Best e-book reader apps for Android

Which e-book reader apps are best for Android?

Whether you want to bring your entire collection to the beach with you, or you want to re-read Game of Thrones in digital form on the morning train to work, there’s a great reading app for Android available for you. Here are our favorites.

• Google Play Books
• Moon+ Reader
• Nook
• Amazon Kindle
• FBReader: Favorite Book Reader
• Universal Book (UB) Reader
• Cool Reader
• Aldiko Reader

Google Play Books

Chances are, this app came pre-installed on your Android device, so why not check it out? It’s really not too shabby, and you get to stay within Google’s ecosystem.

Google Play Books gives you access to a vast book store. Some of the books are free. You’ll also find some textbooks, although we’d like to see the textbook selection improve in the future. You can read books offline, use a dictionary to look up unfamiliar words, and have your notes and place in the book saved across multiple devices through your Google account.

Download: Google Play Books (free +IAP)

Moon+ Reader

The free version of Moon+ Reader is a solid eBook reader. It has control gestures and the ability to set it so pages will automatically turn themselves. It is very customizable, so you can set whatever font type, background color, etc. you want. It also provides some interesting stats, like how many words you’ve read per minute on average.

Plenty of file types are supported, like .epub, .zip, .html, .mobi, and .txt and also includes several Open Publication Distribution System (OPDS) catalogs. pre-loaded with free books to download. You can also add your own catalogs.

Moon+ Reader Pro gets rid of the ads and adds important features such as support for .pdf files and optional password protection when opening the app.

Note that while it will read .mobi (Amazon Kindle) files, it will not open Digital Rights Management (DRM) protected Kindle books.

Moon+ Reader is the app you want if you already have an extensive library of books in multiple formats that you want to organize and access through a single app.

Download: Moon+ Reader (free)

Nook

Barnes & Noble offers a selection of books, newspapers, and magazines in its Nook app. Of course, Barnes & Noble would like you to mostly buy stuff from them, but they’ve also made it possible to add your own .epub and .cbz files to the app.

It’s pretty easy to adjust font size, brightness, line spacing, etc. You can bookmark your place, too, and sync your position (and your library) across any devices to which you have this app installed.

Another benefit with the Nook app is that it allows you to create multiple profiles, so your entire family can use it without your kids stumbling upon your racy book collection.

Download: Nook (free +IAP)

Amazon Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? No worries — you can shop the Amazon Kindle Store and read Kindle books on your phone or tablet with the free Kindle app from Amazon.

Amazon has a vast library of Kindle books — some are even free to download. You can also take advantage of Amazon Prime and find some textbooks as well. You’re able to customize fonts, margins, line spacing, and organize the books you’ve downloaded into collections so that it’s easier to find the book you want to read

Another benefit is that lots of local libraries will actually lend you copies of books via the Kindle app. Click here for more information on finding the nearest library that supports Kindle.

Download: Amazon Kindle (free +IAP)

FBReader: Favorite Book Reader

FBReader: Favorite Book Reader is a basic e-book reading app that gets the job done. Its User Interface (UI) is nothing fancy, but for a completely free app that has zero, count them, zero ads, it’ll do just fine.

Features-wise, it’s no slouch, offering the ability to change the background color of the book and flip pages by using the volume up and volume down buttons on your device. Of course, you can customize other things, as well, like font size and type.

You can get books from Open Publication Distribution (OPDS) catalogs, such as Free Books Hub and Smashwords, and you can manually add your own. It’s compatible with plenty of different file types, like .epub, .doc, .html and .rtf and lets you add books from your device’s storage and/or SD card. However, it will not open Digital Rights Management (DRM)-protected files

Download: FBReader (free)

Universal Book (UB) Reader

Universal Book (UB) Reader is a basic e-book reader with a polished user-interface (UI) that supports .epub and .pdf files — even ones protected by Digital Rights Management (DRM).

You can add content from your device’s storage or SD card, or you can download books, both free and paid, via the Feedbooks store.

The only knock on this app is that it won’t let you add additional e-book catalogs from which to download content. However, since it’s one of the few e-book readers that can open DRM-protected files, this may not matter to you.

The free app does have ads, but they are minimal — a simple banner at the bottom of the page and the occasional full screen ad without sound. You can get rid of the ads by purchasing the Premium edition via an in-app purchase for $4.99. The Premium edition also has some additional features, such as a text-to-speech option, the ability to password-lock individual books, and more.

