06-22-2010, 03:22 AM
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5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 5,067
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iBooks 1.1 out with PDF support � mini-review & full (!) comparison & feature chart
You may already have noticed that iBooks 1.1 has been released some 4-5 hours ago for iOS4-based iPhones and iPod touches (and, of course, the iPad).
Well, to make a long story short, I�ve expected more. FAR more. Unfortunately, the PDF support in iBooks 1.1 doesn�t really live up to my expectations � some of the third-party PDF readers (e.g., GoodReader, iAnnotator etc.) are way more powerful.
There are only three areas where I can only recommend iBooks 1.1:
- Night-time reading: third-party apps that do support �decreasing� the backlight just make whites darker (that is, decrease the contrast of the page). Not so with iBooks: it, having legal and official access to the brightness control of the iPad, doesn�t need such tricks to decrease brightness. The result is: far more contrasty and easier-to-read PDF files than with any of the 3rd party PDF readers.
- Opening PDF files you receive in an e-mail. So far, this has been impossible unless you used a PDF(-capable) third-party reader (e.g., GoodReader 2.8.1 by Yuri Selukoff and ReaddleDocs 1.1.0 by Igor Zhadanov) also offering direct access to one�s POP3 or IMAP mailboxes. Nevertheless, even then it was a bit complicated to access these files.
Note that, in my tests, I haven�t managed to make this feature work. There is supposed to be a �Open in iBooks� button in mails with PDF attachments. In my tests (where Mail did notice the PDF files I�ve thrown it at), it was never displayed. Note that a lot of other people has run into the same problem � see e.g. http://discussions.apple.com/thread....ageID=11718309
- You want to purchase PDF books right from iTunes Store on your iDevice. Then, iBooks is the only way to go.
Why I don�t (necessarily) recommend this title over the best alternative PDF readers, then? It�s simple: it severely lacks features: no link support, no text copy, no annotations / highlighting, no page cropping, no keeping open several files at the same time, not even support for TOC. Especially the latter is a real pain in the back, I�d say.
Note that I�ve been working on a full (!) comparison of most PDF(-capable) readers. So far, I�ve created the chart of the article, which has most of the info. I�ve also added iBooks 1.1 to it (see the second column). See http://winmobiletech.com/sekalaiset/...iPadPDFv1.html . Note that, as has been explained in my dedicated article at http://www.iphonelife.com/blog/87/ip...oundup-preview , this chart is still a work-in-progress and, therefore, doesn�t have any dynamic hiding capabilities, unlike the final version to be published in 1-2 days. Stay tuned 
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