The best book reading apps for Android

Reading books on Android is a fairly common activity for users of mobile devices running on the Android operating system. To read books on a smartphone or tablet, a special reader is used: reader (reader), an application for reading books on Android.

Reading e-books on Android, despite the relatively small screen size, is a fairly common activity. This is necessary, for example, for study or work, in other cases when the user has no other options for reading e-books and documents.

When choosing a book reader for Android, most users focus on support for certain e-book formats, and the ability to be flexible to fit their needs. E-books and documents are saved in a large number of different formats, so when choosing a reader for Android, you should ask about the support of the required formats.

In this article, I have collected free applications for reading books for Android, universal programs with support for a large number of formats.

Some applications from this review support text-to-speech technology using a speech synthesizer. In order for the text of the book to be read aloud on a mobile device, you need to install a voice engine on your device, for example, a free Google speech synthesizer that supports Russian, and then select it as the main speech synthesizer in the smartphone settings. If you are not satisfied with the sound quality of a free synthesizer, use the paid versions of TTS engines: IVONA, Vocalizer, Acapela, etc.

The list of the best apps for reading books for Android is based on my selection. If you disagree with something, write about it in the comments to this article.

When choosing a reader program for Android, familiarize yourself with all the features of several applications, and then consciously choose the application that will be most convenient for you to use.

PocketBook Reader

PocketBook Reader is a reading application from one of the world’s leading manufacturers of electronic book readers, the Swiss company PocketBook.

A feature of the program is the original round-shaped menu for accessing various control functions. To call the circular menu, you need to click on the central part of the smartphone screen. The menu provides quick access to the settings with a minimum number of clicks.

PocketBook Reader is a completely free program with no ads. The application supports a large number of formats: FB2, FB2.ZIP, EPUB (Adobe DRM), PDF (Adobe DRM), DJVU, MOBI, TXT, DOCX, RTF, CHM, HTML, CBR, CBZ, CBT.

Key Features of PocketBook Reader:

• Support for the most popular e-book formats.
• A large number of settings for visual perception: changing the font, text color, margins, etc.
• Three reading modes: page by page, “two pages”, “scroll”.
• Various page turning modes.
• Synchronization via the free PocketBook Cloud service between devices running Android and iOS.
• Synchronization between devices via Dropbox.
• Text reflow feature for viewing on smaller screens.
• Support for audiobooks placed in the appropriate directory of the program.
• Color schemes: “Day”, “Night”, “Custom”, “Newspaper” for using the application in different lighting conditions.
• Highlighting text fragments with different colors with a marker, the possibility of “pencil” notes.
• Export notes in a separate file, including e-mail.
• Support for network OPDS directories.

PocketBook Reader is a good choice for reading e-books on Android.

eReader Prestigio

eReader Prestigio is a reader from the manufacturer of electronic equipment and reading devices, the Cypriot company ASBIS (brand – “Prestigio”). The application has a stylish interface with rich functionality.

Immediately after launch, the application offers to detect all files of supported formats on the device. Among the supported formats is the MP3 format, so refuse to scan it so that the program does not look for unnecessary files.

eReader Prestigio supports the following formats: FB2, FB2.ZIP, EPUB (EPUB3 supports video and audio), TXT, PDF, DOC, RTF, DJVU, MOBI, HTML.

In addition to text formats, the reader supports audio formats: MP3, AAC, M4B.

Key features of eReader Prestigio:

• Convenient controls.
• Support for a large number of formats.
• The app provides access to 25,000 books in 25 languages, including 5,000 free books.
• TTS function for listening to books by voice.
• Create an account to synchronize between your devices, the ability to buy or download free books.
• Built-in file manager.
• Intelligent book search.

eReader Prestigio is a decent app for reading books on Android devices.

Moon+ Reader

Moon+ Reader is a functional book reader for Android. The application has a large number of settings, nice appearance, the program has access to bookstores.

From the name of the application it is clear that it interacts well with the dark time of the day, the program has the appropriate modes for night lighting. When you first open the book, the program will prompt you to select one of the templates with tap zones to manage the application.

Moon Reader supports the main formats: FB2, EPUB, PDF (in Moon Reader Pro version), TXT, MOBI, HTML, CHM, CBR, CBZ, UMD, ZIP, RAR.

The program has a large number of various settings:

• Flexible display settings, font size and type control.
• A large number of pre-installed themes, including: “Day”, “Night”, “Twilight”.
• 5 page turning modes with different effects.
• Numerous modes of settings for managing various actions in the application.
• Support for network libraries (OPDS).
• Bookshelf with books sorted by authors and tags.
• Online and offline dictionaries are supported, including ABBYY Lingvo, ColorDict, Fora Dictionary.
• There is a text translation function, Google translator is supported.
• The free version has ads.

