The Aldiko Reader App for Android

As e-readers, like Amazon's Kindle and Barnes and Noble's Nook became more and more popular, Android app developers got busy trying to design the perfect e-reader app as either a companion to an e-reader or as smartphone dedicated app. The developers who designed Aldiko got it right. 

When it comes to books, I usually prefer ones that come as an audio download. And the idea of reading a book on my Droid initially caused me to think that my 40+ year old eyes would laugh at the prospect. That was until I downloaded the free e-reader Alkido from the Android store.

The first time I opened the Aldiko app and downloaded a book, I was hooked. The ability to customize the screen and the vast choices of available books were just two of the reasons why you'll find a shortcut to my Aldiko app on my desktop.

The first thing that jumped out at me when visiting the Aldiko store was the number of free books available for download. Your free choices range from public domain books, original books from feedbooks.com, books that were turned into movies, great books from the Western World and a category called "High School Reading."

If your tastes run toward technology based books or romance books, Aldiko has a category just for you. There is even a category called "Smashwords" that is devoted to independent authors and publishers.

Though you won't find New York Times Bestsellers with Aldiko, the sheer amount of free books and genre specific books more than qualifies Aldiko as a must download. 

When it comes to customizing the reading screen, nothing can hold a candle to Aldiko. Not only can you adjust the font size and style, but you can also adjust the font weight, margins, line spacing and text alignment. You also have the ability to change or adjust the font and page colors. All these font options can make for a very enjoyable reading experience. 

Another useful feature is the brightness adjuster. All you need to do is to drag your finger down the left hand side of the screen to dim or brighten the screen. 

If there is one flaw in the Aldiko app is the lack of available titles. Though you can download other e-books, this feature is limited in which books you can download and is still in its experimental phase. The only supported format is non-DRM ePub. Despite this shortcoming, I feel that the number of available free books and the incredible customizing options earn Aldiko a solid "5 Star" rating.