I'm usually not someone who likes to read ebooks on mobile devices. While I sometimes have to, I prefer to listen to audiobooks instead as I do not have to glare at the screen all the time.
While that means spending more time on a book, it is something that I find more enjoyable. Plus, I got both hands free for other activities in the meantime.
I have recently discovered the ebook reader Readmill for Android, and have switched to it when rare occasions arise when I do need to read documents or ebooks on the mobile device.
It is necessary to create an account on first run, either by linking a Facebook account or by creating a new account using an email address and password. Those are not verified though and you can start using the application right away regardless of what you enter there.
Readmill suggests to import ebooks in the next step. You can have the app import books already on the device, use the upload functionality on the readmill website to upload ebooks from your computer to your account -- which gets synced with your mobile devices -- or use the explore feature to add a couple of public domain books to the reader right from within its interface.
All books are listed on the main page afterwards, separated into "all books", "reading" and "finished" tabs for easier access.
When you select a book to read, it is first displayed alongside the reading interface. These interface elements, a page selector, options to change display settings or the table of contents are hidden after a short period of time so that you are not distracted by them while you are reading.
Readmill packs a punch of great features that really improve its usability for the reader. It is for instance possible to enable a nightmode which displays white font text on a black background for easier reading at night, options to increase or decrease font sizes, the tracking of time spent reading a particular book and an estimation on how much longer it will take to finish it, or the option to jump to specific chapters right away.
You can click on any word or phrase to copy it or look it up on the Internet, and turn pages using the volume buttons of your device (needs to be enabled in the preferences).
As far as supported formats go, it appears to support epub and pdf at the very least. I cannot really say if Readmill supports other ebook formats as well though, as there are no information available in regards to supported file types.
The website of the service adds social features to the mix. You can add friends and follow other users, and share highlights or comments with them easily to start a discussion or simply point them at something that caught your attention.
Verdict
If you like to read ebooks on Android devices, then you may find Readmill very suitable for that task. The app could use support for additional ebook formats and a better way of handling the browsing of free ebooks that you can add to your collection.
Other than that, there is little to criticize as it does really well what it has been designed for.
Now Read: Manage your ebooks with Calibre
