Auto-scrolling ebooks

January 30, 2013 1:36 AM

What's my best option for reading ebooks in an auto-scrolling format?

By "auto-scrolling" I mean one of these two things:

1. the text scrolls continuously up the screen, with no pagination at all; or

2. there's a line or "screen" or something that moves down each page, and when it reaches the bottom it automatically advances to the next page and starts at the top, without pausing.

I would like to have both options available, ideally. In either case, the basic controls would be speed up / slow down / pause, and the speed would adjust automatically to accommodate graphics, short lines and blank space. (Meaning it might be tied to word count per second and not just vertical distance per second.)

My Kindle Paperwhite doesn't do this and I don't think any device with that kind of e-paper screen is even capable of it, because it seems to refresh the whole screen at once like an Etch-a-Sketch. (Right?) So I'm going to buy either an iPad Mini or a Nexus 7. Which one should I get, and which iOS or Android apps can do what I want?

posted by pete_22 to technology (7 answers total)

I use Spreeder.com on my iPad to read while I'm knitting. This has many limitations (need to paste text in, no ebook integration, the screen on my iPad keeps dimming after a minute or so) but it does have the added benefit of variable speed.
posted by third word on a random page at 3:15 AM on January 30

Don't scroll, use something like this!
posted by devnull at 3:42 AM on January 30 [1 favorite]

Wikipedia has a feature comparison table for iOS eBook reader apps, which includes an autoscroll column.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:53 AM on January 30

Wow, did not realize this feature was so unusual -- only two of 14 apps on that table offer it, and from quick googling they both look pretty low-rated. I guess Android is a better bet? Can anyone recommend an auto-scrolling Android app?
posted by pete_22 at 5:02 AM on January 30

devnull, that applet is pretty nifty but I can't imagine it completely replacing my reading experience. FWIW I'm not doing this specifically for "speed-reading" purposes, I just think I'd be able to concentrate better without pagination -- and as third word says, it's useful for hands-free reading too.
posted by pete_22 at 5:20 AM on January 30

Instapaper is not an ebook reader per se, but it supports tilt scrolling.
posted by nev at 7:44 AM on January 30

If you have a certified print disability (that is, you have trouble manipulating or reading a standard book) you could use Bookshare's Read2Go app with the volume turned off.
posted by Soliloquy at 5:53 PM on January 30