# Apple’s iBooks 10 Times More Popular than Amazon's Kindle App



## kb7uen Gene (Mar 13, 2009)

Apple's iBooks 10 Times More Popular than Amazon's Kindle App.
Distimo releases new app store data in June 2010 report.

Personally, I'm having a hard time believing this claim made by Distimo is really true.
How often are any of these analyst right on the predictions they make or the reports they publish?
I'm willing to bet it isn't nearly as ofter as they would like us all to believe.

Gene

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Apple-s-iBooks-10-Times-More-Popular-than-Amazon-s-Kindle-App-146132.shtml


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## Scheherazade (Apr 11, 2009)

Isn't iBooks preloaded on iPads and the like too?  It's like saying the installed GPS on Droid is more popular than something else.  I'd rather see number of people actually using it and how many books are being bought, not just how many downloads they got.


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## David Derrico (Nov 18, 2009)

I didn't download the report, but the article only says that iBooks is the #1-ranked free app, and Kindle for iPhone is #10. That doesn't necessarily mean it had 10x the downloads, it could just be a sloppy headline.

On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if a ton of people downloaded the iBook app just to check it out since it got a lot of publicity. But the really important number is: how many people are buying and reading e-books on either app, or iPads and iPhones in general compared to Kindles? Free downloads don't mean much.


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## docmama28 (Mar 6, 2010)

When I updated my iphone to iOS4, the app store pretty much made me download the iBook app.  I looked at it, didn't like it and deleted it right away.  Wonder if they keep track of how many people delete it after being forced to install it?


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## lynninva (Feb 7, 2009)

I downloaded both the iBooks app and the Kindle app to my iPad. I have also downloaded a few free books from the iBookstore in case I want to use that app sometime. But the kindle app is the one I go to when I read on the iPad. There are some circumstances where I prefer the iPad over my K2, but I still use my Kindle for most of my book reading on a daily basis.


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## cleee (May 15, 2009)

The iBooks app is not preloaded on the iPad. They probably did that so they could say later "x-thousand people downloaded the bookstore app." Of course it's high on the downloads list, it's free. 

The iBooks store is the poorest execution of a bookstore that I have ever seen.  You cannot browse inside categories so if you're a true crime fan you have to browse the entire nonfiction category. They don't have many books and finding stuff is an exercise in frustration. 

Such a shame. I use my kindle app on the iPad and don't bother with the bookstore. They touted this bookstore and have done very little with it.


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## David Derrico (Nov 18, 2009)

cleee said:


> The iBooks store is the poorest execution of a bookstore that I have ever seen. You cannot browse inside categories so if you're a true crime fan you have to browse the entire nonfiction category. They don't have many books and finding stuff is an exercise in frustration.
> 
> Such a shame. I use my kindle app on the iPad and don't bother with the bookstore. They touted this bookstore and have done very little with it.


I have to agree 100% with this. Finding books (other than maybe the few bestsellers) is an exercise in frustration. The categories are terrible, there are only TWO fiction categories: "Fiction & Literature" and "Mystery & Thrillers." That's it. Want Sci-fi? Fantasy? Romance? Anything else? Look in "Fiction" and good luck.


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## G. Henkel (Jan 12, 2010)

Since iBooks is the native app for the iPad, of course, everyone downloads it and checks it out. Whether they use it in the long term is a different question entirely. Hence the data from Distimo are completely useless.

As for the usability of iBooks, while it may be flawed, one thing about Apple that no one should underestimate is their ability to learn and adapt - quickly. They have always been on the pulse of what people want and need and if the categories don't work so well right now, I guarantee you that problem will be fixed in time. Everyone who's had an Apple product in the past will know that everything in Apple's philosophy is about usability and ease of use, from the smallest iPod to the largest Mac Pro.

Speaking if improvements, clearly their search engine needs a good number of tweaks also. Unless you search for a book title or author, you'll never find anything. There are absolutely no associative search results at this time, which is really an oversight.


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

Guido Henkel said:


> Since iBooks is the native app for the iPad, of course, everyone downloads it and checks it out. Whether they use it in the long term is a different question entirely. Hence the data from Distimo are completely useless.
> 
> As for the usability of iBooks, while it may be flawed, one thing about Apple that no one should underestimate is their ability to learn and adapt - quickly. They have always been on the pulse of what people want and need and if the categories don't work so well right now, I guarantee you that problem will be fixed in time. Everyone who's had an Apple product in the past will know that everything in Apple's philosophy is about usability and ease of use, from the smallest iPod to the largest Mac Pro.
> 
> Speaking if improvements, clearly their search engine needs a good number of tweaks also. Unless you search for a book title or author, you'll never find anything. There are absolutely no associative search results at this time, which is really an oversight.


