The Google Play Books Android app is getting a handful of new tools today as part of an update aimed at improving non-fiction reading.
“Traditional ebook reading is great when you want to read books from start to finish — but what if you want to skim through recipes; jump between questions and answers, researching a topic; or read chapters out of order?” Google said in its Play Books app announcement.
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Above: Here’s what the new non-fiction features for Google Play Books looks like in action.
The new features will make it easier for people to read quickly, view bookmarks, and review notes. They also help Google stay competitive with ebook leader Amazon, which touts its own Kindle ebook tools as a selling point for its line of Fire tablets.
The new Google Play Books features include a “skim mode” for quickly going over information you might have previously read. There’s also a new “Quick Bookmarks” tool that lets you jump between different spots within an ebook quickly, which could be useful if you’re doing research reports or having to cite information from a particular ebook. Finally, Google has added a “Notes & Highlights” feature that provides an overview of all the notes from a particular ebook. That’s a tool that students will likely use often, and it could help make ebooks an even better alternative to expensive college textbooks.
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The updated Google Play Books app is available on the Google Play app store for free starting today.
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