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Read Hundreds Of E-Books For Free With New 24symbols App

Read Hundreds Of E-Books For Free With New 24symbols App

July 28, 2011
A fantastic new e-book service has arrived on the iPad. 24symbols for iPad allows you to read books on demand either through your iDevice or web browser. Best of all, the service is absolutely free. Still, it does come with some limitations. Created by BestSharer S.L., 24symbols launched earlier this year as a web-only service. However, this week the service expanded to tablets as well. To comply with Apple’s new subscription service, users must first establish a new account at the 24symbols website. Once that is done, simply log into the app and you’re good to go. Most of the books currently offered are part of Project Gutenberg, an organization that makes over 36,000 free e-books available to the public. Therefore, don’t expect any recent titles here. Some of the available titles include Wuthering Heights, Treasure Island, and A Changed Man. If you can get past this limitation, you’ll soon find 24symbols absolutely amazing. Books are arranged by new releases and categories, and look beautiful on the iDevice. Plus, books can be customized by font or font size. In addition, each time you begin reading a title, it is automatically kept in your “My Reads” folder, making them easy to find. Each book includes a synopsis and index. Plus, you can add and delete bookmarks by using the ribbon that appears in the top right corner of the reading pane. 24symbols isn’t perfect. For one, the free service has one significant limitation; books are only available online. Because of this, books need to load every time, which takes a few seconds.   Once the book is ready, however, moving from page to page is quick as it should be. Another limitation is books can only be read in portrait view, which could be a turnoff for some readers. If you want to read books offline, there is a premium membership available, which costs € 9.99 monthly or € 59.99 per year. Personally, I find these prices expensive. This is especially true given that most of the books offered are available elsewhere. For example, most are available as separate apps or as e-books via the iBooks or Kindle app. Still, depending on your situation, you may find the premium pricing reasonable. But, keep in mind you’re ability to read books offline ends if you let your premium membership expire. In summary, I found 24symbols worthy even with its limitations. It's a great option for those that want to download an app once and instantly have access to hundreds of free e-books. The free 24symbols for iPad app is available in the App Store.

Mentioned apps

Free
24symbols for iPad
24symbols for iPad
BestSharer S.L.
Free
iBooks
iBooks
Apple
Free
Kindle – Read Books, Magazines & More – Over 1 Million eBooks & Newspapers
Kindle – Read Books, Magazines & More – Over 1 Million eBooks & Newspapers
AMZN Mobile LLC