Comic Book Reader apps?

Discussion in 'iOS Apps' started by silentdante, Dec 10, 2011.

  1. silentdante

    silentdante Well-Known Member

    Jul 18, 2009
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    Would like to get peoples thoughts on CBR/CBZ comic book reader app's they might have tried.

    what is the general consensus on the best app for this? paid or free?

    thanks!
    -cory

    (sorry if this isn't the right section for the question)
     
  2. microzone

    microzone Member

    Mar 27, 2011
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    Bookman was always my favorite. It closely resembles the look and functionality of iBooks quite nicely.
     
  3. iDontGetIt

    iDontGetIt Member

    Dec 16, 2011
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    How would I add files to read for Bookman? Does it work through iTunes?
     
  4. alyfantis

    alyfantis Well-Known Member

    Nov 28, 2010
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    I just downloaded Cloud Readers and am really happy with it.

    It's free, accepts PDF, CBZ and CBR files, and you can upload your files using either wifi or through iTunes.
     
  5. silentdante

    silentdante Well-Known Member

    Jul 18, 2009
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    my thoughts

    ok, now that i have gotten and settled in with the ipad2, i bought Comic Zeal(7.99), ebooksmobi(2.99), Bookman Pro(1.99), Stanza(free) and comicbooklover(free) app's.

    transfering to each of these app's works fine and didn't become a hassle. there are only two app's listed that can rearange and sort the comics you upload as you see fit, Comic Zeal and Stanza.

    as for reading, Stanza, ebooksmobi, bookman pro, and comicbookover all resize the comic (or shrink down a little) so fit on the screen. The comics are easy to read this way except for a two page splash page, then you must tap to zoom or turn to horizontal mode, and then it may be semi-small to read word ballons still. with Comic Zeal the comic is shown at actual size, so when you look at a page vertical, it cuts off the bottom a little. if you turn on assisted page turn, when you hit the page turn, it will scroll the comic down the little bit then if you hit page turn again it will turn the page. if you dont mind that little bit being obscured for the bigger overall comic page, then comic zeal wins at the best reading app. if the fact it shows the comic page at actual size would annoy you, then it gets a little different.

    Stanza is my favorite ebook reader, but it can get a little wonky and soft crash if you try to zoom on a comic page. ebooksmobi was ok and the same as bookman pro as far as reading went, with the two page splash pages having to be zoomed, or turned to horizontal mode. now with comicbooklover app, it does not have any other menu on the page and when it hits a two page splash page, it smartly cuts it off as if one side was one page as long as you double tap to zoom in, it does itvery smartly. the other app's can do this as well, but not as well as comicbooklover does it. if i had to pick a reader to get over Comic Zeal (and at 7.99 it's not hard to look for somethig else) i would say for the price at free, comicbooklover is the best bet.

    just remember the app's other then Comic Zeal listed will be hard to sort, so either dont load up 100's of comics, or have it already organized before you upload them, though uploading through itunes does not make it easy to upload already foldered comics (that i could find anyways). with comic zeal you just upload everything you want, then in app you are able to make folders(longboxes) and then swip the comics you want where you want, very nice.

    as far as image quility goes, i would say most of them are all on par with each other, comic zeal probly wins out a little but that is because it does not resize the comic on you, so it looks good.

    any questions let me know and i will try to answer the best i can, or if you have a different reader app for me to try.

    thanks
    -cory
     
  6. violentv

    violentv Well-Known Member

    Nov 4, 2010
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    Yep, i use Cloud Reader too since it is free.

    If you have the $$ to spare you might want to check out comic zeal comic reader.
     
  7. ColeDaddy

    ColeDaddy Silver Supporter<br>Moderator
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    Mar 20, 2010
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    I have been using CZ for years and the recent upgrade is pretty amazing.
     
  8. lepeos

    lepeos Well-Known Member

    Jan 22, 2010
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    Yeah CZ5 is awesome, I only wish it had a storefront to buy comics like Comixology
     
  9. putermcgee

    putermcgee Well-Known Member

    Jun 4, 2010
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    My favorite comic book reader, ComicBookLover stopped working in iOS 8, and checking out their site/forum/twitter activity, it doesn't seem like it's being supported anymore. So now I'm scrambling to find a replacement.

    Going through the recommendations in this thread gave me some ideas, but I'm not sure if any of them are still good options. If anyone still uses them, or has a better recommendation, I'm all ears.

    I definitely need a reader that supports importing my own files (.cbr/.cbz) via iTunes and/or DropBox, so I'm not looking for something like Comixology.

    Bookman supports .cbr/.cbz, and you can transfer files in with DropBox, but it hasn't been updated in over a year, so I'm not sure if it still works. I'm not against paying for a good comic reader app, but I don't like that it's not universal.

    CloudReaders has been updated more recently, but no word on if it works in iOS 8. I guess it has ads, and I'm not sure if there's a way to pay to disable them. Also, a user review since after the last update is asking for DropBox supports, so maybe that's not an option?

