Best on the Go Reading Apps for Android
A lot of people have to travel long distances to reach work and while they can certainly play games to pass time, reading is just an overall better way to spend on your commute. These are some of the best on the go reading apps for Android that will not only allow you to read tons of amazing books but also won’t drain the battery fast. This is one of the major selling points of reading on your Android phone or tablet: games or movies will drain your battery faster, and if you don’t have a power bank or access to a charger in the office, you’ll be without any juice on the way back home.
The best on the go reading apps for Android are very light on resources and won’t use a ton of battery to provide an enjoyable reading experience. One of the best things about these apps is that they do not require any kind of Internet connectivity to basically give you the full features. In fact, I highly recommend that you turn off your LTE/4G while you are immersed in a book. For one, doing that will not only save you a ton of battery life, but also save you from being disturbed by messages from numerous apps that you have on your device. So sit back, travel, read and if you are in for a long haul, don’t forget to bring hot coffee with you.
Note: the best on the go reading apps for Android were tested on a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, Honor 8 and Sony Xperia Z. All of the apps performed perfectly fine and no problems were faced during the testing. I personally read around 15 books on 4 of the top apps over the years and didn’t notice any odd behaviors or bugs during reading.
1. Moon+ Reader
If you just want one reading app for Android, I would highly recommend that you get this one. It has been on my phone for almost 3 years give or take and I have enjoyed it thoroughly. The interface is highly customizable, the app allows you a fair bit of freedom when reading as well. So, if you want to simply start reading any book you have downloaded, this will work but if you want a little bit of more customization options, this will shine.
Sure, many people just want to read a book and they don’t care about many other features, but if you are a student you will highly appreciate the highlighting feature that is included in Moon+ Reader. Here is another thing, you can change the font color to anything you like, the background color is similarly customizable but what I really like is the option of changing the background image. If you like the yellowish hue of a well-worn book, you can set up a custom image like that and get that feel from your phone too.
2. eReader Prestigio: Book Reader
I’m a sucker for a great interface, I absolutely fall in love with any app that has customization options regarding the user interface and this reader is among them. It uses material design which is fairly standard on any Android device so you’ll be instantly familiar how it works.
However, it does come with a My Books tab that allow you to set up a digital shelf with cool looking books on it. There are multiple shelf themes that you can select from and all of them look amazing.
One big feature that I really love about this app is the inbuilt dictionary, this is a very handy tool if you are not a native language speaker and want to learn as you read. I’ve used this countless times to broaden my personal vocabulary. Sure, you can use one of the best dictionary apps for Android but when it’s built in of the reader, you don’t feel like you are closing the book and consulting another app.
3. Universal Book Reader
Universal Book Reader has page turning animations and that little thing makes it one of the greatest on the go reading apps for Android. I know it may sound trivial to many but I do love the feel of a regular book, sure I can carry an actual book with me on the bus but when you already have a phone that’s capable of holding thousands of books, why would you want to move to hardcover.
The page turning animation is just one little detail that this app gets right, there is a very beautiful and streamlined library menu, you can change the size of the font or even change the font altogether and open over 50 file formats. This means that Universal Book Reader is one of the most versatile book readers to take with you on the go. No matter what format your book is in, you’ll be able to open it with this great reader.
4. AlReader -any text book reader
This is one of the oldest reading apps for Android available and it hasn’t changed much over the years. However, I’m only including it because it opens virtually almost any file format with ease. While many others can support mainstream formats like doc, HTML, PDF etc. this one goes above and beyond and supports zip and GZ archives as well.
The app also fully supports 10 languages that not only include English, German and Russian, but also Turkish, Bulgarian and Polish. If you are fan of Polish books like The Witcher series, this is the best on the go reading apps you can get. I also like how the app switches to two-page mode when you turn your device in landscape mode, while it’s not that awesome on a small phone, it looks absolutely great on a larger tablet.
5. Librera. Book Reader of all formats and PDF
If you’re into collecting books in a neat little pile, Librera is probably made just for you. It allows you to create and manage your own library, has graphic cover previews so you can easily identify the books and Mark your favorite in recent books in a very accessible place.
You can easily set your own personal night mode color that suits your eyes and provides a very comfortable viewing experience. If you want to use a different background, that is also possible with this app. I also really like the pop up page display that allows you to select the exact page you want to navigate to. That also comes with little thumbnail previews of the page you are trying to find as well. You don’t need to browse through the whole book to find that one page that houses the best action scene of the book.
Conclusion:
All of these apps provide a smooth experience without sacrificing better performance. I also recommend that you turn down brightness a little bit so that your eyes won’t get tired reading page after page. Overall the experience you have with the best on the go reading apps for Android will be a pleasant one. They are pretty great at replicating the feel of a real book and to be honest the only thing missing is the smell of a fresh book, otherwise we are already there.
If you have any questions or better yet, have any book recommendations, feel free to talk to us in the comments below. We do love a good read.
