Four Android Apps to Use for Daily Reading

I do a lot of reading. In fact, I can spend around two hours a day reading a mixture of text and audiobooks. In addition to books, I also like to read various news and blog sites. In this article, I will feature the apps I use to accomplish my daily reading on my Android device, an HTC Evo.

Google Reader

Google Reader is not an app installed on my Evo. Instead, I use the web app with the Android web browser. The web interface is quite a bit more simplistic on the Evo--as with other mobile devices--than it is for the desktop browsers. Upon first opening Google Reader, it gives a list of the most recent headlines from all of my feeds. I don't begin there. I usually tap the Feeds button to see a list of my feeds and then tap each feed to read the respective headlines. Individual headlines can be expanded to either the short version of the article or the full article, depending on which the provider uses. Reader provides several sorting options, the ability to mark all as read, and the ability to search. From the feeds list, Reader also provides the ability to add additional feeds to the list. Reader is simplistic and it gives me easy access to my various news and blog feeds. That is why I use it.

FBReader

In addition to news feeds, I read a lot of e-books. E-books come in many flavors. One such flavor is the EPUB format. I like EPUB books because of the open EBUB format and because EPUB files are easily read on many different platforms. Android is no exception. There are several e-book readers available for Android that can read the EPUB format. My personal favorite is the free FBReader. Out of the box, FBReader gives access to various online e-book sources, one of which is my personal favorite online e-book source, FeedBooks. In addition to access to online e-book sources, FBReader can also get books from the SD card attached to the Android device. This process is quite simple. Simply put the e-book files in a directory named, Books, on the SD card and FBReader finds them automatically. I really like FBReader's simplistic interface. It doesn't get in the way when I'm trying to open a book or read a book. FBReader provides several customization options to change how the app looks and the behaviors for navigating a book. Again, as with Google Reader, I use FBReader for my daily EPUB reading for its simple interface and easy access to my books.

Kindle

Another flavor of e-books I regularly read is the Kindle format. Android conveniently has an app available (only Android 1.6 and up) for reading Kindle books provided by Amazon Mobile, aptly called, Kindle for Android. The Amazon Kindle Store is a resource that provides a wealth of titles to acquire--whether free or for purchase. Kindle for Android is a very solid app that easily proves itself that it was designed to read books. Accessing books and reading them is very fluid and intuitive. The app provides access to the Kindle Store so that additional books may be downloaded. In doing so, the app simply opens the Android browser and goes to the Amazon Kindle Store and then the purchases/downloads are wirelessly delivered to the Kindle for Android app. My favorite feature to the whole Kindle experience is Amazon's Whispersync. With Whispersync, I can purchase a book and have it delivered to my Evo, while also being able to access it on my iPad. It goes even further than that. Let's say I'm reading a book on my iPad and I stop reading as I'm ready to begin reading a new chapter. Because of the way Whispersync works, I can pick up reading the book exactly where I left off on my Evo. Whispersync saves my previous location on my iPad and synchronizes that information with the Kindle app on my Evo. Whispersync also does the same for bookmarks, highlights, and notes. That is a very nice feature and it makes Kindle for Android, in my opinion, the best e-book reader available for Android, as far as reading text is concerned. I'd even venture as far to say that I think the whole Kindle experience is the best way to read e-books on any device the Kindle app is available.

Audible

Finally, I read one other flavor of e-book, namely, the audiobook. I have only recently begun to read audiobooks and I must say that I really enjoy it. Audiobooks provide great entertainment while on long commutes to work, school, or wherever. My favorite place to get audiobooks is at Audible, a subsidiary of Amazon. Audible provides the best selection of audiobooks. It's also the best place to get Star Wars audiobooks. I was quite excited when Audible released its media player for Android, Audible for Android. When I purchase a book on Audible.com, it immediately shows up in my library where I can download it to my Evo from the Audible app. From there, I can begin listening to the book with a simple tap of the finger. As with the other apps I have written about in this post, the Audible app has a simple interface that gives easy access to the available media. The library has several sorting options. Furthermore, the app provides access to the Audible store for the purchasing of new books, along with Audible news and listener stats. The listener stats are pretty neat, as I can see how much I'm reading. While listening to a book, I have the option to see the details and a description of the book, a chapter listing, and the bookmarks I have set. Playback controls include a timeline slider to quickly go to a certain location in the book, a play/pause button, a bookmark button, and a button for scanning back 30 seconds, which is very handy for a quick refresher between listening sessions. Audible for Android is one of the most used apps on my Evo. Audible just by itself is a great service, but to have Audible on my Evo is even better.

I am very pleased that I am able to accomplish my daily reading with an Android device. The portability is a great convenience. There are many more reading apps available for Android, but these are the four I personally use. If you are a reader and/or are interested in reading e-books, I encourage you to try one of the apps mentioned in this post or browse the Android Market for one that suits your preferences.