Download: UB Reader (free +IAP)

Cool Reader

Cool Reader is an absolutely cool reading app because it is free and and has no ads anywhere. It supports most e-book formats, such as .epub, .fb2, .txt, .rtf, .tcr, .html, .pdb, .pml and .mobi, but will not open files protected with Digital Rights Management (DRM).

You can add books from your device or you can grab fresh content via its pre-loaded Open Publication Distribution System (OPDS) catalogs such as Feedbooks, Project Gutenburg, and Internet Archive.

Download: Cool Reader (free)

Aldiko Reader

Aldiko is simple and clean. It’s easy to switch between night and day mode and alter text size and margins just by tapping on the screen when you’re reading. You have access to the Feedbooks Store, and you can also add your own custom catalogs. Oh, and you can also import your own .epub and .pdf files with this app.

Expect to see some banner ads on the free version. Get rid of the ads, gain widgets, and the ability to highlight and write notes on .epub files by upgrading to the paid version.

Download: Aldiko Reader (free +IAP)

The bottom line

There are a lot of e-book readers available for Android users. Some of them only let you get books from one source, while others allow you get them from multiple sources, and even to curate your own library.

You might miss the smell of fresh ink and pressed paper, but at least all of your books will be in one convenient place in whichever e-book reading app you choose..

Today is the best day to buy a Nest and save $50

If you’re looking to save some money heating and cooling for your home while also making it a bit smarter, Amazon’s latest deal on the Nest Learning Thermostat is worth a look. The online retailer currently has the smart thermostat marked down to just $200 from its usual $250 price point.

The Nest thermostat gradually learns from your schedule, automatically adjusting your home’s heating and cooling to save you some change on your bills. When you’re away, for example, Nest will ensure you aren’t heating or cooling an empty home. You can also manually adjust the temperature and get alerts on the go with the Nest app. Throw in voice control via Amazon Echo integration, and you’ve got a pretty compelling product.

See at Amazon

On the prospect of a ‘Chromebook Pro’ …

Or, how Google Consumer Surveys probably aren’t a product roadmap …

A story has been making the rounds this week on the idea of a “Chromebook Pro.” As we all know, anything that’s “Pro” has got to be better than what we already have. Because it’s Pro. And so the idea of a Chromebook Pro is intriguing.

Google’s second-generation Chromebook Pixel already is as Pro as it currently gets for a Chromebook. Intel Core i7 processor. 16GB of RAM. A couple of USB-C ports. Touchscreen. Glass trackpad. Backlit keyboard. That’s pretty damned Pro. And it comes with Pro price tag, at $1,299.

But the prospect of something better? Something even more Pro? That’s enough to get any nerd nodding their head.

A Google Chromebook Pro probably isn’t a thing just yet.

Here’s the thing, however. The idea of the Chromebook Pro comes from a survey that reportedly appeared in the Google Opinion Rewards app, and was passed on via Reddit. The question in question read thusly:

How would you think a Chromebook Pro is different than a Chromebook?

A fine question indeed, and the sort of thing that you might expect to see in Google Opinion Rewards. Or a fan forum. What Google Opinion Rewards is not, however, is a product roadmap.

If you’re unfamiliar with Google Opinion Rewards, it’s an app that asks you questions about products and businesses. Could be things you bought or are thinking about buying. Could be places you’ve been, or places you’re going. It even throws in a few red herrings, just to keep you honest. In exchange for your time and data (because that’s what you’re giving it), you get a little bit of credit to spend in the Google Play Store. It’s a sweet little system, and a great way to help finance your app habit.

This is a real survey. I know because I made it.

Anyone can submit a survey through Google Consumer Surveys. Click here and give it a shot. You have options to survey the “general population,” which is a mix of folks on desktop and mobile, as well as those using the Google Opinion Rewards app. Or you can opt to only survey app users. Or you can get even more specific with “audience panels,” wherein you survey specific ethnic groups, or folks on social media, or who use various services.

Unless a specific company outed itself at the start of the survey as the company asking the question (it’s doubtful it was Google, and there’s nothing in the Reddit thread to suggest that anyway), there’s no telling who asked the question. All you need is a credit card and 30 seconds and you can start soliciting responses at 10 cents a pop, too.

Now that doesn’t mean the idea of some sort of “Pro” Chromebook isn’t a good one. The Pixel, while not inexpensive, has been a fine piece of machinery. And with Android apps coming to Chrome OS later this year (we’re currently playing with them on the developer channel on a $250 Chromebook), it’s only going to get more interesting. And, yes, Google almost certainly will make another high-end Chromebook at some point.

But an actual Chromebook Pro outed on Google Opinion Rewards? That’s highly unlikely.

