Comparison of iOS e-book reader software

The following tables compare general and technical features for a number of iOS e-book reader software. Each section corresponds to a major area of functionality in an e-book reader software. The comparisons are based on the latest released version.

Navigation features

Product	Developer	Pagination	Rotation Lock	Auto-scroll	Progress indicator	Backward/forward	Table of Contents	Bookmarks	Resume	Cloud synchronisation	Go To	Full text search
Apabi Reader	Beijing Founder Apabi Technology Limited	Yes	Yes	No	In library and in-book	Yes	Yes	Unlimited	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Blio	K-NFB Reading Technology, Inc.	Yes	No	No	In-book only	Yes	Yes	Unlimited	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Bluefire Reader	Bluefire Productions	Yes	Yes	No	In-book only	Yes	Yes	Unlimited	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
DL Reader	Datalogics, Inc	Yes	Yes	No	In-book only	Yes	Yes	Unlimited	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
eBookMobi	Tien Thinh Vu	Yes	support on iPad, portrait only on iPhone	No	In library and in-book	Yes	Yes	Unlimited	Yes	No	Yes	No
Ebook Reader	Ebooks.com Limited	Yes	Yes	No	In library and in-book	Yes	Yes	Unlimited	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
i2Reader	Yuriy Melyushin	Yes	Yes	Yes	In-book only	Yes	Yes	Unlimited	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
iBooks	Apple	Yes	No	Manual	In-book only	Yes	Yes	Unlimited	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Kindle	AMZN Mobile LLC	Yes	Yes	No	In library and in-book	Yes	Yes	Unlimited	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Kobo Reading App	Kobo Inc.	Yes	Yes	No	In-book only	Yes	Yes	Last place marker only	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
KyBook Reader	Konstantin Bukreev	Yes	Yes	No	In library and in-book	Yes	Yes	Unlimited	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Marvin	Appstafarian	Yes	Yes	No	In library and in-book	Configurable	Yes	Unlimited	Yes	Optional	Yes	Yes
MegaReader	Inkstone Software, Inc.	Yes	Yes	No	In-book only	Yes	Yes	Unlimited	Yes	No	Yes	No
PocketBook reader	Obreey Products	Yes	Yes	Yes	In-book only	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
ShuBook	Ambibma Ltd.	Yes	Yes	No	In library and in-book	Yes	Yes	Unlimited	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Stanza	Lexcycle	Configurable	Yes	No	In library and in-book	Configurable	Yes	Unlimited	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
uBooks XL	NIX Solutions Ltd	Mixed scrolling & pagination	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unlimited	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
iBouquiniste	Sandr	Yes	Yes	No	In-book only	Yes	Yes	Unlimited	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Product	Developer	Pagination	Rotation Lock	Auto-scroll	Progress indicator	Backward/forward	Table of Contents	Bookmarks	Resume	Cloud synchronisation	Go To	Full text search

Display features

Product	Multi-column mode	Styles (bold/italic/etc.)	Page Turn Effects	Themes	Day/Night mode	Enable/Disable sleep mode	Brightness Control	Indent paragraph	Enable/Disable CSS	Enable/Disable hyphenation	Customize margins	Customize text alignment	Customize font	Customize spacing: line/paragraph
Apabi Reader	Yes	Yes	Configurable	Yes	Yes	Yes	Vertical swipe	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Blio	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Justification only	Yes	No
Bluefire Reader	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Vertical swipe	No	Yes	No	Pre-set choices only	Justification only	Yes	Line only
DL Reader	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Pre-set choices only	Justification only	Yes	No
eBookMobi	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
Ebook Reader	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	(Disabled by default)	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
i2Reader	Yes	Buggy	Yes	Yes	Using styles	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
iBooks	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Kindle	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Pre-set choices only	Yes	Yes	Line; pre-set choices only
Kobo Reading App	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Vertical swipe	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
KyBook	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Using themes	No	Yes	Yes	Configurable	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Marvin	Configurable	Yes	Configurable	Yes	Yes	Yes	Vertical swipe	Yes	Configurable	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
MegaReader	Configurable	Buggy	Configurable	Yes	Using themes	Yes	Vertical swipe	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Line only
PocketBook reader	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
ShuBook	No	Buggy	Configurable	Yes	Yes	Yes	Vertical swipe	Configurable	No	Yes	None, small, large	Yes	Yes	Yes
Stanza	No	Yes	Configurable	Yes	Yes	Yes	Vertical swipe	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
uBooks XL	No	Buggy	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
iBouquiniste	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Product	Multi-column mode	Styles (bold/italic/etc.)	Page Turn Effects	Themes	Day/Night mode	Enable/Disable sleep mode	Brightness Control	Indent paragraph	Enable/Disable CSS	Enable/Disable hyphenation	Customize margins	Customize text alignment	Customize font	Customize spacing: line/paragraph

