The Top 5 Best Android eBook Reading Apps from the Google Play Store

E-reading has become a huge area of growth in our society. Books are turning digital and some magazines don’t even publish physical copies anymore. With this shift has come an incredible amount of new sources of apps in which to read this content. Here are our top 5.

1 . Kindle for Android :

kindle_android_app

This name and app is synonymous with ebooks and e-reading. The great thing about this app, which makes it number one is not only all of the features, but the ability to have so many great books for free, and access to literally millions at the palm of your hand. The in book features of dictionary lookup of words, and google searches make this app pretty hard to beat.

2. Moon+ Reader :

moon_reader_app

Fully supportive of online book libraries, Moon+ is another great contender in the world of ebook reading. Thousands of ebooks are available for free through this service as well. This app has a number of features specific to this app which include over ten themes for ease of reading such as day and night. Also ad free and filled with more features and customizations than you could ever go through, this app wins a spot as number 2.

3. Aldiko Book Reader :

aldiko_book_reader

This is currently the top eBook reader for Android platforms and for good reason. Over ten million people choose this as their number 1 e-reader. The customizable settings of text color, theme, and brightness make this e-reader cater to be exactly everything the user wants which is hard to get from other services. It also has the dictionary and internet search built in. It is also preset to read your transferred EPUB and PDF files which can save a huge amount of time.

4. Nook for Android :

nook_app

Once again the other big name for e-reading in the form of an Android app. One of the best features of this app is it allows you to try and subscription to a magazine free for 14 days. This means you can try out paid services for free and see if you like them before having to financially commit. Also, it syncs your reading across each device you have so the last page you read will be the next page that pops up on your tablet, phone or other device. It is also EPUB compatible and allows heavy customization.

5. Mantano Ebook Reader :

mantano_ebook_reader

This Ereader is great since it caters specifically to EPUB and PDF files, allowing the user to annotate and read any of them in the app itself. This is also a very customizable app and allows for a great deal of play within the actual appearance and performance of the app. It has many of te same great features the other e-reading apps have and performs very well.

Weather Wallpapers for Windows Phone: Know What it’s Like Outside at a Glance

One of the first things we do when we wake up in the morning is wonder what the weather is going to be like outside. It dictates some of our very first actions of the day. Usually we need to go into an app or unlock the phone and scroll over to a widget to see this information. With these new Windows Phone wallpapers that allow you to see the weather by just touching the phone it makes checking the weather that much easier.

Allowing you to use either the high definition stock images with the app or to choose your own pictures, this app is very customizable. The app also updates itself twice an hour to always have the most relevant weather conditions at the ready.

The information you get from this app is great without ever even having to unlock the phone. Get current or future weather predictions and information by just lighting up the phone. It’s a very simple app, but the effect is great and it is very well executed.

Given all of the other lackluster and standard weather apps out there today this one is quite good. Anyone with a windows phone should definitely look into getting this app to take care of their weather prediction and information needs.

Source: Weather Wallpaper for Windows Phone

[Image Credit: Windows Phone Store]

UberHype: Android’s Best New Music Finding App

Yet another music app, oh boy. What could possibly be in store here that we haven’t been able to get from the plethora of other music apps available and probably downloaded on my Android device. Well, here’s the thing, this isn’t just an app for music or streaming content it has another aspect which makes it completely unique.

You know how Pandora or IheartRadio will play a random artist when you are listening to one artist and a lot of the time it’s something completely unrelated and often not what you were looking for at all? That’s kind of what UberHype avoids through its music introduction. Since it is linked through a music discovery system called The Hype Machine there are always new songs and up and coming artists being shown throughout the app that you can choose to follow, create a channel for, or never listen to again. This freedom allows you to actually hear the type of music you want and listen to what you want when you want and not have to be subjected to random awful artists in the midst of what you’re doing.

