpad is to give writers, journalists, poets, and other authors the opportunity to share their creative works with literature enthusiasts. Users of the application have access to over 10 million works. Additionally, there is a section that allows reading books as they are being written.

Access to the service can be obtained immediately after completing the registration, during which it is necessary to specify preferred categories and genres in literature. This allows receiving thematic selections of fresh and already published works.

The application is designed in a minimalist white-orange style and has an adaptive design. The top menu provides access to personal account settings and a genre selection bar.

In the reading mode, users can select a font, highlight and copy text, create bookmarks or notes.