The Good
- Transfer comics between iPhone and iPad
- Free comics download quickly
The Bad
- Only includes comics from one publisher
- Glitch when downloading paid comics
The IDW Comics iPhone app (Free) is a great choice for reading comics on the go. With an excellent reading experience and an easy-to-navigate interface, IDW Comics makes reading a joy. There is a glitch that happens when you download paid comics, but that’s one of the only downsides.
400 comics and 11 free titles
IDW’s iPhone comics app includes 400 individual comics, including titles from series like CSI, Star Trek, Transformers, and G.I. Joe. Like most other apps, individual comics cost between US$0.99 and US$1.99, and 11 free titles are included. One very nice thing about the IDW Comics app is that you can transfer comics between your various Apple gadgets. If you download a comic on your iPhone, you can read it later on your iPad.
The IDW Comics app is very easy to use because it does a good job of replicating the iPhone/iPad interface. When you purchase a new comic, a red badge appears over the Downloads tab to indicate a new download. Free comic downloads were relatively fast on average -- taking about a minute and a half over 3G. Once you download a new comic, it shows up under the My Comics tab on a bookcase, which is very similar to the layout of the iPad’s iBooks e-reader app.
However, we did encounter a glitch when downloading paid comics. The first time we bought a comic, nothing happened. Our iPhone was displaying the endless “loading” icon next to the 3G symbol, but the download didn’t start -- even after five minutes. After shutting down the app and relaunching it, the download started automatically. This happened with every paid comic we downloaded.
Reading experience
Once in the app, comics can be viewed as a full page or you can scroll from frame to frame. You can choose how you want the pages to transition -- by sliding, fading or curling. Nice touch!
The reading experience is excellent, but you have to view comics in landscape mode -- there’s no zoom support if you’re reading it upright. There was no delay when moving between frames, which makes it easy to become engrossed in your favorite comic. Of the comic apps we've tested so far, including Marvel and Comics by ComiXology, the IDW Comics iPhone app offer the best reading experience.
The Bottom Line
The IDW Comics app is pretty impressive. The interface is easy to use and replicates what you’re already used to from your iPhone or iPad. The reading experience is excellent. Of course, with this app you’re only getting IDW comics -- unlike Comixology, which material from different publishers. We also have to downgrade the rating for the glitchy download process, but that can hopefully be fixed in a future update. Overall rating: 4 stars out of 5.
What You’ll Need
The IDW Comics app works with the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. It requires iPhone OS 3.1.3 or later.
