Apple adds night reading theme, full screen mode to iBooks

Apple on Wednesday issued an update to its iBooks iOS app, adding a night-time reading theme, full-screen layout, new fonts and an improved annotation palette.

iBooks 1.5 for iPhone and iPad arrived in the App Store early Wednesday. The free 20.7MB download (iTunes link) requires iOS 4.2 or later.

According to Apple, the update includes stability and performance improvements, as well as the following features:

Nighttime reading theme makes reading books in the dark easier on the eyes.
Full-screen layout lets you focus on the words without distraction.
iBooks now features an improved selection of fonts, including Athelas, Charter, Iowa, and Seravek.
Beautiful new classic covers for public domain books.
A redesigned annotation palette makes it easier to choose a color for your highlighted text.

The Cupertino, Calif., company is currently facing a class-action lawsuit over its iBooks pricing model, as well as a European Commission investigation into possible anti-competitive practices. Unlike Amazon, Apple worked with publishers to adopt an agency model for iBooks, allowing book publishers to set their own prices while providing Apple a cut of their sales. The company currently takes 30 percent of revenue from books sold on the iBookstore.

40 Comments

solipsismx 19562 comments · 13 Years

About 12 years ago

This update is making me miss my iPad even more. Still debating getting one now or just holding out for the G3.

apple ][ 9225 comments · 13 Years

This looks like a really nice update! I'll be updating later on tonight for sure.

Additional fonts! Full screen! Night time mode!

I was already happy with reading books on the iPad, as I do read a bit, but this will make it even better!

nagromme 2831 comments · 22 Years

Now work out a deal with libraries, and it can replace the Kindle app for me

I love checking out library books for free from home and reading them on my iPad. Kindle has some arrangement with libraries, and is a good reader app?almost an iBooks clone, but it has some annoying rough edges. I?d use iBooks if I could.

(Purchasing ease is not a factor between the two apps, since I don?t want to own a lot of books. I read them and move on.)

Well, I just updated and I opened a book real quick just to see how things look.

I'm liking all of the additional fonts, there are 7 in total to choose from now. I'm also liking the full page option.

I don't think that night time mode is for me though. It's a matter of preference, and it seems like all it does is swap the text with the background, making them inverse. That option was always in the iPad wasn't it? It's under settings/general/accessibility/white on black. But it's a good option to have directly in iBooks for those people who need it.