A service from Google for lovers of classical works and those who just want to get acquainted with Russian literature.
I like to read paper books. It's not about the aesthetic pleasure of flipping through the pages or the smell of freshly bought literature. I'm just so comfortable. But I do not deny that a smartphone or an e-book is often more convenient – your favorite literature is always with you and you can devote a free minute to reading. Therefore, the book and the 'reader' Moon + Reader Pro was always downloaded in my smartphone. For me, 90% of the functions of this application were useless, and I easily replaced it with a simpler analogue – Play Books.
The Play Books service is integrated into the app store and multimedia content for Android – Google Play Store. There is a large assortment of books and a user-friendly interface for reading. You can customize the font (6 types), size, line spacing and alignment, the background color changes – white, black, beige. Separately, the night mode is turned on, in which a warm color filter is applied to the image for more comfortable reading in the dark and less irritation of the central nervous system before going to bed. Pages can be flipped by pressing the volume keys. It's all I need.
The reading interface in Play Books suits me completely. But there are complaints about the content of the store. More precisely, not to Google Play specifically, but to all online services for selling e-books. The digital version, for some reason, is more expensive than the paper version, mostly in modern literature.
But the works of Russian classics in Play Books are given almost for nothing! Book prices start from 1 ruble to 20 rubles on average. I have already bought a whole 'virtual' shelf from the works of Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Zamyatin and other writers.
It should be noted here that, for example, 'Liters' allows you to download the works of many classics for free. But Play Books, like many other Google services, I value for syncing across devices. The book service client is available for Android, iOS and browsers. It is not so convenient to read books from a computer, but being able to continue reading on a tablet from where you left off on a smartphone is very convenient. Therefore, you pay this small price for a book for convenience.
Addition: Readers suggested that books from third-party sources can be loaded into the Play Books personal virtual library. It's a way to read legally free and 'pirated' works, respectively. But you cannot upload more than 1000 books.
Instructions:
- In the Play Books application, open the settings and check the 'Allow PDF downloads' box;
- Load the book into the device in .PDF or .EPUB format;
- Open the book and select the 'Upload to Play Books' action.
You can also upload documents through a browser. After a while, the book will be uploaded to the cloud storage and will be available for reading from all devices connected to the account.
Let's summarize
Play A book recommendation for those who love the classics or are just going to get acquainted with it. You will have to pay a ruble / five / ten for one work, but at the same time be able to read from any device, be it a computer, smartphone and tablet to iOS or Android.
I am happy with this service. But paper books will remain a priority for me – it is more convenient and often cheaper.