A few days ago, I reviewed two e-Book readers for the BlackBerry PlayBook, EPUB Reader and PlayEpub. Both applications seemed lacking in one way or another, but both live up to their claim of letting you read EPUB format books on the PlayBook. In that review, I mentioned a few things that I thought should be improved upon. The latest release of EPUB Reader improves upon a few things.
In this latest version, the endless scrolling through pages is gone; it was one of my biggest complaints about EPUB Reader. Now, the app flips pages like most e-readers. Touch the right or bottom side of the screen and the page moves forward; touching the right or top sides of the tablet returns to the previous page. Adding a little pizzazz, the pages are animated as they "turn." The animation provides all-important feedback, reminding you which way the pages are going. On the surface, this may seem trivial, not all-important. In practice, it's quite another story.
In an odd twist of events, PlayEpub has also been updated (to version 1.0.20). During my brief look through the app, I didn't notice anything incredibly different. I was really looking forward to reading properly formatted books on PlayEpub, but that wasn't in this update.
All in all, I'm really glad to see both of these applications updated, even if only behind the scenes. Reading books on the PlayBook is an enjoyable experience, preferable to reading physical books for some. With these updates, the developers signal their intentions to continue to improve upon these BlackBerry PlayBook applications. I love to read, and with these apps, I love to read on my BlackBerry tablet.
Reader comments
EPUB Reader updated to version 1.1, steps up its game
If only there were an epub reader for my BB phone. That would be nice. Even one that "seemed lacking in one way or another" would be welcome.
Go to ereader.com. The BlackBerry software works just fine on my Torch (even though it doesn't list it as being supported). I have been using Fictionwise for years on all of my devices, starting with my Palm (back in the day). The ebook selection has dwindled since they got bought out by Barnes & Noble. BUT the ereader software will read any epub file. You just have to make sure you place the file in the "Ereader" folder.
EPUB reader is awesome now, my only gripe with the app is that it doesnt seem to remember the page i was reading when i close it, it always go back to the begining of the last chapter i was reading but not to the specific page.
PlayEpub in its current state is unusable for me.
use the bookmark feature. they updated that to be specific to where you left off and not just the chapter. the page turning was just one small part of the update for EPub. I will assume that some way to sort/search through your books will be next.
The bookmark feature doesnt work on most of my books, nothing happens when i click any of the bookmark buttons.
Doing some testing it appears that the problem seems to be with the books i converted using calibre, since calibre is one of the most popular e-book converters, im hoping that a future update will fix this issue.
Yada Yada Yada Jerry
Glad to hear that the ereader devs are committed to ongoing improvements. Doubling as an ereader is one of the cool features of the 7" form factor.
If Adobe will just do the same with Reader, so PDFs are easy to search and read, the Playbook reading experience will be complete.
The Adobe Reader on the Playbook is probably the most horrible app to use. I dont know if mine has a glitch but it keeps closing from time to time while reading. It is truly a freaking disgrace by Adobe. Does anyone know when the kindle app is coming to the Playbook?
Yours probably has a glitch. I use it all the time and never have any problems. I Can't bookmark but it opens up to the last page I was on every time, no glitches whatsoever.
Maybe you should delete it and then reinstall?
As a matter of fact I just downloaded EPub and I believe I will use this from now on. I will still take your advice and do the reinstall for future use. There is always need for a pdf reader anyways. Thanks.
There are two additional ereaders available for PlayBook.