Rakuten Kobo and Amazon Kindle have always been strong rivals in eBooks, Audiobooks and eReaders market. At Kobo, they embody everything you love about your favorite local bookshop, perfected for your modern life. Kobo's bookstore was opened in 2009. They provides more than 5 million titles to choose from. Their catalogue has endless choices, and it’s always growing. You’ll find every type of eBook imaginable, from yesterday’s classics to today’s bestsellers. Kobo now also support online reading. Here's what you should know about Kobo web reader.
1. A Brief Introduction about Kobo Web Reader
As a dominant competitor in the eBook industry, Kobo has been working hard in the past few months to introduce a number of features and enhancements to their entire ebook and e-reader experience. The biggest new initiative this time is that Kobo release their first version Kobo web reader to allow users to view their purchased contents directly online. Below is a brief introduction about Kobo web reader.
1. Supported browsers: You can use Kobo Web Reader on most browsers such as: Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc. It also works on smartphones.(Note: Internet Explorer is not supported)
2. Kobo Web Reader lets you read Kobo books when signed in to your Kobo.com account: Your bookmarks are saved and synced, which means you can continue reading on a Kobo eReader or reading app at a later date without losing your spot. (Note: Kobo Web Reader does not support Kobo Audiobooks)
3. Kobo Web Reader is currently available in these countries: Australia, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, India, Turkey, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States, South Africa.(Note: Kobo Web Reader is not available to customers in Japan now)
2. How to Use Kobo Web Reader?
1. Open your book on Kobo Web Reader
All your Kobo books purchased from Kobo.com can be opened on Kobo web reader. First of all, you need to sign in to your account, then click My Account near the top right of the screen and click My Books in the drop-down menu.
Find the book that you'd like to read. Click the three dots on the lower right corner of the book cover and click Read Now to start reading directly in your browser.
2. Quick tutorial to start reading in your browser
On Kobo Web Reader, you can view the table of contents, adjust font sizes, change background color, and more. Your bookmarks will automatically save. This means that you can continue where you left off if you read on the Kobo Books app, or on your Kobo eReader.
2.1 Turn pages:
1. Drag the circle icon near the bottom of the page left or right to quickly scroll through pages. So you jump to any part of the book you want.
2. Press the left and right arrow on your keyboard or click the left and right of your screen to page forward or backward.
2.2 Reading settings:
Customize the look of the page by using the Reading Settings menu by clicking the Aa font size option icon on the top of the screen. You can adjust the font sizes, theme, page layout, and margin sizes.
1. You can adjust the font size by dragging the circle icon left or right to make the text smaller or larger.
2. Click any of these settings to customize the way the page looks:
Theme: You can choose from light, sepia, and dark to change the color of the page background. .
Margins: Choose from medium, narrow, or wide to adjust the width of the paragraphs on the page. .
Page Layout: Display text as one or two columns.
2.3 More options:
On the reading page, you can click
1. view the table of contents icon
Opens the table of contents and lets you go to any section of the book.
2. view the page in full screen icon
Lets you read your book in full screen. To close full screen view, press the ESC(escape key) on your keyboard.
3. view more settings icon
It will show you basic shortcuts and a tutorial on how to use Kobo Web Reader.
4. close your books icon
Click Back to My Books by hovering your mouse cursor to the top of the screen in order to close Kobo Web Reader. Your reading progress will automatically save.
Bonus TipseBooks purchased from kobo.com are DRM protected, however, a professional DRM removal tool -- Epubor Ultimate, can help you remove Kobo DRM effortlessly.
Amy Lopez crafts informative articles on eBooks and eReaders, uncovering optimal methods to enhance your eBook reading experience, and eagerly shares her findings with you.
