With Amazon’s Kindle Store, Google Play Books and others operating on Android, it’s a crowded market for eBooks right now. Especially when you consider that Google has been selling their own tablet for the last year or so, with a newly improved version having just launched. Does that mean that there’s room for other apps right now? Well, the developers behind Moon+ Reader seem to think so. Read on to find out if this is the eReader for you.
Description: Moon+ Reader sets out to be the most featured eBook reader out there by offering a massive plethora of options. You can change pretty much any setting you want to when using Moon+ Reader. Unfortunately, the app doesn’t tie into either the Kindle Store or Google’s Play Books store, instead this is more an eBook reader for those that prefer DRM-free material. Specifically, Moon+ Reader is a great app for those that prefer to manage their eBook library using calibre and manage their own ePub files. For those used to the Kindle Store and Play Books, that might be a pain but, those that are already managing ePub files should found the amount of options on offer here a breath of fresh air.
How it Works: To start reading books through Moon+ Reader, you’ll first have to download the app from the Play Store. There is a free version available to try as well.
In the main menu, you’ll see a shelf of your books, and then links to everything else. You can import ePub files from your SD card or internal storage quite easily.
The My Shelf part of the app lists all of your books, and it’s here that you can quickly and simply add new books. While there’s no support for the Kindle store, there is a handful on online libraries for you to take a look at:
The first thing you’ll notice about Moon+ Reader is that options are everywhere. When you first start reading a book, you’re given the option of how you want to go from page-to-page.
You can choose from a number of different methods, so you can easily choose the best one for you:
How a book looks really depends on how you want it to look. At first, things look like any other eReader.
There are options to change a whole bunch of things in Moon+ Reader. Like for instance the font:
As well as this, you can choose from themes, too:
You can change everything with Moon+ Reader, and to get to those options all you have to do is either hit the menu key on your device or tap the center of the display, and the control bar pops up.
There are some extra features on offer here as well, such Text-to-Speech. Pressing the speaker from the control bar will allow you to have a book read out to you. It’s not the most relaxing experience but, it works and might be just what you need.
It’s hard to describe how flexible Moon+ Reader is unless you use it for yourself, so why don’t you download it and load up some of your favorite books, experiment with the options and see if you like it.
Opinion: Moon+ Reader is a great app, and it’s one that’s great for those looking to get the most out of their books. While it is a little frustrating that I can’t tap into Kindle books with this, the finger is aimed squarely at Amazon. Meanwhile, the app makes it as easy as possible to import new eBook from your SD Card and your calibre library, which is just what most people using Moon+ Reader will be doing. The amount of options on offer here is incredible. There are a myriad of different themes to choose from, many different font options, different page-turning options and more. Simply put, there’s nothing that Moon+ Reader cannot do when it comes to options. Light, dark, themed – you name it, Moon+ Reader can do it. For some, the massive amount of options might be off-putting but, when it comes down to reading, the controls get right out of the way.
Ratings
- Speed (4/5) – Moon+ Reader is not blazingly fast but it’s perfectly quick enough, and there’s never any waiting around.
- Features (5/5) – While the overall concept of an eReader that doesn’t connect to the biggest eBook store seems strange, it’s customization options are incredible.
- Theme (4/5) – How the app looks and how your content looks is left up to you, thanks to the myriad of options and display choices.
- Overall (4/5) – It’s a shame that Moon+ Reader can’t connect to the Kindle store or others but, for those with ePub files, this is definitely one of the better eReader apps.
Pros
- Theming is not just light and dark, there are different colors and looks involved.
- Fonts matter to people, and in Moon+ Reader there are an incredible amount of fonts to choose from.
- While there are many controls, they all get out of the way when reading – just as they should do.
- Users of Calibre will love this.
Cons
- Doesn’t sync with Kindle or Google Play Books
- The features might be “control overload” for some users.
Conclusion: Moon+ Reader is certainly an interesting eReader, in striving to offer more features than any other app out there, it gives itself an identity crisis almost. While there are lots and lots of options to choose from, it still gets the reading experience right straight away. Things need a little tweaking on tablets but, on 7-inch tablets like the Nexus 7, the UI is easy enough to navigate and reading is great. Thanks to all of the options included in the app, there’s very little that users can complain about when it comes to how your books look. You can basically change whatever you want, whenever you want. It is a shame that it can’t lock into your Kindle library or even Play Books but, the eBook market has become a strange place. Users that prefer to buy in ePub format and use Calibre for example, will love Moon+ Reader and it’s very much worth the asking price.