Reading ebooks
If you’re new to ebooks, you need to know how to find, open and read them. The easiest way is to buy a Kindle from Amazon, since Amazon have made it really, really easy. The Kindle and Kindle applications (software for PC, iPad, Android tablets and phones, and so on) currently read ebooks files in the .mobi file format.
Almost all other ereader devices and applications read ebooks in the .epub file format. Some read PDFs, too.
To read epub files you’ll need an epub-capable device or epub-capable software. Here are some suggestions. The ones marked with an asterisk are able to open files restricted with Adobe Digital Rights Management (DRM).
- On Windows or Mac computers: Adobe Digital Editions*, NOOKstudy*
- On various devices (PC, iPad, iPhone, Android): Barnes & Noble's NOOK app*
- On an iPhone: iBooks, Ibis Reader, Bluefire Reader*, Stanza, txtr*
- On an iPad: iBooks, Ibis Reader, Bluefire Reader*
- On an Android-based phone: Aldiko*
- On the web: Ibis Reader, Bookworm, Bookglutton
- In a Firefox web browser: the EPUBReader addon
- The built-in software on any e-ink reader except the Kindle (e.g. Nook*, Sony Reader*, iRiver*, Bookeen*)
Kindle devices and apps cannot open epub files, or any file restricted with Adobe DRM. If you have a Kindle, you can convert epubs to mobi easily using the free Calibre application (if the epubs are not restricted with DRM).