Reading comics has quickly become one of the more popular uses for the iPad. The dimensions of the device lends itself well to that purpose (the 4:3 length-to-width ratio was chosen with reading in mind) although the iPad's screen is slightly smaller than the typical American comic book, much smaller than the telephone-book sized manga magazines and doesn't particularly fit any of the 'art comics' which range in size from the minute 'minicomics' to the towering
In the Shadow of No Towers.
Early
rumors that iBooks would host comics for sale were disappointingly off the mark, and other apps have sought to fill that vacuum. One such app is Marvel Comics which offers an innovative panel-to-panel transition and an official legal conduit for
some of its eponym's large library of content. This vehicle for comics might hit a dead-end though as
Apple is restricting which comics will be allowed on their store.
Another path to putting comics on the iPad is loading up cbr files (i.e.
Comic Book Reader file format) from a computer and reading them with one of the myriad apps available on the AppStore. The cbr file format is infamous for being the preferred choice of pirates but some comic publishers are now offering
samples in that format. Due to the portability of the format it might become the standard for digital comics.
It's early days for the iPad AppStore but its growth rate is showing no signs of abating. At the time of writing I was able to find 5 Comic Book apps optimized for the iPad that will accept user supplied cbz files. Many more abound for the iPhone, and may be run in compatibility mode, but the reading experience is nothing to write home about. The five chosen for review are
ARCreader (v1.1),
Bookman (v1.1),
Cloudreaders (v1.05),
Comic Zeal Comic Reader 4 (v4.0.8.) and Comic Reader Mobi (v2.2).
Bookman (free) may immediately be dismissed from consideration. Its comic reading abilities weren't present when the app debuted in the store and its clear that the later added features were an afterthought. The app stretches and distorts pages, preventing proper perusing. It was the only app tested that displayed pages out of order. One unique feature Bookman can boast of is a full-screen page preview display (previously seen in desktop apps like SimpleComic). With such a horrible starting point it's debatable the developer knows what comicbook nerds expect from a reader app. Don't bother installing.
ARCreader (free) is the newest of the bunch and shows some promise. The user interface is functional, if not pretty. It loads up the comic properly and displays it sequentially in proper dimensions. Unfortunately it's still a little buggy; the page preview scroller wasn't working properly. And it's light on features: there is no manga reading mode, no brightness controls and zooming is somewhat limited. It's a decent start though and worth downloading with an eye towards future updates.
Cloudreaders (free),
ComicZeal 4 ($8) and
ComicReader Mobi ($10; universal; unavailable) are the most sophisticated apps in our selection. Both ComicZeal and ComicReader Mobi have a long history on the AppStore having been available for the iPhone for over a year. Cloudreaders launched in the first week of the iPad's release. All three apps support the basic features of a good manga reader: opens zip, cbz, rar, cbr and pdf files and remembers where the reader left off; resizes pages to full screen with an appropriate (black) border when necessary; responsive and fast page controls; allows zooming; and accommodates the particular demands of manga as differing from American comics. While they each offer a particular trump card what differentiates one from the others is
how it performs the tasks. Comiczeal is the prettiest, Comicreader mobi is more functional than the others yet Cloudreaders is the most integrated into the iPad's ecosystem.
Cloudreaders indicates its debut on the iPad with some platform specific features. Only Cloudreaders registers file compatibility with the OS and thus works with the "Open with..." command from any app. Cloudreaders also takes advantage of the iPad's power to proces and cache many pages in advance, enabling smooth transition, while Comiczeal and Comicreader mobi restrain themselves to limits learned on the iPhone. And Cloudreader alone includes an in-app brightness control feature, mimicking Apple's iBooks. However Cloudreader can be too focused on the iPad; whereas both Comiczeal and Comicreader mobi choose to immediately return the reader to the last screen viewed (or page, as it often is) when opening the app--a feature expected on the iPhone, where any reading session can suddenly be interrupted by a call--Cloudreaders directs the reader to the library before s/he can access the bookmarked comic.
One feature that's not easily captured by screenshots is the page turning UI. After flipping through 9 pages, or over 9 thousand, it quickly becomes apparent that this is the most important design decision affecting the user. In all the comic reader apps, the various interface layers eventually melt away, leaving only the content visible, and the user may read for hours without so much as seeing a button if s/he chooses not to. Simply transplanting a page turning paradigm developed for the iPhone isn't the answer--as the GoodReader developer found out to his surprise. So far the question has boiled down to: Tap or Slide?
'Tap to turn' pages is the default option; it's easier to implement and such an obvious action as to seemingly be beyond criticism. Tapping on the iPad though is different experience to tapping on the iPhone. On the smaller device the finger is unlikely to miss the 'tap zone', but on the big
ger screen that is a distinct possibility. Optional arrows may be displayed to visibly indicate the tap zones but they prove to be distracting when reading. Tapping on the iPad is also a two hand operation--a problem for anybody who likes to keep one hand busy while reading manga. While one hand may be positioned to tap for one particular zone, the same hand is unable to reach the other tap zone without some adjustment. Inevitably the other hand will have to stop its, er, vigorous motion, to help hold the iPad or turn the page.