Although we are an all Apple household, I disagree with this. Anyone who's ever used iTunes know that their "categories" and search function in that are also utterly horrid. The App Store sucks, plain and simple, if you're trying to find an app based on even a single function. The iBookstore, of course, is based on the same setup. iTunes hasn't improved in this area over the many years we've used it; based on that history, I can only assume the iBookstore won't change much either.

Apple is famous (infamous) for doing what they believe is best regardless of what their customers want. Thankfully for them, in most cases, their products usually perform well enough that people are willing to overlook the issues. In the cases that don't? Don't get me started on the joys of trying to get Time Machine to work over wireless on an all Apple network....ease of use is no longer an Apple feature.

As far as iBooks goes, I downloaded it out of curiosity and because I was sick of the App Store reminders to do so. It contains only the original Winnie the Pooh book that came with it. I dislike the interface, dislike the corny page turns and two page landscape layout, and of course, buying books through it is ridiculous. I use the Kindle app all the time, and the GoodReader app for PDFs, since it's far better at handling them than iBooks is. And GoodReader doesn't require iTunes to put PDFs onto my iPad!


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

I use iBooks for some ePubs that I purchased from Fictionwise. I like the interface; I really like just tapping the page to turn it.


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## Dellaster (Jun 18, 2010)

The moment my iPad was connected to iTunes it popped up a window asking if I wanted to install the free iBooks app. _Of course_ it's more popular. How many people _wouldn't_ click and let it download even if they never ever read books?

That said, I actually like the iBooks app better than the Kindle app. Amazon.com can do better (and should).

- Ted


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/04/inexplicable-rise-in-iphone-devs-app-store-sales-connected-to-i/

This probably isn't related to the popularity of iBooks, but it is interesting. It might be worthwhile to check your account to make sure that there are no unexplained sales.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Dellaster said:


> That said, I actually like the iBooks app better than the Kindle app. Amazon.com can do better (and should).


I agree. Leaving the matter of purchasing books aside, I don't like the iPad Kindle app nearly as much as the iBooks app.

But then I prefer iPad Stanza over either of them  

I like the fact that iBook will sync between devices for all books, not just the ones I buy from the iBooks store (only 1 so far). I ike the dual-page display, also.

And I like the fact that Stanza will display a pie chart of how much I have read of a book on the home page next to the title, as well as let me control hyphenation, and margin line and paragraph spacing. And get books from my computer via WiFi.

Getting back to the OP, yeah, I think the report may be misleading. But I don't see enough info there to draw any conclusions.

Mike


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## cleee (May 15, 2009)

Guido Henkel said:


> As for the usability of iBooks, while it may be flawed, one thing about Apple that no one should underestimate is their ability to learn and adapt - quickly. They have always been on the pulse of what people want and need and if the categories don't work so well right now, I guarantee you that problem will be fixed in time. Everyone who's had an Apple product in the past will know that everything in Apple's philosophy is about usability and ease of use, from the smallest iPod to the largest Mac Pro.
> 
> Speaking if improvements, clearly their search engine needs a good number of tweaks also. Unless you search for a book title or author, you'll never find anything. There are absolutely no associative search results at this time, which is really an oversight.


I have to disagree here. As a Mac Systems Admin, I've seen new features added to Mac Server software that are heavily advertised and then abandoned with little to no support provided by Apple. It's all about the oohs and aahs at the conferences. After you buy, they sometimes tend to drop the ball or abandon it and those users who have deployed their suggested solutions are left high and dry or told to wait for the next (paid) release.

I think the whole iBooks thing was a good selling point for the iPad and was designed to compete with Amazon for sales of iPads vs. Kindles. With Amazon putting out a Kindle app almost immediately upon release of the iPad, Apple doesn't have to secure publishing rights and all the stuff that goes along with that. B&N and Amazon will do it for them as book buyers can shop those stores for books and read them on Apple's device via those vendor apps.

I love my Kindle and iPad and use iBooks to read a lot of books I've converted to ePub but I just wish you could browse specific categories of books. I hope they enhance the store at some point but I'm not counting on it.


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

jmiked said:


> And I like the fact that Stanza will display a pie chart of how much I have read of a book on the home page next to the title, as well as let me control hyphenation, and margin line and paragraph spacing. And get books from my computer via WiFi.


I'd like to see all the apps add these features. Wouldn't mind seeing them on my Kindle, for that matter!


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## Rasputina (May 6, 2009)

Scheherazade said:


> Isn't iBooks preloaded on iPads and the like too? It's like saying the installed GPS on Droid is more popular than something else. I'd rather see number of people actually using it and how many books are being bought, not just how many downloads they got.


nope it's not, you have to download it from itunes if you want it, it does not come preinstalled.