How to hide your porn browsing habits on Android

Nothing on the internet is really private, but you can keep your Android from saving a trail of where you’ve been.

We all use our phones differently. While some of us are Twittering and buying socks on Amazon when we’re online, other folks are looking at other stuff. And they might not want anyone else who could be using their phone to see the things they have looked at. We don’t judge (nobody should, really) but we can help.

We’ll start by saying that any type of “private browsing” really isn’t private. The way the internet works means someone, somewhere can always see the first connection from your computer (along with your IP address, which is a unique identifier). That means that even if the website you’ve landed on or the website you came from (along with any ads or other stuff they might have that can target a user or tracks them) can’t see who you are, your ISP can. So can someone who is standing behind you, or sitting beside you on the bus. (Don’t surf porn sites on the bus. That’s creepy.) Chances are nobody is looking for you or has served a warrant to your service provider or VPN company, but you need to know that nothing is private. Even tinfoil can’t make you private.

Since we mentioned VPN services, a quick word or two about them. You can use a VPN on your Android. Nerds can set it up manually, but there are plenty of VPN companies with Android apps. That’s not what this article is about, but we’re just sayin’ — you can use a VPN or even TOR on your Android. Your service provider can still see you’ve connected to a VPN or TOR though. Remember that. Now let’s talk about making sure your phone doesn’t save things so others can go snooping around for them.

This is where words like “Incognito Mode” or “Private Browsing” come into the picture. What that means is that the things you type and the websites you visit don’t get saved on your phone as any sort of internet history. Of course, some are better than others.

For starters, don’t use Chrome. Chrome is a nice browser with a lot of features, but it has one huge drawback here — it doesn’t block ads in the phone version. Blocking advertisements is important because the folks that make them are sneaky and always on the lookout for new tricks to get you to not only click on them but to see if they can’t find a way to show them to you again. And some of the folks programming ads on porn sites are total scumbags and inject malware that does shit like change your homepage to something that’s just javascript or adds a cookie to do the same, and then pops up a window that says you have a virus and need to send money to the FBI. The FBI doesn’t care if you look at porn. But the people who want to trick you into spending $50 to “unlock” your device as a “fine.” Block the ads every time you head to a porn site.

I’ve fiddled with a handful of “private” browsers from Google Play (including Samsung’s browser) and think the best thing you can do if you need to keep your internet history in check (and browse safely) is to install Firefox. Mozilla’s Firefox for Android has two things going for it that make it the best choice — it’s available on all Android brands and it gets almost immediate updates. It also allows you to install Add-ons (browser extensions) to block ads.

The quick updates tie into the malware thing. Chrome also has a pretty fast turnaround when issues are found, as does the Samsung browser, but nobody is as fast at it as Mozilla. And Firefox isn’t a horrible browser, either. It can be a little slow to render pages sometimes, but the app is done nicely and the features are great for what we want to do here. Being available for phones from LG or HTC or Motorola or whoever is self-explanatory.

Once you have it installed there are two things you need to do right away — make sure the tracking settings are set to “nope” and disable Cookies, and install the Adblock Plus add-on. You should also look through the rest of the settings and all of the Add-ons, but these are must-haves.

To turn on Private Browsing and Tracking Protection and disable Cookies:

• Open the Firefox app and tap the menu (the three dots right under your clock) then tap the entry that says “Settings.”
• Tap the “privacy” setting list item.
• The top three entries are what you want to look at. They are clearly marked as “Do not track”, “Tracking protection” and “Cookies.”
• The first two are easy — check the boxes next to Do not track and Tracking protection. For the Cookies setting, just tap the entry and pick “Disabled” from the window that pops up.

To install Adblock Plus:

• Back on the main window, tap the menu again.
• Find the “Tools” section and tap it.
• Tap the “Add-ons” section.
• When the window opens, choose “Browse all Firefox Add-ons.”
• You’ll be sent to the web where all of the Firefox Add-ons live. Scroll down a bit and tap the “Highest Rated” button.
• Adblock Plus will be somewhere close to the top of the list. Tap its listing and press the green “Add to Firefox” button.

When you want to surf the web without having anything incriminating kept on your phone, tap the menu in Firefox and choose “New Private Tab.” This blocks most of the stuff that can track you and makes sure no history is kept on your phone. Heed the warning that tells you about saving files because those will be in your file browser for anyone to see. We enabled the Do not track settings as protection in case you forget to use a new private browsing tab. Try not to forget to use a new private browsing tab, though.

Will any of this make you “invisible” on the internet? Not even close. But it will keep anyone else from seeing what you were doing (and where you were doing it) if they look through your phone.

