Research and Development on e-book Apps Based on iOS Development Platform

Abstract

E-books are made available in both Android and iOS platforms as increasingly, technology savvy readers choose to read digital e-books. E-book apps have transformed reading habits. The exponentially rising popularity of iOS and Android platforms is attributed to the incessant innovation of functions and appealing apps that are introduced every day. E-book apps are central to publishers worldwide to present prevailing content in an altogether interesting environment. In particular, many e-book application developers have chosen Apple’s iOS mobile devices such as iPad, or iPhone as the target device to provide more creative and richer user experience, as evidenced by the rapidly increasing number of publication apps in Apple’s App Store. In this paper, three major types of e-book apps from the App Store were examined from a developer’s perspective to provide a focused overview of the status and trends of iOS e-book apps and an analysis of related technology, architecture, and user interface design issues. Three representative e-book apps were analyzed according to their purposes, functions, and user satisfaction, so that a user interface design guideline is established for developer implementation. It was clear that e-book apps still had plenty of room to grow to take full advantage of unique mobile platform features and truly fulfill their potential. In particular, introduction of two- or three-dimensional visualization and context awareness for the behavior component could further enhance e-book app’s usability and utility. This paper aims to serve as a reference point and guide for developers and practitioners interested in using iOS as a platform for e-book applications, particularly from the technical perspective.