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Google Books app feels rushed, disappoints
Google Books finally went live in App Store and we here at TUAW couldn't wait to give it a try. Unfortunately, we should have. Google should have spent more time refining and polishing this app before releasing it. Google Books is a bit of a half-baked disappointment. Let's start with the big issues. The application doesn't do landscape. Personally, I'm not completely adverse to portrait book reading -- after all, it gives you the most room to read each page on the screen -- but why doesn't Google give me the choice? I often like flipping back and forth between my books and ongoing solitaire games (I know, I know, but that's what I do, and 4.2.1 makes it easy). Having to re-orient my iPad to the lap-unfriendly portrait orientation is just annoying. A two-page side-by-side layout seems to be a given in the e-reader world. I'm stunned it's not already in there.
Google Bookstore for web and iOS
As expected, Google announced their bookstore today, offering eBooks for sale to be read across supported devices including iOS and Android, as well as web clients (no native reader for Windows, Mac, Linux, but you can download PDFs or ePub files for offline reading). As of this writing the apps do not appear in the US iOS App Store. TUAW writer Richard Gaywood tells us that the Google Bookstore is not available to him at all in the UK, so don't be surprised to find that the Google Bookstore isn't available in many countries that aren't located between Canada and Mexico. Right now we're busy kicking the tires and haven't even been able to take a look at the iOS app yet, but at least we know that Google will keep track of your where you were reading if you switch from one device to another. Check out a short promotional video after the break.