OnePlus 3 update coming with reworked RAM management, sRGB color mode

A small tune-up is on its way to your OnePlus 3 soon.

Now a couple of weeks removed from the launch of its latest phone, OnePlus is working to push out a maintenance update with a handful of tweaks to the OnePlus 3 — and while it doesn’t bring any giant changes, there are a couple things of note. We’ve been testing the latest OTA in pre-release form for about a week, and while OnePlus won’t commit to a date for releasing the new software to all customers we can expect this patch to roll out soon.

We’d say nothing was broken … but OnePlus had to address complaints.

The headline change for this upcoming OTA is a handful of tweaks to the way the phone manages its RAM. Though the OnePlus 3 has a full 6GB of RAM on board, a vocal group of early buyers (and prospective buyers) have voiced concern that the phone isn’t properly allocating RAM and keeping apps in memory as long as they’d expect. Though we have personally seen no issues with RAM management, OnePlus has bent to some of the pressure in this update — how does that actually change the daily user experience of the OnePlus 3? Well, it doesn’t, really.

The phone does indeed seem to make use of more RAM more of the time, at least according to the “memory” settings, where we’ve seen about 500 to 700MB more in use on average, but that hasn’t really changed how we use the phone. We never noticed apps being unnecessarily killed off in the background, and if we couldn’t see the RAM usage details in the settings we wouldn’t have ever second-guessed it. But with this new change, you can know that the software is attempting to utilize more of that 6GB in the phone, while also keeping in mind that there’s more to using a phone than just holding as many apps in memory as possible.

On an equally nerdy topic, the update also contains the option to switch the display into sRGB color mode. You’ll have to turn on the Developer options to get it, but if you’re someone who wants it you’ve likely already turned those settings on. Don’t know what sRGB color mode is? Don’t worry. Most people will be happier with the standard color mode and color temperature slider found in the normal display settings — and even those who know about sRGB may find that it doesn’t pair well with the AMOLED display on the OnePlus 3 either.

OnePlus says that there are further changes in store for when the update hits consumer devices, but these two solid features of fresh RAM management and an sRGB color mode are the ones folks can look forward to. We’ll know more about the official update when it’s finalized and sent to phones.

OnePlus 3

• OnePlus 3 review: Finally, all grown up
• OnePlus 3 specs
• OnePlus 3 vs. the flagship competition
• Latest OnePlus 3 news
• Discuss OnePlus 3 in the forums

OnePlus

This push-button tracker lets you call and locate your kids in real time

When your children are young, you probably care about tracking their whereabouts and getting ahold of them, but you might not want to give them devices that let them call or access the web without supervision.

While there are a few phones and apps out there that let you monitor your child’s activity and security, you’ll be glad to learn about a compelling option that just popped up on crowdfunding website Indiegogo. It’s called Snowfox. The interesting thing about this “trackerphone” is that it combines a phone with a GPS locator – plus it’s from Haltian, a Finland company made up of former Nokia executives.

Snowfox looks like a simple, vibrant square with a speaker, lanyard, and a single button. It’s loaded with tech on the inside, however, including hardware that allows it to accept 3D voice calls as well as conduct real-time GPS tracking. It also works with a complementary smartphone app for Android and iOS. With this app, you can place calls to Snowfox and get notifications about your child’s location.

Haltian/Indiegogo

The trackerphone pairs with its app to let you setup a geo-fence, so you’ll always know when your kid enters or leaves a specific area (as long as your kid is wearing or has Snowfox on their person, of course). Although kids can’t make phone calls, they can push a button that’ll alert you to give them a call. Kids also can’t turn Snowfox off, meaning they can’t purposefully evade your watchful eye.

Snowfox has a 820mAh battery, too. It’s rechargeable through a Micro USB, and you should get up to a week of battery life with one charge. The idea behind Snowfox is that you should be able to get ahold of your children and figure out where they are at any time – all without having to give them devices that come with a full phone dialer and access to the internet but lack parental controls. 

If this interests you, Snowfox is on Indiegogo now and starts at $99.

The best cold-brew coffee maker

By Nick Guy & Kevin Purdy

This post was done in partnership with The Sweethome, a buyer’s guide to the best things for your home. Read the full article here.

We looked at nine cold-brew coffee makers, analyzed dozens of at-home brewing methods, made concentrate for more than 200 cups of coffee, and served samples to a tasting panel that included expert baristas. And after all our testing, we found that the Filtron Cold Water Coffee Concentrate Brewer offers the best way to make smooth, delicious iced coffee at home. It’s easy to use and not unattractive (although tall when set up), and in our tests it made cold coffee with balanced acidity, a stronger aroma, and a cleaner finish. Another plus: The Filtron’s cost per cup was the cheapest of all the methods we tested.

