The Good
- Gorgeous interface
- Feels like reading a real book
The Bad
- Only 23 ebooks available
- No popular new releases
The Classics iPhone app (Andrew Kaz & Phil Ryu, $2.99) has a gorgeous interface with some of the prettiest ebooks you’ll find on the iPhone, but its content is limited. While I love the interface, the lack of selection makes it hard to recommend as one of the best iPhone ebook apps.
As its name suggests, the Classics app focuses on classic literature. More specifically, 23 works of classic literature, including Pride and Prejudice, Dracula, Gulliver’s Travels, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Alice in Wonderland. When you launch Classics, the books are arranged on a bookshelf with custom-designed cover art. It’s a gorgeous design, and it appears Apple also likes how it looks -- Apple’s iBooks app, which was announced with the iPad, has a nearly identical interface.
Tapping on any of the ebooks takes you to that book’s title page. I’ve reviewed a bunch of iPhone ebook apps, and the experience of reading with Classics is most like reading a real book. The ebooks are incredibly well designed and some include illustrations. You swipe to turn each page, and you can actually see and hear the pages turn. Of course, you can turn the sound effects off in the iPhone's settings menu if that annoys you. When you leave a book, the app automatically inserts a red bookmark so you can pick up where you left off.
All of the 23 ebooks are included with the app’s price, but this is where Classics falls short. Even though it has a great interface, there are only 23 books available. The developer promises more books with future updates, but as far as I can tell it has been nearly a year since new books were added. So there’s no way to get more ebooks or download popular new releases like you can with other iPhone ebook apps like Stanza or Amazon’s Kindle. Once you’ve read all the books, then what?
The Bottom Line
I want to give Classics a high rating because it’s obvious the developers put a lot of time and effort into creating a well-designed ebook app, and it does feel a lot like reading an actual book. However, until they add more books or partner with an ebook store, this e-reader app just doesn’t have enough content for a wholehearted recommendation. Even so, you do get 23 ebooks for under $3. Overall rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.
What You’ll Need
The Classics app is compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch. It requires OS 2.0 or later.