Free app like cloud browse for mac#
Free app like cloud browse Offline#
Free app like cloud browse mac#

OverDrive offers many reading options, from in-browser to Kindle, and even EPUB, but not every method is available for every book.Įither the browser or Kindle option works for me, but I don’t use them interchangeably because they can’t sync with each other. It will remain in your Kindle library forever, but once the lending period is over, you can’t open it unless you buy or re-borrow it. This makes it available on any Kindle device, within any Kindle app and within a browser via the Kindle Cloud Reader. Second, you can hand off the book to Amazon for reading as a Kindle e-book.

Free app like cloud browse Offline#

This is a surprisingly good way to go because it turns the e-book into a sort of lovely Web app with sophisticated, thoughtfully arranged controls, including a choice of typefaces, a font-scaling slider, an offline mode and options for creating bookmarks, highlights and notes.

Or you can use OverDrive’s site, which is as a kind of library metasearch engine that looks up book titles, and which libraries have them to lend.Once you’re ready to check out an OverDrive book from my public library, you have a variety of options, not all of which are available for every title.Įven when reading in your browser, you get decent controls-there’s almost no need to get the native apps.įirst, you could read the book in the browser. OverDrive users in search of something to read will typically start on the Web, perhaps on their local library’s site. Your search for OverDrive-compatible books usually starts on the Web. But unlike Cloud Library’s centralized system, OverDrive takes a hydra-like approach with multiple (and sometimes conflicting) ways to borrow and read books. OverDrive is a wider-used and better-known system for lending public library e-books, which is why for many it is synonymous with digital book borrowing. This is Cloud Library’s largest shortcoming and perhaps OverDrive’s biggest edge. But there’s no way to get Cloud Library books on Kindle e-book readers like the Voyage or the Paperwhite. Installing the app on Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets-I tried it and it works. You can transfer books onto physical e-book readers from the likes of Sony, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble via the Cloud Library desktop app, as well. You can also read Cloud Library books in theĪdobe Digital Editions for Mac, because 3M uses Adobe encryption.

Free app like cloud browse mac#

The Cloud Library Mac app works well too. Some, like Comics & Graphic Novels, have slim pickings. My checked-out books are shown against a wooden backdrop (ugh), a Shelves area shows long rows of other books in popular categories, and a Categories section allows users drill down into 52 topic areas, from Antiques & Collectibles to True Crime.

Free app like cloud browse for mac#

I treat these as a single, gigantic library with untold e-treasures available for download with a click or a tap-but each lending system has shortcomings.Ĭloud Library app for Mac is in even greater need of interface updates, though it is fairly functional in its current form. I use OverDrive and 3M Cloud Library interchangeably because they never seem to have the same titles available. The latter is possible because OverDrive has a deal with Amazon to use its Kindle Store as a distribution hub. OverDrive takes a multi-pronged approach by making e-books available as elegant Web apps, downloadable files, or Kindle e-books. Gone is a dreadful skeuomorphic-wood bookcase, replaced with the minimalist interfaceĪndroid users have been enjoying for months. Version 2.0 of its iPhone and iPad app with a dramatically improved interface. Now things are looking up.ģM Cloud Library has gone far in version 2. Access in your region may vary, but chances are good your local library uses at least one of these services.3M Cloud Library and OverDrive take different approaches to library-book distribution, and neither did a good job until recently. Paul public library uses both, as do other Twin Cities library systems. OverDrive and 3M Cloud Library are rival services that offer vast e-book catalogs for deployment by public libraries.