How we tested

Our tasting panel served six blind samples of cold brew to six panelists of varying coffee expertise, who rated the samples for flavor, body, and acidity. Video: 19 IDEAS

Testing for ease of use, we followed the provided instructions, noting any inconsistencies or complexities as well as how painful each system was to clean. We ran these tests with Trader Joe’s Kenya AA Coffee—a well-liked, reasonably priced coffee. Brewed hot, this coffee has a sour bitterness without sweet or floral notes. As a cold brew, though, it tastes much better, with reduced acidity and a mellow but preferable mix of tannic and chocolate flavors.

Our next step was a tasting panel. For this round we switched to an upscale bean—Joe Bean Mexico Chiapas—and brewed a fresh batch with each system. We invited six people, including coffee professionals, coffee enthusiasts/nerds, and casual cold-brew drinkers. Tipico Coffee’s Jesse Crouse and Public Espresso + Coffee’s Clinton Hodnett brought their expertise, balanced out by other panelists who used fewer coffee-industry terms but knew what they liked. We followed each brew method’s included instructions, which varied in the ratio of water to bean.

We presented the panelists with six cups of cold brew (one of them made with Trader Joe’s coffee in a French press, for comparison), one after another in a blind taste test. The panelists ranked the cups on a 1-to-10 scale for taste, acidity, and body. The latter two measures were quantitative (as in, how acidic), rather than qualitative (as in, how much they liked the acidity). The tasters had water available for palate cleansing, and we left the cups so that they could compare them directly at the end with additional tastes if necessary. We didn’t serve any with ice, so as to avoid dilution. We asked the testers to note which one was their favorite, and why, after they tasted all six cups.

Our pick

Our pick, the Filtron Cold Water Coffee Concentrate Brewer, is a little cumbersome looking, but it made the best-tasting concentrate. Photo: Michael Hession

The Filtron Cold Water Coffee Concentrate Brewer consistently produced better-tasting coffee concentrate in our tests, with our tasting panel preferring its brew the most. Compared with nearly every other model we tested, it’s far less fussy to set up and empty. The resulting concentrate costs less per cup than that of any other maker we tried. It’s the choice home cold-brew maker of Blue Bottle and Stumptown, as well as many other craft-minded coffee shops. And although the Filtron doesn’t look as stylish or pack away as neatly as our other picks, its black plastic is less likely to show coffee stains over time than the white Toddy or the clear-plastic OXO.

Stronger flavors, better looks

The OXO brewer makes strong concentrate and is designed a little better than our main pick, but our tasters didn’t universally like the flavor of its coffee. Photo: Michael Hession

If you can’t get the Filtron, we recommend the OXO Good Grips Cold Brew Coffee Maker. The OXO model loads up quickly and easily, and it looks much better sitting on your counter than any other system we tested. It’s tall when fully set up, but it’s pretty small when packed away. The coffee it produced in our tests was brighter and had a thicker body than any other cold brew we made. This model stacks up neatly for storage and doesn’t require any paper or felt filters to use. Costing just a bit more than the Filtron, the OXO brewer is worth considering if you like its look and want to optimize your kitchen storage.

What about using a French press?

You can make good iced coffee in a French press, whether concentrated or ready to drink, but you have to work to get to the right recipe for your particular press, and the resulting brew will have more sediment unless you take the extra step of filtering. Cleaning up is trickier, too, as you must disassemble the mesh filter for thorough cleaning.

We averaged recipes from The Coffee Compass, The Kitchn, America’s Test Kitchen, and a local coffee-shop owner, among others, to make concentrate in a 34-ounce Bodum French press. On our first batch, using Trader Joe’s beans, it produced the most body and the strongest flavor among the brewers we tested. On our second batch, made using the same proportions but with upscale Joe Bean coffee, the French press received the worst rating from our tasting panel, earning a mere 3.5 out of 10 in every category. Panelists said the brew tasted “bland” with “tea-like under-extraction,” and that it was like “cold diner coffee.”

If you already have a French press, there’s no reason you can’t try a few test batches: Start with a 4.5-to-1 ratio of water to coffee, by weight, and filter it if you can through paper or cheesecloth. Then dilute to taste. If you’re a regular cold-brew drinker, though, a dedicated brewer is a better option because it makes more concentrate, it offers easier cleanup, and it has a straightforward recipe specifically designed for it.

This guide may have been updated by The Sweethome. To see the current recommendation, please go here.