The search features for this app are also what set it apart from other music services. You can really almost learn of an entire new set of artists in a single listening session with the way that search is set up by keywords and trends. You can also follow what your friends are listening to and what they have been liking which allow you to see what else there might be for you to see.

As far as music apps for Android go, this one is absolutely worth trying out. It’s a welcome change with a few minor fixes, like an exit button, needed, but overall it’s great and well worth the change from a conventional, lackluster music streaming service.

Source: UberHype App for Android

Hola: The Web Acceleration and Unblocking App for Android or PC

If you live in certain regions of the world internet censorship is simply a way of life. The information super highway that is supposed to be there for everyone can be completely obstructed by government or other services looking to block user access. There are solutions to these blocks, but most come at the price of heavy advertisement space, or significantly reduced speeds. Finally, there is an option which doesn’t have to involve either. Hola is an application which serves as both a web accelerator and an unblocker. This means you can browse web content previously untappable through this service while remaining anonymous.

This app is compatible for most major web browsers from Firefox to Chrome, to Safari. On Android devices it can be run on anything version 2.3 or higher. It has a very clear and obvious interface which allows the user to select the options they want to use and get the most out of the accelerator and unblocking components.

The array of settings to customize your experience with this app are very well rounded and offer you the ability to choose exactly what you hope to get from it. This is by far the best option, app wise, I have come across to access blocked sites and speed up an unblocker. If this is an issue you face in your life then getting this app will provide a very simple solution. Check out Hola and get back to seeing what you want to see, when you want to see it.

Source :

Hola For Windows, Chrome & Firefox

Hola for Android

Utter! Voice Command Personal Assistant App for Android

The first thing people think these days when they hear about an app that functions as a personal assistant of sorts is Siri. This leaves a lot of catching up for anything other than an iPhone user to have to do. Well, Utter!, is taking a stab at it, and it seems like they have all of their aspirations in line.

Siri is great, not nearly as great as in the commercials, but it’s still really good and useful, but it takes a decent data connection and an even stronger amount of background phone usage. This is what Utter! Aims to reduce. Utter! Allows most functions to be performed while the device is not online or connected to data. This means that not only is the data usage much smaller, but the battery usage footprint is much less as well.

The app is still in the development stage so they are looking for more and more people to download it and give it a test run. Here’s your chance to turn your Android phone into an extension of your hipster aspirations and get something before anyone else knows about it!

In essence this app is very similar to a Siri type personal assistant, but the disconnects make it able to go beyond that. It isn’t just a copy, it aims to improve upon aspects of the Apple equivalent and make it a better user experience. Since it is still in testing only time will tell how successful they will be or how big of a following this app can garner. One thing is for sure, if it works well, which it seems to be doing, then it probably will serve to be the Android equivalent of a Siri level personal assistant.

Google Play: utter! Voice Commands BETA For Android

[Images Credit: Google Play Store]

Haze: The New Weather Forecast App for iPhone

Haze is a brand new app to the iTunes App Store. It’s yet another weather forecast app, but this offers class and sleekness along with its functionality. There’s no denying that weather apps are a dime a dozen. The thing is, most of them are clunky, require too many touches to really see what you want or simply just look like a third grader’s school project. This is where Haze separates itself from the pack.

Haze is the weather forecast system of the future. Not necessarily because of what it does, but it does do it all from 5 day to sunshine hours, UV, cloud coverage, sunrise/sunset times, and of course precipitation, but because it looks so uniquely modern. This is what I would expect the weather forecast to look like on some device in the future. It looks so simple yet relays so much and the color schemes and hues make you feel enveloped in the information.

This is a brand new app so there are inevitably going to be issues that arise, but given first impressions Haze has set a good one. It’s a nice new way to really get the weather and not just be presented with the usual array of boring numbers and symbols. It’s simple, but direct and to the point while maintaining a great, sleek interface that users can easily navigate. For only being on the market such a short time it has received rave reviews from customers. Give it a shot and get your weather in style.

Source: Haze for iPhone

[Image Credit: iTunes Store]