Classic App: Classy Reader, but Low in Content

In many iTunes App Store categories, there exists significant overlap--competing apps vying for the same place on your iPhone or iPod Touch. One of these categories encompasses eBooks. We previously reported on Stanza, which is now facing some competition.

A new app called Classics, priced at $2.99, offers elaborate page turning graphics. However, although it looks pretty it falls short on content.

The simulated bookshelf only contains 12 literary classics: Alice in Wonderland, Gulliver's Travels, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the Time Machine, Robinson Crusoe, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Jungle Book, etc. Its page in iTunes states that more books are coming via free App updates, but nearly a month after its release, the same titles remain.

The content provided is not as extensive as Stanza's and there is no means for creating and adding your own books or other documents. There isn't even any mention of the format the books come in, or if Classics will support all the different eBook as Stanza does.

Regardless, the app has some nice touches. It remembers your place in a book using a simulated satin book mark and there is a progress bar showing you at a glance how far along you are in the book. Page turning is accomplished on the touch screen by flicking left or right to go back and forth in the book. You can use the table of contents for quick navigation.

Based on these observations we still feel that Stanza is the best eBook reader when it comes to content diversity and feature-set.