You don’t need to have a kindle to enjoy reading e-books. With the right reading app, your iPhone can double as an e-reader, so you’ll always have a book in your pocket, wherever you are. and even better, you don’t have to pay a dime. There are many sources that allow you to download or read eBooks directly on your iPhone for free.
While the major book-reading apps like Apple Books, Amazon Kindle, and Google Play Books have an amazing selection of downloadable eBooks, they’re not that great when it comes to finding freebies. for free e-books, you need to look a little further.
You are reading: How to download books on iphone
In this guide, I will show you the best sources on the internet for completely free iPhone compatible e-books. I’ll also talk about how to download books to your device so you can start reading right away.
free ebooks for iphone (8 great sources)
1. libby, full throttle
libby is a free application created by overdrive that acts as a virtual library. Instead of buying a book to keep forever, you can borrow it for free for a limited time. There are millions of eBooks to choose from, as well as a huge selection of audiobooks that you can listen to right from your iPhone.
While libby is most famous for its free loans, you can also buy ebooks to keep, so if you’re looking for a new title that isn’t available at the library, chances are you can find it and buy it. via libby as well.
You have the option to download the eBook to your device, or you can just read the html version directly from the website, which frees up space on your phone and lets you start reading right away.
2. gutenberg project
project gutenberg is the internet’s oldest free e-book source. Founded by technology visionary Michael S. Way back in 1971, this is the home of the world’s first e-book, a digital version of the us. uu. Declaration of Independence. it’s still there today, listed as the first book in the project gutenberg catalog.
The site is run by thousands of volunteers who create, collate, digitize, edit, and share thousands of free eBooks for use on all kinds of devices, including your iPhone.
There are over 60,000 free ebooks in the extensive library, including free kindle compatible ebooks and epub files. you can download them directly to your iphone using their one click option, sending the file to dropbox, google drive and microsoft one drive. Or, if you prefer not to download, you can read an online version of any book through your web browser.
Most of the project gutenberg collection consists of older, out-of-copyright, public domain works. some of the world’s most celebrated classics can be found here. There’s everything from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, just to name a few.
In addition to classic royalty-free reads, there’s also a good selection of newer titles. And if you prefer to listen to his books, be sure to check out his direct link to librivox for some free audiobooks.
3. free ibooks
freeibooks.com is a rather disappointing website at first glance. the basic old design isn’t particularly impressive, but take a look and you’ll see that this is a fantastic resource for free ebooks for all sorts of devices, not just your iphone.
There are over 44,000 titles available for download, and they’re all free. Most of these books come from the gutenberg project, but there’s also a good selection of books from other sources, so it’s worth checking out the freeibooks catalog if there’s something you can’t find on gutenberg.
You can search by genre, category, language, title and author, or if you don’t have a particular title in mind and are looking for inspiration, check out the top rated section.
4. breaking words
See Also: 20 Best Coloring Books for Kids Ages 3 to 18 – Imagination Soup
smashwords has more books published by independent authors worldwide than any other website. There are over 500,000 e-books in the catalog written by 135,000 authors, and while many of them are paid for, there are still over 80,000 free titles to choose from. Even paid eBooks tend to be significantly cheaper than on the major sites, like Amazon Kindle. there are also tons of books that work on a pay-what-you-like scheme.
smashwords has a great selection of independent authors. it’s a great place for emerging writers to publish their work, and in turn, it’s a great place for readers to find unknown authors that you won’t find on the major ebook platforms.
To filter your search for free books only, click the free tab in the second filter bar down. you can also set your search to the desired length of the book, for example, 50,000+ words or 100,000+ words.
If you’re not sure which book to read next, there are several categories to explore for inspiration, such as best sellers, top downloads, or featured new releases. you can also search by genre in the menu on the left of the screen.
There are tons of ebook formats available, not just for your iphone but for any device. you can also read them directly in html from your iphone web browser.
5. Internet archive
internet archive is a nonprofit online library with a mission to digitize and distribute millions of electronic books to readers around the world to provide “universal access to all knowledge.” there are an incredible 2.7 million e-books and text files that are available to download or borrow for free.
The search function is easy to use and intuitive. you can browse through titles by author, title, subject, genre, collection, publication year, or language. In fact, the Internet Archive has a particularly impressive collection of foreign language books, with thousands of titles in more than 20 different languages.
