My Kindle recently died and now I’m trying to decide if I should replace it or just switch over to Apple Books. I’d say 90% of my reading time is done on an iOS device (iPhone and iPad). I have to say the Apple Books software seems to be more of a delight to use than the Kindle app on iOS. I also like that the books are an open ePub format vs the proprietary Kindle format.
Taking notes or highlighting on the kindle hardware is just so hard and awkward, I rarely ever do it. The only time I find the Kindle better than my iOS device is on the beach, but I only do that a few times a year, not really an important factor for me.
When iBooks and Kindle have the same book at the same price I always buy the iBook - the reading experience is better (especially when the book allows for single-page scroll mode), the font choices are better. To me it’s just more pleasurable to read in iBooks. The update to the iBooks (now Books) app and store are significant and make just about every part of the experience better. (It took them long enough!)
The Kindle app isn’t bad, and I use it on my iPhone. I have hundreds of Kindle books and they read fine there. And when I get a new iPad Pro they’ll read even better.
I had a Kindle Paperwhite device and just didn’t use it, so I sold it back to Amazon… and they attached to my account a 25% coupon for a new Kindle, lol.
iBooks is extremely useful not just for the reading experience but for its ability to easily ingest non-DRMed ebooks and pdfs. I have a couple of pdf manuals for things (eg my DSLR) in iBooks as portable references.
Kindle have an advantage of a cheaper bookstore (often around 1/3 cheaper ebooks here in germany) and additional devices. The software is mostly the same for my taste. Converting epub to mobi is, honestly, not an issue and works like a charm. If they have DRM the problems are the same everywhere.
Taking notes is a bit sluggish on e-paper, but it is comparing apples to oranges. One could take notes on the kindle on iPad, too. But how do I red apple books on e-paper?
I much prefer iBooks, I have tried both because I used to have a Kindle device and now only use iBooks because I prefer the experience, especially as I can use my library of audiobooks and use iTunes to load them onto my devices.
While the reader Books is better than Kindle’s apps, I only buy in Kindle format because it can be read on anything. For the same reason I don’t buy video on iTunes.
That’s a good point. What do you read on? For me it’s a Mac or an iOS device, so either Kindle or iBooks is fine. I have hundreds of Kindle books precisely because most of the time the price is lower there, sometimes by a not-insignificant amount. But when the price is the same I always buy the iBooks.
As for movies, I stream everything by subscription, and I do buy via iTunes. The movies/TV work in all my devices, and with most movies today available as part of the Movies Anywhere group, most items (or a large minority, at any rate) can be viewed on Google Play or YouTube or Vudu - and M.A.-compatible movies purchased there (amazon too?) can be viewed on any of those platforms. I’ve watched iTunes movies on YouTube out of sheer laziness…
Where I live we have an excellent independent bookstore that is affiliated with Kobo. I had never heard of Kobo before, but I signed up for a Kobo account through my bookstore’s website several years ago, and now that bookstore gets a cut of every ebook I buy from Kobo, which I like.
At first I used Kobo’s Mac and iOS apps. At the time, Kobo’s readers were not known for high quality. But a few months ago I got Kobo’s Clara HD reader, and I find that I prefer it to my Kindle Paperwhite.
The Clara HD does a better job than the Paperwhite of lighting the whole screen consistently. I still love my Paperwhite, but it has noticeably lighter and darker areas.
The Clara HD’s case is smaller and lighter than the Amazon-made case I got for the Paperwhite.
The Clara HD’s case has a nifty stand configuration held in place by a magnet.
Particularly if you’ve got a local bookseller that could benefit from it, Kobo’s a nice third option to consider.
I concur with what others have noted. When it comes to media of any sort, I much prefer cross platform approach. Accordingly, I use the Kindle app for all of my books.
I use both the Kindle app and Apple Books. I get some kindle books for free through my Prime subscription. Most PDFs and ePubs go into Books. A lot of my reading is via CloudLibrary or Overdrive since I get most of my books from the library. Free beats out the other options.
I own a Kindle Oasis and I really like it. I much prefer to read it on over any over device. But I don’t own an iPad so I don’t know. I used to have an iPad Mini. But when I read on it I would be easily distracted by other apps. Not so on the Kindle. I also exclusively use the Kindle in bed and it’s just better than an iPad in bed when the lights are out.
I prefer my e-ink kindle for most fiction reading. Library management (adding, removing, and backing up) with Calibre is really easy. An exception for fiction is I bought the Enhanced Edition of “A Song of Ice and Fire” series on iBooks for the maps, notes, audio, etc…).
For non-fiction I prefer PDF and use a PDF app, depending on my needs. Most of the time it’s DEVONThink To Go, or Liquid Text for reference manuals where I need to skip around a lot.
Well, yes, but… ebooks that you buy from Apple still have DRM on them, so you can’t read them elsewhere unless you remove the DRM. So that sort of ruins the whole point of being “open ePub format”, right?
I buy Kindle books and then every few months I go through and remove the DRM using calibre so I can read them anywhere I want to. It may be possible to do the same with iBooks, but I’ve already got my Kindle de-DRM system setup, so it’s easier to keep using that.
All Kindle books here if possible. I have 1 book that is an Adobe Digital Editions and I think I inadvertantly got a couple of iBooks but have since replaced them with Kindle versions. I typically read on my iPad.
I De DRM them using Calibre once a month.
I also have found that the Kindle Unlimited Subscription is cost effective for me. I typically read 8-10 books a month and if even 1 or 2 are avail. as free borrows, and if I do not want them for reference later, I’ve paid for my monthly subscription.
I owned a kindle from the very early days so by the time I got my first iPad I already had quite a library of kindle books.
Now I read on my iPads (or occasionally iPhone) using the Kindle app.
If I had it to do over again, I think I’d still go the Kindle route. Mostly for the multi-platform capabilities. If something were to happen to the Apple ecosphere I could still pick up an android tablet (I have two now actually) and use them with my current collection.
I’m also a mutli-platform user, I have Macs, Windows PCs and Linux boxes. I can use the Kindle app on both Mac and Win and in the web browser on Linux (although I rarely use the web browser for Kindle).
I admit I’ve been contemplating getting a new e-ink Kindle. While I read on my iPads, I’m finding it’s too easy to get distracted by notifications and the like. An e-ink reader would help me to focus. Downside is that it’s another device to carry around, charge, etc and I already have too many gizmos as it is.
The other hold back is price. To get a high capacity (32 gb) reader you are looking at 200 for the paperwhite or around 300 for the oasis. At that price I’m not far from an iPad mini. (Which I already have one of.) Not sure it’s worth the money.
