The past decade has been kind to us. Households move from a single desktop computer that used to be in the living room to multiple laptops/tablets/mobile phones. Today, it is not uncommon to find 3–4 devices for a single name. All that technology accessibility is great, but it comes with a huge data synchronization problem.
Today we’re going to talk about a small but important point in this debate – syncing e-reading locations between devices. How do you make sure that when you turn off your tablet and pick up your phone on your way to work, the book you’re reading picks up where you left off?
If you only buy books from Kindle, this kind of stuff is easy. But it gets more complicated when you add your own DRM-free ePub collection.
Books purchased from Amazon Kindle
If you buy and read books on your Amazon Kindle, you don’t need to worry about syncing your reading location because Amazon takes care of it on its own. And that includes the Kindle e-reader. As long as both devices are connected to the internet, the synchronization will take place.
Interestingly, the same is true for any DRM-free documents/eBooks that you upload to the Amazon cloud.
Add and sync your own books with Kindle
Kindle allows you to upload your own documents to Kindle’s cloud servers and sync them to all available devices. But the only problem is that Kindle doesn’t support ePub formats. You’ll have to convert your DRM-free ebooks to Mobi format first, using something like Caliber. If you can overcome this difficulty, Kindle is the best way to store, read and sync all your books. If you need ePub support, see the workaround below.
Downloading Kindle-compatible ebooks couldn’t be easier. Each Kindle device has its own email address to which you can send e-books. You’ll have to go to Kindle first Personal document settings in Manage Your Kindle and add your email address to the approved list.
Now just email to that address with the e-book as an attachment and it will be uploaded to Kindle’s cloud storage
Other ways to send e-books to Kindle are outlined here. Caliber also has an email to Kindle feature that makes it very easy to send converted eBooks to Kindle.
Upload your own books to Google Play Books
Google Play Books lets you upload your own books using your Android phone or the web. And unlike Kindle, Play Books supports ePub as well as PDF formats.
To allow users to upload on your Android phone, open the app, go to Setting and mark Enable PDF upload. To upload books from your Android phone, just go to any file manager and select Upload Play Books from the share menu.
You can also upload books by going to the Play Books website and tapping Upload files button.
My advice? Go with Amazon Kindle
I’ve been a crusader in the e-book space long enough to know what works and what’s just a gimmick. Since the demise of Readmill, my favorite cross-platform sync e-reader, I’ve been hunting to find such a good alternative. Until now I have not found. There are apps like Dotdotdot and Fastr that come close but aren’t reliable enough for me to recommend to serious readers.
For many things in life, I find solace where I do not seek. If you are a fan of reading classic ebooks without copyright or without DRM, then Kindle is the last place you want to go. A lot of people think this Kindle e-reader and app is only good for reading books bought from the Kindle store, because that’s what Amazon told us. But it’s useful for so much more. Much more.
You can send web articles to Kindle! Send an ebook every night that includes all the articles you have saved in Instapaper automatically and of course, add any DRM-free Mobi books you want.
Since I got the Kindle Paperwhite, all my reading has been focused on the Kindle. I used to be a big believer in ePub but converting my collection to Kindle was as easy as pressing a button, thanks to Caliber.
It’s time we give in to Kindle overlords.
And it doesn’t matter whether you’re reading a book you uploaded or a book you bought from Kindle, it all shows up the same. Library view, complete with book cover and metadata.
Shutterstock image credit: Antonio Guillem
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
