Opening books from iBooks in another app

[Kgiff]

I was wondering if Apple allows for their iBooks to be opened in another app? For example, other apps can access Contact, Safari, or Calendar to name a few. Can my app access the books I've downloaded into iBooks?

Thanks- Giff

 

[heySkippy]

That would depend on if it's an .epub or an .ibooks file.

.epub is a standard that should be readable by anything that reads epubs. .ibooks is Apple's own format and so far at least, nothing else will read them.

 

[Mickey330]

I was wondering if Apple allows for their iBooks to be opened in another app? For example, other apps can access Contact, Safari, or Calendar to name a few. Can my app access the books I've downloaded into iBooks?

Thanks- Giff

Usually, on books you've purchased from the iBooks store - the answer is no, you cannot open them in another app. This is whether they are .epubs, PDFs or whatever.

The reason is because Apple has Digital Rights Management (DRM) on their iBooks. This is coding put into the e-book to prevent it being read by other apps, such as the Kindle or Stanza apps or even word processing apps such as Goodreader. Essentially, if the book is bought through iBooks, it has to be read through iBooks. Sorry.

If its any reassurance, it's not just Apple that does this. Amazon has DRM on most of the books they sell for the Kindle (and related apps/computer software) as does Barnes & Noble (Nook app), Kobo, etc. it's all a way for the publisher to control piracy.

Hope this helped or clarifies.

Marilyn

 

[Kgiff]

Thanks Mailyn, I thought that was the case. Maybe something will change within Apple's iBooks in June at the developers conference. If we buy the book and use it on that device, we should be able to use it in another app. (my two cents)