In addition to eBooks, the Internet Archive provides free access to a wealth of digitized material, including movies, videos, games, music, and software applications.
If you need inspiration for your next read, take a look at the most viewed books section on the front page. once you’ve chosen one, you can download it through various options on the right panel. There are tons of file format options that work on various devices, including of course your iPhone. and if you prefer not to download it, you can read it directly in your browser.
6. open library
The Open Library is run by the Internet Archive and aims to make its huge collection of books even more accessible. The project links with local libraries around the world and sources e-books from the four corners of the internet. their mission is to create a website for every published book known to man and to make all literature free and available to anyone who wants to read it.
In addition to all the public domain classics you’d expect, they have an extensive collection of popular contemporary titles that you can borrow and read for free. Open Library links with libraries around the world, so as long as your local library is registered with Open Library, you can borrow any of their digital books without ever leaving home.
Books are available to borrow, read online, or download and keep, depending on the source. various file types are available to fit virtually any device; Additionally, many of the books listed in the open library have a read-aloud option. just click the phone icon next to the book of your choice and you can listen to it instead of reading it.
a unique feature of the open library is that the catalog is open for readers to edit and contribute information, just like wikipedia. Anyone can join the league of volunteers who maintain this free resource by helping to revise its current catalog and improve its records. If you notice that your favorite book is not on the list, you can upload your own record so people all over the world can enjoy it too.
7. many books
manybooks.net has one of the most streamlined and user-friendly interfaces of any of the sites on this list. Each book is listed by author, title, and cover, making it even easier to find the title you want. you can also search by genre and language or check the most popular and best rated sections.
See Also: David Baldaccis Best Books According To Goodreads | Novel Suspects
Most books come with a variety of downloadable file types, or you can use their online reader if you prefer to free up space on your phone.
there are more than 50,000 electronic books available in the catalog. some are for sale at reduced prices and almost 30,000 of them are free. there’s a great selection of all the usual public domain works and a wide variety of contemporary titles and self-published works by independent authors as well.
8. bookrix
bookrix is a site similar to smashwords. is a free-to-use desktop publishing platform that enables independent authors to distribute their e-books to readers around the world. Of course, many of these books come with a fee, but there is a huge catalog of free downloadable eBooks. some are contemporary titles from independent authors and major publishers, and of course there are all public domain works that you can find on most of the sites listed here.
The easy-to-use home page lets you browse by category and genre, plus you can search their collections of bestsellers, self-published works, and most popular titles, making finding high-quality books that much easier.
One of the best features of the bookrix site is the many groups you can join. there are groups for all sorts of genres and interests, which act like online book clubs where you can discuss your current reading with other bibliophiles from around the world.
The only downside to bookrix is that all the files are in epub format. this is not a problem unless you are using the kindle app, in which case you will need to convert them to mobi format first. If you prefer not to go through this extra step, you can also read most books directly from your browser, without downloading them.
how to download electronic books on an iphone?
There are several ways to download and read eBooks on your iPhone, and despite what many people think, you don’t have to use a book reading app to do so.
instead, with any ebook file, you can:
- upload it to icloud drive using your mac computer
Download the compatible file to your computer and drag it to the icloud drive. Then, using your iPhone, open the iCloud Drive Files app, tap on the file, and you’re ready to read right away. If you don’t have icloud drive, you can also do the same using any app or cloud service, for example google drive.
- send it by email
send the file as an email attachment to yourself. then access your emails using your iphone and open it with the appropriate file reader app.
- use your browser
Most of the above eBook sources have great websites that you can access right through your browser, no apps or downloads required. Simply type the web address into Safri or your preferred browser and choose a free book, open it, and read directly from the source. you’ll need internet access to continue reading, but this method saves a lot of space on your iphone.
All of the sites on this list, with the exception of bookrix, offer a variety of file formats that you can download directly to your iPhone or via an e-reader app.
In general, choose mobi files when downloading e-books to amazon’s kindle app, and for any other reading app, choose epub files.
conclusion
If you have an iPhone, you don’t need to spend money on an expensive e-reader or pay a fortune for downloadable e-books. there are plenty of places on the internet that give you access to great e-books for free, right on your phone.
Do you know of any other sources of free eBooks that are compatible with iPhones? let me know in the comments below.
See Also: Elmer Kelton – Book Series In Order