Apple adds night reading theme, full screen mode to iBooks with 1.5 update
Apple on Wednesday issued an update to its iBooks iOS app, adding a night-time reading theme, full-screen layout, new fonts and an improved annotation palette.
iBooks 1.5 for iPhone and iPad arrived in the App Store early Wednesday. The free 20.7MB download (iTunes link) requires iOS 4.2 or later.
According to Apple, the update includes stability and performance improvements, as well as the following features:
Nighttime reading theme makes reading books in the dark easier on the eyes.Full-screen layout lets you focus on the words without distraction.iBooks now features an improved selection of fonts, including Athelas, Charter, Iowa, and Seravek.Beautiful new classic covers for public domain books.A redesigned annotation palette makes it easier to choose a color for your highlighted text.
The Cupertino, Calif., company is currently facing a class-action lawsuit over its iBooks pricing model, as well as a European Commission investigation into possible anti-competitive practices. Unlike Amazon, Apple worked with publishers to adopt an agency model for iBooks, allowing book publishers to set their own prices while providing Apple a cut of their sales. The company currently takes 30 percent of revenue from books sold on the iBookstore.
iBooks 1.5 for iPhone and iPad arrived in the App Store early Wednesday. The free 20.7MB download (iTunes link) requires iOS 4.2 or later.
According to Apple, the update includes stability and performance improvements, as well as the following features:
Nighttime reading theme makes reading books in the dark easier on the eyes.Full-screen layout lets you focus on the words without distraction.iBooks now features an improved selection of fonts, including Athelas, Charter, Iowa, and Seravek.Beautiful new classic covers for public domain books.A redesigned annotation palette makes it easier to choose a color for your highlighted text.
The Cupertino, Calif., company is currently facing a class-action lawsuit over its iBooks pricing model, as well as a European Commission investigation into possible anti-competitive practices. Unlike Amazon, Apple worked with publishers to adopt an agency model for iBooks, allowing book publishers to set their own prices while providing Apple a cut of their sales. The company currently takes 30 percent of revenue from books sold on the iBookstore.
Comments
Additional fonts! Full screen! Night time mode!
I was already happy with reading books on the iPad, as I do read a bit, but this will make it even better!
I love checking out library books for free from home and reading them on my iPad. Kindle has some arrangement with libraries, and is a good reader app?almost an iBooks clone, but it has some annoying rough edges. I?d use iBooks if I could.
(Purchasing ease is not a factor between the two apps, since I don?t want to own a lot of books. I read them and move on.)
I'm liking all of the additional fonts, there are 7 in total to choose from now. I'm also liking the full page option.
I don't think that night time mode is for me though. It's a matter of preference, and it seems like all it does is swap the text with the background, making them inverse. That option was always in the iPad wasn't it? It's under settings/general/accessibility/white on black. But it's a good option to have directly in iBooks for those people who need it.
Interesting: the new iBooks update only requires iOS 4.2. I can get it without committing iOS5cide.
What's wrong with iOS 5? Why are you still using 4.2?
I've been using 5 since it was available and everything is smooth here, plus I like the extra multitouch gestures. And don't you need 5 for wireless syncing and iCloud? It's a big plus not having to plug in the iPad to a computer anymore.
Well, I just updated and I opened a book real quick just to see how things look.
I'm liking all of the additional fonts, there are 7 in total to choose from now. I'm also liking the full page option.
I don't think that night time mode is for me though. It's a matter of preference, and it seems like all it does is swap the text with the background, making them inverse. That option was always in the iPad wasn't it? It's under settings/general/accessibility/white on black. But it's a good option to have directly in iBooks for those people who need it.
I just updated on my iPhone and I don't really see a full screen option. I thought it would fill up the entire screen like the kindle app(the only thing that's better on the kindle app compared to ibooks) but it seems to take up the same amount of space as before. Night mode and the new fonts are cool.
Interesting: the new iBooks update only requires iOS 4.2. I can get it without committing iOS5cide.
iPhone 4 (not S), original iPad, iOS 5.0.1 - great, no problems (except a single battery drained in a flash episode).
iBooks 1.5 - nice! Like the full-screen mode and am keen to try night mode out.
Tried sepia for the first time (old feature I know), quite like that too.
My book is still in the store.
I just updated on my iPhone and I don't really see a full screen option. I don't really see any difference. I thought it would fill up the screen like the kindle app but it seems to take up the same amount of space. Night mode and the new fonts are cool.
On the iPad, full screen replaces the book look with the full page. Just grabs a little screen space back. A nice, subtle feature.
Now work out a deal with libraries, and it can replace the Kindle app for me
I love checking out library books for free from home and reading them on my iPad. Kindle has some arrangement with libraries, and is a good reader app?almost an iBooks clone, but it has some annoying rough edges. I?d use iBooks if I could.
(Purchasing ease is not a factor between the two apps, since I don?t want to own a lot of books. I read them and move on.)
You know that iOS has Overdrive app long before Kindle, right?
And also, one time you are reading a book, text flows on to the verso page (say), and the next time the very same text is on a recto page, with the same device orientation and font size. There seems to be no fixed pages, it just flows the text like a web browser, which is fine, but why does it flow differently from session to session, if it hasn't been edited? I think they need to review their layout engine and see if there might be some failure to fully reset state, or something like that.
What's wrong with iOS 5? Why are you still using 4.2?
I've been using 5 since it was available and everything is smooth here, plus I like the extra multitouch gestures. And don't you need 5 for wireless syncing and iCloud? It's a big plus not having to plug in the iPad to a computer anymore.
I highly value the long battery life iOS4 provides.
iPhone 4 (not S), original iPad, iOS 5.0.1 - great, no problems (except a single battery drained in a flash episode).
iBooks 1.5 - nice! Like the full-screen mode and am keen to try night mode out.
Tried sepia for the first time (old feature I know), quite like that too.
My book is still in the store.
Thanks for the feedback. I might get the nerve to pull the trigger on Battery Life Roulette!
Thanks for the feedback. I might get the nerve to pull the trigger on Battery Life Roulette!
Great! I think that I have a handle on the battery drain incident, which seems to have involved the application task drawer.
All the best.
I highly value the long battery life iOS4 provides.
I guess you're talking about an iPhone. I just assumed that people were talking about iPads in this thread, but I suppose that some people use iBooks on their iPhone also.
They FINALLY add night mode. Jeez, Apple can move slow as molasses sometimes.
Agreed, Stanza had this for years. I find normal mode very difficult to use while reading in darker environments.
Agreed, Stanza had this for years. I find normal mode very difficult to use while reading in darker environments.
I pointed this out earlier, but there's always been an option in the general preferences to make the screen inverse.