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Apple Books 101 – how to use the new books app in iOS 12

Apple’s iBooks has been around since the dawn of time, but boy has it been some time since it’s had a new lick of paint. But in iOS 12 Apple has finally given its e-reading app a makeover.

Move aside iBooks, welcome Apple Books. If you’ve never used Apple’s reading app before, now might be a good time to check it out. Here’s a quick-start guide to using the app in its latest incarnation.

How to buy a book in Books

After opening the app and scrolling through the intro slides, you’re taken to the ‘Reading Now’ tab. If you scroll down you’ll find categories of books to jump into, including Audiobook picks and bestsellers, but at the top, there’s a big button instructing you to ‘Explore the Book Store’. Tap that.

This will take you to another set of curated collections, but will also show you the latest charts if you can’t decide what you want to read. Just like the App Store, it has a top paid chart and a top free chart.

Buying an actual paid book is easy because the store is tied to your iTunes account so it already has your payment info. Tap on a book, then tap the button that says to buy it. Alternatively, if you tap on a free book it will simply say ‘Get’ – again, just like the App Store.

Tap on these options and the book will be added to your library.

How to read your books

Once the book’s downloaded the ‘Get’ button will change to ‘Read’ so you can jump straight in, or you can head to the ‘Library’ tab along the bottom for a list of everything you own.

When you get to the library, tap on the book you wish to read and it will provide options to start reading, learn about the book or the author, or view its contents. Jump straight in by tapping ‘Start reading’.

Now here’s the simple part: read what’s on the page, and when you’ve finished, use your finger to swipe left onto the next page. Just like a real book!

How to keep your place across devices

Okay, so you’re 40 pages in on your iPad but now you’ve got to get on a train to get to work. But you don’t want to stop reading. If only you could start reading on one device then pick up where you left off… hey, guess what? You can!

As long as you are signed into the same iCloud account across your devices, all you have to do is make sure the Books options is turned on in iCloud settings. Go to Settings General iCloud and then scroll down and make sure the toggle is on under Books. Also, you’ll need to ensure the ‘Reading Now’ option is toggled under Settings General Books so that when you open a book on a different device, it syncs to your iCloud.

Now, get reading!