The paid version of Moon+ Reader Pro has additional features:

• No ads.
• More options for customizing the program.
• PDF format support.
• Reading text aloud with Text-To-Speech technology.
• Sync, download, open and backup books via Google Drive and Dropbox.
• Reading statistics are kept.
• There is a customizable readerbar.

The Moon+ Reader app is a great choice for reading books on your Android device.

FullReader

FullReader is a multifunctional e-book and document reader with a user-friendly interface.

FullReader supports formats: EPUB, FB2, PDF, DJVU, DJV, TXT, DOC, DOCX, RTF, HTML, HTM, XPS, OPS, CBR, CBZ, ZIP, RAR, 7z, MP3.

FullReader has the following features:

• Library with the ability to form a collection or list of books.
• Listening to audiobooks, creating bookmarks, creating playlists.
• Built-in file manager.
• Working with OPDS catalogs.
• Support for TTS technology for reading aloud.
• Built-in translator for 95 world languages.
• Synchronization of books using cloud storage Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive.
• Creation of color marks, bookmarks.
• Reading modes: “Day” and “Night”.
• Tap zones for quick access to settings from reading mode.
• Create shortcuts, use widgets.

FullReader is a functional application for reading books on a smartphone or tablet.

Cool Reader

Cool Reader is an e-book reader app for Android. The program has a clear interface with built-in bookshelves.

Cool Reader supports formats: FB2, FB2.ZIP, EPUB (DRM-free), MOBI (DRM-free), TXT, DOC, RTF, CHM, HTML, TCR, PDB, PRC, PML.

Main features of Cool Reader:

• Support for many formats in which e-books and documents are saved.
• Full support for FB2 format.
• Optimized for high resolution screens.
• Support for downloading books from online catalogs (ODPS).
• Library – a database of books.
• Search for books by author, title, series.
• Read aloud function.
• Dictionary support (ColorDict, Fora Dictionary, GoldenDict, Aard Dictionary).
• Built-in file manager.
• Selecting and copying text, adding bookmarks.
• Export bookmarks in TXT format.
• Automatic scrolling function.
• It is possible to rate books.

Cool Reader is a time-tested cross-device e-book reader (Windows version available).

AlReader

AlReader is a program for reading art books for Android, which is popular in the world.

Immediately after launch, the program opens a large, detailed instruction, with which the user can familiarize himself with all the features of the application.

AlReader supports a large number of formats: EPUB (DRM-free), FB2, FB3, FBZ, DOC, DOCX, RTF, ODT, TXT, HTML, MOBI (DRM-free), TCR, PCR (PalmDoc), ZIP, GZ.

AIReader features:

• Compatibility with initial versions of Android.
• Support for ODPS (Network Libraries).
• Create a local library.
• Search for books by author, genre, title, language, publication year, and more.
• Dictionary support.
• Ability to edit FB2 and TXT files.
• 4 color profiles with settings for fonts, brightness, colors, text indentation.
• Setting display styles.
• Autoscroll functions: “wave”, “smooth”.
• 3D animation when turning pages.
• Support for TTS speech synthesizer.
• Horizontal and vertical alignment of book text.
• The content of the books in the formats FB2, EPUB, DOC.
• Numerous appearance settings when reading a book.
• Sending books by e-mail in a ZIP archive.

AlReader is a good choice for reading books on a mobile device.

FBReader

FBReader is a universal book reader that supports a large number of operating systems: Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows Phone, Blackberry, Windows, macOS, Linux, etc.

FBReader supports the following formats: FB2, FB2.ZIP, EPUB, Kindle (AZW or Mobipocket), RTF, plain txt, HTML.

Features of the FBReader program:

• Stylish appearance.
• Low resource consumption, high speed.
• Scaling text and pictures.
• Support for network libraries.
• Support for dictionaries installed on the device.
• Night and day modes of operation.
• Sync data with multiple devices.
• Support for additional modules to expand the program’s capabilities: viewing PDF, DJVU, CBR formats, changing the appearance (bookshelf), for downloading books from Caliber servers.
• Synchronization of books via Google Drive cloud storage.

FBReader is the choice for those who need the essentials on their smartphone reader.

Article Conclusions

Free programs for reading books for Android: PocketBook Reader, eReader Prestigio, Moon Reader, FullReader, Cool Reader, AlReader, FBReader do a good job of reading e-books on mobile devices running the Android operating system. These applications have wide functionality for convenient reading of books on your smartphone.

If you have other worthy options to add to your list of reading apps, write about it in the comments to this article.