Edit/tool features

Product	Highlight	Annotate	Edit meta-data	Online dictionary	Offline dictionary	Lookup Wikipedia	Translate	Share	TTS support (read aloud)	DRM support	Export to iTunes
Apabi Reader	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Two Chinese websites only	No	No	Yes
Blio	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Bluefire Reader	Yes	Yes	Author, Title, Publisher	Yes	No	No	No	Facebook, Twitter, eMail	No	Yes	Yes
DL Reader	Yes	Yes	Author, Title, Publisher	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Adobe DRM	Yes
eBookMobi	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	eMail	No	No	Yes
Ebook Reader	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Facebook, Twitter, eMail, Google+	No	Adobe DRM	Yes
i2Reader	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	eMail	No	No	Yes
iBooks	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Facebook, Twitter, eMail, SMS	yes, via VoiceOver	Apple FairPlay	Yes
Kindle	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Facebook, Twitter	No	Yes	Yes
Kobo Reading App	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Facebook, Twitter	No	Yes	Yes
KyBook	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Facebook, Twitter, eMail, VKontakte	Yes	No	Yes
Marvin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Facebook, Twitter, eMail, customizable	No	No	Yes
MegaReader	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
PocketBook reader	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Facebook, Twitter, eMail, SMS	No	Yes	Yes
ShuBook	No	No	Author, Title, Label	No	Yes	No	No	Whole book only, eMail	No	No	Yes
Stanza	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Facebook, Twitter, eMail	No	No	Yes
uBooks XL	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	eMail	No	No	Yes
iBouquiniste	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	eMail	Yes	No	Yes
Product	Highlight	Annotate	Edit meta-data	Online dictionary	Offline dictionary	Lookup Wikipedia	Translate	Share	TTS support (read aloud)	DRM support	Export to iTunes

Book source management features

Product	Book store(s)	Book search	In-app Epub import	Import via in-app Browser	OPDS catalog	Other import via	Tag books	Sort books
Apabi Reader	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	eMail (MIME type) Built-in web server	No	Yes
Blio	No	No	Yes	No	No	eMail (MIME type)	No	No
Bluefire Reader	Free ebook libraries only	Yes	No	No	No	eMail (MIME type) iTunes File Sharing Built-in Web Server	No	Yes
DL Reader	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	eMail (MIME type)	Yes	No
eBookMobi	Free ebook libraries only	Yes	Yes	No	No	eMail (MIME type)	No	Yes
eBookReader	No	No	Yes	No	No	Built-in web server	Yes	Yes
i2Reader	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Calibre (Bonjour) Built-in web server	No	Yes
iBooks	Apple iBookstore	Yes	No	No	No	eMail (MIME type)	No	Yes
Kindle	No	No	No	No	No	iTunes File Sharing	No	No
Kobo Reading App	No	No	No	No	No	eMail (MIME type)	No	No
KyBook	Free ebook libraries only	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	eMail (MIME type) Google Books Dropbox Google Drive Yandex Disk VK Docs Network folders iTunes File Sharing	Yes	Yes
Marvin	Free ebook libraries only	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Calibre (Bonjour, Plugin) eMail (MIME type) Dropbox iTunes File Sharing	Yes	Yes
MegaReader	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Calibre (Bonjour) eMail (MIME type)	No	No
PocketBook reader	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	iTunes File Sharing eMail (MIME type)	No	Yes
ShuBook	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Calibre (Bonjour) eMail (MIME type) iTunes File Sharing	Yes	Yes
Stanza	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Calibre (Bonjour) eMail (MIME type) iTunes File Sharing	Yes	Yes
uBooks XL	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	eMail (MIME type) iTunes File Sharing	No	Yes
iBouquiniste	Free ebook libraries only	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	eMail (MIME type)	No	Yes
Product	Book store(s)	Book search	In-app Epub import	Import via in-app Browser	OPDS catalog	Other import via	Tag books	Sort books

Supported File Formats

See Comparison of e-book formats for details on the file formats.