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## Rasputina (May 6, 2009)

Guido Henkel said:


> Since iBooks is the native app for the iPad, of course, everyone downloads it and checks it out. Whether they use it in the long term is a different question entirely. Hence the data from Distimo are completely useless.


again, it's not native, it does not come predownloaded. It has to be downloaded from the app store, just like the kindle app does.


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## Rasputina (May 6, 2009)

docmama28 said:


> When I updated my iphone to iOS4, the app store pretty much made me download the iBook app. I looked at it, didn't like it and deleted it right away. Wonder if they keep track of how many people delete it after being forced to install it?


How did it "make you" download it? We had people in here that had a hard time even finding the app in the app store and asking for how to get it. So I'm interested on how it made you download it.


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

Rasputina said:


> How did it "make you" download it? We had people in here that had a hard time even finding the app in the app store and asking for how to get it. So I'm interested on how it made you download it.


On my iPad at least, it popped up with a reminder at least once a day when I'd open the App Store. I believe it also reminded me the first time I tried to synch with iTunes. The reminders finally annoyed me enough to try it, plus I thought iI'd see what the fuss was about. I'd delete it, because I don't read in it at all, but it's useful for checking availability for authors who don't have access to it elsewhere, and for doing spot pricing checks.


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## G. Henkel (Jan 12, 2010)

Rasputina said:


> again, it's not native, it does not come predownloaded. It has to be downloaded from the app store, just like the kindle app does.


Native does not mean pre-installed. They are two different things. The iBook app is native to OS4, the operating system running on the iPad.


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## kwajkat (Nov 6, 2008)

Guido Henkel said:


> Native does not mean pre-installed. They are two different things. The iBook app is native to OS4, the operating system running on the iPad.


Ipad's OS is not OS4 it is still OS3. The OS 4 update will not be available until Sep or Oct. I am hoping the OS4 update will have the wi-fi signal fixed. My 3rd gen itouch was updated to the OS4 and now it doesn't hold the signal just like the problems they are having with the new iphone.

Seems to me they are really pushing the ibook app as being better than any other because it is an apple app. While I have it and have downloaded the free books, I don't use it. I prefer my kindle app the best. Also have the B&N app and ereader for my drm books.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Rasputina said:


> again, it's not native, it does not come predownloaded. I


Just to clarify:

"Native app:
An application designed to run in the computer environment (machine language and OS) being referenced. The term is used to contrast a native application with an interpreted one such as a Java application that is not native to a single platform. The term may also be used to contrast a native application with an emulated application, which was originally written for a different platform."

/picky mode off

Mike


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## Rasputina (May 6, 2009)

Guido Henkel said:


> Native does not mean pre-installed. They are two different things. The iBook app is native to OS4, the operating system running on the iPad.


sadly, we don't have OS4 on ipad yet.


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## Rasputina (May 6, 2009)

VictoriaP said:


> On my iPad at least, it popped up with a reminder at least once a day when I'd open the App Store. I believe it also reminded me the first time I tried to synch with iTunes. The reminders finally annoyed me enough to try it, plus I thought iI'd see what the fuss was about. I'd delete it, because I don't read in it at all, but it's useful for checking availability for authors who don't have access to it elsewhere, and for doing spot pricing checks.


That explains it, I'm not even sure how long I'd had my ipad before I bothered opening the apps app, I rarely shop from the device.


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

I'm not a voracious reader, so am not up on everything.  Stanza app was mentioned upthread.  I downloaded it.  Quite impressive.  I like it.  I took a look at Lexcycle / Stanza forums.  Hmmm.  Said Amazon bought Stanza.  People are having a problem with latest Stanza update.  Many books showing "unreadable" error message which is not getting fixed.  Because Amazon bought Stanza, they figure Stanza is not a priority and will go downhill.  Anyone know / heard about this?


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

I would agree that Stanza is likely to suffer from apathy from Amazon. I wouldn't count on any upgrades.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Sandpiper said:


> Because Amazon bought Stanza, they figure Stanza is not a priority and will go downhill. Anyone know / heard about this?


I've been over on their support forum this week to file a bug report, and the developers seem pretty active. A number of bugs are marked "fixed" and they say they will be in the next release.

Mike


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

I like the various apps for reading on the iPad.  I generally like reading on it.  Only negatives for me would be screen glare (though I don't see myself reading much where that would be a problem) and weight of iPad.  I have carried it with me a few times.  It's heavier than Kindle.  But when I do get out my K1, it's kind of looking like old technology to me.  Like going back from flat screen monitors and TVs to the big ol' suckers.  But the K1 still works.


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## G. Henkel (Jan 12, 2010)

Sorry, my bad. I was confused because the iPad requires SDK4 to develop for, hence my incorrect OS4 statement. Not that it makes any difference to my point, though...


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Sandpiper said:


> Only negatives for me would be screen glare (though I don't see myself reading much where that would be a problem)


Did you mean to say glare or are you talking about reflections?

Mike


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