There’s a lot of page turning involved when reading physical media. Comic book fans have always gotten the short end of the stick, realizing this, Google set to make things right. The new Google Play Books update is more friendly to comic books and graphic novel fans.
The latest Google Play Books update streamlines the experience of devouring comic books and graphic novels on mobile platforms – read, smartphones and tablets.
Google notes that when someone reads a comic book, or a graphic novel, that individual is becoming deeply involved with the story and art, the pacing and dialogue, in a manner that suits himself. If you tried to read a comic on a small tablet or smartphone screen, you know how nerve wrecking it is.
So that’s why Google is introducing a vertical scrolling experience specially designed for comic book use in landscape mode.
In order for you to take advantage of this new feature, you just need to flip your smartphone or tablet on its side. This will automatically display the graphic novel or comic book in landscape mode.
The new Google Play Books update also makes the store’s library of visual goodies easier to navigate. Now, The Play Store has a dedicated tab called – comics destination; along with a curated list of comic books and graphic novels.
Google is also offering recommendations on what comic books to read next based on what you’ve previously read.
Google notes that their Play store offers a wide variety of comic books from the major players in the industry. This includes – Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, IDW and DC Comics. And boy, aren’t those comic books incredibly binge-worthy.
You can find series like Deadpool, Justice League, The Walking Dead and Mortal Kombat – everything a newcomer and a die-hard fan needs.
Just to make sure everyone understands how much Google respects its comic book and graphic novel fans, the search engine behemoth is offering free comic books from some of the most popular series in the industry – The Walking Dead, My Little Pony, Orphan Black, The X-Files and other awesome comics.
However, for your interest, Google isn’t the only platform for comic book goodies. If you don’t fancy the almighty Google, you can take a look at ComiXology, which offers the same, if not better, streamlined experience for comic books. It also has guided viewing.
To be honest, it seems like Google is using this free comic give-away as a bait to entice new users to use their business, rather than a wholeheartedly thank you for their existing comic book customers.
All of these new changes are set to hit the Play store in the next few days, says Google. They will be available for iOS sometime in the near future. Please note that these changes will be available to comic book fans that reside in Canada, U.S., the UK, Australia, Ireland, India, Singapore, New Zealand and South Africa.