Product	total # of formats	.cbr/.cbz	.chm	.djvu	.epub	.fb2	.html	.mobi	.pdb	.pdf	.rtf	.txt
Apabi Reader	3	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Blio	2	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Bluefire Reader	2	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
DL Reader	2	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
eBookMobi	10+	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ebook Reader	2	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
i2Reader	6+	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
iBooks	2	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Kindle	2	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Kobo Reading App	2	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
KyBook	8	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Marvin	1	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
MegaReader	1	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
PocketBook reader	8+	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
ShuBook	5+	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Stanza	5+	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
uBooks XL	5	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes
iBouquiniste	5	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Product	total # of formats	.cbr/.cbz	.chm	.djvu	.epub	.fb2	.html	.mobi	.pdb	.pdf	.rtf	.txt

License

Product	Free	License
Apabi Reader	Yes
Blio	Partial voices cost
Bluefire Reader	Yes	Proprietary
DL Reader	Yes
eBookMobi	No
Ebook Reader	Yes	Proprietary
i2Reader	No
iBooks	Yes	Proprietary
Kindle	Yes
Kobo Reading App	Yes
Marvin	Partial ability to see more than one book in library cost
MegaReader	No
ShuBook	Partial
Stanza	Yes	Proprietary
uBooks XL	Partial Adware
iBouquiniste	No

Special features

Product	Special features
Apabi Reader	Support for the CEBX ebook format VGA output support
Blio	Support for the visually impaired
Bluefire Reader	Optional PDF password protection Localized in English, French, German, Norwegian, Icelandic, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Danish Support for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean language epub3 format including Vertical writing mode and R2L page order Supports multiple concurrent Adobe user account activations, both Adobe ID and Vendor ID accounts Export notes and highlights to email Collections Feature for organizing user Library
DL Reader	Optional PDF password protection Localized in Japanese, English, German, French, Russian, Vietnamese, Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese
eBookMobi	Optional password protection Displays Microsoft Office documents Adjust screen brightness via swipe Localized in Japanese, English, German, French, Russian, Vietnamese Supports custom Stardict Dictionaries Supports online translation to 105 languages
Ebook Reader	Full Epub3 support for in-book audio and video. Online sync of all bookmarks, highlights, notes and reading position. Import DRM free PDF and Epub files. User created collections for organizing books.
i2Reader	Configurable status line Custom PDF engine
iBooks	iBooks can read text aloud to the user.
Kindle	Ebooks can be emailed to an auto-generated Amazon email address
Kobo Reading App	Strictly enforces registration with Kobo Support for magazine subscriptions. Extensive social media support via Facebook. Reading statistics and achievements.
KyBook	Localized in Russian, English Supports online translation via Yandex.Translate Allows to load a user fonts Extensive options for library sorting Changing book covers via Google Image Search Supports use of Tor Network
Marvin	Optional password protection. Customizable page warmth and tint. "Deep View" automatically creates name lists, summaries, adds references to (Wikipedia) articles and pins web pages, reviews, etc... to the book. Specialized font to assist users with Dyslexia. Integration and annotation syncing with Calibre. Global & book-specific vocabulary. Export notes, highlights, vocabulary & other user modifications to XHTML and CSV files. Reading timer.
MegaReader	Configurable tap zones (next/previous page, show menus, rotation lock, toggle heads up display) Optionally uses the rear camera for "look-through" reading.
PocketBook reader	Export book info, notes, highlights to mail, sms, Facebook, Twitter. Localization in English and Russian. Single page, dual page or scroll viewing modes. Crop page margins manually or automatically to fit page content to the screen size. Allows zoom in or out a page via pinch and stretch gestures. Allows zoom to a particular text fragment via double touch. Adjust font size via pinch and stretch gestures (epub, fb2, txt).
ShuBook	Basic support for Microsoft Office documents (DOC, XLS, PPT) & RTF. Extensive East Asian support
Stanza	Cover Flow Extensive options for library sorting Customizable background picture & transparency settings Has some stability problems on iOS >= 5.0 Stanza is not being updated any more
uBooks XL	Displays Microsoft Office documents Customizable background Extensive options for library sorting
iBouquiniste
Product	Special features

Further reading

Discontinued e-book reader software

• The Readmill app, introduced in February 2011, read numerous formats on Android and iOS devices but shut down on July 1, 2014.

See also

• Comparison of Android e-book reader software
• Comparison of e-book formats - includes both device and software formats
• Comparison of e-book readers - includes hardware e-book readers