    Comic Zeal, as discussed above, looks nice. I personally like the size-to-fit view like ComicBookLover has, so Comic Zeal's style might take some getting used to. Don't know if this one still works in iOS 8, and some recent reviews aren't very kind, making it sound like it's buggy.

    I couldn't find Stanza.

    I tried SideBooks, and it's okay, but it's really slow with lag between doing almost anything. Also, you can only download one file at a time via DropBox, which takes forever if you want to get several.
     
  10. psj3809

    psj3809 Moderator

    Jan 13, 2011
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    #10 psj3809, Oct 1, 2014
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2014
    Comic zeal is great. One of my favourite apps.

    Had a quick go of ComicBookLover (i'm not on ios8), not bad at all, just dont like the initial menu screen. Cant seem to do folders can you ?

    Yeah you have to buy Comic Zeal but it does everything i want, you can sort your comics the way you want, add dividers and folders easily. Download a cbr file from Dropbox and you can open it with Comic Zeal so i've basically got access to all my comics when i'm away from home. A great little app
     
  11. SherlockEB

    SherlockEB Well-Known Member
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    Apr 22, 2013
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    I think CZ is the best out there but if Stanza was still available my vote would probably go to that one. I think Amazon bought it and removed it from store around 2-3 years ago. :(
     
  12. putermcgee

    putermcgee Well-Known Member

    Jun 4, 2010
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    #12 putermcgee, Oct 2, 2014
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2014
    All good info, thanks. I guess I'll get CZ and hope it works in iOS8.

    EDIT: Yeah, it works in iOS8 as far as I can tell, and it looks pretty slick so far. I can't believe I missed the fact that it doesn't support DropBox, which was one of my main requirements! For starting out, I don't mind using iTunes sync. In fact, I need to connect to iTunes anyway to delete the files I have in CBL since it doesn't work anymore. Also, the support forums on the CZ website has a note from the developers from just a couple days ago, saying they are adding DropBox support in their iOS8 update. $5 well spent, I think!

    psj3809, no, you can't really organize your comics well in CBL. It seems to sort your items based on metadata that is difficult to edit without additional software or taking a lot of time fixing each file one by one. Since it looks like the developers have abandoned the app, it doesn't really matter anyway.
     
  13. Harpgliss

    Harpgliss Well-Known Member

    Nov 8, 2009
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    Here No More
    Have you tried Chunky comicbook reader. It is free unless you want the "pro" features? I personally like it much better than Comiczeal.
     
  14. psj3809

    psj3809 Moderator

    Jan 13, 2011
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    Well theres no dropbox button in Comic Zeal but as i've got Dropbox installed on my phone i just click on a .cbr file and then once its downloaded i choose 'open with' and just select Comic Zeal. Been doing that for quite some time, think it works well

    Some other cloud apps i've used but once the .cbr file is downloaded it wont show Comic Zeal or other cbr programs to open up with which is a pain. Its like it doesnt recognise what a .cbr file is. Dropbox does perfectly
     
  15. psj3809

    psj3809 Moderator

    Jan 13, 2011
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    Shame thats ipad only
     
  16. putermcgee

    putermcgee Well-Known Member

    Jun 4, 2010
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    Dang, I shouldn't be so quick to jump on new apps! Chunky looks good so far, and the DropBox support works well. I'm not sure if I even need the pro features either.

    That's a huge pain because you have to run the DropBox app, download a single file, export to CZ, and then go back to DropBox to get the next one. I think the next update will have something within the app to download from your DropBox account without the hassle.
     
  17. Exact-Psience

    Exact-Psience Well-Known Member

    Jan 12, 2012
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    The Work-At-Home Guy
    Philippines
    Im currently using Comic Flow. No dropbox integration since i usually transfer through a cable from the computer anyways as it's faster that way.

    Other than that, i like how fast the files load, and i like how sharp the comics look, unlike in other readers where it looks blurry unless you zoom in. Navigation is pretty easy too, and pretty straightforward. May lack some of the other reader's features, but i like it: Simple, effective.
     
  18. psj3809

    psj3809 Moderator

    Jan 13, 2011
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    Had a quick look at the Comic Zeal website and apparently the next update (for ios8 etc) has cloud based support. Be interesting if its dropbox or just basic iOS cloud services etc.

    But yeah i use dropbox a lot, paid for the 1 TB account so i've got EVERYTHING on there which is great, amazing to access any file i want when i want !
     
  19. ramon31

    ramon31 Well-Known Member

    Sep 4, 2011
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    Hortacultrist
    Australia
    I use SideBooks, it works through iTunes and also has Dropbox. Free as well, works a treat!
     
  20. psj3809

    psj3809 Moderator

    Jan 13, 2011
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    Thanks, having a look at that now. Love the way the bookshelf looks !
     

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