The 5 best apps to read free books on your cell phone
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How many books do you usually read per year? And which format do you prefer: paper or electronic device?
Digital reading has grown considerably in recent years. The latest Report on Reading Habits and Book Purchasing in Spain by the Federation of Publishers reveals that 30.3% of readers over the age of 13 choose the electronic format at least once a quarter. Ten years ago, the percentage of people who opted for digital books barely exceeded 5 percent.
The same study also highlights that nearly 70% of the Spanish population reads books on a regular basis, a percentage that has increased slightly in recent months due, in part, to the home confinements caused by the pandemic.
During this time, the use of apps for reading free books on cell phones has also increased. In fact, those considered big readers (those who consume more than 20 copies per year) already prefer the digital format, almost twice as many as those who read on paper.
Regarding the preferred digital format, it is the smartphone that has increased its use the most in recent years. And there are many advantages to reading literary works from smartphones:
- The cell phone always goes with us.
- It usually takes up less space than a book.
- It is easy to use and to turn to the next page.
- Apps for reading books also incorporate settings for typography, screen illumination or background tone that make reading easier and less tiring for the eyes.
- Many of the best smartphones already have large screens similar in size to paperback books.
Our selection of apps to read books for free on your smartphone
Another study recently conducted by the company IPSOS for Amazon highlights that 20% of Spaniards confirm that they subscribe to some digital reading service.
Of the many platforms that currently exist, from TU we are going to recommend 5 apps to read free books on your mobile, in addition to the ones that usually include the Android or iOS operating systems. The latter is only valid for iPhone smartphones.
In the free reading apps from Google and Apple we can access a wide variety of books of any genre and also audiobooks.
To compile this selection of the best apps for reading books for free, we have based ourselves on consumer ratings and the number of users and downloads that each application has.
1. The Total Book
It is right now one of the best applications to read books for free on the mobile. It has the highest rating in its downloads, there is no additional payment and it is free of advertising.
It has more than 50,000 titles, mainly of classic works free of copyright and of all genres.
Another of its peculiarities is that you can use it as a streaming library, because it allows you to listen to the music that has been composed around these works and choose audio book format with natural and professional voices.
In addition, you can know the meaning of all the words in more than 70 dictionaries of different languages just by clicking on them.
2. Kindle
It is possibly the most popular e-book reading platform in the world and also has a very high rating and more than 100 million downloads.
It has more than 1.5 million works available, of all genres, including all new releases and bestsellers. Of all this catalog, more than 1,400 are free and many of them in Spanish.
Meanwhile, another 7,000 titles are priced at €5.99 or less, and in many it is possible to read the first chapter for free to decide whether to finally buy it.
All the books you purchase on Kindle will appear directly on the platform in a synchronized way to read at your leisure and continue each one where you left off.
3. Kobo
Offers 5 million books of all kinds, with an extensive collection of children’s titles and comics and, in addition, personalized genre recommendations for each user.
Of this large number of books, many are free and others are available for less than 5€. It also has a system for rating and reviewing the books you have read.
One of the particularities of the customization of reading settings in Kobo is the night mode in portrait or landscape format, so that viewing your smartphone before going to sleep does not disturb your sleep.
4. Wattpad
It is defined as a social storytelling platform that connects more than 90 million readers and writers.
And one of the main features of this application for reading books from your smartphone is that it allows writers to share their original works with the rest of the community. As a reader, you can also contact these writers and comment on their works.
In fact, some titles by not-so-well-known authors have been adapted by popular streaming platforms and production companies such as Netflix or Hulu.
From the large number of books it contains, it offers a selection of free works, among which science fiction or suspense stand out.
5. Google Play Books
We close this selection of the best apps to read free books on mobile with an app that has 1,000 million downloads on Google Play and ranks sixth in the ranking of books in the App Store.
With this app you can read or listen to millions of books and, like the other applications we have discussed, includes personalized recommendations.
Highlights include the option to listen to your audiobooks in the car with CarPlay or see your favorite comic or manga come to life with Bubble Zoom.
Periodista con más de 20 años de experiencia, especializado en redacción de contenidos optimizados para posicionamiento en buscadores.
