As more and more manga go digital only, I got to wondering:
Who has the best eBooks platform?
By now, most of us know about Barnes & Noble’s woes and how their Nook brand has been slaughtered by Amazon’s Kindle. But now Walmart has entered the fray by teaming up with Rakuten’s Kobo brand. Plus with Google Books and other platforms, does one stand out above the rest?
To test, I download the iPad versions of several apps onto an Air 2. There could be some differences between the iPhone, Android, and web versions of their reader. Of course, there are bound to be differences if you’re reading on a native Kindle or Nook eReader. However, hopefully at least this would give manga buyers an idea of the positives and negatives of each. Personally, I have been using Kindle for my eBook reading, as I had an original Kindle years ago and, with Prime, I just kept using it.
So, I downloaded the following apps:
- BOOK☆WALKER
- ComiXology
- Google Play Books
- iBooks
- Kindle
- Kobo
- NOOK
and set out to try them all to find the eBook manga champion.
I wanted to use the same manga for all, but some apps do not allow you to download a sample. So the final list ended up being: Attack on Titan, Black Butler, Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, My Hero Academia, Beck, The Witch’s House: The Diary of Ellen, and The Outrageous Dowager. Again, these are sample versions I’m reading, so it’s possible that the full versions may cause the app to act differently.
There’s also something important to note: due to restrictions, only iBooks allows you to buy and download books directly on iOS. I do not believe this is an issue on Android, so if you are deciding between an Apple device or an Android device, this may be something to consider.
That being said, here we go!
BOOK☆WALKER
+ Unique ways to arrange eBooks with different skins for the digital bookshelves
+ Lots of manga-friendly options (tap-able area, page moving direction horizontal/vertical)
+ Some exclusives
– Can’t browse BOOK☆WALKER’s English releases in app*
– No samples on app
– VIZ Media selection is very limited since the two don’t have a full partnership, mostly old TOKYOPOP rescues
– Appeared to be the slowest to load
ComiXology
+ Guided View for some titles where only one panel is shown at a time
+ Dark color theme is nice both in the day and at night
+ Lots of options like adjusting transition speed
– No downloaded samples on app, only three sample pages
– Manga pages for ComiXology Originals must be flipped as if it were a Western book
– Only for graphic novels, not light novels
Google Play Books
+ Has option for infinite scrolling
+ Simple and straightforward
– Might be too simple and straightforward since there’s not a lot of options
– Library view is a bit too big
iBooks
+ Can see 16 books in default bookshelf cover view
+ Nice preview where users can see the page previews at a quick glance
– Not available for Android devices or PCs
– Made for landscape view, defaults to two pages even in portrait mode.
– Search bar is very small and doesn’t show results while typing
– Very few options
Kindle
+ Search in real time
+ A number of exclusives along with ComiXology
+ Search options for Prime Reading and Kindle Unlimited
+ Adjusts for portrait and landscape
– Community feature seemed like highlighted random users
– Manga pages must be flipped as if it were a Western book
Kobo
+ Lots of options including scrolling horizontal or vertical
+ Unique stats pages for all time spent in app and individual books
+ Can change background for some parts of the app
+ Able to download titles
– Search is slow and is only a sidebar
– Although preview says available on website, only a portion of titles are actually able to be sampled
NOOK
+ Huge page previews when jumping to a particular page.
+ Automatically adjusts for landscape/portrait modes
+ Easy-to-find manga section that is further divided up into genres (romance, horror, etc.)
– Settings in iOS Settings and not app itself
– Menu may be a little too huge
– Colors are rather dull: grey and off-white
– Clicking on a title brings up a huge cover image and have to scroll down for actual info on the title
Verdict
Most places have the books DRM-protected, so you can’t just download what you want and upload to your favorite reading app. Users are, unfortunately, only getting a license, not a hard copy. So that makes which ecosystem you buy into pretty important. So, after going through these apps, were there any that stood out?
Well, if the most important thing is to get as many manga and/or light novels in one place, it’s hard to argue against Kindle. Amazon dominates the eBook market, and chances are if the book you want isn’t there, a digital version is not available. Plus, in case you ever need a cheap tablet or eReader, the Kindle line is very popular. So no matter if you switch between Android or Apple or Amazon, their offerings and your collection are easy to access. Plus, purchased titles are also available on ComiXology if you prefer the darker theme or want to see if Guided View is an option. In addition, chances are you’re going to be browsing Amazon at some point anyway, making it easy to find new titles and add to cart while shopping for or researching other things.
However, it’s obviously not geared toward manga reading. I was really impressed by all the options BOOK☆WALKER had, but that’s not too surprising considering it’s limited to Japanese manga and light novels. You can add a center line to make it more book-like, and users can even change the tap-able area. I don’t get the big deal about the bookshelf skins, but the bigger problem is that there’s nothing to the app besides choosing a previously-purchased book. The site itself isn’t that exciting to look at, but the app feels like a barren wasteland.
I found iBooks the worst. The fact that it didn’t automatically adjust between single page portrait view and dual page landscape view was a huge strike. Plus, if a manga fan ever stops using Apple products, those books are pretty much gone forever. NOOK not having the options right in the app was also a disappointment. The Kobo stats were unique, but it’s not something I see a lot of manga fans caring about with options like MyAnimeList or Goodreads available. However, the option of getting DRM-free copies makes Kobo enticing, and the new Walmart partnership should get them some fresh exposure. As for NOOK, you have to wonder if Barnes & Noble is going to stick with it considering how much of a drain it has been on the chain’s finances. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was sold off, so unless you find an eBook at a great price or get some B&N giftcards, I wouldn’t invest too heavily into NOOK books. Google Play Books had slightly better recommendations than Amazon in my opinion, and it’s a good app without really any standout features. It’s worth noting that publishers like Seven Seas are just now getting on Google Play, and Yen Press titles disappeared for a while while they were being updated for more territories.
I didn’t notice much of a quality difference between apps, but that’s hard to analyze with such short samples. I believe all apps allow for offline reading if you download the books to your device. Page animations were roughly the same, but the loading of the apps did vary. On my informal tests, BOOK☆WALKER took about 10 seconds to load while most of the others were about 3-4. The Kindle app was also higher than the average, but I also have the most content there.
Otherwise, while it’s not geared for manga reading, it’s hard for me not to recommend Kindle based on its availability, large catalog, and ComiXology integration. The others may do some things better, but it’s especially hard for me to break away since I have a Prime membership. Choosing slow shipping = free digital credits = free manga/light novels. That’s just something the other ecosystems can’t do.
What device do you use to read digital manga and light novels? What app do you prefer and why?
EDIT: *Thanks to SparkNorkx for pointing out that users can browse the Japanese version of BOOK☆WALKER in the app.