Having reviewed earlier versions on various devices I can clearly admit that Version 4 of PressReader is even more beautiful than previous efforts. Reading e-papers is now so effortless that whatever confusion may have existed has disappeared like Hermione and Harry devaporating at the wave of wand.
For Android devices you can get PressReader from Google Play. What I like about Google Play is if you access it online you can install any program to multiple devices (if you have them). If you are logged into your Google account the list of registered devices are available when you try to install the App. I looked at PressReader on a tablet – the Galaxy Tab 7.7 to be specific – to get the best view.
PressReader on Google Play
After you install PressReader, the first screen you see lets you activate a free trial or begin your account if you are upgrading:
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| From PressReader4 |
If I want to keep getting new editions of certain papers I can scroll through Sources – Country, Favorites, or Recent list. Then tap on a paper. This brings up a calendar. Choose your dates and if you wish this paper to be a “Favorite”:
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| From PressReader4 |
Access “My Library” to view the several papers which you can now download. Note that the audio icon is next to the name and date of each paper. You can Listen Immediately after a download or read immediately.
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| From PressReader4 |
Once a paper is downloaded this is indicated by a green ribbon:
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| From PressReader4 |
Choose your newspapers from a list of countries, languages, your favorites and recent papers from the menu at the top right:
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| From PressReader4 |
The GUI for PressReader has really been improved considerably. Take note of the indicator at the bottom of the screen. This lets you know which section of the paper you happen to be on – with just a glance and that lime green color that just POPS. Give the page a Tap and this menu pops up. Here you can share the article you happen to be reading, listen to the audio, give it a thumbs Up or down and view it only as text.:
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| From PressReader4 |
This shows the article being read to you after you selected audio mode. As before you can mute, pause and move to the next / previous article easily:
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| From PressReader4 |
When I zoom in as close as possible it still looks good:
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| From PressReader4 |
Zoomed into photo. Yes, while I can see jpg artefact’s (at least to my artist’s eagle eye), it’s still clear enough with details.
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| From PressReader4 |
And if I wish to read a single article as ‘text’, it looks fine. It uses the font I have chosen in my Tablet or phone preferences.
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| From PressReader4 |
If you select SmartFlow in the PressReader preferences this gives you additional control over how the pages can be manipulated. See that small rectangle at the bottom left end of the screen? That lets you toggle between the regular Page View and SmartFlow. While your view is in SmartFlow you can tap those Green Double Arrows to open the full article. If you find the font size too small or to big “pulling” two fingers on the screen apart or together will pop open a little window which interactively change the font size just to your preference. you can also tap the “aA” on the upper right of the screen. This shows a few font faces to choose from. The “Sans Serif” in my case is the font I have chosen in my main tablet font prefs. On my tablet this is “Rosemary” (Screen > Screen Display > Font Style > pick from list or get a font online.)
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| From PressReader4 |
Tap bottom bar (which indicates newspaper sections) to pop up thumbnails of the pages. Now scroll through thumbnails to find the page you are looking for. Note that the page number and the name of the section is always clearly shown.
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| From PressReader4 |
I have to admit I’m delighted with the improvement with PressReader 4. It’s fast, seamless, very easy to navigate and frankly makes reading the newspaper format on devices a real joy. And no ink on the fingers!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkBLNaiyZ2I&hd=1[/youtube]