'Slide to turn', the other option is often used alternately with 'Tap to turn'. Scroll/Swipe/Flip/Flick may also be advocated in place of 'Slide', depending on the app. The flipping metaphor, beautifully implemented by iBooks with few successful imitators, will be difficult to recreate for the comic readers app if only because each page edge is unique in a way that iBooks' page edge is not (and considering the challenges of the joined pages spreads, it might well be impossible). In lieu of a simulated page curl, the manga reader apps offer an animation of the pages sliding in and out of view. Sliding can be initiated at any point on the screen; a simple flick is often enough to move to the next page. Moreover that means a flick in the opposite direction, performed on the
same spot, will be recognized as the reverse page turning request, thus allowing the iPad to be operated with one hand. Unfortunately the sliding implementation in Comiczeal is jerky and disorienting. It's much better in Comicreader mobi which even offers a sneak peek of what's coming next if you tug the page a little and let it fall back in place. Comicreader mobi doesn't cache the previous page though and sliding to that will give a load screen not a smooth animation. Cloudreaders will slide backwards and forwards as is the most appealing of the set.
Close in consideration to page swiping is orientation switching: should the manga be read in portrait or landscape? To see the most detail of each page, without zooming, ideally you'd want to read the single pages in portrait and the joined pages spread in landscape. Incidentally 'Zoom', such a critical feature for the iPhone apps--and a competitive advantage for Comicreader mobi's implementation on that device, isn't as important on the iPad's much larger screen. Comicreader mobi still offers some compelling features: using its 'Best Fit' option it'll automatically switch from portrait for single pages to landscape for the joined pages and then back again. Comiczeal squeezes the joined pages spread into the portrait view (assuming that, before turning, the previous page wasn't zoomed in) prompting the reader to manually rotate the iPad to landscape. Cloudreaders is the odd one out with little visual indication when encountering a joined pages spread in portrait orientation (which compounds a slightly irritating glitch in Cloudreaders--the page borders aren't completely blacked out). Cloudreaders requires the most effort of the reader, requiring s/he to recognize the joined pages and then also rotate without prompting. Cloudreaders does make one redeeming display decision; it takes advantage of the iPad's large screen to display two single pages in landscape view (another indication that Cloudreaders is solely focused on the iPad unlike the Comiczeal and Comicreader mobi which continue to offer the same single page that can comfortably fit into the iPhone's screen). However the feature is not without its problems: in landscape the cloudreaders 'slide to turn' is not as smooth as it could be and it still navigates page by page instead of leaf by leaf.
As this review is specifically about manga reader apps I would be remiss if I didn't offer some words on the 'manga modes' of the apps. Newcomers to manga are often first struck by the left-to-right progression of pages (besides the beautiful covers, that is). 'Manga mode' for comic reader apps means that they recognize this difference from Western comics by loading each new page at the upper right corner and flipping the controls so the user taps left when intending to move to the next page. Cloudreaders offers one easily accessible 'manga mode' control that encompasses both features. Comicreader mobi splits up the options but they are still somewhat easy to find in the settings if you know what you're looking for. Comiczeal fails in this regard, only offering an option to start at the right side on page turn--and that option is hidden in the Settings app, far from the comic.
The developer promises a "proper manga mode" will be coming in a future version.
If you're weary already of this review you might be wondering if a manga reader app is even necessary. After all you could simply load the images into iPhoto and be done with that. I'll argue that the conveniences offered by the dedicated apps reflect the ethos of the iPad itself: simple and focused. I found the Comicreader mobi app provided the best experience, although I had to first invest some time configuring it to my preferences. Once I was absorbed into the reading the manga, the app offered no distractions: flick, flick, tilt (to see a joined page spread), tap... were the only actions required on my end. With that in mind, it's a shame that Comicreader mobi is no longer available on the AppStore. If you were lucky enough to buy it for an iPhone/iPod Touch before you got an iPad then you'll be happy to know that same app works on all three devices. Take care not to delete the backup on your computer. Meanwhile, there is some hope that Cloudreaders and Comiczeal will reach feature parity soon. Cloudreaders is not a bad substitute by any means and it's free to boot! You might want to try reading comics in landscape as that's its greatest strength. Comiczeal is the most polished of all the apps on offer--it's frustrating that the sheen of the graphics doesn't extent to the core mechanics. There is some talent behind it so don't count it out yet.
Despite Apple's shenanigans, the future of reading manga on the iPad looks bright. I've never read so much, in so little time, as I've been able to with these apps. It's been a much more pleasurable experience than reading comics on an unergonomic desktop or cramped iPhone. You should join the fun.
" threads. 
..I might just teether to from my Nexus one, and then just use the one off pay as you go option.
